Sun coast vs. No coast
This time last year I took a trip up to the Panhandle, a very popular area for tourists and Florida transplants. The area I visited is commonly called the Emerald Coast and extends approximately from Rosemary Beach to Fort Walton Beach. It includes the master planned communities of WaterColor, Seaside and Rosemary Beach, all of which I took a look at. I concluded that although the beaches along Florida’s Panhandle are spectacular, they were practically hidden behind tall condos lining the beach and were far less accessible than the beaches on Florida’s Sun Coast, where we live.
This year I took a little trip up to Celebration, Fla. near Disney World, which is another master planned community similar to those in the Panhandle, but without the beach. Celebration was developed by The Walt Disney Company starting in 1996 in the early 20th Century style of architecture and is still connected to Disney World via one of its streets. The population as of the 2010 census was 7,427.
Celebration, like most master planned communities, seeks to reproduce entire towns including restaurants, schools, post offices, libraries, banks, as well as single family and multi- family housing, all with walkable streets and lots and lots of front porches. It’s very pretty and totally consistent and just a little too perfect for my taste, but I do see the attraction.
This of course brings me back to Bradenton’s own master planned communities that are on the drawing board, Lake Flores and the somewhat smaller Peninsula Bay. Much has been written about Lake Flores, which has been approved and is predicting a 20-year build out by its developers, the Manatee Fruit Company. Lake Flores promises about 6,500 homes, 3 million square feet of offices and retail space and a 500-room hotel. Also included are a major lakefront park, about 40 percent open space and a 50-foot wide trail weaving through the property.
The Peninsula Bay development will run along Cortez Road back to Palma Sola Bay almost opposite the Historic Cortez Fishing Village. The plan is for approximately 3,960 new residences, as well as a 101-slip marina including dining, boat storage and shops. The developers mean to conserve the mangroves along Palma Sola Bay, as well as the wetlands along Cortez Road, and plan on the community being utilized by residents and visitors alike.
When questioned last year, Whiting Preston, president of Manatee Fruit Company said that Florida will continue to grow in population and construction, and rather than sell off their property for separate subdivisions and shopping centers, they have created a cohesive plan for the entire site. The intent is to create a community so residents don’t always need to leave the area, keeping traffic off some of the heavily travelled main arteries.
Does this mean the Sun Coast is losing its identity and turning into the Emerald Coast or the No Coast? I certainly hope not. But things are changing and changing fast and the problem of all of these new residents filtering on to tiny Anna Maria Island still hasn’t been addressed. I think next year I’ll just stay home, since there really is no place like it.