HUFFINGTON
07.15.12
TWILIGHT IN THE SUNSHINE STATE
whom they have little contact.
“Basically you are asking a
bunch of old retired rich white
people to vote for school bonds
that benefit immigrant Latino
kids,” says Jennifer Hochschild, a
Harvard University professor who
studies the intersection of politics,
immigration and education. “This
is a potential political disaster.”
BEN HALLMAN
TIED TO HOUSING
Spend 24 hours in the Villages,
and all of the state’s problems feel
like just that — someone else’s
problems. The Villages’ pressaverse developer, H. Gary Morse,
who would not comment for this
story, runs a tight ship: my rental
car is photographed whenever I
pass through the community’s
gates. There’s nary a speck of litter
anywhere, and I walk past parked
golf carts with cameras in the
dashboards, keys in the ignition
and golf clubs jutting out the back.
Even in early June, when about
25 percent of the snowbird population migrates back north for the
summer, the place is hopping. I’ve
missed the end of polo season, but
I catch a bit of a minor league soccer game and in the evening, the
bars are full of seniors watching
the Miami Heat battle the Boston
Celtics in NBA playoffs. Practically
everyone is rooting for the Celtics.
My last stop is the sales of-
fice for the development, where a
brown board lists in white letters
the names of 46 new homebuyers
who have bought into the community within the last three days.
Things just keep humming
alo