Log In | Become a Member

Intersection: How will growth change in Central Florida?

June 29, 2010:Central Florida's approach to growth could be reaching a turning point. Last week the Orange County Commission blocked a housing development that opponents said would have encroached on the environmentally sensitive Econlockhatchee River. Recent US census data show the state's growth rate at it's lowest point in a decade. So, with fewer residents to provide tax revenue, will Florida change its decades long pattern of urban sprawl? Does the Orange County decision mean politicians are trying to stop potentially damaging growth? Or, are they turning their backs on development that could create valuable new jobs and revenue? We talk about these issues and more with planning expert Bruce Stephenson of Rollins College.

Florida is in an economic slump right now, unemployment rates remain high.  State and local governments have spent the last couple of years trying to do more with fewer financial resources.  So how should cities manage what development they already have, and improve it for the future?  Bruce Stephenson talks with us about that very question.  He’s a professor of Environmental studies at Rollins College and he recently appeared in the PBS documentary Imagining a New Florida which aired on WMFE last month.

 

Rollins College Professor Bruce Stephenson

 

 

audio_icon_pos

Click here to listen to story

 

 

.

  Printer Friendly Version 

Tell A Friend


 

All active news articles