The Big City Is Coming
Change happens fast. Too fast. Or as Ernest Hemingway once said by way of John Green, “slowly, then all at once.”
I grew up in Brandon—Seffner, to be exact—and I remember watching orange groves turn into movie theaters and malls. Back then, the mall felt like a win. And the movie theater? It meant we didn’t have to trek all the way to Tampa or gamble on whatever B-movie was playing at the dollar cinema.
So no, not all change is bad. But after nearly 30 years in Southshore, I’m watching a familiar pattern unfold—and this time, I’m not sure we’re on the right track.
Development is happening at warp speed, and I can’t help but wonder: why are we racing to become the next downtown Tampa? Who hit the fast-forward button?
We talk about development a lot around here. Not because we want to—but because it’s hard not to when there’s a groundbreaking every other Tuesday. Something new is being built every day. And unfortunately, we don’t have a Lorax to speak for the trees. Or the traffic patterns.
Case in point: a 15-acre parcel in Riverview just got scooped up. And if you’re wondering what’ll replace those trees as they fade into oblivion, I’ll give you three guesses—but you only need two.
It rhymes with bar slosh and shelf porridge. (Don’t judge me. It’s been a long week.)
You guessed it. Because obviously, what Southshore truly needs is… another car wash and a self-storage facility. Said no one, ever.
And that’s what it feels like sometimes, doesn’t it? Like we’re building just to build. Tossing up a mishmash of businesses and roads-to-nowhere—both literally and spiritually. We’re in such a rush to have more, we haven’t stopped to ask: more what, exactly?
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More roads
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More concrete
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More traffic
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More people
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More city
And when the dust settles and the bulldozers pause, what we’re left with is… less.
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Less green space
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Less breathing room
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Less of what made Southshore feel like home in the first place
So I’ll ask you—what do you think about all this building? Are we growing the right way… or just growing because we don’t know how to stop?
Drop a comment. Send a smoke signal. Yell into the nearest construction zone.
Either way—someone’s bound to hear you.