Poor and Homeless in the Sunshine State by James D. Wright

Quite a number of others have come and gone: Circus World (opened 1973, closed 1986) Splendid China (opened 1993, closed 2003) Boardwalk and Baseball (opened 1987, closed 1990) the Guinness World Record Experience (opened 2000, closed 2002) Stars Hall of Fame (opened 1975, closed 1984), and on through quite a list. These are the survivors, the parks and attractions that are still with us. Here the term is used in a more expansive sense, as synonymous with anyone who lives near, at, or over the edge of financial catastrophe.ĭisney was soon followed by a succession of other Orlando-area theme parks and tourist attractions (“like bees to honey,” as Foglesong puts it): Sea World, Universal Studios, Busch Gardens (in Tampa), the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex, the Holy Land Experience (a Biblically-themed attraction). The phrase 'down and out, ' has been used to describe people who are destitute or penniless since the late nineteenth century. They are modern members of Ellison's 'invisible men' but they comprise a racial and social mixture unlike any other in the American landscape.This book is primarily about the dark side of this portrait the poor, near-poor, homeless, and dispossessed who live in the midst of this verdant landscape.

Meanwhile the homeless are reduced to advocacy models that neither middle- nor working-class folks much worry about. The rest of the local population makes its peace with the system. The homeless arrive with their own hopes and illusions, which are soon shattered. A place like Orlando, Florida is not transformed from swampland to sprawling metropolis through Peter Pan-like flights of fancy, but through theme park expansions requiring developmental schemes that are tough minded and often worsen relationships between the wealthy and the poor.

Poor and Homeless in the Sunshine State by James D. Wright