Fla. - Like passengers on a ship sailing through a storm, residents of Key West struggle to keep their balance in a community roiled by high housing costs.
People regularly spill overboard.
The fortunate ones leave to find a less expensive lifestyle in Fort Lauderdale or central Florida. The unlucky might end up sleeping under a bridge or in the mangroves. The rest of them hang on, wondering how long they can work 60-hour weeks and share a tiny apartment with two or three roommates. But there is a price to pay for living in paradise. As a popular tourism-dependent resort area wrestling with a housing problem, Key West has a lot in common with Cape Cod.