I'd never heard of Destiny, Florida

[poopfuel]

But I guess people are finding out about it.

From Biofuels Digest: (read more at biofuelsdigest.com)

Destiny, Florida picks up where Disney’s EPCOT left off: a sustainable, large-scale community, powered by bioenergy
In Florida, a sustainable community that will ultimately provide 50,000 homes south of Orlando, is providing a blueprint not only for Florida’s future land development, but the integration of biofuel production into a mixed-use community where sustainable agriculture, for food and fuel, is a cornerstone of the economic proposition.

In a town called Destiny, planners are reminding us that sustainability means not only the environment, but social and economic sustainability as well.

Snip


Their goal: to discover what crops work best for energy production, and to move Destiny and Florida past the food-versus-fuel debate that has strangled the nation in its love-hate affair with corn ethanol. Johnson says that Destiny’s view is that corn is not viable as an energy crop in Florida, that the state is looking for crops that do not require the fertilizer intensive farming practices associated with corn cultivation.

[csziggy]

1. OMG - Destiny is being built outside Yeehaw Junction!

For those of you not familiar with bad woods - well scrub - Florida, Yeehaw Junction was a crossroads in the middle of palmetto scrub covered nowhere at the intersection of the Florida Turnpike and Hwy 60. Pretty much all it ever had were truck stops.




In the grand tradition of Florida real estate boondoggles, it looks as though Destiny is being created as a theme development. Seaside had its architecture, Ave Maria is all Catholic - Destiny will be founded on selling the idea of green living.

According to an article: "And how. Charles Lee, director of advocacy for Audubon of Florida, said Pugliese's development will light up one of the few sections of Florida that remains dark in nighttime satellite photos of the state. 'This has the potential to change the face of Florida in ways little else would,' Lee said of Destiny. 'It pries open the interior of Florida like a can-opener.'" http://www.sptimes.com/2006/06/04/Business/Yeehaw_s_Destiny_awai.shtml

This is NOT a place where people have chosen to live. There are no jobs. People will be lured out to the middle of Florida swamp land for the concept of environmentally living while destroying an part of Florida that has never been seriously disturbed. And it was not disturbed because it is a completely unattractive piece of land:

The acreage in Yeehaw Junction, which had been owned by Latt Maxcy Corp. of Frostproof since the 1930s, didn't particularly grab Pugliese when he first drove its sizable perimeter (9 miles along State Road 60 and 3.5 miles south on both sides of U.S. 441). And he wasn't necessarily impressed when he walked the land, keeping a wary eye out for snakes and gators. Even a helicopter ride over the property, 60 miles south of Orlando and 30 miles west of Vero Beach, wasn't especially revealing. It wasn't until he looked at the parcel on a Florida map that he began to appreciate its potential.

Pugliese could visualize Orlando's development creeping south along Florida's Turnpike, which borders the parcel's eastern edge. He could foresee the surge of growth from the beaches, less than an hour to the east, and northward from South Florida. And, with the widening of State Road 60, he expected the connection with Central Florida towns like Lake Wales and even Tampa would become smoother. Another plus: Florida's Turnpike Enterprise is proposing two toll roads for the state that would criss-cross west of his property. http://www.sptimes.com/2006/06/04/Business/Yeehaw_s_Destiny_awai.shtml

Anybody want to buy swamp land in Florida?

[poopfuel]

2. thanks

Sounds like a recipe for disaster.
Road to hell paved with good intentions and that sort of thing....

[csziggy]

4. My grandfather bought a chunk of peat bog after the 1928 Florida Land Bust

The family finally managed to unload it a couple of years ago after paying taxes on it for 75 years. Trying to sell peat bog was pretty much a waste of time so we waited until someone who actually wanted the peat made an offer. The deed description was a nightmare - it was divided into 70+ lots, each one separately detailed. But as a result, I was brought up on tales of the original Florida Land Boom and Bust and knew from infancy that it is a fool's game to speculate on real estate in Florida.

And since this is the Environmental/Energy section - The property was offered to environmental groups since it bordered the Lake Wales Ridge but it was refused even as a donation. The guys who wanted the peat have a long time history of being careful about environment and ecology where they dig it. The property went through a long review by the state and federal EPA, delayed by concerns that a rare skink might live there, but it did not. They are also careful about archaeological finds and on another peat location notified the proper authorities and worked with archeologists when it was found to be a significant find.

[islandmkl]

3. i'm a recent ex-resident of florida...

there is not one square foot of that state that is not under pressure to be developed, regardless of the 'habitability'...

hey, that's why they make concrete and asphalt, you know?