I enjoyed your post.
I went to Diston Jr. High and to Boca Ciega H.S. back in the sixties.
I don't know what it is like now.
It used to be the old folks capital of the world but now the downtown area seems to have fallen into PC hell.
A lot of the development is good and useful, especially for tourists and the very wealthy, but it is driving up property values and costs, and displacing smaller businesses. (Gulf Golf on Treasure Island is closing -- looked really sweet, but with property values the way they are, I can't blame the owners for selling.) The condos -- very high priced -- draw the most ire. I think it's typical of what many Florida communities are facing.