In September of 2010, Boston.com compiled, “with the help of Google Earth” a really fascinating array of photos for its Big Picture feature, inspired by reports in the wake of the Great Recession detailing aborted Florida construction projects where “huge developments sit partially completed among densely built up neighborhoods and swamplands.” This makes development of pristine ecosystems look alluring and aesthetically pleasing. From above, anyway. If you enjoy paintings by Mark Rothko, Stanton Macdonald-Wright, or Piet Mondrian, you might enjoy these images. Going to ground level is not necessarily advisable, as even now, 13 years later, many of them appear to be some of the saddest and most forlorn “neighborhoods” ever. Others, the more “successful” ones, I guess, seemingly have houses or pavement on every square inch of available space, cramming as many people into a small area as is legally permitted, which is its own kind of depressing.
Well, I take that ground level view comment back, sort of. There’s at least some consolation in the fact that the forests are slowly reclaiming some of these lands that were partially cleared and paved. But to get the real stunning effect of these aggressively dense and geometric attempts at creating lookalike houses on some pretty unique and fragile land, you have to see the satellite photos.
There’s an unfinished portion of Golden Gate Estates, for instance (photo #4), which has been allowed to return to nature and is now part of the Picayune Strand State Forest. (That’s the best possible outcome, honestly.) Along with a photo of Rotonda West (#9), it evokes images of electrical circuit boards. Lehigh Acres (#10) resembles a square human face in the way the roads have been laid out and the lots platted. Another image of Lehigh Acres is perhaps the most heart-warming of all (#13) – described in 2010 as “partly developed, now partly overgrown,” this area now offers even no trace of paved roads if you descend to ground level and explore via Google Earth. There’s just dirt paths, sand, and plants. “Overgrown” doesn’t even begin to describe it. And yet old street names still appear on the screen as you navigate around. There are also some pretty visually striking photos of dense development right alongside unspoiled, pristine looking waterways and forests (#20 and #25, for instance).
But despair not. There may be a whole lot more of these landscapes coming to a forest or wetland near you! With the passing of Florida Senate Bill 540 in May of this year, the state government has signaled, in case we didn’t know from years of similar laws, and the legislature’s criminal neglect of the environment more generally, that you can pretty much build anywhere you want in this state with little fear of opposition from environmental groups. So we can likely expect a lot more attempts by dollar-eyed developers to strike into the wilderness and create the next Port Charlotte, Rotonda West, or Port St.Lucie. And maybe in another ten years we’ll be able to enjoy a new set of images of abandoned, half-finished developments disappearing back into the woods.*For a fuller history of unethical land development and sales in Florida, I highly recommend Jason Vuic’s fascinating book The Swamp Peddlers. He discussed his research and the finished book on the Florida Book Club podcast (Season 3, episode 7).
