Long before today’s A1A, the Jungle Trail carved a route through the northern section of Orchid Island, the name given to Vero Beach’s barrier island in 1887 by Capt. Frank Forester.
By any standards Vero Beach is one of Florida’s most desirable places to live. In 2004, for example, it was nationally ranked No. 7 among smaller cities by USA Today. Yet Indian River County’s civic mindset repels the great hordes of people drifting into Florida. Consider instead Vero Beach’s stability: between 1980 and forecasts for 2030, its numbers will barely change from 16,176 to 18,000. That’s 2,000 additional people in 50 years, a time frame when entire Florida cities have grown to 100,000 from nothing, while Indian River County itself, between 1980 and 2000, jumped from 60,000 to 113,000.
Part of Vero Beach’s appeal is the connection between nature and culture, a connection that should not be mistaken for some kind of developer condescension. It is, rather, a gift from the people who live here to themselves and to their larger community. The arts connection is a controlling influence expressed not just in pretty objects but in institution building, in bricks and mortar, in tone and quality—in the character of the roadscape, for example, generously but not demonstratively landscaped, and in the absence of cheesy Florida iconography.
Read the entire article in the January 2006 issue
True Tails is a series written by Amy Robinson for Vero Beach’s dog lovers. Ask Amy about your dog’s behavior by clicking below.
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