TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

The dream of the Sunshine State is fast disappearing

ADVERTISEMENT

By STEVE OTTO

sotto@tampatrib.com

Published: October 4, 2009

Florida always was a carnie sideshow. Despite all the promises of the hucksters outside the tent, what you saw when you paid your money and went inside never quite lived up to the promises that lured you.

Florida was the dream of a better life. It was where you went to make a fortune or to spend the nest egg you had worked a lifetime to acquire.

It used to be when I spoke to civic or church groups, I would ask how many people were natives and how many had come to Florida from elsewhere, usually places like Ohio or New York.

Most of the time, the vast majority would be from Rust Belt cities and worn out towns of the Northeast.

Things are different

It's different now. Today enough generations have grown up in Florida that millions of us were born and raised in the promise of the Sunshine State.

Tampa historian and University of South Florida professor Gary Mormino's excellent book "Land of Sunshine, State of Dreams" talks about those roots in his introduction:

"From its founding as an imperial outpost to its modern identity as a tourist empire, Florida has evoked contrasting and compelling images of the sacred and profane: A Fountain of Youth and a Garden of Earthly Delights, a miasmic hellhole and skuzzy wasteland. ... A powerful symbol of renewal and regeneration, Florida's dreamscape constantly shifts.

"Where once the land and climate were sufficiently inspiring to bewitch artists and travelers, now gated condominiums, age-restricted communities and theme parks constitute that firmament ..."

Children of change

We're the children of that change. Mormino points out that we are really a state that was born in the middle of the 20th century. "Florida's Big Bang, 1950-2000, is a story of astonishing growth, a state swelling from 2.7 million to 15.9 million inhabitants," Mormino says.

Today that number is approaching 20 million and the dreams of those who grew up here are in trouble.

About a week ago, we published the results of a survey taken by the U.S. Census Bureau. It was a national survey but one number stuck out. It was about our children.

The number was 30 percent. According to the survey, the number of children in Hillsborough and Polk counties living in poverty grew by 30 percent or more in 2008. "The jump," reads the report, "reflects a year-to-year increase in poverty across the Tampa Bay area, marked by an overall decline in median household income and increases in the number of people using food stamps and living below the poverty line."

Thirty percent is not some statistical aberration. Things are tough out there and despite reports the recession is over, families with children and those on the edge, such as seniors locked into fixed incomes, are hurting more and more.

Now is the time for more local and state leadership. If you've watched city council or county commission meetings, you know they are spinning their political wheels and largely ignoring what is happening in the Tampa Bay region. Not only is the Florida dream disappearing, the future of the state's children appears equally bleak.

Keyword: Otto Graphs, for more of Steve Otto's musings.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT