In 2023, it seems like most conversations are quickly reduced to the binaries. We can or we can’t. Most of what we can influence and control, however, is much more grey. All Florida operates in this space, in the middle, in the grey.
Stopping development would mean loss of jobs, huge economic impacts (in the negative way), loss of funding for the things we should be managing well (natural resources).
Dreaming big is “how can we shape this place, its future, to be better for ALL of Florida?"
What does smart development look like? What is the right balance? How can we ensure that those people moving here by the hundreds every day understand that this is a special place, not simply a warm climate with low taxes, but an incredibly diverse ecosystem, a land of agriculture and wild things, of kind people who relish being in the woods or on the water, a way of life that’s not unlike that of its earliest settlers (albeit one made easier with bug spray and air conditioning and four wheel drive) . . .
This is our time. The next 10-15 years will be forever etched into the face of our landscape. What should this look like? What’s our big dream? How can we make it better?
This is our hope. That we have an army of dreamers and wishers who are also doers, who show up for this place day after day.