Now, 13 years afterward, it's probably on the road to what could be construed as progress and, arguably maybe better, but it will never be the same... it's completely different.
30% of the population never came back after Andrew, and the Latin, Haitiian, and Central American ethnic groups and poured in, making the downtown area too risky for shops and shoppers. The demographics shifted dramatically afterward.
Farmers didn't hang on, and ultimately sold that fertile land, with all the great produce that was supplied to the country in the winter .. and to us in the U-Pick fields ... to developers.
I understand real estate and business is booming, on and east of the US#1 ..I'll bet they flooded badly in the Katrina deluge .. they always flooded out there. I don't know how the heart of downtown Krome Ave. is doing, but I suspect it probably won't compete with the shopping centers and outlets on the highway.
It was a small-town friendly, easy, country/suburb blend, a botanically lush place, and a wonderful place to raise kids in the 70's and 80's. Andrew decimated tons of 60-80' trees and acres of groves that were integral to that ambiance. I know ... things change, and we'll never know what it may have exactly evolved to in these 13 years, but Homestead will never be the same as it was before the life-altering and traumatic wound it suffered in 1992.
Star, I lived in Perrine in late 50s, early 60s. I sure am glad I didn't live there when Andrew came through. I understand it took out the section where I lived.
I hear you. Ft Lauderdale was a small town when we moved here in 1956. I still love living here, but it isn't what it used to be. Some change is for the better, some isn't. It's really difficult to manage change to keep everybody happy.
I know how devastating Andrew was for people who lived down there. My brother in law and his family were wiped out too. They rebuilt their lives and moved to the Keys, hoping to find some of the small town flavor that Homestead had, but it isn't there. We bought a place in a tiny non-tourist town in the panhandle 10 years ago, hoping to retire there, but now there's development all around it. The property has really appreciated, but we'd rather have it the way it was when we bought it, than the money.