A Redditor shared a bewildering satellite image of a Florida community to r/Suburbanhell.
The image is of Cape Coral, a community built around a sprawling network of canals. It hosts over 400 miles of navigable waterways, the highest density in the world. They were intended to provide waterfront access and manage stormwater for residents. The soil excavated for the canals was also used to raise the ground levels on the large floodplain.
While ambitious, the planners had begun construction without getting State permits, resulting in the company’s swift bankruptcy. One Redditor said the city “has so much money poured into such a lifeless, useless public space,” full of strip malls and zero sidewalks. The community has since faced ongoing environmental challenges, including algae blooms, polluted runoff, stray fishing lines, mismanaged locks, and sinking soil.
Despite a landscape well-suited to mitigate flooding, the increasing severity of flood conditions due to atmospheric pollution has led to soaring housing insurance premiums and declining home prices in Cape Coral. These conditions make the city the worst housing market in the country, according to recent research…