It doesn’t take Miss Cleo to suss out the future of Fort Lauderdale.
Just ask Mayor Dean Trantalis.
“There will be an increased cost of living and doing business in Fort Lauderdale,” the mayor told the Sun-Sentinel.
Boy, that’s an understatement.
Money will be needed to fix the sewers, which seem to be hemorrhaging more waste into the streets and waterways almost every day.
How much money?
Lots. Lots and lots. Hundreds of millions. Maybe even a billion or more.
But that’s only one intractable problem facing Fort Lauderdale.
There is:
*Gridlock paralyzing major streets. It would cost billions for overpasses or mass transit to even make a dent in this problem.
*King Tides. Untold millions more will be needed to keep the ocean from totally inundating vulnerable parts of Fort Lauderdale.
*Less and less affordable housing. The City Commission has permitted thousands of luxury condominiums and homes, raising the price of housing and making Fort Lauderdale increasingly unaffordable for teachers, first responders and others who lack sky-high salaries.
*Water problems. Drinking water will become more expensive as salt water intrudes further and further into the interior of Fort Lauderdale.
*Insurance rates rising. Surging seas and sewage damage is surely going to send up the cost of insurance. And when, not if, there is a hurricane……
*Homeless. It remains out of control, despite lip service from the City Commission. This is the classic “broken glass” issue, the theory that anti-social behavior detracts from residents and visitors way-of-life.
