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The St. Joe Company — When Clearcutting Dreams Become Master Plans
Ah, The St. Joe Company — the crown jewel of Florida Panhandle land management, if by “management” you mean: We bought the forest, sold the lumber, and then paved over the dirt for a tidy profit.
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WaterColor — Rustic Charm, Now Available in Bulk
Welcome to WaterColor, the community that asked the all-important question: Why leave nature messy, when you can organize it into neat, HOA-compliant rows? Brought to life by the great and powerful St. Joe Company (yes, the same timber-turned-real-estate barons who see the Florida panhandle as their personal Monopoly board), WaterColor is a master class in…
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From Sand Dunes to Subdivisions — A Standing Ovation for Progress
And so, dear reader, we reach the end of our scenic drive down 30A — the stretch of Florida coastline where nature once whispered in salty breezes and now politely hands out branded welcome packets. From Rosemary Beach’s airbrushed nostalgia, to Alys Beach’s alabaster fortress of curated exclusivity, to Seaside’s theme-park version of community, to…
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Seaside — New Urbanism’s Poster Child, and Nature’s Cautionary Tale
Seaside. The one that started it all. The town so charming it could give a sugar cube a toothache. The developers didn’t just bulldoze the landscape here — they bulldozed the entire idea of Florida and rebuilt it from the ground up as an architect’s fever dream and a lifestyle influencer’s wet napkin. When you…
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Alys Beach — Florida, But Make It Santorini (Minus the Nature)
Ah, Alys Beach — the seaside fever dream where the developers boldly asked: Why let Northwest Florida be Northwest Florida when you could turn it into an overexposed Instagram filter instead? Once upon a time, this stretch of 30A was an unassuming expanse of coastal scrubland, full of pesky native plants and inconvenient wildlife. But…
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When the Polluter Pays To Warn You about Pollution
Florida’s springs are dying. That’s not new — decades of over-pumping, fertilizer runoff, and sprawl have been choking them for years. But the Associated Press recently ran a feature spelling it all out in detail: pollution, development, climate change, the whole parade of bad news. It’s worth a read: Pollution, development and climate change threaten…
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Rosemary Beach — Because Sand Dunes Were Just Wasting Space
Ah, Rosemary Beach. The crown jewel of “New Urbanist” utopia, where Florida’s wild coastal scrub was graciously bulldozed into submission so that we, the deserving, could sip lavender lattes within walking distance of our Mediterranean-inspired vacation rentals.
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Beach Planes?
MIRAMAR BEACH — Because nothing says “relaxing day at the beach” like a private aircraft making an unexpected appearance on the sand. In the latest display of wealth-meets-mishap, a privately owned aircraft was forced to land on the shores near Beach Drive East in Walton County. Apparently, when you’re fabulously rich, even engine failures come…
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Front-Door Orientation: A Key Element of New Urbanism
A key architectural element in the New Urbanism is the orientation of front doors towards the main footpath or road. This practice represents a deliberate and strategic approach to community planning that seeks to reinforce the principles of inclusivity, walkability, and human-scale design. I do have a minor critique of this at the end, so…
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Exploring New Urbanism’s Eclectic Architecture
New Urbanism is a design philosophy aimed at reshaping urban landscapes into vibrant, sustainable, and people-centric communities. One of its notable features is its embrace of eclectic architecture. Let’s delve into the role of eclectic architecture in New Urbanism and how it contributes to the movement’s philosophy.