- Maria Toumazos, Osceola County economic development administrator, speaking about Destiny. (Osceola News-Gazette, 9/27/08)
In the world of consumer or commercial products, often a new startup announces some new improvement that intends to revolutionize their market. But by the time they bring that revolution to market, their established competitors have improved their own products, sometimes improved their value propositions, and have taken away the advantage that the new startup might have had.
In the world of real estate and land development, it appears that the opposite occurs. Once an area has been built out, it is left to languish in its current state, while all focus turns to new projects. We see it every day when a new strip mall is built. Half of the tenants to the new mall tend to be those from the old strip mall down the street, enticed by the ‘newness.’
And so it appears to be with Destiny. While Kissimmee languishes, St. Cloud returns to its small-town roots, and virtually no one is talking about making Celebration the high-tech corridor of Osceola County anymore, apparently when Destiny is built, Osceola County will finally be able to attract those professional jobs that we are all currently driving to Orange and Brevard county for.
It’s always easy to sell the shiny new thing. It would be much more credible to show that the existing community was already in so much demand that expansion was necessary, not speculative.
Meanwhile, back to our discussion of Vine St./192, we’d like to welcome the News-Gazette’s editorial board (9/27/08) to those voices calling for the City of Kissimmee to do something, and soon, with their Vine/192 concept. “Future bomb crater” surrounded by beautification/BeautiVacation areas isn’t the answer either. We will note that some local businesses are trying even more extreme methods to try to draw in customers...has anyone noticed the bikini-clad models dancing to strobe lights on top of monster trucks in front of the wings place on 192?
4 comments:
I am sure that now, that the City of Kissimmee has been awarded with the wonderful, job creating, buisness bringing, All-American City award it is only a short matter of time that the 192 corridor is back to full capacity.
If you believe that there are cheap stocks in Lehman Brothers out there you can buy too.
Again, take a ride on 192 from Vineland Road on the west side to Boogy Creek on the east. As you do, count the following:
1. Closed buisinesses
2. Pawn shops and check cashing
3. Cheap fleabag motels
4. Transients just walking around
5. Panhandlers and bums at the corner of John Young and Vine
The whole thing is so depressing. We, the residents of Kissimmee, deserve so much better.
I am sure with the new Commissioners just voted in that things will get better. Oh yea, thats right, we just re-elected the same ones who have gotten us into this mess.
Maybe we, the residents of Kissimmee, are getting what we do deserve after all. More incompetenace and more of the same.
Maybe it's time to move to St Cloud????
Best comment I have read in a long time. Perhaps if the "real" residents of Osceola, not the transients, weren't so damned apathetic, things might change. It seems like they crave and desire the status quo, the Wendell Mckinnons, the Jerry Gemskies and the Jim Swans. But what is sad, is that complain that nothing "works right".
It's just some "fancy" idea the deveopers have come up with to feed to the powers that be. They expect the community to be dumb enough to believe it all and go along with it. It's just another development like all the other developments. Nothing new.
It's another development like all the other developments nothing new?
Have you even checked out the Destiny concept? I'm not saying this project is the best idea, or that the Destiny people are going to follow through on what they say they are going to do.
However if they suceed it will NOT be like any other development. It will be the first of it's kind and a model development for the rest of the Country. Talk to the Destiny people and see. Fred Hawkins brought citizens from Keenansville along to a luncheon with Destiny, ask those citizens what the negatives were after the luncheon?
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