Saturday, October 13, 2018

Worth Another Look. A policy shift: Very big development in suburban Lake Worth (west/southwest of City limits).


The editor(s) at The Palm Beach Post have acknowledged that region called “suburban Lake Worth”.


And also below is news about another big development as well.


The upcoming 17th Annual Dollars for Scholars Golf Tournament benefiting Lake Worth High School will be held exactly two week from today: On Saturday, October 27th. More information, e.g., how to get tickets and directions to this event are later in this blog post.

Also below is very important information for those of you who missed that huge policy change at the Post — a ‘paper of record’ based here in Central Palm Beach County (CPBC) — the formal recognition from the editor(s) acknowledging that area outside the municipal limits of the City of Lake Worth as “suburban Lake Worth”. It took a very long time. But it finally happened on the editorial page. Read more about that below.

However, it should be noted that many reporters are very diligent when reporting about incidents in the City of Lake Worth and indicating clearly those that have occurred outside the City limits in suburban (unincorporated) Lake Worth. For example, there are reporters Olivia Hitchcock, Julius Whigham, Alexandra Seltzer, Jorge Milian, Chelsea Todaro, R.E. Denty et al. that do a very good job informing the public. And many of you will recall this blog post, “About an incident in ‘suburban Lake Worth’ by reporter Meryl Kornfield.”

It’s ironic that in the past, for many decades this City was just ‘good ole Lake Worth’ to so many old-timers, reporters, satirists, and editors at the Post who poked fun at this town and reporting false news about the crime rate too. Now, for example, when you read the Real Estate section in the Post every new community outside this City and others trying to rebrand their image want to be “in Lake Worth”.

Lake Worth Commissioner Scott Maxwell said last March prior to the municipal elections,


“Thirty years ago when I came to Palm Beach County and needed a place to live the first three things people told me was: ‘Don’t go to Lake Worth. Stay away from Lake Worth. Avoid Lake Worth like the plague.’ I didn’t take their advice. I’m glad I didn’t take their advice.”


You see, once people were told to avoid this City like the plague. Now everyone wants to get in.

Before we proceed you will be interested to know that below is information about the upcoming Dollars for Scholars annual event benefiting Lake Worth High, also information about golf courses, Australian pines, and also find out how to contact an agent for Palm Beach County’s Environmental Horticulture Dept. if you have any questions about plants and trees.

Whew! This blog post must be a very long one. Actually no. It’s a pretty quick read.


So you must be wondering, when did the editor(s) at the Post finally officially acknowledge the existence of suburban Lake Worth, that area west of our City of Lake Worth? It finally happened two months ago, August 9th, 2018 in the Sunday print edition on p. A9 under the banner, “Opinion: The Debate Starts Here”. An excerpt from the opinion headlined, “Workforce housing a bad fit for Fountains”:


A development of this type will impact not only the residents of The Fountains (and they will surely bear the brunt of this planned housing) but all the surrounding property owners. There are several “over-55” communities within this area of suburban Lake Worth [see image below], The Fountains being one of the finest.


The Fountains is located south of Lake Worth Rd. and east of the Florida Turnpike (note the north-south roadway with interchange).

Click on image to enlarge:

Nearby, west of the Turnpike, is the location where Barbie the little horse was viciously slaughtered by a roaming pack of coyotes. At the end of this blog post is a map of coastal Central Palm Beach County where the actual City of Lake Worth is located. To date, no coyotes have been reported in the City.


Other than the occasional news reports about coyotes and other mayhem it’s not very exciting out in suburban Lake Worth communities but they do have some special amenities for the ‘over-55’ set at The Fountains. For example, they have not one, not two, but three (3) private golf courses. The little coastal City of Lake Worth has a municipal public golf course as well. For example, Wellington-based golf writer Mike May reported:


I am the correspondent who wrote the story about the Lake Worth Golf Club which appears on the wall in City Hall.

and. . .

     While golfers in Palm Beach County, Florida have access to a number of well-known, nicely manicured layouts such as Emerald Dunes, Madison Green, Osprey Point, and PGA National, one of the forgotten “gems” is actually one of the oldest golf courses in the area — Lake Worth Municipal Golf Club.


About the private golf courses at The Fountains,


“It’s an old-Florida-style course with a lot of tall Australian pines [emphasis added] . . . There are a lot of long par 4s on the North Course, but there’s not much water or forced carryovers.”


Whilst on the topic of invasive non-native Australian pine, “Because of its aggressive growth rate, never plant Australian pine trees. . . . Possession of Australian pine with the intent to sell or plant is illegal in Florida without a special permit.”

If you would like more information about horticulture, and about the Australian pine specifically in Palm Beach County, contact Laurie Albrecht, an Environmental Horticulture Extension Agent by clicking on this link, call 561-233-1748 or send an email to: lalbrecht@pbcgov.org

And lastly, on the topic of golf courses and “suburban Lake Worth” is news about the upcoming 17th Annual Dollars for Scholars Golf Tournament benefiting Lake Worth High School at Palm Beach National Golf Club on October 27th. The address for this golf club is 7500 St. Andrews Rd. in suburban Lake Worth.

To learn more about this Dollars for Scholars event and about the question “Was Commissioner Scott Maxwell a visionary, ahead of his time back in 2012?”, click on this link.

And who knows, maybe next year’s 18th annual Dollars for Scholars event will actually be held in this City of Lake Worth! Here is information for the organizers of that annual benefit for Lake Worth High School, a public school that is actually located in this City:



Thank You for visiting today and a special thanks to the editor(s) at The Palm Beach Post for finally officially acknowledging that place west of our City of Lake Worth called suburban Lake Worth. After reading this and you are interested in learning more about this little City here is a short video (please note: the “over-55” set is well represented):





And as promised. . .


Map of the coastal region
in Central Palm Beach County:

A little perspective. On a good day it’s about a 25–30 minute drive from the Lake Worth Municipal Golf Course to The Fountains. And then another 25–30 minute drive back. For tee times at the Lake Worth Golf Club in the City of Lake Worth call 561-582-9713.