ABSTRACT
When scientists present climate change, they reference distant years like 2050 and 2100 because the worst effects of climate change are still ahead, and the most significant changes will take decades or even centuries to manifest. Climate change is already occurring, but the average person cannot see how it affects their daily lives yet. Newfield, outside Stuart, Florida, if constructed faithful to the vision, could become a model for new settlements in Florida’s interior, away from the vulnerable shore. The Newfield property is shaped roughly like the state of Nebraska and bisected by Citrus Boulevard. When it comes to climate change adaptation, new communities like Newfield present an opportunity to shift development that would have occurred on barrier islands and coastal communities away from the shore and reduce Florida’s economic reliance on the beach. As the seas rise, beach tourism could transition to a more sustainable kind of ecotourism.
