S. Florida

[jiacinto]

It seems like this place is very dense. All the development in the three county area here is from the FL Turnpike and I-75 to the coast. Anything west of that is simply forest and swamps.

I was driving today on W. Flagler Street. I drove it to the end, which is right by the Turnpike. I drove then on SW 177th Avenue.

I drove on Calle Ocho, which becomes the Tamiami Trail. Then it goes under the Turnpike, a few suburban developments, then nothing but Everglades and the Casino.

Why does suburbia end so abruptly? I remmeber driving down US-1 into Kendall and Homestead. It's developed, somewhat urban. Then past SW 104th Street it becomes very rural, especially around Cutler Ridge. Then you reach Homestead and are all but in the Keys.

What gives here?

[jiacinto]

1. kick

nt

[jiacinto]

2. kick

nt

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[HEyHEY]

4. On account of

Suburbia being planned. The zone off a chunk and say "Okay develop that chunk" and so it all gets done in blocks

[jiacinto]

5. Ok

nt

[uberotto]

6. You've probably noticed by now...

that there aren't very many mountains in Florida, or hills or even many oversized speedbumps. I think I heard somewhere once that the majority of Florida is less than 20 feet above sealevel. The result of this is an abundance of wetlands in Florida. It's basically just one big swamp with a few islands sticking out of it.

I live in Melbourne, which is a few miles south of Cape Canaveral and it is the same here. On the coast there is a lot of development and it remains pretty thick until you reach I-95 (about 10 to 15 miles east of the coast), then suddenly not much of anything.

My dad is a private pilot and flies down to visit occasionaly. One time when he was here we went up in his plane and flew around the area. I was truely amazed at just how wet Florida really is, and that is the problem, or protector depending on your interests, with Florida. There just isn't a whole lot of available land on which to build. We have such an abundance of wildlife simply because we lack an abundance of commercially viable land.

[Awsi Dooger]

7. There has been gradual development to the west

And I'm sure it will continue. The past 20 years or so has not been as rapid a movement to the west as the previous 20. The Cutler Ridge area was where Andrew hit in '92. Some of the new developments to the west, notably Country Walk, were leveled by the hurricane. Cutler Ridge and Homestead have never fully recovered, with many of the then-homeless residents relocating to Broward or farther north, and the new deveopments to the southwest decreasing in number.

Lately there are more new communities to the west in north Dade and Broward, such as Weston.

Still, my mom grew up on SW 97th Ave, which at the time was called West Glades Road. Now you can take Kendall Drive (88th St) and head west into substantial residential developments at 137th Ave and well beyond. I remember when both Bird Road (40th) and Miller Road (56th) were cut off by a canal, at the point the Turnpike passes now. Now you can take either road tens of blocks further west, dense in population. There are certainly new high schools in southwest Miami that did not exist when I moved away in the '80s.

When driving the Turnpike, I agree it's odd there is so little development to its west. But that Turnpike extension itself did not exist until the mid-to-late '70s.

I'm admittedly jealous, jiacinto. That's my old territory you are describing. Good to see you are getting around.

[speckledgator]

8. I'm from Florida

Ft. Pierce....and I get all kinds of curious questions like..."Do you have cows there?" the center of the state is as southern (maybe more so) as Mississippi. Part of my family has been here since the British days. I agree they will build as far west as they can, and east from the west coast, until the state collapses into itself. Or maybe Bugs will just saw us off...lol

[FlaGranny]

9. Very good reasons for that Carlos -

On the east coast, west of where the development is in South Florida - Everglades - the River of Grass. It is protected wildlife habitat for the most part, a mixture of water and grass and hummocks (forested islands). Not only that, it is the source of the fresh water supply for the entire southern part of the state and we wouldn't want to mess with that.

Edit: Further north you run into the cane fields, and then north of that there are the large cattle ranches.

[speckledgator]

11. wow

granny you know your florida!

[dmr]

10. Everglades National Park

Developers have (are) been building as far west as they can go, especially since Hurricane Andrew, but look at the map and you'll see the answer to your question.