Daniel
Kariko

Speculation World: Topography of Real Estate Crisis in Florida

Florida's inland highways are littered with signs announcing residentialdevelopment opportunities, proclaiming, " A Great Place to Live!" Sprouting subdivisions are replacing orange groves, palmettos and cattle land. These,primarily agricultural spaces have been converted into speculative housing, ridingthe wave of Florida's latest cash crop. However, the idyllic roadside billboardspaint a much different picture than the life in these undeveloped and ghostlyinstant-communities. Promises of fulfillment of the American dream crumbledsince the beginning of real estate bust in 2007.According to the Florida Department of State in 2004, approximately 1,000people moved to Florida every day. In addition, Larry Arrington, Dean forExtension, University of Florida, revealed in 2006 that over the next 50 years Florida's population is expected to double to 35 million. During this time, PierceJones, director of the Extension's Service's Program indicated more than 11million new homes, millions of square feet of commercial space, and thousandsof miles of additional roadways will be needed to accommodate the influx of newresidents. However, the latest numbers from the Office of Economic and Demographic Research reveal that at the beginning of 2009 Florida populationgrowth has come to a standstill for the first time in i's history. This is one of themost radical demographic changes since Florida started projecting populationestimates about 60 years ago.The aerial photographs of central Florida's arrested suburban developmentscreate patterns of human habitation in crisis. From the air, the negative imprint ofsuburbia and its effect on nearby farmland and forests is evident. Furthermore,there is a curious absence of building machinery on these half finished sites.By contrast, the photographs from within these abandoned developments createpost-apocalyptic sentiments of nature taking back the unused and abandoned.This project seeks to evaluate the liminal landscape of central Florida by usingthe vantage point of aerial photography and juxtaposing it with images fromwithin these unfinished and abandoned Cul-de-Sacs.