Florida

Seeing as I am traveling to Florida next week I thought I ought to devote a post the Sunshine State.

Although we're not going as far as Miami, this ocean-hugging metropolis deserves some mention. Miami is one of the largest cities in the US, it is also one of a select few that boast 4-pro sports teams. While my generation associates the city (and its beaches) with bronzed and waxed MTV eye candy, the city has a fascinating history outside this stereotype. Significant settlement and development didn't start until the end of the Third Seminole War and the construction of a train line into south Florida.

The Florida Land Boom changed all of that. Real estate development took off in the Miami area around the 1920s. This led to the largest collection of Art Deco architecture anywhere in the world and a huge influx in population. Americans looking for a tropical destination found out about Miami and its warm climate. The realtors forgot to mention the hurricanes, however, and after a series of nasty storms and the onset of the Great Depression, the Florida Land Boom ended. The legacy of this boom lives on, however. Fisher Island, a private resort inaccessible by car, is named after a prominent developer of the era. It is one of the wealthiest and most exclusive places in the country.

St. Augustine is generally considered one of the oldest settlements in North America. It is also home to one of the first black markets created by US policy. Sir Gregor MacGregor seized the tiny Amelia Island and created a micronation. The island where MacGregor intended to evade the Embargo Act and import slaves is just outside of St. Augustine. His 'Green Cross of Florida' flew over the island for the summer of 1817.

The Spanish colonial area of Florida is prosaically known as the "First Coast," a name meant to distinguish this coastal region of the state to tourists. Likewise the "Space Coast" is the home of the Kennedy Space Center (area code 3-2-1) and the Miami are is the "Gold Coast." Then there are the others, the ones that seem different but don't seem to distinguish themselves quite so well. The "Sun Coast" seems to describe the beaches from Tampa Bay to the Everglades, the "Emerald Coast" occupies a scenic piece of the panhandle, and the "Treasure Coast" fills in a rural gap on the Atlantic side. Finally, there is the "Nature Coast," which apparently is the least desirable (and swampiest) piece of ocean-front real estate.

Florida has the distinction of having two cities owned by the same corporation. Disney owns and operates the cities of Lake Buena Vista (pop. 16) and Bay Lake (pop. 23).