The Keys are caught in a spiral, created by their beauty and their economic dependence on selling that beauty. More people visit the Keys and some buy homes for vacation or retirement. Other homes are converted to tourist lodging. New businesses open, creating jobs for more people. Growth controls and environmental restrictions, intended to protect the islands from the ever-increasing use, limit new building.
Rents go up.
Home prices soar. Mainlanders dreaming of a getaway beach house in the Keys should start saving heavily or playing the lottery. The Keys have long led the state in cost of living, over Dade and Broward. But the crunch is most severe in housing. Last year, the struggle to find an affordable place to live got a lot harder with the one-two punches of Hurricane Georges and Tropical Storm Mitch pummeling mobile homes in the Lower Keys and Key Largo.