They Don’t Get It
The Local Puppy Trainer has a article on Okaloosa’s tarnished image which is totally devoid of a connection to the real world. They need to do a little traveling to find out what people have always thought when you mention Northwest Florida. The county’s image hasn’t been “tarnished”, for most of the rest of the world it has been confirmed.
The Panhandle has been called the “Redneck Riviera” for a very long time, and most people are not smiling when they say that. When people visit, they want to stay in Destin, because they see it as divorced from the “trailer trash” that inhabit the rest of the county. The unregulated development, and total lack of urban planning has turned the “Miracle Strip Parkway” into a long strip mall with a collection of ugly commercial buildings.
The revelations about out local officials being corrupt is nothing new, the original “He-coon” of Southern politics, Robert Lee Fulton “Bob” Sikes, set the tone, and older people remember it.
The next election should see a new Sheriff, Tax Collector, and member of the Florida house. It is to be hoped that NWFSC trustees will start looking for a new president, and there are some changes on the county commission. It is highly unlikely that the new people will be any better than the old, because the “good ol’ boy” network isn’t about to let in outsiders.
Sorry, but we have never had a reputation that could be tarnished.
2 comments
Oh, yeah – over development. The road to & from”here” to “town” was never a beauty spot, but merely a collection of small business, Mom-and-Pop spots with maybe one stop light. A not too unpleasant little drive during rush hour.
Then the”smart” folks started making plans. Now it’s nothing but branch banks, “convenience” stores, fast food spots – not to mention the Super Wally World and at least a dozen stop lights.
Game around town is how to avoid driving through it.
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The Miracle Strip Parkway [US-98] parallels the coast. The Santa Rose Sound is just South of the road. Fast food places, convenience stores, and car dealerships are not what people come to see at the beach.
Of course, there isn’t much beach left because they have sodded down to a few feet of the water’s edge, even at the public park, and many of the businesses have put up sea walls or dumped rickrack for erosion control.
Asphalt parking lots is not my idea of a nice beach experience.