This episode originally aired on November 15, 2021.
From the mid-1950s through the mid-1970s there was a land boom in Florida driven by what were known as Installment Land Sales, which offered lots in Florida for as little as $10 down and $10 a month. These Installment Land Sale schemes laid the foundations for cities like Cape Coral, Port Charlotte, Lehigh Acres, Golden Gate, Marco Island, and Port St. Lucie.
They were aimed at retirees, and the lots sometimes turned out to be completely unusable, or at least not very desirable properties that regardless have left a mark on the sunshine state to this very day.
We learn more about this history, and how it’s still shaping Florida living, from Dr. Jason Vuic, author of The Swamp Peddlers: How lot sellers, land scammers, and retirees built modern Florida and transformed the American Dream.
