Why Almost No One Lives In The Florida Everglades – It’s Towns And People

The Florida Everglades, devoid of humans, almost.

on today’s video the Florida Everglades why nobody lives in this region of the state the Florida Everglades is a wild Place known for alligator swamps and perhaps many people think that that is why this part of the state is not inhabited however there’s more just alligators and swamps in the Florida Everglades both cattle and the sugar industry own massive amounts of land to be honest the Florida Everglades have drawn a lot of attention from video games to music videos to stories of Jurassic Park like reptiles living in these swamps people are curious about the Florida Everglades but being one of the largest natural attractions in the United States wouldn’t people want to live in the rural areas adjacent to the Florida Everglades like they do with the Colorado Rockies or other scenic areas in the country despite its natural beauty and attraction the Florida Everglades draws zero real estate value and it’s been looked at more as an area of burdensome weather burdensome conditions flooding difficult to manage lands and considered to be one of the least valuable pieces of land in the United States it’s no secret that swampland isn’t the most attractive real estate to buy and some of the businesses that have tried to drive in the Florida Everglades over the years have even failed like it’s the case of the abandoned and now demolished hotel that once existed in corer County right in the heart of the Florida Everglades it simply wasn’t econ economically viable and eventually it went into Decay and today it’s gone along the beaches and Coast of Florida beaches and Gator communities Thrive but once you head far inland there’s practically nothing on today’s video we’re going to look at some of these communities and learn a little bit about the few people who actually live in one of the most inhospitable landscapes in the United States the Florida Everglades we’ll start off learning about the Florida Everglades in the heart mon T ranch one of the most isolated communities in the State of Florida it is quite literally a grid pattern of streets most of them are unpaved a few Cuban restaurants there really isn’t much out here the population here is composed mostly of Hispanics most of them originally came from the Miami area unpaved roads sitting on 1.25 Acres one of the biggest challenges that this area faces is groups from Miami coming in here and dealing away with anything they can steal whether it’s a Vehicles dump trucks boats animals anything that is left outside unattended here can disappear and be stolen these groups from Miami have been here in montal ranch harming the community for decades now and in the last few years deaths have increased to the point where many people have actually considered moving out of Montour Ranch because they can’t keep a hold of anything they have some people have resorted to putting up fences and cameras to try to deter people from stealing but it really hasn’t worked living in a mour ranch or owning property here means you’re going to have to always have somebody on the property alert because anything left out will likely be stolen in some cases even the fences have been stolen this area is so poor and incommunication economically that many people that live here actually practice substance farming raising animals and bartering instead of actually using money and anything that’s not stolen by humans is always under Threat by be and other animals thus having property or even maintaining a piece of land out here becomes fairly complicated if it’s not humans coming to steal your stuff it’s animals like black bears coming and raing your garbage can it really is a difficult place to make out a living amongst nature and thieves the notion of calling law enforcement in these parts is laughable now many people say that the Hispanic Community likes to handle things their own and they don’t like to get law enforcement involved but many Hispanics who have tried calling law enforcement to report crimes find absolutely minimal effort thus it’s not so much that the Hispanic Community doesn’t support law enforcement like Briggs the world according to Briggs he’s always saying on his YouTube channel that Hispanics refuse to cooperate with law enforcement the reality is that when Hispanics or blacks try to report a crime law enforcement doesn’t try very hard to find the perpetrators and thus many times they are left of no other option but to try to fight off criminals themselves in the case of Montour Ranch because many of the criminals are actually part of the residents living here it has been difficult for this area to eradicate its crime problem in this area in the 2007’s was also known as a Haven for Grouse operations today with Colorado having legalized this part of Florida was able to get rid of some of those organized criminal elements however with legalization coming back to the State of Florida it is possible that many criminals will return back to South Florida to hide behind behind the shadow of relative legality to actually engage in larger operations unfortunately this has been the real Fame that’s kept Montour Ranch from growing or from being a great place to live it’s somewhat relative close to Miami has made it somewhat of a rural stash place for anything illegal to be hidden they’re going to buy property in these areas hoping they’ll be out of sight out of mind but there’s so many criminals doing the same thing that it’s actually now an obvious place for criminals to hide whether it’s animal Rings or theft operations or just outright criminal syndicates this area has been plagued now for decades of some of the worst criminal Enterprises from Miami setting up camp here hoping that the isolation will hide them and it’s been unfortunate for the people that have tried to carve out a rural existence in the Florida Everglades and M Montour Ranch their home the fact that they’re constantly dealing with larger crial groups coming in to do illicit activities here thus it’s made living in mour ranch an absolute Nightmare and those acre and a quar lots that we talked about where the land is proportioned here are constantly being bought and flipped from rors from Miami who also find this area as a profitable place it’s led to an unnecessary escalation of rural property that no one is really interested in buying but is constantly trading hands as people speculate over its potential real estate value and to continue egging on about the many problems that this place is plagued with you can’t even ride an ATV here anymore it originally used to be an ATV riding Community with about 2,000 acres proportion just for the purpose of writing but today many of the people who’ve moved from Miami find the atbs annoying and they actually will call law enforcement law enforcement actually will stop people from writing ATVs out here which means despite the fact it’s a rural community you can’t even drive around in an ATV Montour really has been ruined by the residents themselves with the law turning a blind eye to criminals and paying a lot of attention to insignificant violations like writing Everglade City quite literally the most isolated City anywhere in the Florida Everglades known for the famous historical Smallwood store where once a white man traded with the natives Americans during the Indian War there’s something about South Florida where race doesn’t matter survival has always been the key and the white men that lived in this settlement didn’t really care too much about the Indian War they were after all living in one of the most most inhospitable environments in the United States and survival depended on trading with the Native Americans despite the fact that the Native Americans were at war with the English today the store is a museum and offers a glimpse into life in what was once one of the most isolated communities in the United States where some of the most rugged people carved out an existence in a place that almost nobody before them had been able to do so the Florida Everglades however the history of this town is a little bit more elaborate than just trading with Native Americans during a period where they were being extracted from the state of Florida these Waters have also been home to some of the largest smuggling operations that North America has ever seen when heat came about in Miami Smugglers had no other options but to look for a more secluded entry and the Florida Everglades with its 10,000 islands and fishermen that lived here that knew every single inch of the Backwater a complicated Waterway to navigate for law enforcement unfamiliar with the area meant that the people who lived here in Everglade City had the opportunity to smuggle with easy ability to confuse pursuing law enforcement would crash their boats into the oyster bars and the Smugglers would continue up River through the tricky waterways of the 10,000 Islands being able to evade law enforcement this Enterprise made Everglade City one of the richest cities in the United States the shiny pickup trucks limos and Rich Cubans from Miami coming over here were noticed and eventually a drug raid was established bringing the town to ruin a large percentage of the town’s population was left of no other choice but to find a new ways to make a living as the federal government enacted new laws to protect the environment they little by little shocked the only means of the survival and substance that the people here had literally the ocean self substance fishing was the only way that people here had to carva a living in the Florida Everglades and with the Florida Everglades being everyday more protected and regulated by federal government it left the people that lived in Everglade City with quite literally no ways to make a living as fishing regulations and other environmental regulations shoked out the people from making an existence they found themselves having to look at new waste to carve out a living in one of the harshest environments in the United States Everglade city became a massive smuggling Port this Florida rednecks of the collaboration of Cubans and Colombian smuggled perhaps one of the largest volumes that has ever been smuggled into the United States today nothing but legends remain of that era however the area Still Remains a very interesting geographical location for smuggling being at the bottom of the Florida Everglades like much of Rural and isolated America this area is also dealing with an addiction problem today as well the locals have shifted to tourism and airboat rides as well as giving people shter rides into the Everglades to look at wildlife and to go fishing however this is seasonal and it’s still not enough to carve out an existence in an area that is also not only difficult to live in but the time of the year where the money comes is a limited season during the winter most of the year it’s too hot too many mosquitoes and almost impossible for tourists to be able to enjoy a setting like this Everglade City has also dealt with storm surge flooding the most recent hurricane left the city under a storm surge flood not only did the city go underwater but it was also literally an island with water pushing far into the Florida Everglades storm starts flooding from Hurricane Ian M all the way to US 41 which means the Everglade City was literally an island in the middle of the ocean this is a low-lying area the elevation here is low South Florida and in particular Everglade City is no stranger to the powerful WFT of hurricanes being in the southern tip of Florida the absolute most powerful storms cross this area leaving behind destruction of unimaginable levels cleston Florida the sweetest town in America getting that name because of the sugar cane industry unfortunately this industry has has provided low-paying jobs and just about swallowed up all of the rural land surrounding cleston Florida some of the people swear that the sugar industry cares about the people but of course the town’s income analytics are absolutely abysmal but on the positive side despite the challenges that this sweet town has been facing cliston has actually had somewhat of a come up unlike the rest of these towns that are losing population dealing with crime cliston has actually came a long way from what it used to be many years ago and today is somewhat of one of the nicest small towns to live in Florida with good real estate investing good real estate values a considerable reduction in crime from many years ago it’s almost difficult to believe what cliston used to be many years ago and what it is today a thriving Little Country Town the population here is about half Hispanic and half white despite being a small town actually has a regional accent a specific accent that the locals speak in it’s kind of a mix between South Georgia country and Latin but at the end of the day if you meet somebody from kiston and you know the accent you’ll notice it right away people from Kon actually have their own Regional accent it’s somewhat of a southern twing mixed with Latin mix of South Georgia they actually have their own linguistic characteristics and that’s kind of interesting ing for just a small place the sugar industry is quite literally if not the only industry that people have an option to go work here it really isn’t much out here and just like many of the other industries in Florida it only thrives during a particular time of the year in other words the people that live here in cliston are actually Hustlers of Life they’ve really made something out of nothing and it is definitely admirable how a town with so little resources has actually gone so far cleston really is one of the nicest small towns in South Central Florida Cuban restaurants are opening up their businesses and the town is starting to actually be one of the few functioning small towns in this otherwise struggling region of the State of Florida the canals and proximity to Lake okobi have also meant that fishing has been a great source of entertainment for the locals as well as ATV writing many of the local youth have started YouTube channels based on these hobbies and have found somewhat of a small internet Fame despite the fact kiston is economically deprived analytically the people have really found a way to card of living not too far away is Bel Glade the BG Muk City a completely different world here crime and poverty dominates many people describe belglade as a slice of the Caribbean islands in South Florida this is a gathering place for people where crime unfortunately Reigns King King now Bel Glade is home to many football players and they constantly come back and give back to their community so not everything is negative here and many of the internet sensations of today actually arise from belglade itself many musical artists have had a come up on the city’s reputation and today many people have found internet Fame from belill Glade and it is a popular destination from YouTubers throughout the entire country and now even the world are coming here to belglade to check out its its unique environment somewhat of a slice of Caribbean in Florida however the area continues to be plagued of some of the most abysal income analytics anywhere in the State of Florida it continues to be a dangerous small little town and despite the fact that many people have found internet fame or Star athlete status coming from belglade Florida many times those are exceptions to the rule the vast majority of people here are struggling with difficult economic entries the only industry here is again sugar canane but unlike cliston this town hasn’t been able to benefit the same way from the sugar cane industry many people speculate that the town’s unique Caribbean Vibe and atmosphere could be capitalized on economically somewhat similar to what happened in Winwood in Miami or an area that was known for nothing but bad eventually became a hit place to be but based on its geographical location literally in the middle of the Everglades right outside of Lego Kobe hopefully the the town is able to use their reputation in entertainment in music and even in sports as a way to attract tourism and bring money to their town hosting events perhaps the possibility of just people wanting to come here to see the architecture and the unique Caribbean Vibes could attract tourism to this town and help the people escape poverty but until they’re able to wipe away the violent reputation that this town has it’s questionable that people will be feeling safe coming here but as of now the town really is an internet sensation with YouTubers coming from all over the states and all over the world now to see Bel Glade one of the most unique towns in Florida I think there’s a lot of possibility to capitalize on this and use it to bring restaurants Haitian food Caribbean Vibes parties discos nightclubs there’s thousands of ways that this town could capitalize on its reputation and be able to bring economical growth and opportunity to the town people might want to make music videos here people might just want to be seen here because of its internet reputation however again as long as violence is also associated with that Fame it’s very questionable that people are going to come to a small town that’s known for being dangerous belade has a lot of potential there’s great people who are willing to invest in their Community but if every time there’s an event it’s it’s marked with an abnormally violent act towards the end of the night you can expect people simply aren’t going to come out here just like Miami’s Winwood or New Orleans or many other places that had a bad reputation were able to turn that around and bring money into the city I think belglade can do that but the people have to be aware that as long as that bad element’s there it’s not going to happen belglade today the reality of living here it is that in fact one of the most dangerous and poor community anywhere in South Central Florida despite the fact people have made it out of this environment and become successful the vast majority of people here are still Far From Success stuck in some of the worst poverty anywhere in the State of Florida when a Town’s composition of its people is football players and rappers that just give you an idea of how real the struggle is here people here really do feel you’re either going to be a mess up and go to prison or you’re going to be somebody great when people come from this level of poverty and odds are stacked this High against them and the only goal that they have is to be a football player or a rapper it should just give you an indication of how desperate living conditions are here a poverty mindset of not understanding that a normal workingclass person is a human too because the normal workingclass person here is still living in absolute poverty there really is no middle ground you’re either an absolute nobody mess up or you’re a football player or a rapper there really isn’t too much in the middle left in belglade Florida and I think that distorts the vision of the people here and unfortunately many people in the youth end up throwing their lives away not knowing that perhaps somewhere else there could be a brighter future but for many of the youth coming out of belg Glade the only way they really see out of this situation is to become a famous rapper or a football star and for many of them it actually has become true but for the vast majority unfortunately a l of crime and many times even gang activity leads people to live in this Florida town in a bad Direction this is definitely a place of complete contrast on one end the poverty that the vast majority of people live and the other end the hope that somehow through your talents you’re able to escape this place located in the outskirts of Naples Florida is a Maria a Maria is a Catholic Community in the Florida Everglades the land used to be used for tomato farming many years years ago but as that industry quickly faded away immigration lost the fact you just couldn’t pay enough people to work in the fields of the Florida Everglades it became kind of obsolete land located right outside of amley Florida this is somewhat of a suburb to Naples Florida but a Maria is also in all that an enclave of Catholic communities unfortunately stereotypes are sometimes real and while AA Maria is a very safe place some of the things that you can expect to happen in a Catholic Community are happening in this Catholic Community this area is somewhat also interesting to the locals as it’s almost what 5 minutes away from imoc Florida which is a predominantly very very poor Hispanic community in fact it’s been named the poorest city in Florida yet just 5 minutes away is a Enclave of rich white Catholics who live in absolute luxury while just a few minutes away people who are mostly also of the Catholic faith or somewhat similar to the Catholic faith for the most part are living in absolute poverty showing the contrast that despite the fact that moali and ab Maria are religiously the same composition economically they’re two completely different roads just minutes away on one side absolute poverty one of the largest illegal populations in the entire State of Florida and just 5 minutes away beautiful golf courses gated communities and luxurious buildings in the middle of the Florida Everglades opposition to a Maria how could you build a town in the middle of the Florida Everglades in Prime Florida panther habitat on the contrary it is a s safe and beautiful Community otherwise and it is true that many of people that live in Moi can now benefit from having a larger wealthy community adjacent to it where they can work in restaurants Landscaping Maintenance it really is a source of incomes for the poor people of amachi that they are now adjacent to AA Maria but nonetheless the idea of a community like this and its ethnic composition you could say based off its religious background as well as the simple fact that here is a new city popping up in the middle of the Florida Everglades it wasn’t going to grow as much as they thought it would there’s still plenty of land that in theory should have been developed and they are still kind of unfortunately struggling to sell every plot of land and build it up as big as they were hoping but nonetheless Maria is still tied into its absolute religious composition and that means that many people would live here geographically but they wouldn’t live here because they’re not part of that community and obviously not everybody who lives in a Maria is going to be a Catholic but that is kind of the theme about this place and that means that you’re limiting the buyers and the people that are potentially going to move here also in the Naples area you have an area known as the South blocks it is now a state forest this is is a area south of Interstate 75 outside of Naples that was plotted for single family home construction they even made some of the canals and the roads were carved out and it was plotted to sell us lots for single family homes but then the people of Naples fought back they created a conserv and bought back the land to ensure that this area which would have been nothing more than an extension of the Golden Gate Estates the rural communities outside of Naples and it is now a state for Forest this is where the State of Florida is currently spending billions with a B billions of dollars to now get rid of the canals and some of the roads and try to restore this area back to the Everglades it is one of my favorite places in Florida and if you enjoy nature I definitely recommend that you check out the pikun and the fakahi Strand yes that’s actually the name of the place some of the most beautiful Scenic places you can explore anywhere in the State of Florida and if you see an iron Soldier deposit $3 or whatever they charge to enter forestry is huge here and there’s a lot of jobs created in this area thanks to what is now the restoration projects Florida Wildlife Conservation there a lot of government agencies that create jobs out here in forestry and other aspects of wildlife preservation in the Florida Everglades but this area would have been nothing more than an extension of Naples but today is preserved land and this is is the model that many people are wanting for the Florida Everglades to buy back some of the land turn it into preserves and let it just be nothing more of than nature however the damage that has already been done by humans literally costs billions of dollars to try to restore at least the landscape because the wildlife is completely gone I mean the Florida Everglades are literally A Wasteland at this point fires because of course when you destroy the natural habitat you create other natural disasters wildfires which are normal elements of South Florida have just become out of control in the Florida Everglades part of it due to human intervention and the fact that we’ve destroyed the natural habitat nonetheless the South blocks are a massive percentage of the land in South Florida which would have been nothing but houses and communities but now it is preserve land a model that many other places in the State of Florida are wanting to copy but but few people have the money that was initially in play of course the residents of Naples to be able to purchase all this land and take it from private hands and donate it to the state not every Community has that kind of money but it is a model that many people are striving for recently Florida’s governor Ronda santis has a portioned money from the state to purchase some of these lands and continue this tradition of preserving what’s left of the Florida Everglades and with billions of dollars at play to try to restore of Florida Everglades to what it once was if his efforts are successful and Florida’s the college is able to make a rebound it would be one of his greatest accomplishments or actually one of the greatest accomplishments of anybody in Florida’s government history however the wildfires continue in Florida and so does an even more destructive force hurricanes which at the same time are doing even more ecological destruction than ever before Hurrican pushed a lot of human debris into the Gulf of Mexico and today we’re seeing fish struggling with ecological damages neurological disorders many complications arising most likely from the contamination of hurricane Ian a topic that many environmentalists have just completely decided not to talk about not to speculate about or not even to acknowledge but the reality is that hurricane Ian brought a 14t storm surge to the coast of Southwest Florida and that means that a lot of human cont ination something like 200,000 Vehicles we’re talking the freon from houses the lead from paint those Rich Mansions On The Water usually have 50 to 100 gallons of ant killer paints chemicals fertilizers all those chemicals that are found in the garages of those homes in Fort Meers Beach are now sitting at the bottom of Gulf of Mexico and we’re starting to see an increase in the red tide the water Clarity is not the same there really are an endless list of complications from the contamination so while there are efforts to restore much of the parts of Florida that have been touched by humans and restore them back to Nature it is sad to say that it’s going to be a long long route with many many hurdles then there’s small communities like Copeland these are areas of like 500 people or less who live literally in the middle of the Everglades one of those individuals we called the bizarre people of the Everglades was this individual who’s now an internet sensation I interviewed him for our YouTube channel and that video continues to get a lot of views especially with the up and cominging video game people think that people like him are actually what that video game was about in other words people think that this guy right here in my YouTube video is actually being featured in some way or another in the upand cominging Grand Theft Auto video game so the people of the Everglades the authentic people these are the people that allegedly hand feed bears in their backyard at night and can talk to alligators types of things people say about these people a life deep in the Everglades only they really know how close you can get to the wildlife the average person who visits the Everglades doesn’t really know the Everglades like the people who live in this unique place and there’s somewhat of a bizarre attraction to these people who are said to hand feed black bears in the woods at night and who know Animals by name without a doubt the people that actually live in the Everglade in towns like Copeland for example our individuals who are definitely unique they live in an isolated place and they probably have more friends in nature than they do with other humans an isolated area and of course people are just completely blown away by the real people of the Florida Everglades these are the real Florida crackers the authentic original Florida man the people who actually are inly tuned with nature and water life in mocky Florida located outside of Naples just north of Copeland is one of the largest agricultural towns in Florida home to the state’s largest illegal population not far from all those beautiful new communities that we saw in Ava Maria the story here in amach is completely different here people live 15 to a house about 85% of the population is said to be illegally in the United States mostly migrant Farm Workers working literally in the for Everglades picking tomatoes watermelons and other seasonal types of agricultural work getting paid absolute Misery after all imoc has been called the poorest city in Florida today the vast composition of the city is people from Haiti and Guatemala who work some of the most difficult jobs with the worst pay this is definitely an impoverished Community but AI still has its own taste it has some of the best restaurants of anywhere in South Florida and there’s also the simino casino now I’m not ignoring the Native American element of South Florida I think very soon I’m going to go on a particular documentary to get to meet some of the Native Americans in Florida as we Knowle is home to the simino casino Southwest Florida was originally the home to the kaloa Indians and amachi in a native tongue means my home so even the name of AI comes from its Native American background on today’s video we’re going to be pretty short and vague on the Native American aspect of South Florida since that is a project that I have coming to our Channel soon hopefully many of OC’s longtime residents are going to be Mexican Aman and the area has a strong mexican Aman as well as Cowboy culture as again cattle at some point did play a huge role in OC’s history today imoc is a town unfortunately marked of poverty and of course immigration is a Hot Topic today and with the town’s population being predominantly illegals it’s very difficult to know what the composition of this town will be in the future in other words the town’s very existence lays in many of the changes and laws and of course Sentiments of the day but we can imagine that IM mocki with a large illegal population is a difficult place to predict where it will be in the future nonetheless it’s always been a poor Place very high crime rate and absolutely one of the worst places you can end up in Florida since the only real sources of income here are agriculture and those who have a driver’s license drive all the way to Naples Florida to work in construction it really is a very economically deprived area but many of the long-term mexican-americans have been able to infuse ERA with their Mexican-American culture and many aspects of that can still be seen around the area of a mocki finally the edge of Miami the largest urban core in Florida abruptly ends one side of the road you have gated communities and on the other side of the road you have the Florida Everglades whatever empty lots are still left here today our homeless camps and just wild areas that will undoubtedly soon be zoned from agriculture to residential Homestead Florida at the bottom of Miami is in fact one of the largest tropical nurseries anywhere in the United States with avocado mango sugar cane and other tropical vegetation growing here there’s actually a culture around the Florida Mango season in Homestead Florida the fruit and spice Park and many other attractions in the area are the epicenter of the Florida vegetation the tropical growing season which is in fact part of life in South Florida homestead being one of the most wild places this is where people are actually finding pythons giant lizards and of course all of the Native Wildlife all that in one place these areas in Homestead and Florida are somewhat of a mix on one side of the road it is protected completely untouched but on the other side of the road you have Urban Development you have new communities and any lot that hasn’t been developed yet or turned into agriculture is being overtaken by homeless people now homelessness isn’t really as prolific in Miami as it is in other parts of the state and the country but living in these homeless camps in the Florida Everglades has to be some of the craziest crap you could do spiders snakes reptiles to live in the Florida Everglades in an improvised camp like these people are doing outside of Homestead Florida is absolutely insane but Homestead is after all one of the largest tropical feries of the United States and I definitely recommend that if you ever find yourself in Florida during the mango season you hop on over to Homestead and check out some of the mangoes and other seasonal fruits that come out of this environment of course Miami is again the largest metropolitan area in the state in a one single divisive line from what’s protected and not protected means that it’s kind of an odd landscape you’re in the middle of the Everglades then you cross one road and all of a sudden you’re in the middle of Miami abruptly there’s no real outskirts to Miami every single piece of land in Miami is being utilized by humans there’s no middle ground there’s no subtle change into the outskirts there’s just one side of the road is built the other one isn’t and that has to be one of the most unique places in the United States as far as going one mile One Direction you’re in the middle of an urban core and um just cross the road in the other direction and you’re in the middle of the freaking Florida Everglades now many humans have tried to encroach on the Florida Everglades illegally because living or doing anything other than walking or hiking is illegal in the floor Everglades but you have people like this I’ll set up a homeless Camp somewhere that’s protected of of course that’s illegal you also have people that ride ATVs in the Florida Everglades again that’s all illegal you can walk into the Florida Everglades but in a lot of these areas there are no motorized vehicles allowed or if they are they have to be permitted through the state but then there is of course those humans who are crazy enough to illegally live literally in one of the harshest environments in the United States of Florida Everglades and that is the story of the Florida Everglades one of the most uninhabited regions in the UN United States this gas station here was graffitied out abandoned it failed and it was destroyed by the Hurricanes as well as homeless people over the years today this gas station is actually being restored we’re starting to see a lot more people wanting to live in the few remaining pockets of human habitation in the Florida Everglades so while places like the hotel were demolished this gas station that was abandoned is now being revived and of course you still have the Native Americans that live all through the Florida Everglades they have their communities and they’re actually allowed to kind of do whatever they please out in the Florida Everglades as their status and their ability to enjoy these natural areas varies from people like me and you there’s also a little bit of oil exploitation that’s allowed in the Florida Everglades but as of now these are the Florida Everglades and these are just some of the few communities that you’re going to find in one of the most remote regions of the State of Florida where practically nobody lives and many of the people who have tried to carve out a living out here have failed due to hurricanes storm surge flooding the pressures of nature mosquitoes nooms reptiles it really is an uninhabitable land and I have to admit that the people who carve out a living in these communities in the Florida Everglades have to be some of the toughest people out there the heat the humidity everything makes the floor is one of the most inhospitable places to live in the United States but these tough people have somehow managed the impossible to live in the Florida Everglades not only does nature challenge these people so does the federal government but after all land regulation and land preservation is what has kept development from reaching the Florida Everglades today a lot of the land in the Florida Everglades is being rezoned it used to be for agricultural purposes but soon that land will be for nothing more than single family home construction and that is where we will really see what the future of the Florida Everglades are because it doesn’t matter how much land is being preserved by the governor how much land is being labeled forever property of the state never to be developed but if the few patches of land that are agriculture are starting to become single family home construction there’ll be more collisions with Florida Panthers and black bears on highways which is what’s literally killed off the Florida panther population and this brings up another interesting topic if this land that is currently agriculture is being rezoned and they are allowing places like Ava Maria to pop up in the Florida Everglades what chance does nature actually stand even if you set aside preserve land if at the same time you’re also resoning agricultural land which can be used by wildlife in many ways and turning it into giant cities like AA Maria what future does the Florida Everglades have with natural disasters wildfires hurricanes and of course human contamination does setting aside more land for wildlife actually make a difference that is an interesting question and the future of the Florida Everglades lies not so much in how much land is being preserved but and how much rezoning is happening because after all what really killing away the Florida Everglades isn’t the fact that we’re not preserving enough land it’s a fact that we’re rezoning agricultural land for an even much more destructive purpose the construction of more single family homes as a state of Florida becomes a popular place to live cities like Miami can no longer contain the population and now we’re looking at places like belglade kiston ocy towns that have never really even been able to sustain a human population dignified in poverty and misery these people have lived in these towns but now all a sudden huge gated communities and Monumental buildings arise in a place that has never really been conducted for human inhabitation doesn’t that raise an interesting question the Florida Everglades being destroyed on one end but being saved on the other interesting place and the real Floridians who live in these small towns like Montour Ranch and Copeland really are some of the most rugged people you’ll find anywhere in the United States trying to live in a place that’s really deemed uninhabitable