Back in 1985, director Ron Howard chose my neighborhood as the setting for the movie
Cocoon.
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| ign.com |
Cocoon was a story about aliens who landed in a waterside community to retrieve fellow aliens who had been left behind in an earlier mission.
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| imdb.com |
In the process, the movie's senior citizens discovered an energy source that made them feel younger. It was a simple story made more appealing by the cast, which included names like Don Ameche, Jessica Tandy, Hume Cronyn, Maureen Stapleton, Brian Dennehey and Gwen Verdon.
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| click to enlarge | Mark D. Ruffner © 2013 |
This is a view of my neighborhood as viewed from behind my house. (My back yard is directly behind and to the left of the six palms.) The water is a recently restored estuary that leads into a small bayou, which in turn is part of Tampa Bay.
From my back yard, I view a park that was filmed as part of the movie. At nighttime, the senior citizens would run through the park to a swimming pool that had restorative powers, a sci-fi Fountain of Youth. (But the pool was filmed in another part of the city.)
The movie began about two blocks from my house at these little villas, which are part of a retirement community. They look out on Tampa Bay, which you can see in the background, and they date to the 1940s, when the retirement community was a yacht club.
Of course this land is prime real estate, so these charming villas — now individual units of the retirement community — are being torn down for new housing,
This is a different type of alien in a neighborhood of one- and two-story houses. One of my city's (and state's) greatest challenges is to protect natural resources and their accessibility, including simply allowing everyone to have a view of the water! There were literally years of wrangling when these buildings were first proposed, and along the way, the builders have made numerous concessions to the neighborhood. This building, for example, would have been twice as high.
Off in the distance is a view of Tampa Bay.
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What a beautiful view you have, Mark! I do not recall seeing Cocoon. Might have to rent this! As for the new condos, not for me.
ReplyDeleteHi, Loi,
DeleteThe view behind my house is pretty spectacular, but I don't see that little estuary from my yard because there are mangroves at its edge, hiding it from me. But I do see that park view, and occasionally get a glimpse of fishermen walking through it to the water, which has a Currier & Ives feel.
Hello Mark, I had no idea how charming your extended neighborhood was, or how much land/park was adjacent to your back yard, which also should make a good buffer zone from development.
ReplyDeleteIt is a real shame that they are cutting off views in order to put up a building that (at least in its unfinished stage) looks like some kind of prison.
--Road to Parnassus
Hello, Jim,
DeleteBoth views relating to the back of my house are part of a city park. I don't know if it's true of other states, but my locale has a law that whenever an entity buys public land, they must invest, according to a formula, in the renovation of public land somewhere else. That's how the estuary behind my house was restored to its early 1900's state, and it brought me peace of mind that the area would remain as a park.
Regarding the new buildings, one concession the builders made in their redesign was that there would be a view of the water from the end of every street. They also built further back from the waterfront, allowing for a generous promenade around the buildings.
Although I don't really remember the movie well, I remember it was charming. Equally as charming are the little mid-Century villas. What a shame they're being demolished to make room for the monstrosities that will block everyone's view of the water.
ReplyDeleteI'm just noticing your beautiful Button of the Month too.
Hi, Steve,
DeleteThose little villas have a sub-tropical look, typical of the 1940s and early 1950s, that is slowly disappearing. I live on a peninsula bordered on one side by Tampa Bay and on the other side by the Gulf of Mexico. As late as the 1960s, there were cottages on the gulf side. Now there are wall-to-wall condos, and one can drive for miles and miles without a glimpse of the water. It's very sad.
I think that button might have belonged to a hunting club jacket — I'm glad you like it!
What a very pretty setting for your house. And yes, progress is unfortunate when it comes in the form of so much redevelopment, (such as we have here), and without the planning or environmental considerations in developed countries; the irony of development in developing countries, versus developed countries.
ReplyDeleteDear Columnist,
DeleteI have sat through the meetings of many departments of the city on this very issue, and it's been a real eye-opener. My city has a so-called city plan, but in actuality variances are easily vacated if a developement will bring in big tax revenues. Also, the members of the city's various building boards are mostly contractors.
Typically, the city will pounce on an individual property owner whose fence is a foot off, but turn a blind eye to the developer who wants the footprint of his multi-story building to practically reach the curb. It's distressing to watch, particularly as it applies to beachside communities.
Dear Mark, Had not imagined what a beautiful area you live in. Pictures I have seen of the front of your house show no clue as to the bauty that awaits in the back. Would love to see more. Do you ever paddle a boat along the waterways?
ReplyDeleteDear Gina,
DeleteI will show you another view from my back yard in my next posting.
To be very truthful, while I love to live near water, and gravitate to areas that are by the water, I'm not actually one to get IN the water! It does give me pleasure, however, to see my next-door neighbor roll his kayak to the bayou's edge and paddle into the bay.
Mark, I remember the movie quite well. The ending is uncertain but basically it's upbeat. Your blog post starts with some beautiful shots of your bucolic environs and ends with something I'm not convinced is upbeat. Though it may be contrived here is where I might rather see the work of Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk if development must take place.
ReplyDeleteHi, Scott,
DeleteI like your choice of architects. The neighborhood argued for a style that was more in keeping with the area, which has a lot of Mediterranean architecture, and the buildings will actually have more of that look when completed. Originally, they were monolithic slabs, so whatever you can see from the last photo is a vast improvement — with the exception of that grillwork pretending to be a balcony.
*sigh*- how depressing. I like the little cottages more and am sure you do as well!
ReplyDeleteI understand that one can drive along the whole California coastline and see the water. That might have been a possibility in Florida 40 years ago, but not now. Magnify the development of my neighborhood waterfront thousands of times, and you have a picture of Florida today.
DeleteUnfortunately this happens in Sydney also, where water views are prized, Im lucky to live up high so still have "water glimpses" that's real estate agent talk.
ReplyDeleteI hope non of those Burmese pythons have moved into your estuary, I understand they are a real menace in Florida
The Burmese pythons haven't gotten this far north, but they're a worry because they are killing everything in sight in the Everglades. A couple of years ago there was a lurid photograph in the newspaper of a python that attempted to swallow an alligator! They killed each other in the process.
DeleteEnjoyed your post, Mark. I suddenly remembered the movie I haven't seen in ages. Thanks for the reminder. You have a gorgeous back yard.
ReplyDeleteWhat a shame about the cottages and the rapid fire building. But that's 'progress'. The only way to stop it I suppose would be to buy up all the available land and refuse to build on it. But that would hardly be feasible.
Hi, Yvette - The "progress" is very distressful. Back at the turn of the last century, a very far-sighted early mayor set aside part of the city waterfront as park land so that the citizens could always enjoy the water view. Recently, people have even discussed developing that (!), but voters have sensibly vetoed it.
DeleteDear Mark,
ReplyDeleteYou've reminded me of Cocoon--such a charming movie! You really are so very lucky to live in paradise-- I've just returned from sunny Captiva Island back to a very dreary Michigan, so I'm especially green with envy at the moment!!! I have to agree with everyone here (and civilized persons everywhere) that the original cottages are much more beautiful than that building, which will have a much sorter non-renovation-worthy life.
Warm regards from cold Michigan,
Erika
Dear Erika,
DeleteI came from cold Pittsburgh, so I am still very appreciative of living in a nice part of Florida. And now that I've lived here for more than half my life, I'm especially saddened to see the quainter, distinctive qualities of my city disappear.
Though it hasn't been addressed in the comments yet, another aspect of the new buildings is that they're being designed for a wealthier class of retiree. In the coming years, water views will become dearer and dearer.
Best wishes,
Mark
Hi Mark,
ReplyDeleteWhat a sad state of realestate affairs, all too familiar in every part of our world. Yvette calls this 'progress', i call it 'regress'.
Anyes
xx
Hi, Anyes,
DeleteThe buildings as they are presently being erected are MUCH better than the original plans, which called for plain cubes, many stories taller. So I look at these and know what might have been.
Hi Mark. I am sad that those smaller villas were taken down. I have a cousin In St. Pete and it has so many lovely areas. I want to eventually spend more time down in Sarasota. It reminds me if the "older" fla. I remember as a teen.
ReplyDeleteHi, Jessica - thanks for visiting! Those little villas haven't been taken down yet - they have a reprieve of about three years before the next big building goes up.
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