Commuter Rail
Implemented in 2010 along the Interstate 4 corridor, commuter rail has paid for itself with “overflow riders” and has expanded to Tampa, Jacksonville and Miami, with rail spines and an effective and efficient ground transportation network extending throughout the central Florida region.
— Jacob V. Stuart, President/CEO,
Central Florida Partnership
Development
Disney World will be liquidated to create a new EPCOT (Experimental Prototype City Of Today), which will become a “living” urban research center that will draw people from all over the world to develop technologies to improve the built environment into the 22nd century. With the money from the sale of its properties, Disney will buy up all of the developed land along the Florida coast and return it to its natural state to be called “Ocean World.” Disney will then use its new levitated monorail transportation system to draw tourists to experience and enjoy the true wonders of nature and the Florida environment.
— Mickey Jacob, regional director,
Florida Association of the
American Institute of Architects
Healthcare
A device worn or implanted will monitor health status and make personal visits to physicians rare. All healthcare providers have the instant medical history of their patients. Personal daily regimens of drugs and vitamins willvary based on monitored information. Gene therapy and pharmaceutical innovation will have eliminated most current illnesses, although new infectious diseases will appear, and chicken soup will remain the best “cure” for the common cold. ... Medicare will still exist as a federal health insurance program, but coverage will begin at the early retirement age ... of 82.
— Douglas Mannheimer, Tallahassee partner in the law firm Broad and Cassel whose practice centers on healthcare, state agencies and the Legislature
Automobile
The rate of traffic growth has slowed even as Florida’s population has grown. High fuel costs, tolls, increased transit usage, telecommuting and video conferencing have reduced the number of cars on the road. Enhanced automotive braking and radar systems enhance mobility by lessening the stopping and following distances between vehicles, creating more space on interstates and local roadways.Vehicles have transitioned to hydrogen through compressed natural gas (CNG). Florida got out in front to provide incentives for infrastructure for hydrogen, CNG and electric plug in vehicles.
— Carolyn Dekle, executive director, South Florida Regional Planning Council
Environment
The upcoming vote on the constitutional ballot initiative to rename our great state “New Holland” continues to gain momentum due to sea level rise and the need to seawall the entire coastline. ... Across the state, citizens are loudly protesting the price of drinking water as it passes $20 a gallon. Even though per capita water use is down to 50 gallons a day, experts say usage must be cut in half if Florida is to remain sustainable.
— Charles Pattison, executive director, 1000 Friends of Florida
Population
Florida’s population is expected to exceed 38 million when the 2060 U.S. Census is taken. Population growth has been boosted by an influx of re-retirees (the 50% reduction in Social Security benefits enacted in 2040 forced many retirees back into the workforce). The popular 100+ active living/biomedical engineering and transplant communities allow these “super-seniors” to work, play and have joints and organs replaced all in one location. In a related development, the “Save Our Bones” amendment passed by the necessary supermajority and freezes all taxes on orthopedic joint replacement surgery for longtime Florida residents. New residents will still pay the 450% tax on these medical devices. The Florida Sentinel-Sun-Times-Herald-Union-Journal-Post decried the amendment as more of the same “don’t tax you, don’t tax me, tax the new guy with the artificial knee” policy.
— Sean M. Snaith, director,
Institute for Economic Competitiveness,
University of Central Florida
Politics
Some time in the next 30 years, Florida will be a majority minority state, so redistricting will have greater influence, especially at the state level, where how the lines are drawn now influences the lines in the future. The politics of climate change will have a significant impact on the state as beachfront property erodes and there becomes a battle between coastal communities and the rest of the state for how to spend resources. As coastal property stays more expensive (either because of property values or property taxes), we will likely see more migration to the central spine of the state, continuing the move of the political center of the state away from south Florida.
— Dave Beattie, president, polling and research firm Hamilton Campaigns, Fernandina Beach
Fashion
The 2058 summer season finds global warming under control, our oceans and waters protected, our trees blooming and our natural resources treasured. Swimwear is also environmentally friendly. A fabric called DreamFel consists exclusively of carbon and hydrogen, doesn’t create allergic reactions, holds no moisture and is 20% lighter than nylon. Other new fabrics feature micro-encapsulation technology that infuses fibers with cellulite reducers, circulation and massage activation, aloe vera, sun protection and paraffin.
— Irina Ivanova and Mariella Adrian, fashion design faculty,
The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale
Governance
Florida’s 2008 governance structure involving 67 counties, more than 400 cities, 11 regional planning councils, eight economic development districts, seven DOT districts, five water management districts and hundreds of special districts will have become so inefficient that Floridians will demand dramatic reform. ... Most public challenges will be considered regional and will be addressed by empowered regional bodies; local governments will either be consolidated or will be limited to truly local matters. We can either live by default or design; after reaching the depths of despair, Floridians will bravely choose the latter.
— Steve Seibert, senior vice president, The Collins Center for Public Policy
Agri-business
Citrus production is back to its all-time highs, the result of genetic modification efforts. As a result of disease threats on imported food, citrus, blueberry and blackberry production are hitting all-time highs. ... Cellulosic bacteria turning any organic matter of any form into ethanol is generating more royalties than Gatorade ever did. Switch grass and Arundo grass along state and federal highways with two harvests per year are being turned into chips for biofuel. Tons of chips are even exported to Europe. Appropriately named, the Sunshine State generates more money from energy than from tourism. Horticulture thrives because it has been genetically proven that people have to have green plants in their presence
to be happy.
— Randy Strode, CEO,
Agri-starts, Apopka