Sustainable Development :
Resource Use and Sustainability
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Development planning that takes into account the impact of that development on natural and human resources, with effects for the future rather than for immediate gain; “concurrency” efforts to make developers responsible for providing the service needs of people in new residential developments.
3/6/10
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Analysis & views: 3/6/10 3/4/10 3/3/10 3/1/10 2/27/10 2/24/10 2./11/10 Singapore gets its first gambling casino, $4.6 billion Resorts World Sentosa. 2/10/10 1/24/10 1/20/10 12/6/09 7/12/08 A Beijing wrecking ball will crunch a nut shop. As the city prepares to host the Olympics next month, a massive "clean up" in the city has forced an estimated 1.25 million people out of their homes and small businesses, including the featured nut shop, a dilipated "eye sore" that China wants to keep away from the gaze of foreigners. 1/20/08 A former Thai prime minister 8 years ago described as a "symbol of the failures and injustices of Thailand's development" that elephants and their mahouts (handlers) had been allowed to roam the streets of the capitol city. Since then, little has been done to stop the practice of using elephants as beggars and tourist attractions, as they join Bangkok's "unemployment line" after logging ban deprives them of one of their avenues of employment. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/world/asia/20elephants.html?pagewanted=2&th&emc=th 9/25/07 Flower-loving tourists are flocking to South Africa. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0924/p20s01-litr.html?page=1 8/15/07 Overseas development volunteering by "gap year" youngsters in Britain is criticized by volunteer organization which warns of dangers of such programs both to the youth who participate and the areas which they attempt to "help." http://society.guardian.co.uk/voluntary/news/0,,2148112,00.html 8/2/07 Ambassador: The bridge that divides two countries. The bridge between Detroit MI and Windsor ONT is the source of continuing controversy between the two cities, highlighted by Detroit's present intention to add a new span to the bridge. While riverfront businesses on the U.S. side move to capitalize on new business opportunities from the extension, many in Windsor deplore the bridge and maintain the NIMBY attitude toward its location, with many feeling that Canada's 401 highway to which the bridge connects is simply a "short-cut" for U.S. truckers moving between Michigan and New York. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0802/p20s01-lign.html?page=1 7/27/07 Booming "oil sands" operations in Alberta Canada lead to calls for an "orderly" process as the province apparently has no such plans in place. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070725.woilsands0725/BNStory/National 7/23/07 Construction of a gas pipe line in Amazonian Brazil is being hailed as a way of enhancing both the living standards of local people and the viability of the rain forest environment. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0723/p01s01-woam.html 7/6/07 Supermarket customers' demand for organic products is fuelling a big increase in the sustainable farming industry in Denmark. http://www.cphpost.dk/get/102503.html 6/16/07 Plan to build wind turbine farm on Greek island of Skyros activates a struggle between advocates of alternative energy and environmental preservationists. http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2646277.ece 6/8/07 Over objections of local wine growers and horse breeders, Australian government approves location of a mine which they say will destroy the tranquillity of their area. 6/7/07 Mexican farmers, lured by higher corn prices on ethanol production boom, are torching their fields of agave, used in tequila production, in favor of planting of the land in corn http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSN2924142520070529?feedType=RSS&pageNumber=1 6/3/07 State of Kerala, India continues demolition of luxury development properties encroaching on state land, with Rs100 million resort the latest to be destroyed. http://www.bahraintribune.com/ArticleDetail.asp 6/2/07 Canadian Premier Harper condemns with faint approval the proposed Calgary-Edmonton high speed rail as an "interesting" idea. http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=e1d66fb7-cb40-4ca3-9e58-88cd53d4d33b 5/31/07 China is beginning to discourage ethanol production, as resulting rise in price of corn is threatening food production, especially the Chinese staple of pork. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0531/p01s04-wosc.html 5/30/07 What a "meanderthal?" Canadian study documents a modern version of the ancient "planeur" who meanders off the established traffic patterns; keeping left in keeping right zones, wandering in front of moving automobiles, etc. http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=0f364653-be71-420a-979f-4923067f86c0 5/30/07 Denmark is trying to stake out a niche in the global economy by the internal improvement and export of better urban architecture. http://www.cphpost.dk/get/101893.html 5/22/07 As Pan American Games are scheduled to begin on July 15 in Rio de Janeiro, developers are in a grim battle to finish necessary facilities before the opening, their efforts hampered by huge cost over-runs and corruption in the athletic and political establishments that are creating what critics are calling "a mess foretold." http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/22/world/americas/22brazil.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin 5/17/07 Commuters in Argentina spontaneously riot against chronically-late commuter trains (BBC News video). http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_6660000/newsid_6663600/6663645.stm?bw=nb&mp=rm 5/10/07 Community development, rural India style: A group of women's collectives create a range of community services which they operate to the benefit of their local communities. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0510/p01s04-wosc.html 5/4/07 Perth, Australia, predicted by an environmentalist to become the world's "first ghost town metropolis" by virtue of its water shortage, struggles to maintain its water-indulgent life style. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6620919.stm 5/2/07 Human habitat meets shark habitat on Australia's Gold Coast. Expansion of upscale suburbia into Queensland produces close encounters of men and animals as one can shark-fish off one's back porch but also get shark-bitten if one dares to swim in local canals. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0502/p20s01-lihc.html?page=1 5/1/07 Environmental activist in Ghana claims the country: "lacks the expertise and the managerial ability to operate nuclear reactors, considerably increasing the risk of an accidental spillage during its operations." http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/africa/article06 4/24/07 In a remote Alpine hamlet, 30 residents of Austrian town of Ebbs, one of the last places in the country unconnected by automobile to the outside world, meet with mixed emotions the drilling of a tunnel that will bring a road and its convenience for their not having to hike a mountain for school or shopping, but will bring as well an unknowable influx of people and activities from the outside. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/24/world/europe/24austria.html?hp 4/20/07 Latin American leaders take a jaundiced view on U.S. push toward ethanol to replace petroleum-based gasoline. Mexican leaders note effects of corn prices on food Mexicans eat and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez (with perhaps a touch of self-interest for an oil-rich country) decries the policy of starving of Latin Americans in order to fuel the automobiles of Americans. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0420/p07s01-woam.html 4/19/07 Danish government wants to "market" the country abroad by moving beyond the Tivoli Garden/Little Mermaid imagery of Copenhagen. http://www.cphpost.dk/get/101270.html 3/22/07 "Greenshifting" (from urban to rural residences) is increasingly popular among young British couples. http://society.guardian.co.uk/ruralcommunities/story/0,,2038550,00.html 3/21/07 Slum clearance is people clearance in India. Government's plan to replace a huge slum area in Mumbai with a modern "township" in which former slum residents would be offered free apartments in high-rise buildings is staunchly resisted by people attached to their "old" homes. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0321/p01s04-wosc.html 3/6/07 Canadian mayors say that mass transit is the "life blood" of their cities and that the system needs a transfusion of enhanced funding. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/03/05/transit-mayors.html 1/15/07 Mexican corn growers are benefitting by demand for ethanol production in the United States. http://upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20070113-124200-2385r 12/20/06 China's use of bio-fuels to support its burgeoning industrial economy is eating into the country's food supplies for its large population. http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1220-02.htm 12/19/06 UK government approves "world's largest" offshore wind project in Thames estuary amid concerns about its effects on bird populations and navigation danger because of proximity to shipping lanes. http://environment.guardian.co.uk/energy/story/0,,1975065,00.html 12/19/06 Exploding economy of Senzhen, China demonstrates the human consequences in degraded working and environmental conditions that rapid industrialization can spawn. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/19/world/asia/19shenzhen.html?th&emc=th 11/22/06 European traffic engineers are showing that "naked roads," with very few road signs, are safer than those with many signs, as drivers "behave better" when they are less bombarded with traffic directions. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/transportation/293229_roads22.html 11/6/06 General Motors unveils its new hydogen fuel powered car---in China. http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061106/UPDATE/611060384 9/20/06 Wind power is the world's fasting growing source of electricity production, could reach 30% of production by 2030. http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=143&art_id=qw1158713641956B251 5/17/06 Citing global warming dangers, Tony Blair ignites UK political storm by endorsing a new generation of nuclear power plants. http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0517-02.htm 5/8/06 Longtime residents of Chinese city of Chengdu bitterly oppose the plans of Singapore to developer to "modernize" their city http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China_Business/HE06Cb05.html 3/11/06 Indigenous rain forest residents are fighting successfully for a sustainable Amazonian agriculture: http://www.counterpunch.org/kendlbacher03112006.html 3/11/06 Environmental and local community threats seen in Eastern European development projects seeking E.U. subsidies: http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article350566.ece 3/10/06 Rise of shade-grown coffee industry in Nicaragua marks gain in agricultural sustainability under Rainforest Alliance leadership: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14062884.htm 3/8/06 Sustainable Development Commission says nuclear reactors as not the solution to Britain's energy supply problems: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0307-08.htm 2/18/06 Wetlands latest casualty in China's water crisis http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=11095&channel=0 2/8/06 Conflict to Consensus: British Columbia protects Great Bear Rainforest http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/feb2006/2006-02-08-08.asp
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NATIONAL
Websites American Institute of Architects: http://www.aia.org/about_default EcoInfo: Sustainable Development: http://www.care2.com/channels/ecoinfo/sustainable_development Planetizen: The Planning and Development Network: http://www.planetizen.com/ Smart Growth America: http://www.smartgrowthamerica.com/ Smart Growth Online: http://www.smartgrowth.org/ Sustainable Communities Network: http://www.sustainable.org/ USDA Forest Service: Sustainable Resource Management: http://www.fs.fed.us/sustained/msie4.html
Analysis & views: 2/12/10 2/11/10
2/6/10 11/28/09 11/27/09 11/1/09 10/29/09 10/23/09 10/1/09 9/30/09 8/7/09 7/17/08 "Skinny houses" on "in-fill lots" in Baltimore supposed to be smart growth, but many local residents see them as simply "ridiculous." http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/annearundel/bal-md.ar.infill17jul17,0,4301530.story 7/17/08 High gasoline prices are resulting in many Tulsans shifting from four wheels to two for their commute to work. http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectID=11&articleID=20080717_11_A11_hRIDET8474 7/12/08 David Sirota says that, in America, anywhere is everywhere. Wherever you go in the country, you find the same fast food franchises and the same Rush Limbaugh radio broadcasts. In this homogenization of American culture, local problems remain unresolved as the slogan "think globally act locally" morphs into "think federally, ignore locally." http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20080710_anywhere_becomes_everywhere/ 1/20/08 "Mixed use" is becoming the rule and a problem in Boston:. As "pricey" condos and boutique shops spread throughout the city undergoing widespread gentrification, the "gentry" often find themselves in close proximity to homeless shelters and other features of the "other Boston." They often respond to this uncomfortable proximity by working to "clean up" their neighborhoods, in one case paying for a sign changing the name of a homeless veteran's shelter from "shelter" to "center." 12/19/07 "ENTIRE ZIP CODES DEVOID OF FRESH PRODUCE" The lack of fresh, nutritous food available to McDonalds-fed urban poor is but one consequence of a national food policy that benefits agri-business but few other people in the country. Fortunately, some U.S. cities like San Francisco are encouraging projects to promote organic and locally grown food to help re-nourish those "zip codes." http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/12/18/5877/ 12/19/07 Critics of Philadelphia's plan to use revenues from slot machines to build new Convention Center downtown say there are significant "risks" associated with the project. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/IL20Ak02.html 11/29/07 Minneapolis reporter spends a full week living in Mall of America to savor the full "flavor" of the place and emerges with his sanity (slightly) intact. http://articles.citypages.com/2007-11-28/news/the-full-moa/ 11/29/07 Maryland harness-racing facility, denied by state the option of adding slot machines, may have to cease operations as a buy reneges. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-md.rosecroft29nov29,0,4728214.story 11/27/07 "WE ARE A METRO NATION AND IT'S TIME WE STARTED ACTING LIKE ONE" says a Program Director of the Brookings Institution, which launches a major push toward planning initiatives that would recognize that the U.S. is no longer a collection of 50 discrete states but a number of interstate strings of urban development. Smart Growth loves it, but apparently if you don't live in one of these "strings" you aren't a member of this metro nation. http://www.smartgrowth.org/news/article.asp?art=6359&state=52 11/27/07 New Jersey and Delaware are locked in border controversy over a proposed plant to manufacture liquified natural gas on the NJ side of the Delaware River, a development that Delaware says would contaminate the state and it threatens to withhold construction of a pier across Delaware territory in the river that would allow tanker access to the plant http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1127/p02s02-usju.html 11/27/07 St. Ann's Catholic Church, once the nerve center of the Italian immigrant community in Omaha, is closed by the church because of waning attendance and building disrepair. http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10194427 11/21/07 THAT HOLIDAY SCRATCHING SOUND YOU HEAR: LAST THROES OF THE THANKSGIVING TURKEY? Well, it may be the sound of an increasing number of travellers scratching their heads at the baggage carousels of your friendly local airport as, by the end of the year, 5 million Americans will have experienced loss or delay in the arrival of their luggage. American Airlines survey of the problem indicates that some of it results from "dirty printers" used to imprint bar codes on baggage tags that electronic distribution equipment find unreadable. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/21/business/21baggage.html?th&emc=th 9/25/07 Arrival of gambling casino in Connecticut town brings a brisk upturn in business for a Gamblers Anonymous group meeting in a local church. http://www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2007/09/25/hooked_in_the_shadow_of_casinos/ 8/15/07 At least 200,000 Americans have permanently hit the road by residing fulltime in RVs, foregoing the advantages of connection to a local community and sometimes an extended family for the joys of the footloose life style. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0815/p20s01-litr.html?page=2 8/15/07 North Carolina troopers take to back roads to try to apprehend truckers attempting to avoid the state's weight limits for shipping. http://www.newsobserver.com/1565/story/670584.html 8/5/07 Barn Again flourishes in Seattle's high-tech area:. Alongside Microsoft and other high-tech businesses in Washington's King County, historical preservationist society is having surprising success in saving the county's "old barns" from the developers' devastations. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/08/05/in_high_tech_capital_this_old_barn_sits/ 8/4/07 Much like Miami, Los Angeles is putting most of its development eggs into a "smart" basket of high density downtown projects despite indications that people and businesses are not all that interested. In desperation, they are considering relaxing zoning restrictions in a way that critics say will introduce an element of chaos rather than order in this urban future. The "plan's" failures to produce sustainable transportation facilities and affordable housing are also being noted. http://www.laweekly.com/news/news/a-zillion-new-neighbors/16946/ 8/3/07 More than a bridge in Minnesota is "structurally deficient" in America: Bridge collapse forces public awareness of a chronic and growing deficiency in the nation's transportation and other public utilities infrastructure. http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/aug2007/mpls-a02.shtml 8/3/07 "Deferred maintenamce" of U.S. bridges is highlighted by Minnesota bridge collapse. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0803/p01s05-usgn.html 7/29/07 Santa Fe NM having trouble getting a hike/bike trail open by meeting specifications needed for bikers http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/65649.html 7/29/07 UN headquarters in New York about to undergo a renovation lasting 7 years and costing $1 billion. http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-nyun285310608jul28,0,1175143.story?coll=ny-nynews-print 7/28/07 New England's storied stone walls are disappearing, one stolen stone by one stolen stone (many for "landscaping" projects). http://www.bangordailynews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=152518&zoneid=586 7/28/07 Air fare wars rage in Hawaii for interisland travel as one-way fares for as little as $20 are being offered. http://starbulletin.com/2007/07/27/news/story01.html 7/18/07 Buffalo News columnist decries the plan to build a Bass Pro Shops mega-store in downtown Buffalo near the site of the old Aud. http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/story/121657.html 7/17/07 Geocaching an increasingly popular tourist activity in western North Carolina, as GPS systems take people on scavenger hunt to located planted "treasures." http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770715016 7/14/07 Houston councilman is modern day Don Quixote who tilts against the unsightly utility poles that disfigure his neighborhood: a symbol, he says, of the city's "unplanned development." http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/4967614.html 7/14/07 In Aberdeen Md, the minor league ball team that plays in Cal Ripken stadium is sold out nightly and makes good profits for the Ripken business associates, but is a financial albatoss to the city which doesn't share from these profits. 7/13/07 Mayor of Boston wants a resort-style casino at a race track in East Boston and invites Mashpee Indian tribe to bid for the project. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/07/13/menino_asks_tribe_to_build_hub_casino/ 7/7/07 "Iconic" small town garage, subject of children's book "One Morning in Maine" closes its doors. http://www.bangordailynews.com/news/t/company.aspx?articleid=151695&zoneid=578 7/5/07 City of St. George, in southwest corner of Utah, is experiencing a boom of retirees moving there from all over the country. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0705/p01s02-ussc.html?page=1 6/30/07 Baltimore Sun reports that "new jobs are moving to Maryland," but these are jobs created by impending expansion of Aberdeen Proving Grounds. 6/23/07 "We don't want a pipeline under the bay" say many residents of Maryland's Eastern Shore as planners talk of building a natural gas pipeline under Chesapeake Bay. Residents fear the project will fuel an explosion of population on the peninsula and will be a hazard to marine life if the pipe should leak. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-te.md.pipeline22jun22,1,7048208.story?ctrack=1&cset=true 6/21/07 LA Weekly runs lengthy essay by a critic of "smart growth," designed to prevent "suburban sprawl" in a city where it all "started." http://www.laweekly.com/general/features/whats-smart-about-smart-growth/16507/ 6/20/07 Controversy over historic preservation of modern architecture breaks out over issue of fate of 50-year-old MLK Memorial Library in Washington D.C. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0620/p13s01-alar.html 6/18/07 Would-be boaters face off against anglers and hikers in their battle to get a lifting of the ban on boating in the Catooga River in southern North Carolina. http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770617052 6/19/07 Mixed use development of residences and mass transit in La Mesa CA (near San Diego) is garnering "smart growth" recognition of the city. http://www.sdbj.com/article.asp?aID=114550&link=perm 6/16/07 Welcome boost to Buffalo area economy comes with announced plans of General Motors to use its Tonawanda facility to manufacture diesel engines for SUVs and pickups. http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/99984.html 6/15/07 Where wqealthy "rednecks" go to playLake Cumberland in Kentucky is called a "Redneck Riviera" with "docking communities" of people who buy houseboats for between $500k and $1 million. They are Kentucky's answer to the super-yachts that proliferate among the moneyed folk of south Florida. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0615/p13s02-lign.html?page=1 6/15/07 Ffrom New York city's waterfront to Gettysburg battlefiled. National Trust for Historical Preservation is fighting an uphill battle to save historically important sites throughout the United States from the pressures of development and the demands of power transmission. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-06-14-endangered-places_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip 6/10/07 Rhode Island bridge begun in 2003 was to be completed by September 2006. Its projected cost now doubled, the delay in its completion has required that a "temporary" bridge be repaved for a second time. http://www.projo.com/news/content/BARRINGTON_BRIDGE_06-10-07_HG5S88O.2de7621.html 6/7/07 Sound Transit in Seattle looks to complete light rail transportation from downtown to University of Washington campus by 2016. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/transportation/318714_uwrail07.html 6/4/07 Utah voters turn down a statewide referendum on financing a soccer stadium for Salt Lake City, a poll shows the majority of voters oppose use of state tax funds for the purpose, but state persists in passing legislation for state funding. http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660226526,00.html 6/4/07 MapQuest mappers struggle to keep up with mapping of new addresses in a rapidly developing suburb of Madison WI. http://www.madison.com/tct/mad/topstories/145158 6/2/07 Budget cuts will likely result in elimination of popular program of bringing mural artists to a "shabby" Philadelphia neighborhood to help students brighten the surroundings. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20070602_Schools_losing_bright_ray_of_hope_in_murals.html 5/31/07 Such luminaries as Obama, Byrd and Gephardt are joining the rush to deal with the nation's need for "alternative" fuel by plans to convert coal into oil and gas, in what James Ridgeway calls a "con" on the public that has previously been tried and has failed. http://www.counterpunch.org/ridgeway05302007.html 5/30/07 Tolls on a Seattle bridge may go from noting to $6 each way to cover the cost of repairing the ancient structure. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/transportation/317659_rtid30.html 5/28/07 Ocean development is not amuing for beach amusement parks. Trimper Park in Ocean City NJ may soon join the parade of ocean-side parks that have or are contemplating closing as they fight rising energy costs, property taxes and insurance rates. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/27/AR2007052701264.html?referrer=email 5/27/07 High prices for gas, increased admission and parking fees, and competition from home video games are keeping down attendance at U.S. national parks. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0525/p01s03-ussc.html 5/26/07 Fabled dune shacks at Provincetown on Cape Cod are threatened with extinction as supporters lose their bid for national historic registry designation. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/05/25/ruling_discounts_a_cape_legacy/ 5/26/07 After a city council election, some members of Philadelphia council are moving away from their opposition to expanding casino operations in the city. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20070525_Phila__Council_casino_stand_is_crumbling.html 5/25/07 Bangor Maine officials are working to replace horse barns built in 1975 and now deemed to be at the end of their useful lives. http://www.bangordailynews.com/news/t/city.aspx?articleid=150232&zoneid=176 5/24/07 'Super-size me' seems to be the anthem of America. Limited world resources to sustain luxury life styles? Not to worry, Americans find ways to do things on an ever bigger scale; from gas-guzzling SUVs to to McMansions with 4 or 5 bedrooms and 3 or 4 bathrooms. One thing isn't increasing, as the average size of households to occupy the McMansions declines. A national housing study shows those metropolitan areas with the largest and smallest percentages of housing units with 4 or more bedrooms. Of the top ten McMansion metro areas, 7 are in western states, none in Florida. Of the ten metropolitan areas with the smallest percentage of large homes, no fewer than 6 of them (Sarasota, Fort Myers, Naples, Ocala, Daytona Beach and Lakeland) are in Florida. Food for thought. http://www.tbo.com/news/money/MGB119Q112F.html 5/23/07 Cardinals' plan for Ballpark Village in downtown St. Louis runs into issues of over-crowding of sports and entertainment facilities downtown, including the likely displacement of a bowling hall of fame. 5/22/07 Cleaning up Camden NJ: proposal to eliminate two jails in Camden that have helped give the city its reputation as a "dumping ground" for Philadelphia area. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20070522_A_tale_of_2_jails__and_both_unwanted.html 5/14/07 High-tech beltway on Route 128 around Boston goes into "boom" mode again. 5/13/07 Plan to develop a "body farm" for disposition of cadavers and research studies on their decomposition is abandoned after its siting near at air field at San Marcos, Texas, was expected to attract buzzards who would be a threat of air traffic safety. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4799125.html 5/11/07 Sounds of meadowlark and motor sports park blend in a modern Utah version of the traditional cattle round-up. http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660219461,00.html 5/10/07 Officials in Queen Anne's County Maryland say they are under a "gag' order not to make any critical comments about a development project on Chesapeake Bay that enviromnmentists say will harm the area. 5/8/07 Pennsylvania anti-casino activists, rebuffed in efforts for a statewide referendum on state effort to expand slot machine operations, are promoting a "citizen's" shadow referendum to send a message to Harrisburg. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20070508_Casino_foes_push_citizens_election.html 5/6/07 Omaha developers are banking on a new facility to house College World Series to spur downtown development. http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=2378684 5/6/07 Start up of biotechnology industry is promoting a "trickle" of good jobs in Buffalo, an area hit hard by large plant closings. http://www.buffalonews.com/102/story/69592.html 5/1/07 $50 billion "bigger dig" being planned by Louisiana to divert course of the Mississippi to prevent the heavy erosion of land into the Gulf of Mexico. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/30/AR2007043001478.html?referrer=email 5/1/07 Mosquito Fleet of passenger ferries on Puget Sound being proposed as an alternative to highway travel for Seattle commuters. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/transportation/313774_county01.html 4/30/07 Landslides on the site of some mountainside homes in Western North Carolina lead to efforts in state legislature to require ground testing for such construction. http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770429020 4/28/07 Nuclear power as a "green" alternative for energy supply? Wait a minute... Harvey Wasserman reminds readers of the disasters of Chernobyl and Three Mile Island, "impossible" accidents that could easily be duplicated today. http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/04/28/824/ 4/27/07 Falling in the gaps on the Long Island Railroad. The L.I.R.R. has numerous gaps between train cars and platforms that endanger passenger safety, and the transportation agency is moving to fill those gaps. http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-limta0427,0,4627906.story?coll=ny-linews-headlines 4/24/07 Mall of America is morphing into an America of malls. Government-subsidized "incentives" for business relocation are contributing to the mass exit of businesses and jobs from central cities in a continuing process of suburban sprawl. http://www.postwritersgroup.com/archives/peir0422.html 4/24/07 Activation of a base re-alignment committee in Maryland attempts to prepare the area for an influx of people and activities associated with changes at Aberdeen Proving Grounds and other National Security facilities. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.brac24apr24,0,1380775.story?coll=bal-local-headlines 4/23/07 Traffic congestion in metro Philadelphia worsens as suburban sprawl proceeds apace. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20070423_Farther__faster__Not_anymore.html 4/23/07 Woes of sick homeowner in Anchorage attempting to find a home to replace the one lost for a city road-building project illustrate the difficulties of the "process" of relocating those affected by development projects. http://www.adn.com/front/picture_inset/story/8818952p-8719780c.html 4/21/07 Missouri legislature ducks (for now) the issue of efforts to restrict local communities from regulating conditions at large livestock operations. 4/17/07 Corn versus celluosic ethanol:. Corn is winning hands-down with the floundering of ambitious plans to make ethanol from weeds and other agricultural wastes. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/17/business/17ethanol.html 4/11/07 Provincetown, Mass. is not a dust bowl. Editorialist for Washington Post decries that a system of federal loans for rural development, established in the "dust bowl" days of the 1930s, is wrongfully benefitting places like Provincetown that are deemed "rural" by virtue of a sparse off-season population. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/10/AR2007041001573.html?referrer=email 4/10/07 Opinion: Atlanta taking a wrong turn in its transit policies. Head of transportation department says he will return a federal grant to help the city to build a commuter rail line south of the city towards Macon. A critic says that will only promote further traffic congestion and suburban sprawl in the area. http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/stories/2007/04/05/0406edroads.html 4/5/07 Alaska Queen, a paddle-boat, is set to begin cruises between Seattle and Alaska, part of a booming tourist business in the Northwest. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/310561_ship06.html 3/31/07 Community garden ground becomes a dumping ground in a Baltimore neighborhood as a "revitalization" project proceeds. 3/29/07 Who is blocking whose view? battle erupts between residents of different housing developments in a Long Island community. http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-livary0329,0,2168639.story?coll=ny-li-bigpix 3/28/07 In Iowa, the cowboys and farmers can be friends...or can they? Demand for corn spurred by burgeoning ethanol production industry has revived "dying" Iowa agricultural towns, while cattle-growers find that those corn prices put their own operations on shaky grounds. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0328/p01s04-usec.html 3/28/07 Large gambling casino in Monroeville outside Pittsburgh is close to being approved. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07087/772991-336.stm 3/28/07 Build your high rise, they will come: Building development in downtown Houston continues as a new 31-story building is proposed, even though tenants for the building have not yet been identified. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4663689.html 3/28/07 "Reverend Rivers, where are you when we need you?" asks Boston Globe columnist, noting that a Boston neighborhood which Rivers once dominated with his personal improvement projects has deteriorated after his activities resulted in public reactions which effectively created his "disappearance." http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/03/27/the_streets_are_calling/ 3/27/07 Environmental Law Institute publishes a book by New Urbanism co-founder on how local planners can work with and against local zoning ordinances that get in the way of the Smart Growth agenda of opposing urban sprawl by the construction of high density, mixed use "town" developments within city boundaries. 3/26/07 President Bush is meeting with Detroit auto executives today and will express his support for their "flex fuel" manufacturing initiatives. 3/25/07 Mega-school in a Baltimore suburb is said to undercut the state's battle against suburban sprawl. 3/23/07 Woes of Cuyahoga County. With rapidly increasing mortgage foreclosure rates, many houses in Cleveland's suburbs are left vacant as near-blight conditions develop. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/23/us/23vacant.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin 3/23/07 Although Seattle voters as a whole rejected a new viaduct to replace the Alaskan Way one, those in the most immediately affected area, West Seattle, voted in favor of the replacement. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003631940_viaductvote23m.html 3/21/07 Opposition rises to proposed 18-mile connector tollway between Baltimore and Washington D.C. Critics say it would promote further urban sprawl. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/traffic/bal-md.icc21mar21,0,3719408.story?coll=bal-home-headlines 3/20/07 New Lincoln Institute book, "Visualizing Density," extolls the virtue of compact versus sprawled urban development. http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-12-2007/0004544269&EDATE 3/16/07 Seattle economy has to deal with the last production of the Boeing 747-400 passenger plane. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/307716_boeing16.html 3/15/07 Alaska's governor pushes for expansion of North Slope gas exploration. http://www.adn.com/money/industries/oil/pipeline/story/8709557p-8611839c.html 3/15/07 City Pages newspaper names Maplewood MN as the twin cities' "most dysfunctional suburb" based on the incompetence and/or corruption of its governing officials. http://www.citypages.com/databank/28/1371/article15218.asp 3/14/07 Seattle voters reject both Alaskan Way Viaduct and the tunnel proposed to replace it. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003616916_viaductelex14m.html 3/13/07 Former Wal-Mart site gets "smart" in Baton Rouge. Shopping complex around a Wal Mart store is re-done in the "smart growth" style of townhouse residences in a "pedestrian friendly" village with numerous small shops. http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/business/6347402.html 3/11/07 Seattle voters are doing mail-in "advisory" votes on the issue of whether to retain the earthquake-prone Alaskan Way Viaduct and/or how to replace it in what critics say is a "confusing" ballot. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/03/11/seattles_big_ugly_tangled_in_politics/ 3/6/07 Stop this train, we want to get off... Voters in Charlotte NC are halfway through a petition drive to derail the construction of a light transit system that is supported by a half-cent transportation tax, a project which has doubled in anticipated cost. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/109/story/35692.html 3/6/07 Digital video signboards are becoming a safety concern around the U.S. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0306/p01s04-ussc.html 3/6/07 Incentives offered by energy companies in Wisconsin are encouraging a large increase in people's use of solar energy panels. http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=573302 3/5/07 Revitalizing Detroit, one neighborhood (actually 6 neighborhoods) at a time. http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070219/METRO/702190371 3/4/07 Open space preservation has floundered in Delaware County outside Philadelphia, but revival is hoped for using proceeds from a Harrah's gambling casino. http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/16827667.htm 3/4/07 "Urban village" style of development is floundering in suburban Detroit, where a "walkable community" may be dependent on a "walkable climate" that isn't there. http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070217/METRO/702170360/1003 3/1/07 Plans for high end residential project in coastal Connecticut are being opposed both by envirommentalists and by those concerned with the archeological value of the site as the possible location of native American relics. http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096414566 2/26/07 Historic Massachusetts mill cities, already suffering from competition with high-tech industry, may face further slippage in their economic situations. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/02/26/11_cities_seen_at_risk_of_slipping_further/ 2/25/07 Transportation crisis looms in Maine as state DOT identifies 288 bridges that are in poor condition. http://bangordailynews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=146761&zoneid=500 2/18/07 Urban planning efforts of SCAG (Southern California Association of Governments) gets low marks in an LA Weekly analysis of their inability to get any handle on the "disaster" of southern California development. http://www.laweekly.com/news/news/planning-for-disaster/15676/ 2/18/07 After spending $10 million on the project, Wisconsin abandons a planned program to computerize unemployment claims after a key component in the system fails. http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=567067 2/17/07 As Seattle considers public financing for pro sports venues, 77% of people in a local poll indicate their opposition to such funding. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/304162_elway17.html 2/17/07 Neighbors of wind turbine farm which opened in December at Mars Hill, Maine complain about the noise from a project which its developers had promised would be noiseless. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/02/17/an_idyll_lost_in_turbines_humming/ 2/16/07 Largest ever development project in downtown Los Angeles signals the city's commitment to concentrate on central city development. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0216/p02s02-usgn.html 2/15/07 In Seattle, where a referendum on whether to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct with a tunnel approaches, a "third way" is being proposed: improve and widen streets and mass transit facilities. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003572893_surface15m0.html 2/15/07 Chrysler promises to keep its manufacturing operating in St. Louis, while it lays off 1300 workers at one plant as part of its "re-structuring." 2/13/07 Maryland's growth policies not very smart, according to critics: At a growth summit meeting, smart growth advocates argue that their agenda of countering urban sprawl through dense development projects is being hampered by a new state regulation requiring adequate water resources by designating an acre of each land for each house. 2/13/07 Snowmobiling champ who tries to use Alaska's Iditarod Trail for racing finds the course unsuitable as he repeatedly wrecks his sled. http://www.adn.com/front/story/8637037p-8529318c.html 2/10/07 Citing lack of time for a "meaningful review," a state agency in Washington bows out of a proposed analysis of costs of a tunnel to replace Seattle's Alaskan Way Viaduct,a project to be voted on in a March election. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/transportation/303248_viaduct10.html 2/5/07 Super Bowl Sunday not a super-day for restaurants as folks do parties at home and restaurants offer special incentives to try to bring people in. http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2007/feb/04/xbars-blitz-with-specials/ 2/1/07 Political blame game being played over Seattle's moribund Alaskan Way Viaduct. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/transportation/301993_gregoireviaduct01.html 1/27/07 Maryland Department of Planning warns that the state is not prepared to deal with services required by an influx of military people into the area as a result of base re-alignment. 1/26/07 Louisville and Trenton are among American cities that have taken advantage of a decade-long decline in downtown crime rates to attract upscale mixed-use/high density developments, but are now fearful that citywide rises in crime rates will affect those areas and make them less attractive. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-01-24-crime-surge_x.htm 1/21/07 Plans to replace a popular public market with a QFC super-market riles the residents of a Seattle neighborhood. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/300535_queenanne20.html 1/21/07 Ten years after Yosemite Park was devastated by a flood, its restoration remains unfulfilled as plans are caught between the conflicting expectations of developers and environmentalists. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/21/YOSEMITE.TMP 1/18/07 Washington Governor defeats Seattle Mayor's plan to substitute an underwater tunnel for an elevated viaduct. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/transportation/300190_viaduct18.html 1/8/07 Plans for building of massive subdivision in a rural area of Montana brings heavy local protests and a re-structuring of the affected county's planning process. http://www.helenair.com/articles/2007/01/08/helena_top/a01010807_01.txt 1/5/07 Maryland legislature considering the establishment of regional planning commissions with authority to veto development decisions made by local municipalities. 1/5/07 Corn is as high as an elephant's eye: Concerns are being expressed about the "glut" of ethanol fuel production which may be inflating the price of corn and creating problems for the global food economy. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0105/p01s04-wmgn.html 1/1/07 Movement of "McMansions" from suburbs to central cities is riling neighbors in Atlanta as across the US as a new trend develops. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0102/p03s03-ussc.html 1/1/07 With 3 college bowl games in an 11 day stretch, Phoenix residents are cashing in, many renting their houses to visiting fans for the duration of the stretch. http://www.flatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070101/BUSINESS/701010326/1003 12/31/06 Developers in Austin Texas are challenging the long-time ban on developments that would block sight lines for a city-wide view of the Texas state capitol. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/4435571.html 12/26/06 Heading down I-81: Security concerns are fueling a planned or anticipated migration of several federal agency offices ( including FBI and FEMA) out of Washington D.C.'s "blast zone" into a corridor along I-81 in Virginia's rural Shenandoah Valley toward city of Winchester. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/25/AR2006122500637.html?referrer=email 12/26/06 Olympia Peninsula in Washington, suffering from a lagging lumbering economy, is being re-invented as a haven for retirees and those seeking "escape" from metropolitan living. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/297199_econtour26.html 12/26/06 Underground parking facilities for single family homes are emerging as a building trend in the Dallas area. 12/24/06 Prairie Crossing in Illinois and Habersham in South Carolina are two shining examples of a "new urbanism" which creates livable human communities in sustainable relationships with their natural environments. http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1224-24.htm 12/24/06 Baltimore developer, who "grew up poor" in Florida, translates his vision for urban development by creating a revitalized community in southwest part of the city. 12/23/06 Los Angeles invades Horsetown: California town of Norco in Riverside County tries to retain its Horsetown USA atmosphere in the face of urban sprawl pressures. http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061223/BUSINESS/612230303/-1/news02 12/20/06 Residents of neighborhoods in Philadelphia where gambling casinos may rise express extreme apprehension about anticipated effects on their families and their life styles. http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/front/16278184.htm 12/19/06 Salt Lake County voters approved of a transportation tax that they apparently thought was to be used for mass transit but most proposals are actually for the building of automotive roadways. http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,650216142,00.html 12/18/06 Toilet paper, brake fluid, underwear: what do they have in common? They're among the very few products that will be purchased unused, as a group of San Francisco friends have bonded together to resist the consumer culture by purchasing almost entirely second hand products. So far year 2006 has been "new purchase free." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/17/AR2006121701122.html?referrer=email 12/15/06 A tentative agreement between preservationists and developers would allow some development projects to proceed on Sears Island, off the Maine coast. http://www.bangordailynews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=144179&zoneid=500 12/13/06 Rural Alaskans may lose their rights to priority access to federal lands for subsistence hunting and fishing under new federal regulations being considered. http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/rural/story/8488880p-8382665c.html 12/13/06 Capitol Corridor commuter train service has run successfully between Sacramento and Oakland for 15 years. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/12/13/BAGS0MUFTN1.DTL 12/10/06 Mayor of small town (Wallis) outside Houston warns its 1300 residents of impending invasion of Houston suburbanization and urges completion of a nearby lake for water supply; many residents are skeptical or resistant. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4390220.html 12/3/06 Fight is on to keep the 49ers NFL franchise from leaving San Francisco. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/12/03/BAGN9MOI9I1.DTL 11/28/06 Second battle of Gettysburg continues as local preservationist group, in their campaign to prevent a gambling casino in the region, succeeds in having the battleground placed on a historical preservation list. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06332/741798-336.stm 11/25/06 Plans being discussed to re-establish commuter rail service between Milwaukee, Kenosha and Racine at a $237 million cost. http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=535071 11/19/06 Asheville architects and planners object to North Carolina DOT's plan to widen Interstate 26 through the city, saying it will "eat up" too much more of Asheville. http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200661118038 11/19/06 In exchange for "natural gas and jobs" for the area, residents of small Alaska towns are willing to accept the building of a large state penitentiary. http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/matsu/story/8423892p-8318226c.html 11/18/06 Poll indicates that 2/3 of Salt Lake City residents prefer to use the proceeds of a transportation tax for development of mass transit systems rather than widening and increasing the number of roads. http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,650208166,00.html 11/14/06 City of Berkeley votes to enter a lawsuit against University of California for its plan to build a sports stadium over an earthquake fault line. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/11/14/BAG4JMCA991.DTL 11/5/06 The Old West is becoming the Bygone West as ranches are disappearing in Nevada: one ranch becomes Gardnerville Ranchos, a housing development. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/05/us/05ranches.html?hp&ex=homepage 11/4/06 From Manhattan's East River to Alaska's Cook Inlet, small group of companies are trying to develop tidal power, using the natural movement of bodies of water to help power turbines. http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061104/BUSINESS/211040334/1081/news02 10/29/06 Forrest Gump's Bayou La Batre, Alabama: tiny shrimping village outside Mobile, in having barely survived Katrina, may have been spared a greater disaster to its life style, the pre-Katrina plan of developers to put high rise condos in the place of its shrimp boats. http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1026/p01s01-ussc.html 10/28/06 Completion of construction nears on New England's largest wind turbine project, 28 towers on a ridge of Mars Hill Mountain in Maine, which will generate not only electricity but half million a year of revenue for nearby town of Mars Hill. http://www.bangornews.com/news/t/aroostook.aspx?articleid=142393&zoneid=175 10/27/06 Natural gas drilling boom in Ft. Worth has residents thrilled with the prospects of new wealth, but wary of accidents and community disruptions. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/27/business/27drilling.html?th&emc=th 10/26/06 Economically distressed town of French Lick, IN pins its hopes for revival on a luxury gambling casino, conforming to an Indiana law that casinos have to be on water by building a "lake" which is barely larger than the casino itself. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/26/us/26casino.html?th&emc=th 10/24/06 Bioneers conference in California highlights a wide variety of approachs to alternative forms of energy production. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/24/science/24conference.html?th&emc=th 10/22/06 City of Seattle adopts a new "brand" name: "metronatural." It will cost $300,000 but few have much idea what it actually means. http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102206X.shtml 10/21/06 Sunny Side Up: Solar energy on the cheap for a change. General Motors in California is obtaining electricity for its plants at a discount from former rates and without heavy "up front" investment as they buy from a solar energy producing concern that uses GM's roofs to generate power. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/21/business/21solar.html?th&emc=th 10/17/06 High cost of living in suburbia: study in Washington D.C. shows that suburban housing costs lower than those in the city are more than offset by higher commuting costs. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/11/AR2006101101883.html 10/11/06 As plea is made for a historic preservation, Mormons move ahead with their plans for redevelopment project in downtown Salt Lake City, some demolition may begin in November. http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,650197830,00.html 10/9/06 "Town centers" in Miami area are changing "the way suburbia shops." http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15699410.htm 10/9/06 Salt Lake City's plan for a super development in its downtown recalls a similarly hyped mega-mall project in the 1970s. http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,650197260,00.html 10/8/06 Mormon church plans huge mixed use redevelopment project in Salt Lake City; residents weigh in with opinions pro and con. http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,650197063,00.html 10/5/06 As sales of its H2 behemoth lag, Hummer shuts down its Indiana plant for 2 weeks. http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061005/UPDATE/610050453 10/5/06 First the monorail, now the toilets: Seattle's high-tech automated toilets are becoming havens for criminal and drug pushers, while the waste in the street continues to get worse. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/287615_toilet05.html 10/2/06 Bait and switch? Throughout the West, property owner rights groups are pushing for state ballot initiatives to protect against eminent domain seizures. Environmentalists and other critics say it's largely a ploy to relieve developers from constraint of local and state land use regulation. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/01/AR2006100101135.html?referrer=email 9/27/06 In Texas, Governor is proposing and Mayors are opposing a plan to build 18 new "dirty" coal-burning power plants, in spite of an alternative "integrated gassification combined cycle," which is much cleaner-burning but also more expensive. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6110191 To hear NPR's http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6110191 9/26/06 Plans in Hawaii to build 60,000 more homes on island of O'ahu raise concerns about infrastructure shortages and loss of open spaces. A resident asks: "are we going to become like Los Angeles?" http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/Sep/19/ln/FP609190341.html 9/25/06 Seattle's monorail, hailed for decades as the urban transportation of the future, now "mostly sits, waiting for repair, and affirmation" http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/25/us/25monorail.html?th&emc=th 9/18/06 "Adequate public facilities" requirement for new housing developments not working too well in a Baltimore community in which new homes produce overcrowding in the local school system. 9/1/06 Alternative energy advocates accuse Defense Department of stalling in completion of military impact statements on proposed wind turbine projects. http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/3622 8/31/06 Developer who earlier failed to maintain buildings acquired in a downtown Detroit redevelopment projects now wants a piece of the action in the current project. http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060831/BIZ03/608310367/1003/METRO 8/31/06 Lagging development of distribution system continues to slow the wide use of ethanol-based fuel. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/31/business/31ethanol.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin 8/30/06 Sustainability of the Seattle Center Monorail, built in 1962 and disabled last week, is a matter of some doubt. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/transportation/283096_monorail30.html 8/29/06 An Atlanta Constitution columnist, a "common sense conservative," says developers of high density projects often clothe their plans in the language of "smart growth" and unsmartly neglect to deal with the transportation gridlock that may be fostered by those projects. 8/29/06 As Bush administration is pushing nuclear power as an alternative energy source, communities around the country are hoping to attract nuclear facilities. http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/3601 8/22/06 After decades of booming development, Las Vegas is experiencing severe overcrowding of schools and exhaustion of natural resources, with a looming self-image as a "city under stress" rather than an "oasis in the desert." http://hotel-online.com/News/2006_Aug_18/k.TBG.1156181998.html 8/15/06 Survival of "old Biloxi" is much in doubt as casinos begin to move inland after the devastation of Katrina. http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060815/NEWS01/60815004 8/8/06 Plans to run automobiles on bio-fuels are being stymied by the small number of gas stations that sell the fuel. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/06/AR2006080600646.html?referrer=email&referrer=email&referrer=email 8/6/06 Problems associated with tunnel collapse in Boston's "big dig" have caused "Greenway" plans for recreational and cultural facilities along the Rose Fitgerald Kennedy Greenway to be "horribly delayed" in their completion. http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2006/08/05/greenway_projects_lose_more_ground/ 7/31/06 In Maryland, unlike neighboring Pennsylvania and West Viriginia, construction of wind turbine generators isn't catching on. http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bal-te.wind31jul31,0,6723759.story?coll=bal-home-headlines 7/18/06 Alumnae of a school in Concord MA, including the daughter of late former Senator Paul Tongas, protest the intentions of the school to take out nearby woods to provide for school sports facilities. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/07/18/in_forest_conscience_acts_as_a_guide/ 7/2/06 Wind turbine power for business operations is embraced by Staples in Massachusetts, but its example not likely to be widely emulated. http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=134462 7/2/06 Outhouse protests in West Virginia: residents of tiny village erect about 60 shells of outhouses with message of opposition to plans for a housing development catering to D.C. commuters. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06183/702858-85.stm 7/1/06 Beach erosion at Edisto Island, off South Carolina coast, is apparently another victim of "over-development." http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0701-28.htm 7/1/06 Its hard to get good macchiatos in Somerville MA any more, as popular but threadbare Someday Cafe is likely to be replaced by a Mr. Crepe that fits in better with the Starbucks ambience of Davis Square http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/07/01/in_somerville_someday_may_be_a_memory/ 6/25/06 Opening of a long-abandoned brewery in East Baltimore as a social service center in a problem-plagued neighborhood stirs some hopes for revitalization of the area; but there are some skeptics. 6/13/06 At dawn this morning, despite support from Hollywood celebrities and with Daryl Hannah literally hugging a tree, Sheriff's Deputies in South Central Farm in Los Angeles begin to evict farmers in that agricultural enclave. http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060613/APA/606130663&cachetime=5 6/11/06 Fat hits the fire in Utah as backyard bio-diesel makers use frying fat waste from restaurants and encounter complaints from commercial renderers and the wary regulatory eye of local environmental protection agency. http://www.sltrib.com/ci_3924537 6/11/06 Does liquified natural gas have a future in Maine...and the nation? http://www.bangornews.com/news/templates/?a=135666 6/11/06 Nude bike rides around the world promote alternative modes of transportation. http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Nude_cyclists_race_around_world_to_0610.html 6/10/06 "Treasured patches of green" in Baltimore's beltway area are rapidly disappearing under the stress of development. 6/10/06 Effort to preserve South Central Farm in Los Angeles is buoyed by celebrity support and large grant from Annenberg Foundation. http://www.laweekly.com/news/news/pledging-the-farm/13737/ 6/7/06 Agribusiness, abetted by Bush administration, is eager to produce "green fuel" by the operating of heavily polluting coal-fired plants. http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/37217/ 6/4/06 Reynolds, Indiana, calls itself Bio-Town based on a "pig and corn" source of energy. While many cars are fitted for alternative fuels, you still can't buy ethanol fuel in Reynolds. A New York Times video report. http://graphics.nytimes.com/packages/html/us/20060602_BIOTOWN_FEATURE/blocker.html?th&emc=th 6/4/06 Despite double digit vacancy rates in office buildings in downtown Boston, six high rise office buildings are in various stages of building. http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2006/06/04/why_are_office_towers_on_the_rise_again_in_boston/?page=1 5/27/06 Paying the piper with the current oil crisis: Americans have created an "easy driving utopia" in a complex suburbia that cannot be sustained by the world's oil supplies. http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0526-24.htm 5/24/06 Another bite at the apple: proposal for a wind power farm in Buzzards Bay seems to be garnering support from some of those who opposed same project in Nantucket Sound. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/05/24/buzzards_bay_wind_farm_proposed/?page=1 5/23/06 Citizen activists in Sitka and other small Alaskan towns are engaged in battle with the building of ocean-liner docks and other facilities that encourage an influx of summer tourism that is disruptive to native life styles. http://www.adn.com/money/industries/tourism/story/7758474p-7670678c.html 5/22/06 Just as nuclear power is being touted as a solution to global warming problems, a cooling tower of a Washington state power plant explodes. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/21/AR2006052100933.html?referrer=email 5/21/06 Iowa farmers look to become the "Arabs of the Midwest" as they plant corn in anticipation of its use in the manufacture of ethanol. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/20/AR2006052000953.html?referrer=email 4/30/06 San Diego tries to sell the idea of smart infill growth to a wary city: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20060430-9999-1h30smart.html 4/30/06 Study by smart growth advocates shows that certain anti-sprawl laws meant to control explosive growth have the opposite effect: http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/14454440.htm 4/27/06 Energy industry giving no consideration to use of nuclear power; not out of environmental concerns but cost-of-production ones:
Books: Rogers, Gone Tomorrow: the Hidden Life of Garbage: http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-15658487990
Video/Film:
Other Media:
FLORIDA
STATEWIDE
Websites:
Analysis & views: 3/1/10 3/1/10 2/9/10 2/8/10 1/28/10 1/24/10 1/23/10 1/16/10 12/6/09 12/4/09 12/3/09 12/3/09 11/30/09 11/30/09 10/27/09 10/24/09 9/23/09 9/23/09 In south Florida, ride sharing arrangements falter when gasoline prices drop. 12/19/07 As plans proceed for conversion of the fabled water park at Weeki Wachee, one proposal is that it become a state park and that its former mermaids assume positions of park employees with job titles yet to be determined. Any suggestions? In mountain-climbing they have "tail guides" (to hang back to encourage the laggers). Would this work? http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-locweeki19121907dec19,0,2401974.story 12/19/07 As more south Floridians are providing for the care of their pets in their wills, a burgeoning business among estate lawyers and animal care-giving agencies is appearing. 11/21/07 The holiday "fruit basket" industry, featuring Florida citrus sent to grandchildren and friends around the world, is still flourishing; 8 million pounds of fruit will make long distance trips this year. as the state's blue birds treat their loved ones trapped in the frozen north with a taste of Florida's "paradise." 10/1/07 Florida's growth machine is terrified by Hometown Democracy amendment:. And some of them use "sneaky tactics" in the attempt to derail an action that would give citizens significant input on development policy, removing the monopoly therewith of politicians with whom they maintain cozy and influential relations. Carl Hiaasen describes some of these tactics as used by John Thrasher, former speaker of the House and presently a super-lobbyist, who has circulated scare materials suggesting higher taxes in urging voters to remove their names from the HD petition; and who even claims he is fighting against the "big developers" whom in fact he consistently represents. http://www.miamiherald.com/540/story/253942.html 8/15/07 Traffic control on I-95 in south Florida: currently designated "car pool" lane may be transformed into high occupancy (HOT) lanes for which users will have to pay a $6 fee. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbexpress0815nbaug15,0,6747080.story 8/4/07 Information on structurally deficient bridges in North Florida is hard to come by: Although 7 of the monitored by state DOTin 18 north Florida counties are listed as deficient, DOT officials have yet to reveal the identity of those 7 bridges, citing an "abundance of caution" in not violating a mandate after 9/11 against releasing information about infrastructure condition. (Apparently terrorists would only strike "structurally deficient" bridges.) http://gainesville.com/article/20070804/LOCAL/708040319/-1/newshttp://gainesville.com/article/20070804/LOCAL/708040319/-1/news 8/3/07 15 bridges in central Florida are rated as structurally poor; Orlando Sentinel feature. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-poorbridges-map,0,4910821.htmlpage 7/5/07 The sunshine state of Florida trails most other states in its application of solar power to the state's energy needs; advocates doubt the "political will" to apply technology that is already available. 6/20/07 Florida Chamber of Commerce and other business groups are launching campaign against initiative that would allow local citizens to vote directly on proposed development projects. http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBSIE6A53F.html 5/14/07 New hope for Florida businesses feeling pressure from local ordinances and competitors; take your complaint to a "Law Store" which, for a fee, will help you get the changes you need to help your local business. 5/13/07 Florida's wildfire problem partly due to residential intrusion on rural lands. With population spreading into hitherto remote places, the controlled burns that tend to control such fires are increasingly rare. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0511/p03s01-ussc.html?page=1 5/7/07 Planning to enter Interstate 95 in South Florida? You might want your lawyer or accountant along with you, to figure out what lanes you can use and what tolls you will be charged, as complicated "new technology" for determining traffic flow and tolls is now being unveiled. http://www.miamiherald.com/438/story/98497.html 4/17/07 Marlins, Magic and Lightning are three Florida sports franchises hoping to benefit from state legislature's $100 million grant to help them build their infrastructures. 4/7/07 Continued heavy building construction on Florida's coasts is raising concerns about the viability of the state's hurricane insurance program. 4/5/07 Florida legislature considers amendments to "growth management" regulation that could eliminate state oversight on locality's abilities to determine the rules applied to builders of local projects. http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/frtHEAD01040507.htm 4/2/07 Florida's "Forgotten Coast" (Panhandle) would be remembered again with controversial program promoted by Governor Crist to restore historic lighthouses. http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070402/LOCAL/704020319/-1/news 3/23/07 Increasing, toll booths may ring with higher tolls and more toll roads as Florida House passes measure saying in effect the state has no money to build roads and it's up to private road developers. http://www.miamiherald.com/569/story/50051.html 3/22/07 What goes up (and up) must come down. Central Florida's spiraling population growth of the last several years finally shows signs of abating. 3/20/07 "Affordable" vacations in south Florida are becoming affordable only for the wealthy, as hotels with moderates rates are being replaced by those charging up to $800 per night and expensive condos. 3/4/07 Let voters decide growth issues says an organization called Florida Hometown Democracy which is gathering petitions for ballot initiative to allow popular referendums on major development projects. Sierra Club has joined the movement, Florida Chamber of Commerce hates it. 3/3/07 Seminole tribe reaches tentative agreement with developer that will allow it to expand its Hard Rock facilities in south Florida by acquiring the company from its London owners and developing a "global presence" in the hotel, restaurant and casino gambling business. 2/19/07 An "endangered species" in Florida: the human wilderness trail hiker, as state's development increasingly limits facilities for walking on the state's wilderness trail. 2/9/07 For better or for worse, a proposed 110 mile tollway between Lakeland and Ft. Meyers would fundamentally re-shape a large slice of rural central Florida. http://www.tbo.com/news/nationworld/MGBGE5M5YXE.html 2/6/07 "Explosive growth in Central Florida": One of the many provocative conclusions of a report on Florida growth management issued by Georgia Institute of Technology under contract with 1000 Friends of Florida. http://www.1000friendsofflorida.org/planning/2060.asp 1/19/07 Critics of Florida's proposed reform in home insurance rates say they are encouraging homeowners to behave like Las Vegas gamblers, paying less in premiums, gambling against losses with wind damage exemptions and higher deductibles. http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/frtHEAD02011907.htm 1/17/07 Florida tourism suffers as high condo rental prices are causing "snow birds" to shorten their winter stays in the state. http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16468039.htm 12/11/06 I-4 corridor from Tampa to Orlando is rapidly becoming one single extended metropolitan area. 12/10/06 One if by land, two if by air, either way the tourists are coming to Florida: projected doubling of tourist visits to the state by 2025 portends likely gridlock at the state's airports and on its highways. 11/25/06 With decline of commercial fishing and encroachment of growth and development, Florida's "fishing villages" are becoming a "quaint" relic of the past as a DeLand photographer hurries to photograph them before they are extinct. 11/15/06 State land buy of 4500 acres near Silver Springs protects the area from development encroachment. http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061115/LOCAL/211150337/1078/news 10/27/06 Don't come to Florida! Miami Herald columnist Carl Hiaasen, speaking in Gainesville, cites destruction of Florida's natural resources from over-development, and says he has spent much of his writing career trying to "scare" people from coming. Apparently it hasn't worked, 1,000 per day continue to come. http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061027/LOCAL/210270345/1078/news 10/21/06 Yeehaw! Destiny comes to central Florida: Developer is now acquiring land to build a "model" community near the "sleepy" town of Yeehaw Junction to be called Destiny. He says it will be "environmentally conscious," environmentalists are wary but encouraged, the cows who live there now are non-committal. http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061021/BUSINESS/210210340/1081/news02 10/2/06 From Steinhatchee to Yankeetown, from fishing to condos: Florida's north Gulf Coast including Horseshoe Beach, billed as "Florida's last frontier." Threatened closure of HB's last marina, because the owner is unable to pay spiraling property taxes, is emblematic of the change. http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061002/LOCAL/210020330 9/15/06 Governor Bush pumps first E-85 (ethanol) fuel available at a Florida gas station into an SUV. Some environmentalists hail this as a (small) advance toward fuel emission reduction but doubt the Governor's stated reason for supporting the alternative fuel: that it would "reduce our dependence on foreign oil." http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060914/LOCAL/209140357/1078/news 7/1/06 Not all ethanol corn in Iowa, as Florida enterprisers and political leaders jump on the alternative fuels bandwagon. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-0701biofuels,0,1392783.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines 6/29/06 Unsustainable development? 50 years after Ike's signing of enabling legislation for the nation's interstate highway system, that system has produced booming population and tourism in South Florida, but has destroyed most vestiges of traditional community, rural and urban. Now faced with inability to maintain the system, privatization of the operation is being sought. http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14925567.htm 6/5/06 While 1000 people per day are "pouring into" Florida, 400 a day are "pouring out" as Floridians, especially in south Florida, are "fed up" with hurricane damage, overcrowding and high housing costs. 4/1/06 A year after passing tough legislation on growth management, Florida legislators looking for ways to "smooth the path" for developers by allowing exemptions: http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060331/CAPITOLNEWS/603310364 3/6/06 Formerly remote sections of the Florida Panhandle are growing at an alarming rate http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/2006hID=73237056728067 2/22/06 UF study: Florida continues its rapid growth, influx undeterred by hurricane threats; 47% population increase projected by 2030: http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060222/LOCAL/202220328/1078 2/6/06 Abuse by developers of tax exemptions for agricultural land use leads to calls for reform of state tax laws. http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13800664.htm 2/6/06 Florida's citrus canker eradication program abandoned after it started to challenge the large citrus groves: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/states/florida/counties/broward_county/13801624.htm 2/3/06 State Agriculture Department Gives Up on Citrus Canker Eradication, Lays Off 500 Workers: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FL_CITRUS_CANKER_FLOL-?SITE=FLTAL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT 2/2/06 Urban sprawl overtakes Ocala horse farms: http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060202/NEWS/202020399/1001/news01 2/1/06 Developers create marginal "farms" to cash in on agricultural use tax exemptions: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/12434363.htm http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/custom/growth/orl-cashcow2906jan29,0,386599.story?coll=orl-news-growth-headlines
Other information sources:
FLORIDA LOCALITIES
Websites:
Orlando (Cocoa): Research Institute, University of Central Florida, Solar Energy Center: http://www.fsec.ucf.edu/ Sarasota: Florida House Institute for Sustainable Development (academically-based linking of various sustainability projects): http://www.i4sd.org/ Tampa: University of South Florida Center for Community Design and Research (emphasizing community research to promote sustainable development) http://www.ficus.usf.edu/default.asp
Analysis and views: Daytona Beach: 3/4/10 Gainesville: 2/24/10 Longboat Key: 2/14/10 Miami: 2/14/10 Orlando: 2/12/10 West Palm Beach: 2/8/10 Orlando: 2/3/10 Tallahassee: 1/11/10 Delray Beach: 11/28/09 Orlando: 10/29/09 Gainesville: 10/29/09 Volusia Co.: 10/27/09 10/23/09 Jacksonville: 9/30/09 9/30/09 Winter Haven: 9/24/09 Orlando: 9/16/09 Gainesville: 9/15/09 Orlando: 9/14/09 Orlando: 8/6/09 Palm Beach Co.: 7/18/08 Palm Beach County: Build your pipeline and water customers will come (not!): The county builds a $51 million pipe line to bring water into the county for anticipated Scripps Research facility in Jupiter as well for housing development in the west part of the county. With a court-ordered stoppage of the Scripps project and a tanking of the housing market, PBC critics are calling it the "pipeline to nowhere" for which taxpayers must pay. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flppipeline0718pnjul18,0,1683595.story Miami: 7/17/08 New money for new rails. This was the idea behind Miami-Dade County voters' approval in 2002 of a sales tax increase that would allow for expansion of the county's metro-rail system. This expansion has faltered, as the county has had to use enhanced revenue to maintain the "old" rails and plans for Orange Line extensions to outer reaches of the county have been put on hold. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami_dade/story/607497.html Panama City: 7/16/08 Historic Shrimpboat Restaurant is coming back to Panama City after several years of closure with decline of local shrimping. http://www.newsherald.com/news/smith_4982___article.html/years_friend.html Pasco Co.: 7/16/08 Pasco County nudist resort defies nudist association ban against involvement with "swinging" sexual activity and finds itself banned from the rolls of the American Association for Nude Recreation. http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/jul/15/me-nudists-split-from-national-group/ Gainesville: 7/11/08 United Methodist Church in Gainesville finds a way to survive the construction of a stalled University Corners project, as part of the demolished site is cleared of rubble to make way for groundbreaking for new chapel in September. New Smyrna Beach: 7/11/08 Some New Smyrna Beach residents are protesting the city's policy of maintaining "pocket parks" on the area's river front that, they say, are being fouled by the fishing activities off their banks. http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Local/newEAST04071008.htm Jacksonville: 7/10/08 Philadelphia newspaper says owner of Jacksonville Jaguars is trying to sell the team in a deal that could move the team to Los Angeles. http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/071008/met_302053453.shtml Orlando: 2/7/08 Mixed use redevelopment project in downtown Orlando is suffering a mixed bag of woes: The project consists of two office towers and a residential condominium. Owners of one of the office towers faces foreclosure on a loan to build a parking garage, businesses in office towers are threatened with electricity cut-off for non-payment of bills, and the condo offers a public auction for their 42 unsold units. And this is supposedly Florida's best such project!. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/orl-condo0708feb07,0,3929812.story Miami: 2/6/08 Traffic,noise and parking:. The three horsemen of local opposition to oceanfront hotel development rear their heads again in south Florida as still another hotelier plans for a large expansion of his facility. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami_dade/neighbors/story/406363.html Miami: 12/19/07 Devil may be in details for Miami's "mega-deal" for massive downtown development. While approved by the County Commission, "details" such as an agreement with the Florida Marlins on the building of a new baseball stadium must be worked out. http://www.miamiherald.com/460/story/349835.html Zephyrhills: 12/19/07 Zephyrhills economy is struggling with the environmentalist backlash against the bottled water industry. http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/dec/19/na-tide-turning-against-flood-of-empties/ Broward Co.: 11/30/07 Trailing its "racino" competitors in Broward County, Gulfstream Park plans to revamp its operations by cutting back on slot machines and focussing on video poker. http://www.miamiherald.com/460/story/324798.html Orlando: 11/28/07 Orange County officials hope to curb illegal drag races in company parking lots by issuing parking citations to their spectators. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-racing2807nov28,0,5729426.story Winter Park: 11/27/07 Local opposition will apparently scuttle the plan, as part of Orlando's and Orange County's deal with the Orlando Magic to support a downtown arena, for the Magic to build a gym in Winter Park. Gainesville: 9/25/07 Gainesville City Commission decides not to decide about electronic signs in the city. http://www.gainesvillesun.com/article/20070925/NEWS/709250320 Maitland: 9/25/07 City officials in Maitland approve developer's plan for "dramatic" re-design of the city's downtown area. http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2007/09/maitland-approv.html Orlando: 8/15/07 Timers for pedestrian street crossings and signs indicating location of available parking are among the high-tech devices planned by Orlando to control downtown traffic when its sports/entertainment complex opens. Tampa: 8/15/07 Three new hotels being built by one developer in an area immediately south of Tampa International Airport. http://www.tbo.com/news/nationworld/MGBHA02RB5F.html Tampa: 8/4/07 Minneapolis fall out? Hillsborough County closes a bridge on Memorial Highway which had been declared "structurally deficient" years ago. http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGB5E2EHX4F.html Orlando: 8/2/07 9-hour traffic delay on I-4 near State road 192 interchange in Osceola County leads to apology from state DOT and a promise of better management of changes in traffic signs. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-sign0207aug02,0,5284231.story?coll=orl_tab01_layout Jacksonville: 7/29/07 Home-built airplane hobbyists in Jacksonville are making a lot of noise about the city's noise ordinance that puts a crimp in their activities. http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/072907/met_187667145.shtml Port St. Lucie: 7/29/07 Officials at Port St. Lucie hope to revive a long-stalled proposed to build a new bridge across St. Lucie River with some unexpected support from an old nemesis, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/tcoast/epaper/2007/07/29/m1a_SLBRIDGE_0729.html Weeki Wachee: 7/28/07 Weeki Wachee mermaids may be nearing their last splash as a 60-year reunion of "former" mermaids is counterposed to the likelihood that debts will force closure of the fabled tourist attraction and movie set. (Retrospective video on mermaids history is linked to the article in Orlando Sentinel). http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-mermaids2807jul28,0,6955731.story?coll=orl_tab01_layout Gainesville: 7/27/07 During summer doldrums with football out of season, two large national conventions of Jehovah's Witnesses in one month provide a much-needed "shot in the arm" to Gainesville's tourist economy. http://www.gainesville.com/article/20070727/LOCAL/707270314 Orlando: 7/27/07 Downtown Orlando to be the new Magic kingdom; county commission approves sports/entertainment complex that will give NBA team a new arena and be the largest public building project in central Florida history. Orlando: 7/27/07 Orlando Magic's agreement to build youth sports facilities in Orange County may tip the scales toward County Commission's approval today of a downtown sports and performing arts venue. Kissimmee: 7/25/07 Kissimmee tries to upscale its "cheap and cheerful" branding of Disney tourism by developing some more luxury accommodations. Port Canaveral: 7/24/07 Disney Ships may move some of its operations away from Port Canaveral. DeLand: 7/23/07 DeLand homeowner builds a pitch-and-putt golf course in his backyard and learns that if "you build your green, they will come." http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Local/newWEST01072307.htm St. Augustine: 7/23/07 University of Florida takes over maintenance of 31 historical buildings in St. Augustine. http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/jul/23/me-university-takes-over-care-of-31-st-augustine-s/ Orlando: 7/18/07 Orlando hotelier hopes to repeat his earlier campaign successes against development projects by trying to stop downtown sports and entertainment complex. Tampa: 7/14/07 "Revitalization" of area of Tampa north of I-275 will disrupt much of the "vital" human elements that exist there now:The construction offices for a new Stetson U. college of law, "tony" housing developments and other "vitalizations" will displace many poor and black families living there as well Salvation Army and other facilities to help deal with the city's homeless population. http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGB86OFJ34F.html Lauderdale Lakes: 7/13/07 Lauderdale Lakes couple faced eviction from a condo that has an exclusion clause against residents with children, although they had previously obtained a waiver of the exclusion. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbkids0713nbjul13,0,7261033.story Deland: 7/7/07 Contractors in Deland are complaining of lack of parking facilities and enforcement harassment as they try to park cars and construction equipment. http://www.beacononlinenews.com/dailyitem.php?itemnum=101 St. Augustine: 7/7/07 St. Augustine's plan to preserve its "historic charm" by concentrating all adult businesses in a "strip zone" meets strong resistance by residents of the designated "zone." http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/070707/met_182857753.shtml Miami: 7/6/07 "Can we go fishin' toay, Dad?" This question is heard less and less frequently in south Florida as the deep sea charter boat industry flounders as supply of fish and customers lessens. http://www.miamiherald.com/457/story/161826.html Putnam Co.: 7/3/07 Plans for Mariposa development project in Putnam County raise local concerns about loss of a Florida heritage. http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/070307/met_181746528.shtml Eatonville: 7/2/07 For 2 and 1/2 minutes each day, town of Eatonville parts the curtains from around the reconstruction work on its water tower, to the entertainment of commuters along I-4. Tampa: 6/23/07 Tampa Tribune investigates alleged practice of neighborhood associations asking developers for financial assistance in exchange for their support of development projects. http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/jun/23/me-developers-cash-can-be-sticky-gift/?news-metro 6/22/07 Downtown development in Gainesville FL: they've built the parking garage, now the construction of condos accelerates. http://gainesville.com/article/20070622/BUSINESS/706220327/-1/news02 Hollywood: 6/20/07 Battle is joined in Hollywood FL between planned hospital construction and the objections of people in the affected neighborhoods. Volusia Co.: 6/19/07 Volusia County objections to proposed light rail system threatens effectiveness of the whole project for a central Florida rail. http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/frtHEAD01061907.htm Alachua Co.: 6/18/07 Lake side residents in Alachua are fighting for more county regulation on motorboat use in the lakes on which their homes are located. http://www.gainesville.com/article/20070618/SUNFRONT/706180307 Tampa: 6/17/07 Old Port Tampa, a formerly bustling port now a region of warehouses, is "envisioned" as an area in which upscale residential development is a possibility. http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBMFA0K03F.html Volusia Co.: 6/17/07 Efforts at land preservation in Volusia County FL are met with skepticism of environmentalists who think they see "loopholes" through which development plans will drive. http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Local/newEAST01ENV061707.htm Orlando: 6/16/07 After two rejections, state regulators approve a new children's hospital in Orlando. Gainesville; 6/15/07 Gainesville FL city commissioners are looking critically at a massive "Urban Village" development on SW 34th St, oriented to University students, one objection being that it may draw resources away from plans for development in East Gainesville. http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070615/LOCAL/706150338/-1/news Tampa: 6/14/07 80% of Tampa area commuters travel to work alone, as carpooling and mass transit are kept down by the patterns of location of homes and work. How many people can find a bus, train or carpooler going from the same point A (home) to point B (work)? http://www.tbo.com/news/nationworld/MGBHWDNMW2F.html Winter Park 6/12/07 To avoid litigation, city of Winter Park FL will have to pay developers up to $5.7 million for a condo development above Central Park post office that will not be built. Orlando: 6/11/07 Plans to build a "top tier" children's hospital in Orlando continue to run afoul of reluctance of regulators to issue a "certificate of need" that indicates that population trends and existing facilities establish a need. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/orl-need1107jun11,0,3871136.story?coll=orl-home-headlines Briny Breezes: 6/10/07 Barrage of objections meet a developer's plan for projects on the site of a former mobile home in Briny Breezes FL. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2007/06/10/s1c_brinydca_0610.html Tampa: 6/7/07 Trouble right here in Ybor City. Residents of neighborhood appeal to Tampa for helping in containing the violence that has recently hit their streets. http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBF74WLM2F.html Daytona Beach: 6/2/07 Daytona Beach, fine and dandy for a day at the races or a week at the beach; but would you want to live there? New city-commissioned survey shows that, by and large, residents of the city think it is an unsatisfactory place to live as they complain about schools, the government and just about everything else except the county-run bus service. http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/frtHEAD04060207.htm Lake Okeechobee: 6/1/07 "Where are they biting"? This classic question at a fishing bait store is answered by proprietors of such stores along Lake Okeechobee in Florida: "anywhere you can find water." Since Lake O is nearly dried up, this means a hazardous trip to find the few spots of water left, highlighting the problems of sustainability of lake-related businesses along the lake. http://www.miamiherald.com/569/story/125071.html Gainesville: 5/30/07 Airport officials at Gainesville FL are unhappy over builder's plan to build an "active adult community" near Ironwood Golf Course and on the flight path for planes taking off from the airport. http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070530/SUNFRONT/705300354 Volusia Co.; 5/29/07 Volusia County commuters to jobs in Orange and Seminole Counties may find their trips will not as expected be available by rail transportation, as county commission seems to be pulling back for support of light commuter rail. Ponce Inlet: 5/27/07 Ponce Inlet near Smyrna Beach FL is one of a string of 150 islands along the Indian and Halifax Rivers for which Volusia County is struggling to satisfy the competing demands of humans and nature. Orlando: 5/23/07 Will urban sprawl make Orlando look like Los Angeles by midcentury? New University of Central Florida study shows that it doesn't have to be that way. Hillsborough Co.: 5/22/07 Plans are announced for large "multi-faceted mall" in south Hillsborough County just off I-75. http://www.tbo.com/news/money/MGBR2Y4MZ1F.html Loxahatchee: 5/16/07 Plan for a "new town" in a Loxhatchee citrus grove is defeated in vote of Palm Beach County Commission. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2007/05/16/s1a_CALLERY_0516.html Orlando: 5/16/07 Rape of a German tourist in Orlando raises local concerns about its effects on the local tourist economy if, as often happens, crimes against European tourists are "played up" in the European press. Flagler Beach: 5/15/07 Flagler Beach FL mayor opposes effort to food vendors to obtain permission to sell their wares on the beach. http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Local/newFLAG01051507.htm Orlando: 5/15/07 City and county officials agree on "venue" of projects for massive downtown development; now they just have to find the money. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/orl-venues1507may15,0,4189548.story?coll=orl-news-headlines Miami Beach: 5/14/07 A rusty boat docked off Palm Island near Miami Beach riles the neighborhood of wealthy people who don't like the unsightly vessel in proximity to their luxury yachts. http://www.miamiherald.com/460/story/106001.html Broward Co.: 5/13/07 Reaching for the sky will replace urban sprawl for most new Broward County FL housing projects, as they build upward rather than outward. Gainesville: 5/12/07 Bed-and-breakfast "boomlet" being noted in an area just east of downtown Gainesville FL that has recently been a rundown area. http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070512/SUNFRONT/705120338 Gainesville: 5/11/07 Economic benefits and costs of University of Florida to the city of Gainesville are analyzed in Gainesville Sun article. http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070511/SUNFRONT/705110370 Miami: 5/11/07 A new film depicts the history of Miami Stadium, built in 1949 with the aim of attracting a major league baseball team to Miami. Having failed to do that, or to attract many crowds for any sport, the stadium was demolished without much fanfare or nostalgia in 2001. Is there a lesson for Orlando today in this? http://www.miamiherald.com/884/story/103205.html Deltona: 5/8/07 Deltona FL homeowners are upset about a re-zoning change that would allow additional housinng development in their neighborhood, a change made with little or no publicity. http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Local/newWEST02050807.htm Orlando: 5/7/07 Noting the high burden on local taxpayers for downtown Orlando arts and sports complex, Orange County commission is looking for more support for the project from private sources. Gainesville: 5/6/07 To the shock of locals, Gainesville, FL is rated as the No. 1 city in the U.S. A national publication, rating cities on a variety of measures, so rates the Gainesville "metropolitan area" which includes all of Alachua and part of Gilchrist County. Not having made even the top 50 in the previous edition of the book, the meteroric rise is based largely on a dramatic improvement in employment, fuelled no doubt by the region's building boom. There's no apparent sign that UF's national football and basketball championships were a factor. http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070506/SUNFRONT/705060331 Gainesville: 5/4/07 After extensive public hearings, Alachua County Commission unanimously votes against expansion of Springhills development in Gainesville. http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070504/SUNFRONT/705040337 Gainesville: 5/2/07 About 1200 citizens turn out at a community college auditorium in Gainesville FL to air their views about the pending expansion of the Springhills development project. http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070502/SUNFRONT/705020345 Polk Co. 4/29/07 Prescribed fire burn to protect rural homes in Polk County FL burned several homes and many acres of wild life habitat, highlighting the threat to that habitat from rural housing development. Miami: 4/27/07 Miami's metrorail system would get its first extension since 1984 with approval of 9.5 mile expansion into the north corridor along 27th Avenue. http://www.miamiherald.com/460/story/88269.html Palm Beach Co.: 4/26/07 A citrus grove in Loxahatchee FL comes closer to being another "new town" which will allegedly ameliorate urban sprawl and traffic congestion. Cocoa: 4/24/07 Scandal-racked downtown development project in Cocoa FL is in danger of being scrapped http://www.flatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070424/NEWS01/704240342/1006 Gainesville: 4/24/07 Gainesville FL declares a moratorium on electronic signs. http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070424/SUNFRONT/704240347 Tampa; 4/22/07 CSX Transportation bills counties in Tampa area for expensive repairs of railway facilities, with little accountability on how they spend the money. http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBCV3EUS0F.html Palm Beach Co.: 4/20/07 County arts panel turns down quarter-million dollar grant request from Palm Beach Opera to support its "marketing" operations. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/pbccentral/content/local_news/epaper/2007/04/20/s3b_opera_0420.html Gainesville: 4/19/07 The Rock Church in southwest Gainesville proposes a "mixed-used" housing development in their vicinity that raises concerns of environmentalists. http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070419/LOCAL/70419014/-1/news Jacksonville: 4/18/07 Florida DOT refuses to allow traffic lane reversals in downtown Jacksonville to mitigate traffic jams created by closing of Mathews Bridge. http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/041807/met_9309182.shtml Briny Breezes: 4/17/07 Renters in seaside mobile home park at Briny Breezes FL will have to leave their homes after their landlords sold out the homes to a developer. Lee Co.: 4/17/07 Lee County FL plans to "go smart" in its development of high-density, mixed-used housing projects. http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070412/NEWS0106/704120367/1075 Gainesville: 4/16/07 Football fanaticism in Gainesville? Nah, only 47,500 fans show up to witness a scrimmage between two Gator squads. http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070415/LOCAL/704150327/0/news Tampa: 4/16/07 Massive construction delays around Tampa International Airport are impending as effort is made to straighten out the "tangle" of roads around the airport. http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBBE717K0F.html Briny Breezes: 4/13/07 Plans for luxury development at their mobile homes site rouses anger among residents of Briny Breezes FL Palm Beach Co.; 4/12/07 Palm Beach County FL reacts to criticism of new golf coarse by threatening the withholding of a permit in a drought-stricken area. Lake Okeechobee: 4/10/07 Everglades agriculture is threatened as Lake Okeechobee's water level reaches all-time low. Sanford: 4/10/07 Skyscrapers for Sanford, FL? City Commission, over local protests, approves development guideline that would permit buildings of up to 16 stories in height in the city, population 54,000. Cedar Key: 4/9/07 "Quirky and shabby" Cedar Key FL is about to become the home of a luxury resort, and the locals are not entirely happy about that Jacksonville: 4/7/07 Commuter rail system beginning to take shape for Jacksonville metropolitan area. http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/040707/met_8948710.shtml Ft. Lauderdale: 4/5/07 Seminole Tribe's effort to expand land holdings for an enlarged casino/hotel complex in south Florida is being opposed by adjacent town of Coconut Creek. Ft. Lauderdale: 4/4/07 Plans for reconstruction of I-595 near Ft. Lauderdale highlight the likelihood that here, as elsewhere in the state, road construction will be undertaken by private companies and tolls will help pay for them. Gainesville: 4/4/07 Gainesville police officer gravely wounded by hit-and-run driver while on crowd control for celebrations following Gator basketball victory remains in an area hospital. http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070404/SUNFRONT/704040356 Gainesville: 4/3/07 High cost of celebration: Gainesville police lieutenant hit and seriously injured by speeding driver while trying to clear University Avenue in celebration following the UF Gator's BCS championship basketball win. http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070403/MISC/70403013 Tampa: 4/1/07 Hillsborough County considering revival of commuter ferry service in Tampa Bay area. http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBN9TAXYZE.html Orlando: 3/31/07 36 Hours in Orlando, Florida -- without even going to Disney World. New York Times travel writer extolls the artistic, cultural and historical virtues of the downtown of this most "misunderstood" of American cities. http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/travel/01hours.html?th&emc=th Tampa: 3/30/07 Tourism in Hillsborough County: fewer people spending more money. http://www.tbo.com/news/money/MGB09YDWVZE.html Gainesville: 3/29/07 University Corners project inches forward in Gainesville as developers drop their demands for additional incentives from the city. http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070329/LOCAL/703290362/-1/news Jacksonville: 3/28/07 Though attorneys say the decision would be "difficult to defend in court," Jacksonville City Council passes ordinance requiring nude dance clubs to re-locate away from schools and churches. http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/032807/met_8906547.shtml Orlando: 3/28/07 Orlando homeowner gets "SLAPPED" with a law suit after he publicly complained about the practices of a local developer. Broward Co.: 3/27/07 Some Broward County FL residents will get 3 more hours of undisturbed sleep after noisy night-time bridge building activities are shortened for the construction of I-95 bridge over New River. St. Augustine: 3/26/07 Should developers who might benefit from a county growth plan sit on the board of a county planning agency? This question is raised at a meeting of the St. John's County FL planning commission. http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/031707/nep_8594831.shtml Palm Harbor: 3/24/07 A "Key West" style downtown comes to central Florida as Palm Harbor completes its "streetscape" reconstruction project. http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBOUI9INZE.html Briny Breezes: 3/23/07 Town of Briny Breezes, a mobile home community in Palm Beach FL County, having voted to sell their properties to a developer, now faces the new problem of instituting an "urban planning" process. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/pbccentral/content/local_news/epaper/2007/03/23/s1c_BRINY_0323.html Broward Co.: 3/22/07 Rising housing costs are blamed for fact that last year more people moved out of the county than moved in. http://www.miamiherald.com/467/story/48926.html Orlando: 3/21/07 Police and firefighters in Orlando say there is inadequate provision for their services in plans for new arts and sports venues in the city. Gainesville: 3/20/07 Another downtown development project in Gainesville (Hampton Inn on SE 2nd Ave) is being threatening by rising construction costs and other problems. http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070320/LOCAL/703200349/-1/news Seffner: 3/20/07 Last call being issued for a tavern built in the 1880s in Seffner, halfway between Tampa and Plant City, as Florida development wipes out still another area of historical interest. http://www.sptimes.com/2007/03/20/State/A_toast__to_days_gone.shtml Taylor Co.: 3/17/07 Florida growth-planning agency joins in popular opposition to a massive marina/resort project at Magnolia Bay on the Gulf coast in Taylor County. http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070317/LOCAL/703170346 Gainesville: 3/16/07 Gainesville FL city plan board approves ordinance that would prohibit the use of electronic sign boards within the city. http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070316/LOCAL/70315043 Opa-Locka: 3/16/07 Ali Baba Ave. meets the reality of rat infestation:. City Hall in Opa-locka Florida, one of the "fantasy" structures of Middle Eastern style that gave the city its "Baghdad of the South" tourist moniker, moves to new quarters as crumbling walls and scurrying rats, symbolizing the decline of a "historic" town in south Florida. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/16/us/16opalocka.html?th&emc=th Jacksonville: 3/13/07 Jacksonville City Council considering a proposal that would allow nude dance clubs to remain in vicinity of schools and churches. http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/031307/met_8564473.shtml Gainesville: 3/12/07 999: A dream number for developers, a nightmare for planners. This is the number of residential units that can be built without developers being required to submit to costly "impact" studies that could result in assessment of responsibilities for defraying public costs of additional roads, schools and other facilities required by "large" projects. As a result, numerous projects just under the legal definition of 1000 as a "large" project are sprouting in the new "spine" of Florida in the north central area including Alachua County http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070313/LOCAL/703130361 Gainesville: 3/11/07 As project costs rise and developers ask for more city "incentives" for University Corners Project just off UF campus, city officials in Gainesville ponder the issue of whether the project is "worth it" to the city. http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070311/LOCAL/703110349 Key West; 3/10/07 Key West is providing a reluctant home to a group of sculptures called "New Friends" that some consider as ugly, others as fun. http://www.miamiherald.com/884/story/37245.html Naples: 3/10/07 Naples FL homeowners' association settles its dispute with a resident who has been making and selling wooden dominoes out of his home in violation of association rules by saying in effect to him: "you can sell, but don't tell (us)". http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/mar/10/dont_ask_dont_sell_domino_maker_back_business/?local_news Pensacola: 3/7/07 University Mall in Pensacola is getting a make-over as an open-air life style center built around a man-made lake. http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070307/NEWS01/703070318/1006 Daytona Beach: 3/5/07 As a railroad museum closes in Daytona Beach, a 60-year old man makes his own "museum" by moving his train collection from Hawthorne (near Gainseville) to Port Orange (near Daytona Beach). http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Local/newEAST02030507.htm Pigeon Key: 3/5/07 Housing development looms for Pigeon Key in the Florida Keys as the foundation that operates historic Flagler railroad facilities on the island is cited for code violations. http://www.miamiherald.com/884/story/31446.html Carabelle: 3/4/07 Steel home manufacturing plant from New Hampshire may come to the Florida panhandle town of Carabelle. http://comm.emeraldcoast.com/times/news/article.showarticle.db.php?a=2500 Miami: 3/3/07 Environmentalists welcome a developer's abandoning the building of a 6000 unit residential development in wetlands of south Miami-Dade, but are unhappy about the developer's intention of pursuing his family's "traditional" farming and rock mining operations in the area. http://www.miamiherald.com/884/story/29971.html St. Augustine: 3/3/07 St. Augustine FL residents protest a developer's plan to build a boat dock on Matanzas River which they say would destroy their view and spoil the natural environment of the area. http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/030307/met_8300876.shtml Loxahatchee: 3/2/07 Residents of Loxahatchee Grove nudist colony air their (ahem) community needs at a forum of candidates for town council. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2007/03/02/c1c_NATURISTS_0302.html Daytona Beach: 2/26/07 Police in Daytona Beach say that Bike Week as not as "bad" as local people think, at least in terms of DUI arrests. http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/frtHEAD01022607.htm Florida Keys: 2/24/07 Nice to visit (at the right season) but would you want to live there? Many are saying "no" where the Florida Keys are concerned; the area loses population as costs of housing increase and as hurricane prevalance along with evacuation problems create a "back to Michigan" syndrome among some residents. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0223/p03s03-usec.html?page=1 Naples: 2/22/07 Collier County and city of Naples in dispute over whether to build a parking garage at Bayview Park or institute a waterboat shuttle service to Keewaydin Island. http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/feb/22/parking_talk_endangers_keewaydin_shuttle_plan/?local_news Palm Coast: 2/21/07 Flagler County developer looks at the slow market in condominium sales and cancels a planned development in Palm Coast FL. http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/frtHEAD02022107.htm Palm Beach Co.: 2/20/07 Trolley systems designed to bring people downtown are expensive proposition for many cities in Palm Beach FL County. Gainesville: 2/19/07 Some people are reluctant to attend meetings in downtown Gainesville following the mugging last year of a popular local activist. Mayor says downtown is safe, that this was a "freak" incident involving a hurricane refugee. http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070219/LOCAL/702190311/-1/news Naples: 2/19/07 "Road kill" gets new meaning in artwork of a Naples man: He collects roadside debris and makes it into sculptures to dramatize the aesthetic pollution of the debris as well as the fact that such debris results in many traffic accidents, injuries and deaths. http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070219/APN/702190600 Tampa: 2/17/07 Siting dispute delays beginning of construction of Florida's first ethanol fuel plant in Tampa. http://www.tbo.com/news/money/MGBT1L0F9YE.html Gainesville: 2/16/07 Fear of traffic tie-ups brings out many protesters of Gainesville's SpringHills project. http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070216/LOCAL/70215039/-1/new Gainesville: 2/12/07 Opinion: Traffic nightmare looms in Gainesville - Rob Brinkman, chair of local Sierra Club, says that the SpringHill development on Gainesville's northwest border will create traffic jams worse than those at Oaks Mall or Butler Plaza, as the city "rolls up and heads west." http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070212/EDITORIALS0101/70212019/-1/editorials Lake Okeechobee: 2/12/07 Campers along shores of Lake Okeechobee are seeing their cheished laid-back life styles being threatened by marina development in the area. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2007/02/12/m1a_pahokee_0212.html Orlando: 2/12/07 As central Florida development of sububan areas intensifies, so does the effort of developers to construct "town centers" with local amenities to counter suburban sprawl and traffic congestion. Ft. Lauderdale: 2/11/07 With massive development projects, wide roads, no sidewalks and careless practices of motorists and pedestrians, traffic fatalities increase in Ft. Lauderdale and across the region. Orlando: 2/8/07 Orlando's annual revenue windfall from International Builders' Show will come to an end in 2009 when the association shifts its convention from the Orange County convention facility to one in Las Vegas. Orlando: 2/7/07 New 1 per cent tourist tax has helped double funds available to Orlando/Orange County Convention and Visitors Bureau, which gets the money without any oversight from city or county officials and plans the largest tourist promotion campaign in the region's history. Ft. Lauderdale: 2/5/07 8 years after it opened, a riverfront complex in downtown Ft.Lauderdale is hit with plans and rumors of a "do-over" that will displace the current proprieters, who are being put on short leases. 2/4/07 With its population now only 12% of that of the Tampa-St.Petersburg-Clearwater metropolitan area, the city of Tampa faces a shrinkage in its political clout. http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBNRNF0RXE.html Gainesville: 2/1/07 Clark Butler plans to double the size of Butler Plaza in Gainesville. http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070201/LOCAL/701310394 Jupiter: 1/30/07 Impending development outside a Scripps campus near Jupiter FL threatens a traditional neighborhood. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2007/01/30/c1b_abacoa_0130.html Orlando: 1/30/07 How sweet a deal did the Orlando Magic get? Depends on whom you ask. Officials of the NBA franchise say they paid their "fair share" of the costs of a new arena. Critics note that the city will get only a small portion of the anticipated windfall profits from the operation. Tampa: 1/29/07 Tampa planners consider recommendation of environmentalists that they increase the "set back" or buffer zones between wetlands and development projects; developers question the necessity of these. http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGB7LIEYGXE.html Gainesville: 1/27/07 How big is the SpringHills development going up in Alachua County? Very big, and the scope of the project is igniting controversy. http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070127/LOCAL/701270320/-1/news Miami: 1/27/07 Miami is "sprucing up" for tomorrow's Super Bowl, but will it last after the company goes home? http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald//sports/special_packages/super_bowl/16555165.htm Daytona Beach: 1/25/07 Moratorium is proposed on new building permits in Daytona Beach until the city is able to come up with a "vision" about the city's future. http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Local/newEAST01012507.htm Gainesville: 1/24/07 Political testosterone flows in Gainesville as Alachua County Commissioners respond in kind to the City Commission's condemnation of the SpringHills mixed-use development in an incorporated section of the county that is adjacent to the city. County manager urges the folks to cool it. http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070124/LOCAL/701240317/-1/news Bartow: 1/23/07 Polk County FL holds "smart growth" conference attempting to deal with the explosive growth in the county. http://www.lakelandledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070116/NEWS/701160365/1004/NEWS08 Gainesville: 1/23/07 "Nuclear war" threatened in Gainesville: A city commissioner uses this term to describe the impact of SpringHills, a massive mixed use project on the northwest side of the city as the commission votes "strong opposition" to the project, citing traffic concerns. http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070123/LOCAL/701230326 Gainesville: 1/22/07 Growth pains in Gainesville FL: two large mixed use developments along I-75 have residents and officials scrambling to deal with traffic increase on the city's west and northwest side. http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070122/LOCAL/701220304 Gainesville: 1/21/07 Gainesville FL is considering various alternates for a power-generating plant as the plan to build a coal-powered one continues to be controversial. http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070121/LOCAL/701210314/-1/news Marco Island: 1/19/07 Marco Island arrests trawler boat operator for anchoring near shore of the Island, invoking an ordinance that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission has said state munipalities should not be allowed to enforce. Orlando: 1/19/07 It's a high rise, it's a skyscraper, no it's a new school in Orange County FL: Faced with land shortage and rising costs, county school district considers selling off landholdings to help finance schools that are built upward rather than outward, sacrificing parking spaces and school stadiums in the process. Marco Island: 1/17/07 In a community of yachts, Marco Island, FL, the owner of a trawler protests a local ordinance by anchoring his boat for more than 12 hours less than 300 feet from land. http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/jan/17/boater_protests_marco_ordinance_breaking_it/?local_news Tampa: 1/17/07 A Streetcar Named Necessity: Tampa FL joins many other U.S. cities in going back to "out-moded" street cars in a desperate effort to find a way to deal with their ever-growing traffic problems. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-01-08-streetcars_x.htm Holly Hill: 1/16/07 Never Ending Bliss, a privately-operated gathering for swingers in a Holly Hills home overlooking the Halifax River, is harassed by neighbors who don't appreciate this life style. http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/frtHEAD04011607.htm Tampa: 1/16/07 They're riding the buses in Tampa: Hillsborough County shows 5% rise in use of county bus system last year. http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGB7OM0UZWE.html Orlando: 1/12/07 Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer, already in an embattled relationship with Orange County Commission over his plans for a new arena for the Orlando Magic, is facing opposition as well in the Orlando City Commission. Palm Beach: 1/12/07 Fight is on in Palm Beach between residents who want a widened South End beach and EPA and Corps of Engineers officials who think this would endanger marine life habitat in the area. http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/news/content/news/citizens0112.html Gainesville: 1/11/07 A certain cachet for Gainesville? Beyond the surge in t-shirts and baseball cap sales in the wake of the BCS victory of the University of Florida, local business and tourism leaders look for the publicity of the event to produce lasting increases in their promoted activities. Leaders in Austin, Texas, (Gainesville's often-cited "sister city"), whose Longhorns won the BCS last year, caution against overly-optimistic expectations based on their experience. Business expansion was helped by a "good ice-breaker for chit-chat" with few "deals" done as a result, while more people did visit Austin because the city had a "certain cachet" in the aftermath of the victory. http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070111/LOCAL/701110314 Briny Breezes: 1/10/06 Briny Breezes FL mobile home developers vote to abandon their development-resistant enclave and become millionaires at the $510 million price offered by Boca Raton developer. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2007/01/10/0110briny.html Miami: 1/10/06 An uneasy accommodation prevails in south Dade County FL as farmers and suburbanites attempt to deal with one another's disparate life styles. http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16423163.htm Orlando: 1/10/06 Trouble in Orlando's Magic Kingdom: Orange County says "not so fast please" in approving Orlando's plan to finance a new arena for the NBA team, wanting to know what it will cost the county in hotel taxes being earmarked for the facility. Daytona Beach: 1/8/06 Students at Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach complain that heavy through traffic across their campus subjects them to harassment and dangers of accident. http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Local/newEAST01010807.htm Orlando: 1/8/07 "Built for families, made for memories": Orlando hopes to emulate the spectacular success of Las Vegas' "what happens here stays here" slogan with its own branding to capture tourism business. Palm Beach Co.: 1/7/07 Rising costs and land values are driving many family farmers from agricultural business, as their children look for economic opportunity elsewhere. Gainesville: 1/4/07 Gainesville SUN reporter stops off at Austin TX on the road to Glendale AZ and files a story comparing Austin and Gainesville, based on interviews of Austin residents with University of Florida and other contacts in Gainesville. It could give you a complex! http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070104/LOCAL/701030370/-1/news Orlando: 1/4/07 Deal between Orange County and Orlando Magic to build new sports facilities is endangered as Magic seems to back away from earlier pledge to co-sign the loan that the city and county would have to make to the provide the money they are contributing to the deal. Boynton Beach: 1/3/07 Boynton Beach FL city commissioners yield to public protest and move a truck route away from a residential neighborhood. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2007/01/03/s1b_BBMEET_0103.html Volusia Co.: 1/3/07 Newly elected Volusia County commissioners pledge to make the protection of West Volusia against uncontrolled development their main priority. http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/frtHEAD04POL010207.htm Orlando: 1/2/07 Enough is enough: after Orlando and Orange County experience a year of record violence in 2006, community leaders in Pine Hills launch a concerted community effort to involve citizens in controlling crime in their area. St. Petersburg: 12/31/06 Mahaffey Theatre in St. Petersburg FL was remodelled largely to provide a performance venue for the Florida Orchestra. Now the orchestra is questioning its use of facility in the light the Theatre's plan to bring in Broadway shows. http://www.sptimes.com/2006/12/31/Floridian/Orchestra__Mahaffey_s.shtml Gainesville: 12/30/06 Plans for underway for a massive new shopping/residence area in northwest part of Gainesville FL. http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061230/LOCAL/612300314 Miami-Dade Co.: 12/23/06 Massing population along a U.S. 1 corridor in south Miami-Dade to promote mass transit solution to traffic problems associated with metro-Miami growth: one of the highly controversial recommendations of a new "growth plan" unveiled for the region. http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16303454.htm Levy Co.: 12/22/06 As debate over location of a nuclear plant in Levy County heats up, Rob Brinkman, chair of Suwanee-St. John's Sierra Club, lays out the case against nuclear power generation. http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061222/EDITORIALS0101/612220304/-1/editorials Ormond-by-the-sea: 12/22/06 Action by Volusia County zoning board will allow a 1950s era motor hotel to be replaced by a 10 story condominium just north of Ormand Beach FL. http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Local/newEAST02122206.htm Brevard Co.: 12/18/06 Anti-growth strategy: small towns in southern Brevard County trying to avoid the fate of nearby mushrooming Palm City, as two towns are planning merger with a single anti-growth charter. Santa Rosa Co.: 12/15/06 Santa Rosa County plans to replace storm-damaged Navarre Beach pier with a hurricane-resistant marine sanctuary facility. http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061215/NEWS01/612150335/1006 Orange City: 12/14/06 Grinch returns the tree ornaments: Christmas war in Orange City gets a cease-fire as owner of apartment complex relents and allows residents to put up outside Christmas lights. Ft. Lauderdale: 12/13/06 TapTapCity on tap in Lauderhill: City considers proposal for 31 story $100 million cultural mall which would include performing arts center and a Creole museum; officials are now considering its "feasibility." Levy Co.: 12/13/06 Levy County may become the site of the 6th nuclear power facility in Florida, the first approved in the last 25 years. Tallahassee: 12/13/06 Bike lanes or parking spaces? Tallahassee confronts a dilemma in its plans for downtown traffic. http://www.tdo.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061213/NEWS01/612130314/1010 Briny Breezes: 12/12/06 Instant mobile home millionaries: Deal is completed for purchase of 433 trailer park homes for $510 million at Briny Breezes on oceanfront in south Florida. Funds will be distributed among the owners. Orlando: 12/11/06 Deep in the heart of Florida: the stars at night ain't big and bright: Illumination from roadways and shopping developments obscures the night sky, wastes energy resources and poses problems for the deer in the headlight and the disoriented turtle sprawled on the beach. Orlando: 12/9/06 Last segment of Western Beltway, designed to reduce clogged traffic on I-4 around Disney World, opens today. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/orl-beltway0906dec09,0,2628206.story?coll=orl-news-headlines Coconut Grove: 12/6/06 Condo craze: Mercy Hospital in Coconut Grove wants to sell off some of its land to developers to build three condos of 26-36 stories each. Critics claim the developers have bought out support from neighborhood associations by offering to help pay them money of unspecified amounts for unspecified purposes. Miami City Council must approve the deal. http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16173092.htm Dayotna Beach: 12/5/06 Daytona Beach officials to downtown developers: you want more density in your projects? Give us better architecture and more landscaping. http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Local/newEAST02120506.htm Melbourne: 12/5/06 City Council in West Melbourne will debate whether to remove a traffic barrier put up after complaints by some residents of heavy traffic through their neighborhood as motorists were using it as a shortcut between major traffic arteries. (In Gainesville these are called speed humps.) http://www.flatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061205/NEWS01/612050328/1006 Wellington: 12/5/06 Wellington developer files a court suit to require a horse show in Palm Beach County to stay where it is according to contract rather "shopping around" for another location. Ft. Lauderdale: 12/4/06 Where to dock a boat in south Florida? It becomes increasingly difficult and expensive as developers are buying marinas to convert to condominiums and some of the remaining marinas are catering to the docking of mega-yachts in "rackominiums." Poinciana: 12/4/06 As Poinciana, on Osceola-Park County border, goes from 5,000 to 65,000 population in 15 years, the owner of one horse stable in the area draws a line in the Florida sand against enroachment on her property. Ormond Beach: 12/2/06 Death by a thousand cuts: Mark Lane describes process in Ormond Beach area called The Loop in which, by a slow process of anti-conservation decisions, the area moves from being a haven for bicyclists and bird-watchers to one in which roads and condominiums prevail. http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/Opinion/Columnists/Footnote/colFOOT120106.htm Collier Co.: 11/30/06 Restoring the 'Glades, one massive project at a time: Work is stepped up on long-term plan to remove Southern Golden Gates Estates in Collier County and restore the natural flow of water to a key Everglades wetlands area. Originally to have been a federal and state project at around $10 billion, South Florida Water Management District is now stuck with the bill. http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2006/nov/30/work_progess/?local_news Palm Beach Co.: 11/29/06 Developer pays $25,000 to a neighborhood association in Palm Beach Garden as incentive for them to drop opposition to a housing development in their area. This is "not an isolated case" of developers using such incentives to secure building approval. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/pbcnorth/content/local_news/epaper/2006/11/29/m1a_CASH_MAIN_1129.html North Miami Beach: 11/28/06 The high-risers win one in North Miami Beach: City Council does the "smart growth" thing and overrules the objections of a local coalition of residents opposed to buildings of over 15 stories of height. Orlando: 11/28/06 Orlando isn't so "smart" as a downtown redevelopment project to provide a high-rise hotel and new dormitory facilities for University of Central Florida students is dropped as UCF withdraws its support on grounds of affordability of the student housing. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/orl-marriott2806nov28,0,1760241.story?coll=orl-news-headlines Tampa: 11/27/06 Keeping their promises? Mass transit plans for Hillsborough County may get another look as three incoming commissioners all expressed various degrees of support in pre-election surveys. http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGB43OBE0VE.html Taylor Co.: 11/23/06 Here it (probably) comes, Taylor Coast, ready or not: condos up to 25 stories and a giant marina planned in Florida's "least developed" coastal area, over vigorous objections of environmentalists. http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061123/LOCAL/211230346/1078/news St. Augustine: 11/22/06 Historic properties in St. Augustine, "America's oldest city," are in danger of falling down, and major renovation project is being contemplated. http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/112206/met_6285652.shtml Boynton Beach: 11/21/06 NIMBYs in Boynton Beach: residents protest plans to build an industrial plaza along I-95. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/pbcsouth/content/local_news/epaper/2006/11/21/s1b_BBTRUCKS1121.html Lakeland: 11/18/06 Sustainability problems of public art are illustrated by vandalism which has destroyed a number of butterfly statues in Lakeland. http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061118/NEWS/611180405/1134 Gainesville: 11/17/06 Candlelight still burns: Gainesville Plan Board holds hearing on developer's plan that would require residents of Candle Light Estates, a mobile home park, to move to make way for a commercial development on Waldo Road. 40 residents of the park show up at Plan Board meeting to protest the plan, and the Board rejects it 6-1. http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061117/LOCAL/211170348/1078/news Riviera Beach: 11/17/06 Land and business owners in Riviera Beach still feel threatened that the city's deal with a developer will result in loss of their properties through eminent domain. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/pbccentral/content/local_news/epaper/2006/11/17/c1d_RBDomain_1117.html Gainesville: 11/15/06 Plan to allow commercial development on Waldo Road in Gainesville entails the requirement that Candlight Light Estates mobile homes be moved, and critics say it amounts to the "obliteration" of a neighborhood in order to "revitalize" it. http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061115/EDITORIALS0101/61115006/1097/editorials Daytona Beach: 11/14/06 Is there "hope" for North Ridgewood Avenue in Dayton Beach? A neighborhood with a genteel past that is now poverty, prostitute and drug-infested is the subject of plans ranging from historic district designation to location of a supermarket in the area. http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/frtHEAD01111406.htm Palm Beach County: 11/14/06 Bump in the road of Palm Beach County road-building: county commission puts a moratorium on western county rock mining until miners can show that their operations are not adversely affecting Everglades agriculture. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2006/11/14/s3b_AGG_1114.html Jacksonville: 11/9/06 Jacksonville voters overwhelmingly and surprisingly defeat a referendum proposal to turn Cecil Field back over to the Navy. http://www.jacksonville.com/metro/ Miami: 11/6/06 Miami-Dade County approves development near an executive airport that is similar to those it previously refused because the law wouldn't allow it. http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15939519.htm Jacksonville: 11/5/06 Voters of Duval County face Tuesday referendum on an action that could clear the way for the Navy to return to Cecil Field. The spirited campaign is centered on sustainable development issues. http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/110506/met_5998443.shtml Naples: 11/3/06 Naples is requiring developers to furnish art work in new buildings or to contribute to a fund for the purchase of such art. Belleview: 10/29/06 "They are taking farm lands away to build homes, and that has to stop" says woman living on 5 acre farm outside Belleview, as Marion County officials are contemplating how much of her property they must take to build a road to relieve traffic congestion to and from the town. http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061028/NEWS/210280352/1001/NEWS01 Palm Beach: 10/26/06 Struggle over development in western Palm Beach County goes on as a developer drops plans to build a 10,000 home "new town" next to Palm Beach Gardens. Jacksonville: 10/26/06 Environmentalists drop suit to prevent upscale housing development of Black Hammock near Jacksonville's salt marshes, after securing agreements from the developers about making the development environmentally friendly. http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/102606/met_5822892.shtml Palm Beach: 10/25/06 State Department of Community affairs turns down development projects approved by Palm Beach County as it did last month in the case of Mecca Farms. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2006/10/25/s1b_NOBUILD_1025.html Palm City: 10/25/06 Sleepy lagoon to wake up as developer plans to build condominiums in five 7-story buildings a block from Indian River Lagoon in Palm City. http://www.flatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061024/NEWS01/610240340/1006 Orlando: 10/23/06 Roads or trains for Orlando? Reason Foundation study predicts Orlando may shortly Chicago for slowed commuter traffic, igniting a debate on transportation policy between the Foundation's "more roads" approach and those who advocate for mass transit. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/columnists/orl-congestion.story?coll=orl-home-headlines Plantation: 10/23/06 City of Plantation FL plans to put a fleet of trolley cars on the road to ease the traffic congestion in a mid-town area into and out of which many workers travel. Pensacola: 10/22/06 Everyone an urban planner: Pensacola is expecting 75,000 additional residents by 2030, and is opening it to the public on suggestions of "where to put those people." http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061022/NEWS01/610220341/1006 Tampa: 10/19/06 Cat fight erupts between Hillsborough County Commission and Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority over issues of transportation policy and the composition of the Authority's board. http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBQFQCLGTE.html Gainesville: 10/18/06 "I think Hampton Inn ought to be told that we don't think this is a community-friendly thing to do" says Rob Brinkman in keynoting community opposition to a developer's plan to use Gainesville's Downtown Community Plaza as a staging area for a hotel construction. Developer says it may be a "deal-breaker" if City refuses to permit this. http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061018/LOCAL/210180343 Palm Beach County: 10/11/06 New town of Loxahatchee Groves created in Palm Beach county as residents vote to break away from county control, citing their desire to preserve a "life style" in the face of the county's approval of projects of covering grass with concrete. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2006/10/11/s1a_LOXGROVES_1012.html Gainesville: 10/8/06 Gainesville's plan to "close the commons" (Downtown Community Plaza) to facilitate hotel construction is denounced by a letter writer. http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061008/EDITORIALS02/61008002/-1/editorials Miami: 10/8/06 Downtown shall rise again? At Met Miami and across the country, people are abandoning the suburb, mall and long commutes in favor of fulfilling the New Urbanist's dream of "mixed use" residence, work and play in the nation's central cities. http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15704855.htm Stuart: 10/8/06 The boom that didn't happen: in 1925 the city of Stuart FL, population 15,000, built a massive archway entrance for a city that was billed as about to rival Miami for south Florida size and power. With the bust of the cross-Florida canal, the plan fizzled but the arch remains; and now it is being "restored" at a cost of $235,000. http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061008/LOCAL/210080338/1078/news Titusville: 10/6/06 Familiar debate---growth versus preserving community character---unfolds in Titusville as residents argue whether there should be a 35-foot limit on the height of new buildings. http://www.flatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061006/NEWS01/610060337/1006 Palm Beach: 10/6/06 "Patriotic" Donald Trump erects an American flag over his Palm Beach estate which is 15 times the size allowed by city code. Gainesville: 10/5/06 Opinion: plan to close Gainesville's Downtown Community Plaza for up to 2 years to facilitate the building of a nearby hotel will deprive the community of a valuable facility for public activities. http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061005/EDITORIALS02/61005001/-1/editorials Taylor County: 10/5/06 Geezer fight erupts at a hearing in Perry between the developer and an opponent of his plan to build a hotel/marina/shopping mall development along Taylor County's Gulf Coast, a project that would take out 100 acres of wetlands and cut through a Florida sea grass preserve. http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061005/LOCAL/210050355/1078/NEWS Gainesville: 10/1/06 Only a lone Starbucks is standing in the way of University Corners project in midtown Gainesville, as the store is located 10 feet inside a necessary public access right of way. Eminent domain proceedings should allow the project to proceed next May, long after rest of the site has been excavated. http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061001/LOCAL/210010337 Daytona Beach: 9/27/06 Another bridge please!: Most in Daytona Beach agree on the need for another bridge across the Intracoastal Waterway, but agreement on a location has stymied action; even if this impasse is broken, the new bridge is 20-30 years away. http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/frtHEAD04092706.htm Micanopy: 9/25/06 Micanopy, a "sleepy" town pop. 631, has escaped the explosive population growth of many villages in the Gainesville area but is no longer a self-sufficient community and has "re-invented" itself as a haven for south Florida relocatees and a mecca for those seeking antiques (including a few long-time residents) and ice cream cones. http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060925/LOCAL/209250342/1078/news Lauderdale Lakes: 9/24/06 Lauderdale Lakes in spending large amounts for policing for large increase in traffic at a development triggered by the location of a Wal-Mart center. The big box won't kick in anything to help with these expenses before 2008. Fernandina Beach: 9/20/06 Resident of Fernandina Beach describes how this town, like others in Florida, could easily turn from a "paradise" into something very different with a flood of new people and development. http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/092006/nen_5066836.shtml Palm Beach County: 9/20/06 Palm Beach County approves a radical increase in the density of housing in Mecca Farms in western part of the county and the head of a growth watchdog group says "They just gave the development community an enormous windfall for free." Ormond Beach: 9/18/06 Reinstated federal credits are making solar energy installation in homes in Daytona Beach more affordable. http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/frtHEAD02091906.htm Jacksonville: 9/13/06 Running on chicken fat: Jacksonville FL city government plans to use bio-diesel fuel from local restaurant wastes among other sources. http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/091306/met_4997467.shtml Jupiter: 9/12/06 Another Florida cluster dream: Scripps Florida ready to make agreement to allow Scripps Institute to proceed with construction in Jupiter, with project to be completed by 2014; Institute's commitment to supporting development of a "bio-tech cluster" for the area the apparently final stumbling block. Palm Beach County Commissioner commits the truism-of-the-day by saying: "Take the controversy out, and everything's going the way it should have gone a couple years ago." St. Johns County: 9/7/06 Under-funded campaigns can succeed if candidates are in tune with the people: Voters in St. Augustine, fed up with rampant growth in St. John's County, help elect two candidates for County Commission who each raised $8,000 in campaign contributions, defeating two incumbents who were bankrolled by development interests at $141,000 and $197,000. http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/090706/met_4884684.shtml Williston: 9/4/06 Williston, a town in Levy County near Gainesville, population 2500, was once a prosperous cucumber-growing center at the intersection of two major state highways (27 and 41) which was "I 75ed" in 75 when the interstate bypassed it. Now town officials hope for a "renaissance" based on eateries, antiques and services to horse farms. City manager, not hesitating to casually split an infinitive, says the town is "getting ready to exponentially grow." City police chief, with a more literary flair, is also more cautious: "growth is a multi-fibered helix that is not easy to predict." http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060904/LOCAL/209040327 Volusia County: 9/2/06 Florida is stagnant no more: a formerly "secluded" area at Edgewood in southern Volusia County is undergoing development projects in spite of local resident protests. An official of the county building association explains that: "Any area that's not growing is totally stagnant." Who wants stagnation? http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/frtHEAD03090106.htm Jacksonville: 8/30/06 Florida Department of Transportation backs the most southerly of four alternative routes for a beltway connecting Clay and St. John's County, citing the fact that it would produce the least disruption of existing homes and businesses. http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/083006/met_4721731.shtml Tampa: 8/30/06 Continued urban sprawl in Tampa indicated by new study showing that Tampa employees are having to make longer commutes to work. http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBAG5V6HRE.html Same story in Maryland: Dunnellon: 8/29/06 Having derailed a developer's plan to build 350 homes on Rainbow River at Dunnellon, residents vow to oppose as well a second and less ambitious project the developer says he will propose. http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060829/NEWS/208290357/1001/NEWS01 Orlando: 8/28/06 "Old saying" for Orlando's consideration: "One Burnham Institute for Medical Research does not a bio-tech cluster make," since many cities throughout the U.S. are competing for "cluster" status. Dunnellon: 8/25/06 Dunnellon developer, thwarted by a "relentless" group of environmentalists and residents in his plans to build a 350-home development on Rainbow River, has revised his proposal to a 22-home one. http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060825/NEWS/208250389/1001/NEWS01 Ocala: 8/23/06 Ocala officials express anger at Florida Department of Transportation Secretary because they weren't consulted about a new rule allowing increased freight traffic to move through the city. http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060823/NEWS/208230358/1001/NEWS01 Orlando: 8/23/06 Four Corners, Florida, located in 4 counties in the "shadow of Disney World," may be a poster child for unsustainable growth. A local resident complains that officials are "permitting growth everywhere without considering consequences until they have to hit us with new taxes," http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBM5B2K8RE.html Port St. Lucie: 8/23/06 Port St. Lucie Councilwoman gets her hair fixed for naught, as expected celebration of city's landing of location for Burnham Institute for Bio-Medical Research fizzles when the award is made to Orlando. We'll do better next time! West Palm Beach: 8/22/06 Are 25-story downtown office buildings in the future for West Palm Beach? They are being touted as helpful in preserving river "green space" for the city. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/pbccentral/content/local_news/epaper/2006/08/22/c1b_DOWNTOWN_0822.html Gainesville: 8/17/06 Alachua County to consider plan for big mixed use development at Newberry Road, amid concerns about already-impacted traffic near the main Gainesville exit off I-75. http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060817/LOCAL/208170353/1078/news Naples: 8/17/06 Architect for a mega-home under construction in Naples FL makes a 15-foot mistake in calculating required street "set back" and City Council upholds its building code and requires tearing down of the construction: http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2006/aug/17/council_denies_variance_building_mistake/?local_news Daytona Beach: 8/14/06 Midway Fun Center at Daytona Beach closes after a 60 year run; urban redevelopment in the area forced the owner to sell. http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/frtHEAD02BEACH081406.htm Marion County: 8/2/06 Local residents protest as developer plans a high density housing project in a rural area of Marion County called Shiloh Country. http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060801/LOCAL/208010337/1078/news Charlotte County: 8/1/06 Charlotte County, the developer of Babcock Ranch and the Sierra Club triangulate a deal that allows approval of the project: Sierra drops its suit against developer for plan to use a part of Ranch for multi-use development, County allows waivers on development regulations which it declares are "exceptional" and not precendent-setting, developer agrees to environmental safeguards. http://www.sun-herald.com/NewsArchive2/072106/np9.htm?date=072106&story=np9.htm Sumter County: 7/29/06 The rural pains of metropolitan growth: residents of small Sumter County town must bear the annoyance of a limestone quarry used to produce materials for state road-building. Orlando: 7/25/06 Long Island in the sunshine state? Planned 61 mile Central Florida commuter rail from Deland-Orlando-Kissimmee could spawn the "smart growth" dream of livable communities in walkable distance to mass transit if communities along the way would, as near Charlotte NC and elsewhere, lay plans to develop these communities. So far they haven't: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/orl-railmain1706jul17,0,2499492.story?coll=orl-news-headlines Brevard County: 7/18/06 Residents of two small towns in southern Brevard County who are trying to combine themselves in one town to resist annexation attempts by Palm Bay are angered by a letter received from a County Commissioner warning of higher taxes if they proceed with their plan. http://www.flatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060718/NEWS01/607180335 Daytona Beach: 7/1/06 Daytona Speedway and dog track co-exist in uneasy relationship, as the dog track has become a gambling casino and the Speedway has a crisis of parking facilities. Now the Speedway hopes to buy the dog track for parking and racing souvenir and concession facilities, greyhounds to relocate elsewhere in Daytona. Ocala: 6/30/06 Opinion: citizen opinions in northwest Ocala account for nothing as Marion County Commission votes to allow the location of a car-crushing recycling facility in their neighborhood. http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060629/OPINION/206290360/1008/OPINION Indian River County: 6/27/06 Indian River County school board member proposes "smart growth" approach to rising student enrollment in the county: it's called "building the schools where the children are" rather than busing them to remote locations. http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/opinion_columnists/article/0,2821,TCP_24463_4797380,00.html Jacksonville: 6/27/06 Jacksonville mayor considers possible veto of a bill permitting development in Black Hammock section that is opposed by environmentalists. http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/062706/met_22204399.shtml Seminole County: 6/27/06 Congressman Mica's plan for a connector road between Seminole and Volusia County is countering severe opposition from "slow growth" advocates who claim the road would be environmentally destructive and encourage explosive growth in the area. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/volusia/orl-vroad2706jun27+orl-home-headlines Lakeland: 6/25/06 Scott Lake, in Polk County (Lakeland) is being drained into several nearby sinkholes. http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060624/NEWS/606240370/1039 Public funding of restoration for this elite housing area is doubtful, as class resentments arise from neighbors who have long been denied access to the lake. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/access/1065835721.html?dids=problem Tallahassee: 6/13/06 Planning official tells developers at Leon County Smart Growth Summit that "it's not going to be pretty" in implementing new state legislation to require developers to provide for infrastructure needs created by their developments. Ocala: 6/12/06 Concerns about run-away residential development in Marion County hit the front burner as county begins the annual process of reviewing restrictions on development. Some are again saying that "Ocala could become another Orlando" as the horse farms of the county go the way of the orange groves of Central Florida. http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060611/NEWS/206110380/1001/NEWS01 Stuart: 6/12/06 Workshop in Martin County to address the issue of how housing development can be reconciled with needs to preserve the area's wetlands. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/treasurecoast/content/local_news/epaper/2006/06/12/m1b_mcWetland_0612.html Taylor County: 6/11/06 Proposed condo devlopment in Taylor County will bring big changes to an area known for pristine marshlands - and hurricanes: http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060610/OPINION/606100301/1020 Orlando: 6/10/06 Growth conference in Kissimmee discusses ways to make development "sensible" for Osceola County, expected to double in population over the next several years. http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/061006/met_22081234.shtml Ocala: 6/7/06 Complaining of lack of input on Florida Department of Transportation plans to route more freight traffic through the area, Marion County officials express concern about effects on school crossings and other traffic conditions. http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060607/NEWS/206070354/1025 Tampa: 6/7/06 In a bidding war with New York, Minneapolis and Cleveland to host the 2008 Republican National Convention, Tampa officials are questioning whether the economic returns to the area justify the expenditures being demanded by the Party. http://www.sptimes.com/2006/06/06/Tampabay/Price_of_bid_for_GOP_.shtml Volusia County: 6/6/06 Volusia County homebuilders try to counter anti-sprawl sentiment by releasing report which asserts that new housing developments bring to the local economy twice what localities have to spend for services for residents. Yankeetwon: 6/2/06 Proposed development of a marina resort has brought Yankeetown to the point of "civil war." http://www.tbo.com/news/nationworld/MGBLHO2YXNE.html Ft. Lauderdale: 5/28/06 The disappearance of the public "green:" controversy in northeast Ft. Lauderdale over converting Robert Trent Jones' fabled golf course (the only public golf course in Ft. Lauderdale) into another "country club" residential development. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-coralridgex29may28,0,2112542.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines Pasco County: 5/27/06 Reverse strip poker (you lose, you put on clothing) just part of the entertainment venue as Pasco county nudist resorts take off the gloves and go after the tourist trade. http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/14679364.htm Naples: 5/26/06 "Build out" study for Collier County presages huge increases in development and population east of Collier Boulevard. http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2006/may/25/planners_unveil_growth_study_eastern_collier/?local_news Freeport: 5/25/06 Having your beach and avoiding it: Panhandle housing development, Owl's Head, entails building luxury housing a few miles inland from beach developments like Seaside, offering a degree of hurricane safety, but raising concerns about loss of affordable housing in the area. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/14/realestate/14nati.html?ex=ae85e3c275c57b71&ei=5070 http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=205250345&SearchID=73245622056106 Kissimmee: 5/23/06 Faced with an anticipated doubling of its population over the next twenty years and huge development growth, Osceola County appoints a "smart growth" coordinator to oversee the process. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-smartgrowth2106may21,0,2103946.story?coll=orl-home-headlines Martin Co.: 5/23/06 Martin County faces prospect of urban sprawl as Palm Beach County developers contemplate the future use of land they now own. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2006/05/22/m1a_mcrural_0522.html Jacksonville: 5/8/06 Mayor of Jacksonsville's "seeds of change" program for neighborhood improvement will have very different aims for richer and poorer neighborhoods on opposite sides of St. John's River: http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/050806/met_21814078.shtml Orlando: 4/25/06 Dairy farming in central Florida a dying industry as farmers find their land more valuable for development than are their herds: Gainesville: 4/23/06 GAINESVILLE SUN begins an occasional series on how small communities in the surrounding area cope with change; first up: Cedar Key and a major "historical preservation" project: http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060423/LOCAL/204230339/1078 Orlando: 4/21/06 3600 unit resort and spa near Disney World will anchor explosive growth in Osceola County over the next decade: Orlando: 4/8/06 Planned megadevelopments in Osceola County/Kissimmee area will further threaten already-endangered eagles' nests: Tampa: 4/6/06 Doubt expressed about plan to build another high-rise condo in downtown Tampa, to join 31 others already open or being built: http://www.tampatrib.com/MGBCW8XBOLE.html Tampa Bay: 4/5/06 Florida Department of Transportation has "big dreams of a mega-highway" that would gird Tampa Bay area in anticipation of booming population and which would move more people and activities from urban cores to the suburbs: http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/access/1014101741.html?dids=
Miami: 4/4/06 Florida Power and Light may build a new nuclear power plant in South Miami-Dade: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14256306.htm Ft. Myers: 4/4/06 Opinion: To reduce transportation gridlock, Lee County needs high-density, mixed use development: http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060327/OPINION/603270334/1015 Ft. Lauderdale: 4/3/06 Residents of Ft. Lauderdale neighborhood resist "big box condo" development: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14248629.htm Orlando: 4/1/06 Plans for a hi tech corridor for south Orange County seem to be dead for lack of support: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-innovation0106apr01,0,7882540.story?coll=orl-home-headlines Miami: 3/30/06 Developers who had proclaimed plans to extend Miami-Dade's Urban Development boundaries in "headlong retreat" from that plan following protests on sustainability issues: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14218806.htm Daytona Beach: 3/23/06 Controversy develops on impending beachfront developments in Ormond Beach, north of Daytona: http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Local/newEAST06032306.htm Port Charlotte: 3/23/06 Development boom expected in near vicinity of Badcock Ranch preserve being developed in East County, Florida: http://www.sun-herald.com/newsarchive2/032306/tp2ch7.htm?date=032306&story=tp2ch7.htm Inglis: 3/22/06 1500-acre waterfront industrial, retail, and residential development in a pristine corner of the Nature Coast is proposed for property on Cross Florida Barge Canal: http://www.sptimes.com/2006/03/22/Business/Too_pricey_for_fishery.shtml Ft. Lauderdale: 3/15/06 "Slow-growth candidate" wins Ft. Lauderdale City Commission race: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14100497.htm Orlando: 3/15/06 East Orlando's "New Urban" project will uproot many poor residents and disrupt services for the homeless: Orlando: 3/14/06 High-density/mixed used (New Urbanism) housing project in the works for East Orlando: http://www.smartgrowth.org/news/article.asp?art=5295&state=10&res=800 Ft. Lauderdale: 3/13/06 Resolution is nearing on local legal battle for intensive development on 7.5 acres of Lauderdale's Intracoastal Waterway: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14084574.htm Gainesville: 3/11/06 UF President proposes bio-diesel fuel production for serving energy needs of campus: http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060311/LOCAL/203110331/10789-3-A Tampa: 3/10/06 Historic preservationists prevail in battle to bring re-vitalization project to Tampa: http://www.tampatrib.com/MGB6T3PWLKE.html Ft. Lauderdale: 3/7/06 Tax funding for Lauderdale's water taxis is lifted, operator will try to continue without public support: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14043004.htm Miami: 3/7/06 Miami's city preservation office unveils ambitious plan for historic preservation along Biscayne Boulevard: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14035110.htm Tampa: 3/3/06 Congested roads and concurrency issues force Hillsborough Co. to slow development http://www.sptimes.com/2006/03/03/Brandontimes/County_making_builder.shtml
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