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Locals Losing Ground In Keys

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By ADRIAN SAINZ, The Associated Press

Published: November 5, 2007

KEY WEST - The sights and sounds at Schooner Wharf drip with Key West attitude: Sunburned tourists lounge near a marina, savoring drinks alongside locals wearing tank tops and sandals. A singer warbles, "I'd rather be here, drinking a beer, than freezing my a-- off up North."

Different sounds emerge from behind the bar known as "The last little piece of Old Key West": the sound of bulldozers working on a 32-unit luxury gated community. Pre-construction prices for spacious three-bedroom suites start at $1.87 million.

The Harbor House development will attract an upscale clientele seeking an island lifestyle. Its exclusivity clearly upsets some people here. Just read the writing scrawled on a retaining wall: "Stop the Madness." "Money Talks." "Eat the Rich."

The Florida Keys are at a crossroads, beset by shortages of high-paying jobs and affordable housing, rising property taxes and insurance, and environmental concerns. Yet the move to "upscale" the Keys is gaining steam, a sign of growth that's commonly experienced by tourism-dependent communities. Such growth is leaving many Keys residents feeling priced out or ignored.

"It seems like it's paradise, but at the same time it's an economic hardship for the residents," said U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, who represents Monroe County. "That leads to this kind of twisted, complex relationship, sort of a marriage in therapy ... The Keys community and the tourists are always in couples therapy."

Stretching south and west from Florida's peninsula, the island chain is about 125 miles long from Key Largo to Key West, connected to the mainland by the Overseas Highway (U.S. 1). Tourism is the economic engine, generating $1.7 billion in total sales in 2006. Visitors enjoy the warm waters surrounding the islands, which sustain rich fisheries and the only living barrier coral reef in the continental United States.

Dotted with trailer parks, hotels, campgrounds, marinas, retail shops and homes, the Keys attracted 2.25 million overnight visitors in 2006, according to the Monroe County Tourism Development Council. Day visitors, including Key West cruise ship passengers, add significantly to that total.

Lure Of 'The End Of The Road'

The Keys has a reputation for its tropical, laissez-faire lifestyle, where it once was possible for almost anyone - retirees and fishermen, hippies and lost souls - to move here with a little money, in search of paradise.

"This place will always be a Mecca for the square pegs," said Michael McCloud, the sunglasses-wearing bar singer at Schooner Wharf. "This is the end of the road."

The Keys' population and popularity increased over the years, leading to more structures getting built on limited land.

"Geography is the biggest imperative in understanding who and what we are," said developer Pritam Singh, responsible for Key West projects such as Truman Annex. "It's both our attraction, that we're islands, and a curse, that we're islands."

When eight hurricanes struck Florida in 2004 and 2005, Keys visitors were asked to evacuate seven times, resulting in lost profits for hoteliers, charter fishermen and dive operators. Hurricane Wilma flooded homes and streets, but business owners questioned whether evacuations were necessary for weaker storms such as Tropical Storm Ernesto in 2006.

The active seasons led to higher hurricane insurance rates throughout Florida, where the bloated real estate market catapulted home prices. Skyrocketing property taxes and higher costs of gas, food and rent have made life harder for those with low- and mid-incomes: teachers, police, firefighters, restaurant and hotel employees, and other professionals and service workers that any community requires.

The median sales price of a single-family home was $700,000 in 2006, Monroe County statistics show. That's nearly three times the median sales price of an existing home in Florida in 2006, which the Florida Association of Realtors reported was $248,300.

"There is not enough industry here, not enough opportunity for well-paying jobs, relative to what it costs to live here," said Bob Kelly, who has managed a shoe store, an art gallery and a rental property in two stints as a Key West resident.

These factors are likely reasons for the population drop in Monroe County. According to the U.S. Census, the population in the Keys was 74,737 in 2006, down 6 percent from 79,589 in 2000. During that period, Florida's population grew 13 percent.

She Can't Afford To Live There

Patti Julien works at a clinic in Marathon, about halfway down the Keys. She and dozens of others board buses at a Wal-Mart parking lot in Florida City, the final stop on the mainland, then endure a two-hour bus ride each way because they can't afford living in the Keys.

Julien gets to the Wal-Mart about midnight, taking the day's last bus from her home south of Miami. She then waits five hours because there's no early bus to Florida City, and she's scared she'll miss her ride.

"It's a real problem," said Julien, 59. "I'd move to the Keys but I'd be paying $2,000 a month down there for a comparable duplex."

Teachers are a group that face a daily financial struggle, though Monroe County leads Florida in average annual salary for teachers with a bachelor's degree at $47,687.

Schools superintendent Randy Acevedo says the district has plans to build housing for teachers and staff. Retention is a problem, with the district replacing about 100 teachers out of 600 every year, Acevedo said. Some don't leave but use other methods to manage a stressful life that belies their surroundings, like take a second job.

There are many efforts to improve the quality of life for residents, including attempts in Key West, Marathon and other cities to add hundreds of new affordable housing units.

Marathon Mayor Chris Bull is joining forces with Ros-Lehtinen to secure funds for improving water quality. Storm runoff, untreated sewage and pollution threaten the economically vital reef system.

In 2000, Congress authorized $100 million in water quality improvements. An Oct. 1 letter to President Bush signed by six Florida members of Congress requests $29 million of that money in the 2009 budget.

"We're definitely in a critical stage of Keys development," Bull said.

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