Scary Florida

We spent the long weekend in Florida for Heidi's high school reunion. That part was fun, but Florida as a whole was scary - and not just because of the never-ending suburban sprawl, the humidity, or the bugs. But I may be too pessimistic - visiting extended surburbia while reading Jared Diamond's Collapse may just be a bad combination. ANd what I saw may be limited to a small region, not the state as a whole.

In the three short days in Florida, I noted the following:

• There's a big drought - water levels are one and a half to two feet below normal. However, new golf courses are being developed all over.


• House prices have inflated at a rate that makes even New York look sane. A friend said house prices had gone up by a factor four in the last five years - but salaries have not kept up. The edge is off the housing market (prices are actually starting to fall) but four times is still crazy.


• Gas prices are high like everywhere in the US and people aren't able to keep up. Heidi saw somebody getting one and a half dollar's worth of gas at a 7-11 - that's just over half a gallon! If people are in trouble now, then this summer is going to cause real trouble.


• New development (golf courses, houses, malls) keeps going on. Parents of friends got their house in the boondocks (well, in the middle of orange groves) 30 years ago and are now smack in the middle of suburbia - albeit with a larger plot and nicer house than the neighbors.

All these things combined mean just one thing to me: this can't go on. Let's hope there's no actual crash, but I fear things may get very very ugly down there.