Riding my bike along the river the other evening I noticed a market readying to open on the ground floor of one of the condos (the one behind Savor Cinema that was built sideways so to make it waterfront property). The young man standing outside told me that the market will have tables and will serve cheese platters, panini (his family is from Italy), bruschetta, and such. I always wondered why our Riverwalk, unlike San Antonio’s, offers little for the people who stroll it; the ground floors of the luxury condos, instead of housing restaurants and cafes, hold gyms and offices. (Something that, my wife tells me, is not allowed in Boynton Beach.) Encouraged, I pointed across the cul de sac: “And that restaurant will be opening soon,” I said.
“No,” the young man shook his head sadly. “They’ve been trying for seven years to make that a restaurant, but the rents are too high.”
I didn’t ask about his rent. But I did think of all the empty storefronts on Las Olas. Fort Lauderdale is pricing its downtown out of existence.
