Green Empire: The St. Joe Company and the Remaking of Florida's Panhandle

Rating:
Summary: Extremely well written and balanced
Review: As an investor in residential rental property primarily in Destin, Florida I wanted to learn about the explosive growth in the Panama City Beach area. My research led me to a web site of West Bay County's growth plans and the tremendous influence of St Joe on the entire area. I wanted to learn more and was delighted to see that the Green Empire had recently been published. The book is extremely well written, and provides a balanced approach in addressing the economic, environmental and political issues involved in developing this area. The book is a textbook on environmental planning, political processes and macro econonomic issues, but a real "page turner" as well. It is in part a detective story as well as a primer for those interested in learning more about and participating in the dynamic growth of this new Florida frontier.

Rating:
Summary: Extremely well written and balanced
Review: As an investor in residential rental property primarily in Destin, Florida I wanted to learn about the explosive growth in the Panama City Beach area. My research led me to a web site of West Bay County's growth plans and the tremendous influence of St Joe on the entire area. I wanted to learn more and was delighted to see that the Green Empire had recently been published. The book is extremely well written, and provides a balanced approach in addressing the economic, environmental and political issues involved in developing this area. The book is a textbook on environmental planning, political processes and macro econonomic issues, but a real "page turner" as well. It is in part a detective story as well as a primer for those interested in learning more about and participating in the dynamic growth of this new Florida frontier.

Rating:
Summary: If you're interested in North Florida history and politics,
Review: If you're interested in North Florida history and politics, then this is the best recent book on such matters. As a North Floridian and history fan for 33 years, even I learned a lot about such matters. Well written, researched and documented.

Rating:
Summary: Green Empire is a great read
Review: The authors of Green Empire have done the people of the Florida Panhandle a great service. This thoughful and engaging book offers insights about one of Florida's most powerful companies--the St. Joe Company--and the way developers achieve their ends. The authors have clearly done their research. The book is filled with interesting facts about the history of the development of northwest Florida, beginning at the turn of the century. The book also provides a look at the influencial people--Alfred DuPont and Ed Ball, in particular--behind this development. Anyone who has witnessed an area's natural beauty give way to urbanization and development will appreciate the work the authors put into this book to shed light on how this happens. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.