Finding the "real" Florida
We are avid Disney-goers. And, I know that makes some people roll their eyes so hard that they see their brains. So, I'm trying to figure out plans for a "real Florida" tour from late February to earl...
Forum Discussion
Most of the "real" Florida has disappeared since the 1980s, having become one huge suburban property development with the exponential population growth as people migrated from the Northeast, and to a lesser extent, from the northern Midwest. Population doubled from 1940 to 1960 with the first wave of WW2-era retirees, then doubled again 1960-1980, and was on its way to doubling again by 2010 when the 2007-9 recession slowed growth briefly.
There are some pockets of pre-development Florida, some of it preserved as state and national forests, not-yet-drained wetlands, some cattle country up north, and the cores of some of the older cities (Tampa, St Pete, Sarasota, St Augustine) once you get through the sprawl now surrounding them.
Look at the area along US-19 from Homosassa north to Perry (Citrus, Levy, Dixie counties), although Citrus county has been starting to develop faster as the Suncoast Parkway has made it a viable commute for the Tampa metroplex.
Another area still carrying a sense of Florida culture and life style would be the highlands south of I-4. e.g. along US-27 from Frostproof down to Sebring, US-17 Bowling Green to Arcadia.
In the Panhandle, Apalachicola National Forest. Coast from Panama City to St Marks used to look a lot like it did in the 1960s, but my last time through on US-98 it was starting to look like developers were trying to create another Destin, so I haven't been back through.
There are probably more, as there are other areas of Florida I haven't revisited since the 1980, and some I haven't since since I lived there in the 70s.
The Florida East Coast is a solid urban strip from Palm Beach to south of Miami, but since that has been the case since the 1970s, I guess that is "real" Florida now.
There are some pockets of pre-development Florida, some of it preserved as state and national forests, not-yet-drained wetlands, some cattle country up north, and the cores of some of the older cities (Tampa, St Pete, Sarasota, St Augustine) once you get through the sprawl now surrounding them.
Look at the area along US-19 from Homosassa north to Perry (Citrus, Levy, Dixie counties), although Citrus county has been starting to develop faster as the Suncoast Parkway has made it a viable commute for the Tampa metroplex.
Another area still carrying a sense of Florida culture and life style would be the highlands south of I-4. e.g. along US-27 from Frostproof down to Sebring, US-17 Bowling Green to Arcadia.
In the Panhandle, Apalachicola National Forest. Coast from Panama City to St Marks used to look a lot like it did in the 1960s, but my last time through on US-98 it was starting to look like developers were trying to create another Destin, so I haven't been back through.
There are probably more, as there are other areas of Florida I haven't revisited since the 1980, and some I haven't since since I lived there in the 70s.
The Florida East Coast is a solid urban strip from Palm Beach to south of Miami, but since that has been the case since the 1970s, I guess that is "real" Florida now.
