Flagler County's Problem

I have to say, since coming back to my home town in 2006, I feel as though I do have a fresh view of what's not working with the county.  The huge unemployment numbers have a lot to do with a few things, but fortunately (even if in a very small way), there may be some reason the believe that the numbers are bigger then the problem really is.

There really aren't good jobs in the county.  There never really were. When I grew up in the area, we salivated over the visit of a regular (not Super) Wal-Mart.  I saw the first ever McDonalds, and the only grocery store in the area was a Publix, and a small privately owned store called Harris'.  ITT was big, and Sea Ray, and a few other big employers, but there certainly wasn't a plethora of job options.  People retired here, and when they got too old to live in their houses alone, the sandwich generation infiltrated the once-deemed retirement Utopia of Palm Coast, Flagler County. 

Kids were part of that package deal.  Families were searching for jobs while trying to care for both parents and children.  With that said, industry took note on a commercial level.  Wal-Mart sauntered into town, fast food joints flourished, and voila!  We have service oriented industry.  Unless you are a nurse, teacher, doctor, waitress, real estate agent, or somone in the construction industry, you're hoping McDonald's will accept your application.

Well, that's not exactly how it is now.  When I was a full-time employee at a local community agency, I saw so many ex-contractors, construction workers, and other housing-market related employees coming into the office for assistance.  Flagler County had a second economy based on the influx of population:  housing.

The housing-based economy is one that can easily fall into itself.  I wonder if the developers of yore thought retirement was the perfect target audience for the housing market.  They probably thought that the people didn't need jobs, so they would continue to thrive, leave their homes to their soon-to-retire kids, and all would end well. 

Now, though, the influx of families has become exponential.  Families coming to help their parents brought friends and other family members.  Siblings decided to move into the nice area together, and as time wore on, a few more businesses sprouted to fill the needs of these new families, but that didn't change the need for new industry. 

If Flagler County is still growing quickly, then the job situation can be dire; however, if people are bringing with them some unemployment history, perhaps the numbers are still a little skewed. 

For now, I'll continue to seek alternative methods for creating an income (including limiting what goes out).