When we left our story in Part 1, it was late 2024 and the City of Tallahassee had just dropped a $150,000-plus sidewalk demand on a bookstore owner who just wanted to add 700 square feet. But that wasn’t where the adventure began. To understand the Sidewalk of Doom, we need to go back to the beginning. […]
This is a story about 997 emails, a $150,000 sidewalk, an 8-eye-bolt bike rack and a parking lot that never got built.[…]
Here is a number worth sitting with: 18.3 percent.
That is the share of income the typical Austin, Texas, renter now spends on rent — the lowest on record going back at least 20 years, according to housing analyst Nick Gerli of Reventure App. The typical Austin rent has dropped to $1,565 a month while the median income has climbed to $100,000. Apartment rents are down roughly 22 percent from their 2022 peak.[…]
There may be no more reliable sign of local Facebook economic illiteracy than the phrase: “We don’t need another car wash.” […]
Florida is short on housing. That’s not controversial. It’s arithmetic.[…]
If Florida is serious about affordable housing, it must get serious about impact fees. […]
Siesta Key has become a case study in a familiar Florida contradiction: communities that depend heavily on tourism and redevelopment dollars while simultaneously trying to prevent redevelopment from occurring. […]
For years, they rolled out the red tape.
Now they’re staring at the consequences — how to fund police and fire, maintain parks, and keep local government running when nearly all your revenue comes from homeowners.[…]
Tallahassee International Airport is adding two new nonstop routes on Breeze Airways — Fort Lauderdale and Raleigh-Durham. […]
When I launched Red Tape Florida, I wasn’t building a business. I was testing an idea.
The idea: local government needs scrutiny that is informed, data-driven, and relentless. Not performative outrage. Not partisan theater. Just facts, public records, and clear arguments that follow the money.[…]