Key West, Florida: The Sweetest Do Nothing Contrived

Parks & Recreation, Sept, 2000 by Alexis McKenney, Daniel Dustin, Robert Wolff

Key West is touted frequently as an alternative to the "rat race." Indeed, some Key West residents are tourists who never left. It appeals to people who want to leave the country without actually leaving the country. It is the southernmost outpost in the continental United States--the end of the line. After Key West, there is no place left to go. In The Mango Opera, Tom Corcoran describes living in Key West as an experience in which "you become lulled into the idea that you are removed from the real world, in both a philosophical and geographical sense." Others have described Key West as "an urbane, isolated, free wheeling, lighthearted, gossipy, and eccentric town. There is a sense of adventure here, of excess and individuality." It may be the perfect place for the harried individual seeking a respite from the pressures of everyday life.

If leisure is a comforting state of mind ... a relaxed attitude ... a snail's pace, then no wonder Key West is seen by many of its devotees as the epitome of leisure. To them, it is the antithesis of the "rat race," the "treadmill," the "squirrel cage." There is not much call for timepieces in Key West. Agendas are few and far between. Attention is centered on the here and now. There is ample time for people watching, window shopping, reading, and walking.

To its detractors, on the other hand, Key West is Sodom and Gomorrah, a hedonistic hideout for eccentrics, misfits, and outcasts from society who don't fit in the real world. It is a place to lick their wounds and take solace in the bottle. There is nothing worthwhile to do in Key West. Nothing productive. Just a lot of people sitting around, drinking, and talking.

Well, which is it? A haven for people who can't make it in the outside world, or a haven for people who have decided the outside world isn't worth making it in? Do the rest of us know something these Conchs don't? Or do they know something we don't?

Still, all is not paradise in Key West. Although tourism funnels millions of dollars into the economy each year, its exponential growth has resulted in many changes scorned by those devoted to preserving the island community's charm. As the local rags proclaim, "tourism is the talk of the town, debated on breezy Conch porches in Key West, on fishing docks and in dive shops, and up the island chain to Craig's Restaurant in Islamorada." But their concern is not new. In a letter to an acquaintance several years ago, playwright Tennessee Williams bemoaned that "Key West is becoming a big-time place in a small way. Holiday Inns and McDonalds." Others lament that "unwittingly, the golden goose of tourism is degrading the quality of the environment by using resources and triggering the construction of hotels, shopping areas, and other developments that erase more of the city's dwindling green spaces." Still others decry that Key West "has lost its backwater charm"--a charm that is now packaged for popular consumption.

Success Generates Problems

The tidal wave of tourism has created a dilemma for locals. It has always been difficult to make a living in Key West. Now, approximately 80 percent of Key West's residents work in the service industry earning an average of $7.00 per hour. Whereas a decade ago small houses sold for $30,000 to $40,000, today they sell for upwards of $200,000, making it difficult for natives to stay in the community they grew up in. As one critic puts it, "with cruise ships taller than the city's tallest building pulling into port and dropping off 600,000 people annually, and rented mopeds buzzing like incessant mosquitoes, the locals feel suffocated and fear they already have lost much of the serenity they had sought."