Here is a random bit of food for thought. In the current presidential debate, much is made of the “pork barrel” expense of building a bridge to an island with “just” 50 inhabitants. Knowing little about the specific island, I still want to offer these observation from some of the places where I have lived.
I grew up in South Florida and often visited Miami Beach with my grandmother. Wonder how many people lived on that island before the causeways were built?
I lived in Charleston SC and spent a lot of wonderful days on the Isle of Palms. I would bet there was not much there before the bridges were built.
While in Charleston during the 1980s, I remember this vacant piece of land on the east side of the Cooper River called Daniel Island. I passed by it several times on submarines and on pleasure boats. Today, thanks to a federally financed bridge and freeway system called the Mark Clark Expressway, Daniel Island is now a bustling suburban development with some very nice homes and shopping districts. (Some people do not like that kind of place, but the people that are making a lot of noise about bridges generally love development.)
I now live in Annapolis, MD on the west side of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. It is pretty easy to find out what life was like on the eastern side of the bridge before it was built.
