Ugly Florida Town Contest? I nominate Ocala... (Miami, Tampa: condo, new home)

[daedalo]

Guys and Gals,
This thread of course focuses on holding towns accountable. There are tons of great places to live in Florida but it takes work to keep Florida nice. Because of tourism Florida has become a dumping ground in places. Because of the service economy, the stress has been on service trades and not the professions. Because of the lack of emphasis on higher skilled callings, there is not the same community pressure to hold government accountable on education. We see two tiers in Florida vividly, the haves and have-nots. With rising property and other costs, those in lower incomes are scraping by. A higher percentage of these are in low end rental housing. The low end housing also often houses itinerant people living close to the edge with a higher frequency of drug and alcohol problems.

I think sooner or later many places in Florida will take a second look at tourism as not being all that good from the standpoint of building a healthy local economy.

It is a two-edged sword: with every new tourist or short term resident a little more of Florida dies.

[elfyum]

I have to totally disagree with you there. I happen to WORK in the hospitality industry & the tourism here IS the economy!!! And that's just fine with me! Yeah, I admit I'm guilty of cursing the cars who don't know where they are & the traffic in the winter busy season & telling them all to go home ,but then I'm like, wait a minute - you pay my bills, so never mind!
Yeah the beach (as in Miami Beach) gets "dumped on" during big weekends like Memorial Day, but it's gotten better the past few years & hey - it brings ALOT of money! Super Bowl is coming so we'll be jammin! The boat show, awards - yeah I'm not into all that hooplah but it brings the moolah!

[TN Tin Man]

Yes their are some great places in Florida,But's not like it was 20 years ago.Over populated,lack of good schools,crime in some places all time high.Orlando just had it 37 murder this year,gang related-drugs Meth Labs are big in Florida lots of money too be made.The roads can not handle the cars,and then on the brighter side the hurricanes,bugs,and rip tides............

[elfyum]

Guess what? No place & no ONE is like they were 20 years ago! I mean, we're ALL 20 years older!
Time passes, things change.

[daedalo]

I think what I need to add to my post is that there are repercussions and impacts when an economy is too monolithic on the side of hospitality. More balance is needed. Back in the day in the northern tier of the state, that is in the late 1930's the forest products industry made heavy developments in the panhandle and in the upper tier of the state. This was heavy industry, employing thousands of unskilled workers. The turpentine industry gave way to forest technology. Now a sizeable portion of the vast land resources owned by St. Joe and Rayonier are being sold and developed not with a "hospitality industry" focus but with a "planned development" focus emphasizing total community services and quality of life. These developments, the future of Florida for decades to come, will attract individuals and families that have professional resumes and want quality services, schools, and other community facilities like libraries, well preserved natural areas, and control of sprawl. This will gradually usher in a different Florida- one that is more responsibly planned and supported by permanent stakeholders, not temporary inhabitants. There will always be a major hospitality industry in Florida, don't get me wrong. But people are finding that if you have to live in hell for a walk on the beach it might not be worth it. There are a lot more attractive alternatives elsewhere in Florida. These alternatives will bring a better balance to this state and will help us preserve its beauty and resources. Part of this is owning up to improving where we live in Florida- hence this post on ugly towns, which are everywhere and in unexpected places far from the coast like Ocala.

[SunnyDog]

I agree--job quality here must improve. FL has always relied on tourism + services from day 1, and unfortunately still does. The #1 problem facing this state is job quality+pay. All the other problems here like crime, traffic, high housing costs, etc. can be found elsewhere, and much of these problems would be improved here if the job quality+pay were improved.

It makes me sick when I read about all the various roadblocks that local government has thrown at Scripps and their plans to build here. I wouldn't be suprised if the whole deal collapses with the way they've been jerked around, and that's the best chance the state has going for it right now.

[RAINBOWWAVES]

I do not think it is the tourists that are ruining Fl.....

[dreamofmonterey]

Originally Posted by daedalo

Today I drove from Fernandina Beach down 301 to Ocala. The only town I went through of any size was Starke, which is mainly supported by farms and the extensive prisons nearby. I got to Ocala early so I drove around town. I must say outside of Ocala are some gorgeous horse farms. But how in the world did the town of Ocala allow such a cancer of trashy development nearly everywhere? Ocala is, without a doubt, the ugliest city in central Florida. It is a testament to unchecked bottom of the barrel development and a total lack of planning. Zero landscape and signage planning except for an afterthought on one road for a quarter mile north of the CBD (Central Business District). There are a few fragmented areas of old downtown that are restored, but it is clear the downtown is struggling financially. With all the wealth around it, Ocala looks borderline 3rd world. Flat out junk development.

Again, the natural areas around Ocala are some of the prettiest in Florida while Ocala itself is a testament to a flea-market mindset run amok all over the landscape. Is there an uglier city in Florida?

Add Oakland Park/Ft Laud. and Dania Beach- Maybe they were nice in the 50's, now they are run-down trash heaps.

[tallrick]

Miami has become uglier as the years go by, but for now I nominate Weston. It's been ugly from the start, boring and master-planned. There isn't one structure there I don't hate!

[dreamofmonterey]

Originally Posted by tallrick

Miami has become uglier as the years go by, but for now I nominate Weston. It's been ugly from the start, boring and master-planned. There isn't one structure there I don't hate!

lol Weston- weren't people camping out overnight to get to buy one of those "estates"?. I had a friend in Ft Laud from Guyana- her husband bought in Weston and they thought it was the best thing in America since sliced bread.