A Different Area
They always stand in the
shade. I met my first one by almost riding my
bicycle over him. He stood and walked slowly across the freshly mowed
swale as if he were agitated that I had made him move! It didn't
take me long to realize that the bobcats here aren't the only thing
different about Port Charlotte. There are several families of bobcats
that live within several miles of Ranger Stadium.
Most
of our local residents not only accept them, they have come to
protect them as part of our neighborhood. People take photos of the
offspring cubs from their cars the way they take photos of their own
pets. Well. maybe not that close, but the thought of trapping or
shooting the bobcats is out of the question. Will they be here in
the next several years?
Port
Charlotte is in transition. More so than the areas north of us in
Sarasota and Venice, or to our south, in Cape Coral and Fort Myers.
Bobcats have already lost their battle to save their environmental
identity. giving way to uncontrolled commercial buildings and
unparalleled residential growth.
As
Port Charlotte changes from an unincorporated retirement community to
a desirable location for prime earning years breadwinners. as a
bedroom community for both Sarasota and Fort Myers, local service and
retail support base will transform from Mom-and-Pop shops and locally
owned service companies along U.S. 41. to the malls and mega-centers
that dominate every high-growth residential area in the country.
Even
the hospitals will eventually see a change in the more common
illnesses and accidents as the population of our community gradually
becomes younger.
The
growth pattern would suggest a single community, stretching from
Marco Island to Bradenton. It will he just like the Florida
City-to-Jupiter stretch on the east coast that has no woodlands
except what little was saved for parks.
Just
like St. Petersburg to Spring Hill north of Tampa. You can't tell
U.S. I in Homestead from U.S. 19 in New Port Richie! No doubt we
will also spread west, as Englewood expands easterly toward U.S. 41.
Space along State Road 776 will become as desirable as U.S. 41 as the
widening is finished along with the new Myakka River Bridge.
Port
Charlotte is extremely unique. We have our natural beauty, coupled
with people who care about the environment and the atmosphere they
live in. Our area has changed subtly in the last several years, and
will continue to do so. The architecture and concern for the blending
of environment with what we build is evident in the majority of
building that has transpired in the last 10 years or so. But that
can slip away quickly, just look at the intersection of U.S. 41 and
S.R. 776.
The
new complex in the north east corner of the intersection borders on
barren, if not just downright ugly. Once the beautiful old oaks and
wax myrtles have been bulldozed away, they will never come back. And
neither will the bobcats .
George
Mindling ©
2000
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