2 Comments

Excellent write up.

Expand full comment

Great data, thanks for sharing. I know terms like "decline" were used here to describe the raw data. Given what I hear from residents on the street, City Council Comments, and message boards, I think many residents would welcome a reduction of inflows of people moving here(they would see a decline as positive). I'd pity the poor fellow who put his family in a rental box truck and arrived in Palm Bay , stopped at Publix and asked a resident next to him in line "is this City a good place to move to"? I'm afraid he'd get a good dose of NIMBY. Growth is not all bad, I realize the commute and road problems it can create. I'm from the rust belt, where there is the opposite of growth, trust me, growth is better. I would always insist that the City make growth pay for itself. (not make the residents pay for it). I would urge people to remember, that one major cause of people moving here is the mismanagement of the rust belt states in the northeast where many come from . It seems to not get better, there is no save our homes tax cap, folks in rural areas with declining political clout are forced to receive relocated illegal immigrants from sanctuary cities, consolidated school districts due to declining population, local governments and their zoning boards and codes are under pressure to go against their residents, when the State governments don't get their way on permit applications for solar /wind farms , and transmission lines. There are threats of "permitting reform" from the State Capital. Much of the conventional power generation has been shut down in lieu of "renewable" energy that isn't built yet, pushing up utility rates. I'd much rather put up with our growing pains in Palm Bay than what I just described.

Expand full comment