Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby (Post 1720534)

This is the problem with Florida, in general. They don't have much respect or regard for nature. It has no value to them, other than "how quickly they can strip it raw it and build retirement homes on it."

It's one (of several) reasons I don't like Florida. There are some things about Florida I like. But as a whole, I don't like the state.

In some states, there are land trusts - where the trust buys up the land, and prevents development on it. The trust serves as a conservation steward to ensure that nature is allowed to exist, unimpeded by government or anyone else.

I would like to see, five generations from now, kids who grow up knowing that "lakes" don't all smell nasty, are not all filled with "reclaimed water," and that weeds are part of what makes nature beautiful. I'd like for them to not need to go to a zoo to see the last living butterfly in the state. I'd like for them to know what trees look like when they're not pruned perfectly and precisely placed in their back yard. I'd like for them to know, and experience, the sights, sounds, smells of nature. This won't happen if we continue stripping the natural environment and replacing it with plaster houses and strip-malls.

"They paved paradise and put up a parking lot" is happening right here in the Villages. People older than I am, who have been living here for years already, know this song well and might even have protested against replacing nature with industry, in the 60's. The sad thing is that they're either a) not vocal here or b) have changed their minds.

Joni Mitchell and others are people I admired, growing up. It's just very sad to see that their message is obscured in the Villages - perhaps on purpose.

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby (Post 1720534)

Joni Mitchell and others are people I admired, growing up. It's just very sad to see that their message is obscured in the Villages - perhaps on purpose.

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby (Post 1720534)

This is the problem with Florida, in general. They don't have much respect or regard for nature. It has no value to them, other than "how quickly they can strip it raw it and build retirement homes on it."
...
"They paved paradise and put up a parking lot" is happening right here in the Villages...

Originally Posted by Polar Bear (Post 1721466)

If you truly feel this way, then you don't have the foggiest clue about the development process in Florida.

An Environmental Engineer was in the office next to mine for 25 years. He supervised the environmental side of permitting for Pinellas County, Florida for that entire time period. I supervised the engineering side for the same time period. He would either fall out of his chair from laughing so hard at your rantings or from pounding his fists in anger at them...maybe both. To hear that a citizen of the state could know so little about what actually goes on but continue to rip the system anyway is simply hard to reconcile when you are so close to the actual process.

I know a lengthy description of the process wouldn't change your feelings one iota. But briefly and for the record, all development in the state must balance environmental issues with the engineering and development issues. The rules are rigid and strictly enforced. If anything is "stripped raw", then a very, very, VERY significant environmental compensation package is always a requirement. Always.