Posted on 05/31/2003 8:30:16 PM PDT by D. Brian Carter
Fort Lauderdale's status as a city of the rich received official confirmation Friday from the federal government.
The Census Bureau ranked Fort Lauderdale fifth in the nation in percentage of homes worth $1 million or more -- news that won't shock anyone who has seen the Rolls-Royces cruising Las Olas Boulevard or the mansions rising in Victoria Park.
The city had 765 homes worth at least $1 million, 3.3 percent of the total homes in Fort Lauderdale, according to information from the 2000 census.
Ranked first is Cambridge, Mass., with 11.6 percent of total homes worth at least $1 million. The ranking included only cities with populations of 100,000 or more, which removed from consideration such posh communities as Palm Beach and Coral Gables.
Mayor Jim Naugle said Fort Lauderdale's appearance on the million-dollar list was excellent news, proof that his city was a desirable place to live and an indication of even better economic times to come.
"It's a wonderful thing for the tax base," he said. "And it attracts people to the community, entrepreneurs to create prosperity for all of us."
Laura Hansen, chief executive officer of the Broward Coalition for the Homeless, saw a darker message, an indication that the city was becoming a community of the very rich and the very poor.
"It's not a good thing; it's a terrible thing," she said.
Homelessness has doubled from 5,000 to 10,000 in Broward County over the past years, just as developers poured money into mansions and downtown condominium projects, she said.
"People can't afford the rents or mortgages in Broward County," she said. "A rising tide does not necessarily lift all boats. What's happening in Broward County is the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Right now we have a Publix that offers valet parking. Is that for me or you? No, that's for the elite."
Property values have soared in Broward County, rising 7 percent last year.
Home values in Fort Lauderdale have risen particularly sharply for waterfront property along the Intracoastal Waterway and canals near the ocean, said Joe Zdanowicz, Broward County's chief property appraiser. He attributed the increase to two factors: a general rise in South Florida property values and the practice of demolishing two or three adjacent houses and building mansions in their place.
"The real estate market in South Florida over the past three years has gone through the roof," said Zdanowicz, who has worked in the appraiser's office for 30 years. "I've never seen anything like it before, and it seems like there's no end to it."
Barbara Panton, who has sold homes for many years in Fort Lauderdale's most exclusive waterfront communities, said home prices have risen so steeply that the Census Bureau's $1 million cutoff seemed a bit dated.
"One million is not even an expensive house today," she said. "... For $1 million you're going to get an old house that needs to be redone or bulldozed."
David Fleshler can be reached at dfleshler@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4535.
(Excerpt) Read more at sun-sentinel.com ...
"People can't afford the rents or mortgages in Broward County," she said. "A rising tide does not necessarily lift all boats. What's happening in Broward County is the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Right now we have a Publix that offers valet parking. Is that for me or you? No, that's for the elite."
Now, contrast that with this fact:
Ranked first is Cambridge, Mass., with 11.6 percent of total homes worth at least $1 million.
I'm sure the feel-good, caring, wonderful liberal folk in Cambridge would take offense to being called elitists (although I doubt the homeless activist could bring herself to say such a thing about her brothers and sisters clustered around Harvard Square).
I live in Fort Lauderdale, so I can attest to the high costs of housing here. I have also lived in Cambridge, and must say that the cost of living was so high there, THAT I HAD TO MOVE! When it gets so much that I can't bear in Broward County, guess what? I'LL HAVE TO MOVE.
The homeless here (and in Greater Boston) aren't victims of elitism. If it was a simple case of them wanting affordable housing, they'd move to where they can afford it. I lived on the streets in the Boston area for awhile. It was my choices and my actions that put me there, and as soon as I decided to get my act together, I was no longer on the streets. In that time, I noticed that about 98% of the people who shared my "plight" were in the same situation... able-bodied, relatively mentally stable, and on the streets of their own accord (though none of them would ever admit to such).
Bubble, old money, zoning restrictions, property tax rate cap, rent control. But mostly bubble.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.