The Stuart Florida City Commission voted 3-2 to rescind the deal they made with Brightline - which operates a high-speed train between Miami and Orlando - to build a train station in the downtown area. This reversal came with the recent election of two new commissioners, who defeated the incumbents on a platform of curbing city growth. Stuart is the county seat of Martin County, which has a long tradition of trying to preserve the environment (no buildings over 4 stories, plenty of public beach access, etc.), but recently, due to population growth, there have been a number of multifamily developments built in the area, along with a controversial plan, that was approved by the previous commission, to build a Costco and several apartment buildings a short distance from where my sister Susan and my condo is located. And of course, the people of Stuart are worried they will lose what attracted everyone there in the first place. Yesterday, the Martin County Commission pledged to try and save the deal, but whether that can happen is anybody's guess. My opinion is that Brightline is so damn expensive that very few people will ever take it anyway. The same company, by the way, is building a high-speed train from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, which I assume will be unaffordable, too, especially when trying to get home after losing all your money in Las Vegas. Is it time to take up hitchhiking again? Scary.
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