A Tale of Two Florida Cities: Fort Myers and Babcock Ranch
There are lessons to be learned in aftermath of Hurricane Ian, the category 4 storm that overwhelmed the southwest coast of Florida on September 28 with a 12-18 foot storm surge, 20 inches of rain, inland flooding, and wind. It caused a loss of water and power for 3-4 million people, destroying homes, businesses, and lives. Fort Myers and other coastal and inland cities and towns were largely devastated along with a large part of the state’s citrus crop.
In stark comparison, due to long-term planning and investment, using both traditional and some relatively new technology, Babcock Ranch, 12 miles east of Fort Myers along the hurricane’s path, survived nearly unscathed by the wind, rain, and potential flooding. It is a diverse town the size of Manhattan, with over 2,000 homes on 18,000 acres with planned growth to 19,000 homes and 50,000 people.
Babcock is not a typical community in south Florida. And that is by design. It is intentionally 25 feet or more above sea level, well beyond the storm surge zone, with a surface water management system, natural drainage and historic drainage flow, an underground fiber optic internet and power lines, and an 870-acre solar farm. Building codes require all structures rated to withstand winds of up to 145 mph. Landscaping with native plants to withstand the Southwest Florida storm and fire cycles.
You might be saying, “Sure, what do you expect? It’s nothing like Tampa, Cape Coral, Sanibel, or Fort Myers,” and you would be exactly right. Those cities and towns were built for an old reality. Babcock Ranch was planned, designed, and built where and how it was, precisely for the new reality of southwest Florida.
Unfortunately, the lesson of planning and building for the future has so far been ignored. West coast Florida was built on dredge and fill profit-driven development; you’d think it would be a no-brainer to get past that development mind-set. But, according to the Wall Street Journal, there has been an enormous post-Ian surge of buyers looking to buy up the very same property that was destroyed by Ian, and prices are going up, pricing out the ones who suffered the most in the storm and those without the resources to rebuild in Fort Myers or anywhere else.
The Fort Myers and Babcock Ranch lessons there for us. The challenge is which one we will learn.