LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. - .... Welcome to the American dream in high reverse....
The changes in these mostly unincorporated areas outside Charlotte, N.C.; Las Vegas; Sacramento; and similar cities have been swift and vivid. Their best economic times have been immediately followed by their worst, as they have generally been the last to crest and the first to crash.
In Lehigh Acres, homes are selling at 80 percent off their peak prices. Only two years after there were more jobs than people to work them, fast-food restaurants are laying people off or closing. Crime is up, school enrollment is down, and one in four residents received food stamps in December....
