john-degroot.com

SE Florida's Great White Flight

2010-07-30T11:39:00Z

The Big Diversity Boogie
    (Southeastern Florida Demographic Trends)
                                        1990          2008         %
    Southern Tier Counties
        Miami Dade
        Total Population                                           1,937,094               2,285,876                  18%
        Non Hispanic White                                     585,607                 427,443                     (27%)
        Broward
        Total Population                                           1,255,488               1,733,178                 38%
        Non Hispanic White                                     940,345                  841,552                   (11%)
        Total Southeastern Tier
      Total Population                                           3,192,582               4,019,054                 26%
         Non Hispanic White                                    1,525,952               1,268,995               (17%)
       Northern Tier
      Palm Beach
          Total Population                                           863,518                 1,262,353                 46%
          Non Hispanic White                                    684,945                  1,044,293                52%
          Martin
          Total Population                                          100,900                   138,495                    37%
          Non Hispanic White                                    89,689                     112,964                    26%
          Indian River
          Total Population                                          90,208                     131,020                    45%
          Non Hispanic White                                    78,923                      104,202                   32%
         Total Northern Tier
        Total Population                                         1,054,626                 1,531,868                45%
           Non Hispanic White                                   853,557                    1,261,459                48%

SOURCE: US Census Bureau

Ain't no river in Egypt!

2010-07-28T13:18:00Z

Florida – State of Denial
Here's more raw data/grist for many
highly important local stories – but
none you'll ever see in print!
                              1990                2008              %
SE Florida (1)
Population              3,192,582       4,119,054      29%
Housing Units         1,399,948       1,770,813      26%
Vacant                    179,151          270,336         51%
Residents -
Living in Poverty     467,572          585,827        25%
Born in US               2,030,569      2,289,125     13%
Born In Fla.             806,742          1,306,057     62%
Other State             1,223,827       983,071        (20%)
Foreign Born           1,072,843      1,721,506      60%
% of population       34%                42%
African American     591,440          902,564       53%
White Non Hispanic.1,525,952       1,268,995    (17%)
Hispanic                  1,061,846       1,881,274      77%
Minority                   1,666,630       2,850,059      71%
% of population       52%                69%

Rest of State (2)
Population               9,745,344       13,640,928    40%
Housing Units          4,700,314        6,913,287     47%
Vacant                    786,242           1,333,059      70%
Residents -
Living in Poverty     1,136,604        1,651,931      45%
Born in US              11,491,330      11.954,389    4%
Born In Fla.             3,133,498        4,877,373     42%
Other State             8,357,832        8,077,013     (3%)
Foreign Born          589,758           1,680,885      185%
% population          6%                    12%
African American    1,164,518        1,876,767       61%
White Non Hispanic.7,962,746        9,764,837      23%
Hispanic                  493,185           875,114         77%
Minority                   1,782,598        3,876,091      117%
% of population       18%                 28%

(1) Miami Dade and Broward
(2) Total for all other Florida Counties

SOURCE: US Census Bureau

And the hits just keep on...

2010-07-28T10:48:00Z

   Annual Per Capita Income
                                1990        2008        %
      Hillsborough      $14,303    $27,863
       2008 $                $23.599                       18.0%
    Pinellas              $15,172    $29,126
       2008 $                $25,034                       16.3%
      Duval                 $13,857     $26,488
       2008 $           $22,864                  15.8%
      Florida               $14,420     $27,151
       2008 $                $23,793                       14.1%
      US                     $14,698     $27,466
       2008 $                $24,252                       13.2%
      Orange              $14,570      $26,786
      2008 $                $24,040                      11.4%
      Miami Dade        $13,686      $23,750
      2008 $                $22,582                       5.1%
      Broward            $16,883      $29,192
      2008 $                $27,857                        4.7%
      Palm Beach       $19,937       $34.302
      2008 $                $32,896                       4.3%

SOURCE: US Census Bureau
Department of Labor – CPI : 65%

More Silly Journalism Lite

2010-07-27T15:36:00Z

Stupid Reporting Is
As Stupid Reporting Does
   Broward County is home to the two communities Money Magazine has ranked as the best places to live in Florida, as reported today on the business page of the Miami Herald.
   Coral Springs was ranked first in Florida – and 44^th in the nation.
   While Coconut Creek was ranked second in the Sunshine State – and 48^th nation.
   “We're always looking for family-friendly places,” Money Magazine reporter Beth Braverman told Herald reporter Mara Rudolph.
    Pity the Herald's Rudolph failed to ask Braverman two basic questions like:
    One - What's Money Magazine's definition of a “family-friendly” place?
    Two – How familiar is the magazine with the US Census Bureau?
     For example, consider the increase in the number of residents living in poverty in the Magazine's top Florida communities between 1990 and 2008:
Coconut Creek
Population             78%
Living in Poverty   117%
Coral Springs
Population             37%
Living in Poverty   272%
Florida
Population             37%
Living in Poverty   39%
United States
Population             21%
Living in Poverty   25%
   And then there's the trend in per capita income for residents living in the two communities during the same 18-year time period.
Coconut Creek
Per Capita Income (13%)
Coral Springs
Per Capita Income   7%
Florida
Per Capita Income   12%
United States
Per Capital Income   15%

SOURCE: US Census Bureau

Diversity on Steroids - Part Four

2010-07-23T14:56:00Z

You don't need to be
    a weatherman...
Broward Demographic Trends
                 1990         2008            %
     White*        940,350    841,550     (11%)
     Minority      315,140    913,925      190%

     Residents In Poverty - 2008
           White*           Minority
             67,250          134,653
             8.8%             14.6%

      *White Non Hispanic
     SOURCE: US Census Bureau

Diversity on Steroids - Part Three

2010-07-22T13:06:00Z

Hable whatever?
Broward              1990         2008
Total Population       1,255,488    1,754,846    40%
Speak Language
Other than English*   207,929      581,613       180%
Do Not Speak
English Very Well*     80,694        240,171       198%
*Aged 5 and over
SOURCE: US Census Bureau

Diversity on Steroids - Part Two

2010-07-21T15:05:00Z

Broward Public High Schools
         Selected Student Data*
NOTE: In a democracy, there should be a public
forum where citizens can discuss what trends
such as these might mean. However.....
                 Low Income   Minority*   Graduation
Stoneman Douglas                8%                  31%                   90.7%
Cooper City                           9%                  29%                   90.7%
Cypress Bay                          10%                55%                   90.3%
Pembroke Pines Charter       13%                68%                   89.1%
Western                                 14%                31%                   89.1%
Somerset                               18%                84%                   68.8%
Taravella                                24%               51%                   89.5%
Coral Springs Charter            22%               40%                   84.0%
Flannigan                               27%               72%                   86.6%
Coral Glades                          29%               53%                   86.2%
Pompano Beach                    30%                70%                   92.2%
Monarch High                         31%               48%                   85.9%
Nova                                      32%                62%                   87.5%
Coral Springs                        35%                 59%                   86.0%
South Plantation                    41%                 69%                   76.6%
Piper                                      41%                 75%                   77.3%
Parkway Charter                   42%                  98%                   71.6%
Northeast                               45%                 62%                   76.5%
Deerfield Beach                     46%                 74%                   76.8%
McArthur                                47%                 76%                   72.9%
Miramar                                 48%                  92%                   77.2%
Hollywood Hills                       49%                  60%                   76.7%
Fort Lauderdale                     50%                 78%                   83.0%
Coconut Creek                       51%                 85%                   62.0%
South Broward                       53%                  65%                  72.5%
Blanche Ely                            61%                  95%                  82.8%
Boyd Anderson                       62%                 98%                  62.4%
Stranahan                              64%                  89%                  74.5%
Dillaard                                  67%                  95%                   70.2%
Hallandale                             67%                 92%                    71.0%
SOURCE:Schooldigger.com
Florida Department of Education
*Minority = Students Excludiing White Non Hispanic

TOMMORROW: Diversity on Steroids - Part Three

Diversity on Steroids - Part One

2010-07-21T12:57:00Z

Broward Public School System
              Ethnic Trends
School Year            1979-80           2008-09
Total
Students                   132,802          256,186     93%
White Non Hisp.      95,458            73,344       (23%)
Black Non Hisp.      31,447            97,145        210%
Hispanic                    4,807              66,762        1,289%
SOURCE: Florida Department of Education

So.....
How might the above shape Broward's future:
     Sense of "community"?
     Leadership?
     Politics?
     Economy?
     Work force?

Tomorrow - Part Two

Peversity Marches On

2010-07-20T12:27:00Z

NOTE: Peverse old codger that I am, I take shameless
pleasure posting these diverse daily factoids --
knowing full they would have generated valid headlines
in the then more alert local media back in the day.
For example.....
BSO - Protecting Less for More

  BSO Hazmat Team Removing Passenger's Dirty Laundry
                                       2004                 2009
Port Everglades
BSO Security                  $8,909,117      $18,274,140
Vessel Calls                   6,395                4,250            (34%)
Cruise Passengers         4,075,406         3,139,701     (23%)
SOURCE: Broward County

Yoda Reports

2010-07-19T14:30:00Z

Worry You Should!

   NOTE: Once upon a time* local
   journalists would have told their
   readers about the startling trends
   below. JKdeG
Student Population Trends
Broward Public Schools
School Year         2000-01        2009-10      %
Total Students     251,080        256,141       2%
Low Income          91,675         135,316       48%
      Florida Public Schools
School Year         2000-01        2009-10      %
Total Students     2,434,403     2,635,115    8%
Low Income         1,069,697     1,408,976    32%
SOURCE: Florida Department of Education

   *However that was long, long ago in
    a galaxy far, far away.

Yet More News Unreported

2010-07-17T15:25:00Z

But we know all about
The Heat and LeBron!
                           Broward County
      Fresh Water Useage
                   1985                  2005 %
Per Day
Gallons        235,280,000    586,760,000    149%
Per Capita   209 gallons      337 gallons      61%
SOURCE: Florida Statstical Abstract

Still More News Unreported

2010-07-16T12:59:00Z

   uperficial
      New Building
     Permit Trends
NOTE: Still more dark economic trends
unreported by your Sun-Sentinel Lite
                                  Family Units
   Broward         Single          Multi
    2000                 9,148             2,689
    2001                 8,296             2,490
    2002                 5,704             6,317
    2003                 3,880             4,338
    2004                 4,784             3,925
    2005                 3,609             3,342
    2006                 3,350             3,166
    2007                 1,754             2,179
    2008                 908                1,256
    Decline            (90%)            (53%)

                                  Family Units
   Florida            Single           Multi
    2000                 106,115         48,962
    2001                 118,482         47,707
    2002                 128,298         56,976
    2003                 128,298         56,976
    2004                 186,858         68,542
    2005                 209,158         78,088
    2006                 146,236         57,002
    2007                 70,030           32,521
    2008                 38,709           22,333
    Decline           (174%)          (54%)
SOURCE: University of Florida
Bureau of Economic & Business Research

The Shrinking "Face" of Growth

2010-07-15T13:20:00Z

Construction Trends
  New Housing Units

      Beautiful Rockpit Estates
                             Average Built Per Year
Built In         Broward     Miami-Dade    Florida
2005-08        3,228           5,994               97,443
2000-04        12,542         15,087             216,099
1990-99        12,823         11,917           154,225
1980-89        14,905         15,148             195,358
1970-70        23,309         20,472             172,479
1960-69        12,621         13,145              88,200
1950-59         7,290          16,430              70,290
SOURCE: US Census Bureau

Read All About It - NOT!

2010-07-13T11:59:00Z

       Vacant Real Estate*
*Still more scarey stuff your Sun-Sentinel
      won't report - or doesn't know about.
               Vacant Housing Units             Census
City                   2000             2008       %        %
Parkland                173                    708            309%     72%
Coral Springs        1,815                 4,865         168%     10%
Oakland Park        1,007                 2,616         160%     36%
Margate                 2,026                4,136          104%     1%
Pembroke Pines    3.307                6,479          96%       10%
North Lauderdale  645                   1,196           86%       31%
Dania Beach         1,839                 3,382          84%       42%
Plantation              1,755                3,200           82%       3%
Cooper City           166                   302              82%       8%
Lauderhill               2,941               5,265           79%       12%
Coconut Creek       2,084               3,696           77%       11%
Florida                  965,018            1,603,395    66%       18%
Fort Lauderdale     12,394              20,567         66%      18%
Sunrise                  2,353                3,862           64%      5%
Pompano Beach    9,299               14,881          60%       28%
Tamarac                2,327                3,621           56%       8%
Broward County 86,598             130,830        51%        8%
Lauderdale Lakes 2,226               3,199            44%        2%
Hollywood              8,753               12,542          43%        3%
Deerfield Beach     5,951               8,531            43%       13%
Hallandale Beach   6,791              9,529            40%       12%
Miramar                  2,847               3,780           33%        55%
Davie                      2,602               3,037           17%        22%
Weston                   2,367               2,110           (11%)     26%

SOURCES:
Housing Vacancies - US Census Bureau
Census Increase – University of Florida

Buyers' Market?

2010-07-12T11:52:00Z

Broward County - 2008*
Vacant Housing Units
City                     Units         Vacant        %
Hallandale Beach   26,450         9,529              36%
Pompano Beach     57,688         14,882             26%
Fort Lauderdale      91,551         20,567             23%
Lauderdale Lakes 14,369          3,199              22%
Dania Beach           15,617          3,382              22%
Deerfield Beach     41,254          8,531              21%
Florida                     8,684,100     1,603,395       18%
Lauderhill                29,152          5,265              18%
Hollywood               69,961          12,542            18%
Broward County     802,069        130,830          16%
Margate                   25,644           4,136             16%
Coconut Creek       24,857           3,696             15%
Oakland Park          19,205           2,616             14%
Tamarac                  33,622           3,621             11%
Pembroke Pines    62,405            6,479            10%
Sunrise                    37,306           3,862             10%
Miramar                   37,864           3,780             10%
Coral Springs          46,646           4,865             10%
Plantation                35,765           3,200              9%
Weston                    22,839           2,110              9%
Parkland                  7,590             708                 9%
Davie                       38,231           3,037              8%
North Lauderdale   14,329           1,197              8%
Cooper City            10,389           302                  3%
SOURCE: US Census Bureau
*2008 marked the early stages of what has come
to be called "The Great Recession."

WHUT-EVAH!

2010-07-11T11:31:00Z

Lebron James
  Miami Bound

First the Good News:
   One of the greatest players in the history of the game has signed with The Heat, Miami's professional basketball team.(See www.toetagdiary.com)
    While in Broward, County Commissioners have approved a new $220 million main courthouse for downtown Fort Lauderdale.
Now the Bad News:
   According to the US Census Bureau, the median household income in Miami-Dade County declined 5% between 1990 and 2008 – in constant 2008 dollars.
   While in Broward, Census data reveal the median household income declined 3% during the same 18-year period – again in constant 2008 dollars.

The True Face of Diversity

2010-07-10T12:47:00Z

      Broward County's
   Have and Have Nots
    In the 21st Century

   Politicians and the Mass Media have
convinced the average citizen that diversity
is all about racial and/or ethnic identity.
   Which is total manipulative bullshit.
   Fact is, real diversity has always involved
the Haves and Have Nots – as anyone damn
well knows while struggling to survive in the
depths of today's so-called “Great Recession.”

City             Median Household     Families Living
                            Income               Below Poverty
Parkland              $111,951                2.6%
Weston                $95,454                  3.2%
Cooper City         $94,000                  1.6%
Coral Springs       $77,032                 5.8%
Plantation             $68,604                 5.3%
Miramar                $67,412                 6.2%
Pembroke Pines   $63,026                 4.4%
Davie                    $60,667                 6.2%
Fort Lauderdale    $52,345                 11.8%
Broward County $52,236                 8.3%
Sunrise                 $50,148                 5.7%
Dania Beach        $48,015                 10.2%
Coconut Creek     $47,582                 6.0%
Margate                $47,217                 9.4%
Hollywood             $46,501                 8.2%
N. Lauderdale      $45,758                18.9%
Oakland Park        $44,051                10.2%
Deerfield Beach    $43,794                11.2%
Pompano Beach   $43,350                11.9%
Tamarac               $42,029                 7.6%
Lauderhill              $38,748                17.8%
Lauder Lakes        $37,021                15.5%
Hallandale Bch     $35,099                 15.7%

SOURCE: US Census Bureau

Welcome to Babel County

2010-07-08T16:05:00Z

   Broward may have become Babel County – with a future similar to the Bible's famous example of linguistic diversity.
  How so?
  As a newspaperman for most of my professional life, my journalistic efforts have been defined by two simple conceits which:
  One – There are people who care about “the common good.”
Two – They are motivated (and able) to improve their “community”.
  This is why, at 72, I've adopted the role of an aging Cassandra via a series of posts on this blog detailing various data that suggest that --- as a community – Broward Doesn't “Work.”
   Trouble is, reality suggests that my diminishing time on this planet might be better spent folding paper bags, or watching tractor pulls on ESPN.
   Why?
   Simply put – and like the 300 million-plus citizens of 21^st Century America – Broward's 1.7 million residents are motivated by a very narrow and narcisstic sense of “community.”
   Even worse, while most Broward residents have a clear idea of what's “good” for them – they rarely, if ever, are motivated by any sense of “good” that is “common.”
   In short, yesterday's e pluribus unum had been replaced by I'm entitled.
   Which is how and why Broward today “works” like a bucket of crabs – where dozens of disparate socio-economic and political groups battle for their proper place in the sun.
   And so we have, for example:
   Hispanics sub-divided into -
     White
     Black
     Latin American
     Central American
     Mexican
     Cuban
     Puerto Rican
     European
     Native-born
     Foreign-born
     Wealthy
     Middle Class
     Low income
     Young
     Old
     Educated
     Uneducated
   Of course, it's even more absurdly diverse, disparate and confusing among Broward's “Non Hispanic Whites” and “Non-Hispanic Blacks – be they Zionists from from New York versus Born Again Baptists from Georgia, or Jamaican nurses versus a Haitian landscapers.
   Nor can we ignore the aggressively insular world of the retirees.
   Or the complex needs of families with children in school.
   Or home owners versus renters.
   Or gays versus straights.
   Or victims versus perpetrators.
   And so on.
   Further compounding the problem, are Broward's equally divisive sub-communities geographically divided into the Eastern Shoreline Affluent, the Decaying Low Income Center along 1-95, and the Western Upwardly Mobile Consumers.
   Nor can we forget how Broward's 1.7 million citizens are further sub-divided into residents of 31 different cities – each with its own jealously guarded status and turf.
   And finally, we have whatever passes for Broward's civic, political and business leaders-- most devoted followers of Our Lady of Perpetually More for Us and Less for Them.
   All of which leads me to one final existential question, which is:
   Who do you like in a good tractor pull – Ford, Farmall or John Deere?

Broward's Toothless "Watchdog

2010-07-07T14:57:00Z

Another Reason Why
Broward County Doesn't Work

   Safely ensconced on the 9^th floor of the Sun-Sentinel building in downtown Fort Lauderdale, the newspaper's shrinking staff covers most of the events of the day by telephone, email, fax and press release.
   Call it the Blanche DuBoise Syndrome – where a newspaper staff “depends on the kindness of strangers” to cover the events of the day.
   So much for the Sun-Sentinel's role as a watchdog for its increasingly disinterested and declining readership.
   Trouble is, the community is very much the worst for the Sun-Sentinel's journalistic impotence.
   Take the recent headlines involving Lauderhill's Brampton Court apartment complex – where some 250 residents were forced to evacuate their apartment homes after city inspectors determined the 36-year-old building was unsafe.
    In covering the story from their lofty perch high above downtown Fort Lauderdale, what the newspaper's reporters have yet to discover – among a great many other key details – is the identity of owner of the decaying apartment complex. :
    Which serves as a sad metaphor of what's wrong with journalism by Fax, phone, email and press release.
    For example:
    One - With 352 units Brampton Court is one of 31 low income apartment complexes owned by the Atlantic Housing Foundation, a Texas-based 501c3 (non profit) corporation headquartered in Southlake, Texas – an affluent suburb of Dallas with some 21,000 residents.
   Two – The Texas address of the Atlantic Housing Foundation is the same as the Windover Health Club LLC, a Florida 501c3 (non profit) corporation.
   Three – Also located at the Atlantic Housing Foundation's address is the Sonterra Texas Investment Corporation, a for-profit real estate investment firm.
    Four – with 35 years in commercial real estate, Daniel B. French is listed as an officer of the three above corporations.
    Five – IRS data and its website suggest the Atlantic Housing Foundation hires independent contractors to operate maintain the 7,300 apartment units it owns throughout the Southeastern United States.
    Six - In Florida, Atlantic Housing owns and operates five low income apartment complexes with nearly 2,000 units in Largo, Lauderhill, St. Petersburg, Sanford, and Tampa.
    Seven – As a non-profit corporation, Atlantic Housing Foundation's 2008 income tax report listed $51,370,486 in rental income from its properties --- assets of $312,224,897 with liabilities of $403,374,294.
    Eight – The purchase of Atlantic Housing Foundation's low income rental properties in Florida was financed with some $270 million in tax-exempt bonds issued by the Capital Trust Agency, a non profit corporation created by the tiny Florida city of Gulf Breeze, a community of some 6,000 residents south of Pensacola.
    Nine – While the total taxable value of the entire City of Gulf Breeze is less than $900 million, the city's Capital Trust Agency has issued more than $1.2 billion tax exempt revenue during the past ten years.
    Ten – In October of 2006, Gulf Breeze and Capital Trust Agency were cited in an 18-page Bloomberg Markets in-depth investigative article detailing a $7 billion “scandal” in so-called “black box bonds” – including a $220 million bond deal involving Capital Trust Agency of Florida.
    Eleven - Capital Trust, Bloomberg Markets reported, was an “invisible” public authority that “consists of three people working out of a ranch house that's situated behind the police station in the city of Gulf Breeze.”
    Anyhow....
    The above should be enough to spark the intellectual curiousity among most journalists with the intellectual curiousity of a common house cat.
    However, I'm reminded of the question Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid kept asking as they fled a mysterious posse of relentless riders.
    Like “Who are these guys?”
    Which is a question the Sun-Sentinel has yet to ask of the people responsible for all the Hard Times for residents at Lauderhill's decaying Brampton Court.
    And probably never will.
    But then what can you expect from the toothless and impotent journalistic watchdog that still has enough balls to call itself “South Florida's leading information provider”?

May be PC Offensive!

2010-07-06T16:59:00Z

WARNING!
This post in my on-going series "Why Broward
Doesn't Work" may offend certain politically
correct readers.

        Broward                    1990              2008                 %
       Total Population     1,177,048     1,754,846         49%
        US Born                    1,057,214     1,183,870        12%
        Foreign-born           198,274         523,136           164%
        SOURCE:  US Census Bureau