What is the most pressing issue that the City of Stuart faces? It is not where or if we need a new City Hall, the fate of Historic Downtown or whether the hospital can build a 150 foot building. Our most important problem to solve is the lack of housing within our borders. Quite simply, there is not enough supply for everyone who wants to live here. Stuart does not have enough rental units, houses and condos. Further, to use a real estate term, much of what we have is physically, functionally and, to a less extent, externally obsolete.
Politically and socially we have allowed the City to stand still while Martin County, despite its reputation for limited growth, has grown exponentially around our borders. In 1940, the City had nearly 50% of the total Martin County population 2,912 people to 6,295. In 1960 we comprised 28% of the total with 4,791 people to 16,932. By the turn of the century Stuart comprised 11% of Martin County’s residents with 14,723 to 126,777. Today, we are still roughly 11% of Martin County’s population.
Martin County has grown at a much faster pace than Stuart in the past 70 years. In the next decade, the population of the County will probably continue to grow faster than the City’s. We are still a hub for commerce and residential living but not to the extent we were in the 1960s. With the increasing suburbanization of Martin County, Stuart became not the only center of Martin but one of several competing centers county wide. One example would be the development of Palm City, which is part of unincorporated Martin County, from the farmland and ranches 40 years ago to a mostly suburban area today with a population of nearly 25,000 people as compared to the City of Stuart’s roughly 16,500.
Many people claim that the City should remain static or in a time warp. Unfortunately, if we do suspend time, we will not be able to have that very uniqueness that we want to maintain. Stuart cannot be a city unless we act and behave as one. This requires providing urban services under our jurisdiction so that we can maintain our businesses, residents and professional offices far into this century.
By not providing new housing, we force people to live outside our boundaries. A recent Florida Department of Economic Opportunity study showed that more than 21,000 people commute to work in Stuart every day. If we could capture just 25% of these commuters and their families, then our population and our tax base would increase by 50%.
By growing our tax base, we would shrink individual taxes. Would there be additional employees? Of course a few more would be added, though not many more since we are compact in size. Our infrastructure such as roads and water are already in place. As a city, we do not have the sprawl that has accompanied growth in the rest of Martin County. We are ideally situated to take advantage of life in mid-21st century America. The aging of our population and desire of our younger people to reside within cities gives us an ability that other parts of the County do not possess.
Stuart has an opportunity to maintain our wonderful charm and truly become a modern gem. We need to have the vision to do the things necessary so that we are not left behind. Stuart needs to reclaim its birthright of being the center of life on the Treasure Coast. To do that, we need more than a one block downtown. We need to actually have several areas of residential and economic viability. Many parts of our City are under-utilized. I will explore more of Stuart’s options in my next blog.