TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Slower Growth And Higher Costs Will Not Write Florida's Obituary

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 30, 2007

A slowdown in growth and a correction in housing prices highlight the question posed by a headline last month in The Wall Street Journal: 'Is Florida Over?'

A listing of Florida's many woes gives the impression that half the state is ready to pack up and move to less-expensive Tennessee or South Carolina. The criticisms are valid, yet the magic of the Sunshine State still lives.

Florida is only dealing with the side effects of rapid growth as it begins to mature into an even better home.

Florida is no longer defined by cheap land, carefree living and rock-bottom taxes. It is a big urban state with major-league jobs and major-league problems.

Soaring property values pushed taxes to outrageous levels for new home buyers. A spate of hurricanes sent insurance rates through the roof. Traffic congestion increased as residential development devoured farms and woodlands. Some people began to question why they had moved here and many of us realized at today's prices, we couldn't afford to buy our own houses.

'For Americans on the move,' the Journal concluded, 'Florida has become a less-appealing destination.'

True enough. If you're looking for a cut-rate retirement haven and are happy with mediocre education and environmental degradation, go somewhere else. Today's Florida is determined to better manage its growth, improve its public schools and universities, build better transit systems and attract the best jobs.

Florida is saving the Everglades, protecting smaller wetlands, cleaning its bays and rivers, and following Gov. Charlie Crist's lead toward greener if more expensive sources of energy.

The on-going wrangling over tax reform and hand-wringing over the sluggish real-estate market has left Tampa area residents with little time to appreciate what we have - some of the nation's best beaches, attractions, a strong economy and yearround sun.

Consider a few observations in a recent Washington Post article seen by readers in the dreary northeast. It described St. Petersburg as 'getting younger, with hip nights at the St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club and buff bods playing beach volleyball.'

The writer saw 'sinewy cyclists, in-line skaters and runners, punk rockers and avant-garde artists, and post grads on permanent spring break.' The city, the story concluded, gave itself 'a shot of Botox right in its municipality.'

The same will soon be said of Tampa's downtown Channelside and many new suburban developments catering to families, active retirees and young singles.

Florida may be a little older than the rest of the nation, but Hillsborough County is younger. Folks have moved here for the jobs, and neither people nor jobs are going away.

Florida's unemployment rate is a low 4 percent, higher than last year but very healthy. Booming Texas has an unemployment rate of 4.3 percent and no one is asking if Texas is over.

The idea that every new development will be a Monopoly board on which all players win has been exposed as an exaggeration, but Florida is not over.

A new conservatism is taking root. Florida is no longer marketing itself to the lowest bidders. It is determined to grow wisely while preserving the best of its manmade and natural heritage.

Florida may have lost its ambition to give every retiree in the country a place in the sun at any price, but it has never stopped searching for the fountain of youth.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT