Florida's Growth
Growth in a state is a sign of maturity and prosperity. Too much growing in a state can cause the reverse effect. Florida appears to be growing at a rapid rate and there's not much to do but sit back and watch. Florida has to be able to handle the growing of population, transportation, and environment. Florida is growing fast and the necessary needs and funds to keep up do not appear to be in the local governments' hands.
Population is the major concern for Florida for many reasons. Increased population means more children, which calls for more schools. Leon Bouvier says from the "population of two point one million students in 1990 will increase to three point five million by the year 2020, and will expect fifty thousand new kids a year for the rest of the decade." To keep up with this growth two thousand eight hundred teachers will need to bee hired each year, and a new school will have to be built every week. Population growth will also include the elderly, as well as middle age people. This means the government will have to hire over twenty thousand new physicians, and over one hundred thousand new nurses. By the end of this decade fifty more hospitals will have to be built to keep up with growth.
Florida has five point two percent of Americas' population, and just two point eight percent of the nations' roads. Population rose over forty percent in the eighties while the number of vehicles increased fifty percent. This means, roads have about twice the amount of traffic necessary. To maintain and keep up with population growth, twenty-four thousand five hundred ninety-eight additional miles would need to be added by the year 2000. The Department of Transportation has said it is highly unlikely due to the minimum amount of funds.
Most people today know the damage done to Florida's environment because agriculture. Urbanization, flood control, and draining of swamps have reduced the original Everglades systems by half. Disruption of natural...