Sunday, January 24, 2016

Identifying Local Opportunities

Looking through some of Florida’s newspapers, I found a few problems that locals had. This is the list of the five opportunities in Florida according to the newspapers:

1) “CEOs suggest ways to ease South Florida’s traffic problems”

http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15893C4613F2DF60?p=AWNB

This article talked about the traffic problem Miami has. It stated that new construction projects are affecting traffic near the Brickell Financial District. The article went on to say that the I-95 exit has a great amount of traffic because of it’s proximity to Brickell Avenue Bridge, which leads to the Brickell Financial District. CEOs of the financial companies in the Brickell Financial District suggest widening roads, and creating flyovers to re-route some traffic. Some even consider expanding the public transit system. 

The CEOs had the problem with the traffic in this story, but I am sure other drivers in Miami are having this problem as well.

2) “School still hit by bus trouble - Improvements haven't reached Don Estridge”

http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/1583F90E174CC090?p=AWNB

This article describes the problem that Palm Beach County School District had with school buses arriving late. According to the article, the problem was improving with other schools, but Don Estridge High Tech Middle School was still having troubles with school buses arriving on time. School bus drivers blame a driver shortage for the problem, while the district manager states that traffic is another source of the problem. The late bus problem even affects the parents who expressed concern for their children being late to school. 

In this story, the parent’s of the late kids had the problem, and also the kids were affected by the problem.

3) “State ignores climate change”

http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/159FF250449998D8?p=AWNB

Climate change is affecting South Florida. It is causing flooding and freshwater drinking supplies being contaminated by saltwater. Also, climate change is resulting in rising sea levels. According to this article, the state of Florida does not want to discuss this issue. The Florida Center for Investigative Reporting revealed that when Governor Rick Scott went into office, state agencies told employees not to use the words “climate change” or “global warming”.

It seems like the author has the problem in this article. It was a very opinionated article about politics. However, if there are flooding and rising sea levels in South Florida, many others can be affected as well.

4) “South Florida cities want to control local anchoring rules”

http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/1586993557D09690?p=AWNB

Boaters are coming onto the properties of homeowners in South Florida. Homeowners feel that the state should do more to enact better boat anchoring laws. Some of the complaints were that these boats sometimes blare loud music, and give the neighborhood a shantytown atmosphere. The House State Affairs Committee started to discuss a solution that would allow an exemption for Broward and Miami Dade counties that prohibit local governments from preventing cruise boats from entering their waters. According to Representative George Moraitis, some boaters use the recreational part of the Middle River to park their boats for months which is a huge problem.

In this article, the homeowners had the problem with the boats disturbing their neighborhoods. 

5) “WALKING OUR ROADS -- IT COULD KILL YOU”

http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/1476B6D132FA23F0?p=AWNB

The problem in this article is that in Central Florida, pedestrians are being killed by vehicles. Orlando has become the second worst metropolitan area for pedestrian deaths in America. One mother even lost her 15-year-old son on Valencia College Lane due to this epidemic in Orlando. Research reveals that the problem in most cases is that careless pedestrians often cross roads away from the crosswalks, and wear dark clothing at night.

Pedestrians have the problem in this article because they feel at risk when crossing the streets. Also, the family of the deceased pedestrians had a problem. 

1 comment:

  1. Arielle,
    I found interesting the issue with the school buses. The disparity of government-run services within a single school district amazes me. It is interesting that only one school is having the issue and not the other ones in the area. Making sure students get to school in a timely manner should be a high-priority issues – there is no reason that students in one school should suffer missed education due to lack of planning at the district level. I will say that this is probably the most bothersome issues on your list, as it seems like it is a simple fix that involves paying closer attention to the current bus schedule. Climate change is definitely a pressing issue, but is something that requires much thought and resources – the bus issue is just making sure students arrive to school on time. I know I would definitely be frustrated if I were a student there.

    http://ufentclassblog.blogspot.com/2016/01/identifying-local-opportunities.html

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