Big Development

The ‘dirty money’ behind ‘Blue Ribbon Projects’ paves the way for development of rural Florida

February 26, 2026

State Rep. Lauren Melo wants you to know she loves wild Florida. Growing up, the Naples Republican used to hunt quail and learned to drive a “three on the tree” gear shifter in the wide-open spaces. As she told the…

‘Trump Homes’ and why Florida is only going to see more ‘sprawl’

February 3, 2026

Now it all makes sense. As we and others have noted this legislative session, there’s been a huge onslaught of pro-”sprawl” bills, most of which invoke “affordable housing.” That is, if we limit local governments ability to regulate new housing…

WHO DECIDES?: Lawmakers push bills to override local communities

January 29, 2026

You think you know what’s best for your community? Lawmakers in faraway Tallahassee disagree. Indeed, this year there are multiple bills in the state Legislature with a single goal: Taking power away from local communities. Some of them involve straight-up…

Sprawl, powered by ‘dirty money’

January 22, 2026

State campaign finance data for the fourth quarter of 2025 has dropped, and initially we were going to write about how much Big Sugar gave last year. And in fact, we WILL write about it, right here: According to the…

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