South Florida Condo Dream In Tatters?
Condos have been central to the South Florida ‘I’ve made it’ lifestyle for decades until the collapse in Surfside.
“A condo craze boomed in the 1970s, and Florida, decades after the advent of air-conditioning, insect repellent and swamp dredging, was on its way to becoming the third-most populous state, a frontier land for builders and investors and a powerful lure for people seeking the ultimate Florida reward: life on the beach.
The residents of Champlain Towers South came to Surfside, Fla., from all over the Americas and every walk of life: wealthy penthouse owners who kept a beachside pied-à-terre, modest-income retirees who had called the place home for decades, orthodox Jews just a few blocks from temple, Cuban exiles, New York snowbirds. They were seduced by the promise of prosperity and enjoyment embodied in the gleaming buildings that have”
South Florida has always had a very special place in the minds of Americans, especially those who live north of The Ohio River and East of the Mississippi. In the dead of Winter with long gray days, many Northerners pick up and head to South Florida for a complete recharge. Many people decide to never leave and make a new home in the tropical paradise offered by the Sunshine State. Poor building inspections and weak laws that could have contributed to the condo collapse in Surfside may permanently alter that paradigm.
