News: Economic development in the little City of Lake Worth (and why you need to support LOCAL newspapers).

Front page news (see below) about economic development, new construction, and more businesses opening up in the City of Lake Worth was reported in The Lake Worth Herald just recently.

And, of course, everyone else in the press is jumping on the bandwagon now which is to be expected.

The so-called ‘mainstream’ press and news media uses a much different model now to gauge public interest than do local newspapers like the Herald. Reporters at the Herald attend meetings and neighborhood groups, contact public officials and staff (not just when it’s convenient for a story), and they don’t go about “shamelessly” over-hyping stories like a tabloid would.

A classic example of over-hyping was a ridiculous news report last Christmas when a Palm Beach Post beat reporter tried to make the closing of a Downtown chocolate store a huge story — which it wasn’t — a non-story to try and sell more newspapers suggesting our Downtown was suffering from a lack of foot traffic. Nonsense.

[The real story was Hoffman’s couldn’t compete with Kilwins Chocolates on Lake Ave. And don’t forget Kilwins at the Lake Worth Beach too!]

For example, Reporter Will Oremus explained how the news reporting process works in the present day: 

“[S]hamelessly covering and promoting the most crowd-pleasing stories. . . . What it probably won’t mean is robust, daily coverage of such institutions as city hall, the statehouse, and the local schools.”

The oft-cited observations on this blog by reporter Jennifer Brandel:

“So how do newsrooms determine what the audience wants? They’re increasingly looking to analytics for answers. With finer and finer grain metrics, they pore over which of the newsroom’s offerings get the most clicks, shares, time on site, or whatever the metric du jour is. They then do their best to repeat whatever they believe was the magic ingredient of the story’s success.”

Does that remind you of a certain crime that occurred in Downtown Lake Worth three weeks ago?

Remember the blaring headlines in the Post and stories that followed for a week with little new to report? What was the point? Just for more smartphone and Facebook clicks and selling a few more newspapers?

Anyhow. . .

Here’s the latest news (with emphasis added) from your LOCAL City of Lake Worth newspaper, the Herald:

The City of Lake Worth has suffered through empty buildings on Lake and Lucerne Avenues and up and down Dixie Highway. There was a period of years through which there were no applications for commercial building permits in the City.
     Times have changed, there are a number of new building permits pulled for Dixie Highway and along Lake and Lucerne Avenues. Second Avenue North and Dixie Highway sport two construction projects which are bringing new businesses to town. Starbucks will be occupying part of the southwest corner of 2nd Avenue North and Dixie while TD Bank is building on the southeast corner.
     12th Avenue North has seen a major renovation of the former Chuck’s Appliance building and it is said to be preparing to house a controversial Medical Marijuana Dispensary. 7-11 is building a new store on the southwest corner of 10th Avenue North and another Medical Marijuana Dispensary has renovated the building on the southeast corner of Lake Avenue and Dixie Highway.
     Mathews Brewing Company has remodeled the building on the Northeast corner of 2nd Avenue South and H Street (the former home of The Lake Worth Herald).
     Many fault a former commission for the lack of progress, many fault the Building Department. The policy changes made by the commission majority over the past few years and the direction of City Manager Michael Bornstein has led to more economic growth in the city in the past two years than in nearly a decade before.
     With the efforts being made to find ways to accommodate parking along Dixie Highway, It shouldn’t be long before the empty buildings are occupied by vibrant new businesses.

Remember, the City of Lake Worth isn’t just charming any more. We’re VIBRANT too!

Support your LOCAL newspapers: The Lake Worth Herald and Coastal/Greenacres Observer.

Use this link for the online editions. Contact the editor at 561-585-9387. Pick up the print edition
at the City’s newsstand at 600 Lake Ave.
in the Downtown.