Today’s company is carefully, purposely walking a tightrope. The challenge is filling the obvious need for homes, business and the infrastructure to connect them -- while at the same time maintaining the natural allure that draws folks to Northwest Florida in the first place.
Let’s face it. Florida has been the center of a rampant real estate boom since Rudolph Valentino needed a suntan. The railroads crisscrossed the state in the ‘20’s, unleashing rapid growth that continues to be the name of the game in the Sunshine State.
At the turn of the 20th century, Key West, population 5,000, was the largest city in the state. Today, 17 million people have chosen Florida as home, and a thousand more arrive daily. This fast and furious growth rate presents both a problem and a rare opportunity.
Whenever there’s such passionate interest in an area, development happens. And that’s where the attitudes and actions of JOE divide it from the pack. Past to present, Florida developments have been many things: tacky or tony, sprawling or congested, sometimes environmentally devastating, dense and nightmarishly short-sighted. High-rises and bottom lines too often ruled.
From the chenille bedspread stands and alligator farms of the 1950’s, to the hastily-constructed spec condos of the 1990’s, nine times out of ten, profit trumped planning. Often the environment wasn’t even a consideration.
That was Old School. St. Joe is proceeding at a different pace, from a different place. With its vast and vintage land holdings, JOE can afford to approach its projects with one eye to the future, and is doing so. Because it owns so much land bought at such a small initial investment, St. Joe can afford to leave much of it untouched.
To date, St. Joe has sold more than 170,000 acres to state and private conservation interests. Additional acres are being considered for sale.
After all, why spoil the very things that make Florida special?
You might plead ignorance in 1930, even 1950. But today we all know about the fragility of our ecosystems, the importance and advantages of living in sync with nature. Spoiling shorelines, swamps and springs and destroying wildlife and its habitat is not only wrong, but also counter-productive. It’s bad business.
St. Joe wants its Florida always to look and feel like Florida. The original Florida of our childhood memories. The Florida of simple Cracker architecture and palmetto swamps, endless vistas and sugar white sand. The Florida of the majestic black bear and lowly butterwort. The Florida of marshes and sand dunes and even the Choctawhatchee beach mouse.
Florida appeals to people because it is so different from the rest of the country. Its most dramatic distinctions are natural. To sweep nature’s treasures away, to bury them beneath asphalt and concrete is criminal, and stupid.