Anti-Growth Groups Still active in Tallahassee?

OPINION -- We all know there are well connected, powerful groups and individuals that would love nothing more than to turn back the clock to a time when Tallahassee was smaller, and their influence over the area was greater. For good or bad, there are people who don't want to see the community continue to add more residents, and spread urbanization any further that it has already gone. My view of our city is largely shaped by an internal gut feeling for the potential our area holds by virtue of its current makeup, status as Capital of what may soon become the 3rd largest US State, and its prominence in this vast, relatively undiscovered (or Over Protected) North Florida, South Georgia region.

Tallahassee is already a very nice "Community". I'm using "Community" to refer to Tallahassee not as a city because Tallahassee is more than the 103 +/- square miles it encumbers. Tallahassee is certainly all of Leon County, and certainly parts of those counties immediately adjacent to Leon, including those across the Georgia line.

I've once scoffed at the relationship Tallahassee has with Southern Georgia. Honestly, my view of Southern Georgia was as an ultra-rural, stagnant, complacent, and lonely place. For quite some time my mind maintained that region as a liability to Tallahassee's future as a greater city. But lessons have taught me to look at things a little different. After all, the area's only Fortune 500 company, Flowers, is headquartered in the SW Georgia region, and Thomasville, GA itself is perhaps the most organized city within a 50 mile radius of our own.

But what does a relationship with any of the Tallahassee Community beyond Leon County's political boundaries mean if we don't have strong ties to them? If we are not allowed to strengthen our connectivity to them due to the efforts of special interest groups and powerful, well connected individuals. Ties that go beyond a brief news story in the paper or on WCTV, but those that give strength to the economies of the towns in our greater area. Why is there so much resistance to providing those things we know are crucial to the economic vitality of our region?

There are things being added everyday to communities much smaller than ours to transform them into relevant economic centers, but for us they seem so difficult to attain.

I'm mainly speaking about transportation infrastructure, more specifically a limited access roadway that stretches from Tallahassee north linking us with either I-185 which terminates just south of Columbus, GA or I-75? Many of us point to the financial cost the production of such a facility would require, but that never seems to be a hurdle when it's somewhere else on the map.

Same is the case when we begin to talk about adding a Theme or Amusement Park, which for an old agricultural area near Sanford, FL in the mid 20th century, or Valdosta, GA in the 1990s, came about relatively easy but for us there's always a reason to hit the brakes.

Groups like the Tall-Timbers Research group take great pride in the belief that they helped to put a stop to projects like the I-185 interstate expansion that would have brought a North-South interstate to the Tallahassee area, and the Red Hills Coastal Parkway that would have linked eastern Wakulla County with points north and given Leon County better access to the coastal area along Hwy 98 and points South to the detriment of protected wildlife habitats and protected long-leaf pine forests. I understand the mission of groups like Tall Timbers is to protect a voice-less constituency, wildlife and nature, but to what degree must we neglect the need for enhanced connectivity, and game-changing opportunities to jolt the local economy to the unwavering and often stubborn desires of groups that obviously have their own agendas to pursue. Are these groups just as active in reducing recreational hunting activities? Do these groups truly speak for the region, or is the region just unaware they exist or indifferent to care?

Why isn't the core city of Tallahassee more heavily used in the distribution of lumber from nearby towns, or in the production and distribution of the cotton from the Georgia farms?

Why is there no prominent way-finding signage along the highways to the outlying communities, and on the flip side, why is Hwy 319 called Thomasville Road in Tallahassee, and not called Tallahassee Road in Thomasville? Sort of a silly question, but it begs a conversation about the attitude the smaller communities in our region have towards the central city.

Who's shaping these ties and why?

I'm not privileged enough to know the inner workings of all of the relationships that have shaped our community into what it is, so I throw this question out to you all. What special interest groups or power families, individuals exist in this region that are resistant to change?

Member Comments:

Re: Anti-Growth Groups Still active in Tallahassee? -- bighardrivesrule

Wednesday, 23 November 2011 15:30

Tallahassee has been anti-growth for as long as I can remember. I worked for a company here in town that almost packed up and left because of our stupid city commission, it came down to a single vote by the commission whether they could stay. The commission was too busy playing international politics to see they were hurting this city. The company employed over a hundred people. Later it grew and with its business partners an employed nearly 500 people at its peak. They probably were the largest Mfg company in town. Tallahassee has so much potential compared to cities even much larger.I think you hit the nail on the head about anti-growth and the tree huggers around here not wanting anything new built because you might have to cut a tree to do it. That is so selfish of them. If they had not cut trees down before they got here they would not have a house or place to work. Same goes for widening the very unsafe canopy roads. Move over a 30 feet or so and lay down another 2 lanes, use the trees as a median. I know the Tallahassee metro area has a problem but it seems so massive I do not know where to start. Thanks for pointing out this FLORIDA, great article.

[quote="bighardrivesrule"] Tallahassee has been anti-growth for as long as I can remember. I worked for a company here in town that almost packed up and left because of our stupid city commission, it came down to a single vote by the commission whether they could stay. The commission was too busy playing international politics to see they were hurting this city. The company employed over a hundred people. Later it grew and with its business partners an employed nearly 500 people at its peak. They probably were the largest Mfg company in town. Tallahassee has so much potential compared to cities even much larger.I think you hit the nail on the head about anti-growth and the tree huggers around here not wanting anything new built because you might have to cut a tree to do it. That is so selfish of them. If they had not cut trees down before they got here they would not have a house or place to work. Same goes for widening the very unsafe canopy roads. Move over a 30 feet or so and lay down another 2 lanes, use the trees as a median. I know the Tallahassee metro area has a problem but it seems so massive I do not know where to start. Thanks for pointing out this FLORIDA, great article. [/quote]