Jul 15, 2008 9:01 am US/Eastern
Time Article Asks: Is Florida The "Sunset State?"
Miami-Based Writer Cites Long List Of Problems Facing The State
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
It was a Time cover story called "Paradise Lost", and it defined the problems facing South Florida at the height of the cocaine wars of the 80's. A quarter century later, the magazine is back with another look at the state and it's issues, and if you expected good news this time around you'll be disappointed. Its headline asks the question, "Is Florida the Sunset State?"
The article, which appeared in Monday's editions, capsulizes the many problems Floridians share with Americans in general and combines them with a few unique to the Sunshine State in such a way as to make someone wonder why anyone lives on the peninsula.
Written as a letter from Florida, the author sums up Florida's woes.
"We're facing our worst real estate meltdown since the Depression. We've got a water crisis, insurance crisis, environmental crisis and budget crisis to go with our housing crisis. We're first in the nation in mortgage fraud, second in foreclosures, last in high school graduation rates. Our consumer confidence just hit an all-time low, and our icons are in trouble--the citrus industry, battered by freezes and diseases; the Florida panther, displaced by highways and driveways; the space shuttle, approaching its final countdown. "
The article goes on to point out declining population growth, the dangers of Global warming, and the slipping battle to save the Everglades.
And then, there's the danger of hurricanes, which have plagued the state since a weather cycle caused more storms and more powerful systems to batter Florida.
The article blamed in part years of unchecked growth and stingy public spending on infrastructure like public transportation, combined with the economic woes facing the nation, to make things in Florida even worse than elsewhere.
After Time's last major look at the state in 1981, local and state leaders embarked on a building boom and a host of civic improvements which led to the creation of the South Beach scene among other major changes, improvements Time was quick to point out.
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