Florida Trend Exclusive
Florida firestorm
As Los Angeles recovers from disastrous wildfires that killed 29 people and caused up to $53.8 billion in property damage, Florida enters the peak of its own wildfire season. The year-round season historically crowns in April, May and June. Most of the state entered the months with below-average precipitation levels — and 2025 has already seen an uptick in blazes. More from Florida Trend.
Cape Coral bucks trend of declining multifamily housing permits
Despite falling rents, developers are still targeting Cape Coral for growth. The largest city in Lee County granted permits to build 59.6 multifamily units for every 10,000 people, placing it just behind top-ranked Austin, Texas (64.5 units), and ahead of North Port (53.3), Raleigh, North Carolina (41.1) and Orlando (40.7). More from Gulfshore Business.
Paid startup internships launch at Miami Dade College
When Steve Jobs was 12, he called Hewlett Packard co-founder Bill Hewlett — whose number was in the phone book and lived nearby in Palo Alto, California — to ask him if he had any spare parts for a frequency counter he was building. Hewlett laughed — then gave him the parts. And that summer, he offered the future Apple co-founder an internship on the HP assembly line. Now, as tech professionals keep moving to South Florida, Miami Dade College wants students to get the same chance. More from the Miami Herald.
Take your business meeting on the Brightline. Book an entire train car
Looking for a new location for your next business meeting? How about a private car on the highspeed train Brightline? The highspeed train that runs between Orlando and Miami is now offering train cars to be booked for business meetings or private events. In addition, four Brightline stations, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Orlando, will have designated workspaces also available to reserve. More from Florida Today.
In Brentwood, city opens first of four support centers for job seekers and small businesses
A Brentwood property that the city of Jacksonville purchased amid neighborhood opposition to plans to turn it into a liquor store has opened as a workforce development center. Mayor Donna Deegan and City Council member Ju’Coby Pittman were among city officials on hand May 7 for an opening event for the Entrepreneurship Workforce Development Center. More from the Jacksonville Daily Record.
Out of the Box
Lego built full-size F1 cars for the Miami Grad Prix drivers’ parade: Here’s how they did it
Formula One’s driver parade for the 2025 Miami Grand Prix will surely go down as one of the most memorable in the sport’s recent history. Ahead of Sunday’s race, the drivers swapped the flatbed truck that usually takes them around the track to wave to the fans for full-size, drivable F1 cars — all built out of Lego.
» More from The Athletic.
Entertainment Trends
It’ll be epic
After Universal proved with Harry Potter-themed areas in 2010 and 2014 that it could create crowd-pleasing attractions at its parks as well or better than crosstown rival Disney, executives strategized their next theme park step: How to get consumers who treated Universal as an adjunct to an Orlando vacation to spend more time and dollars with them.
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