Booming Bay County, Florida

"Build it and they will come. Occasionally that happens in real life, and in the case of Bay County, Florida, it's about to happen in a big way. By the end of this decade, Bay County (and its main city, Panama City), promises to be among the fastest growing areas in the state, if not the nation. "It" in this case is a new international airport in Bay County, the first major airport developed in the United States in years.

...Instead of piecemeal zoning and approval for a new airport and the surrounding commercial development, the project is going to follow a blueprint known as the West Bay Sector Plan, essentially an agreement between the state and county about what goes where. The centerpiece of the plan, the new airport, will go on undeveloped land near West Bay, but not too near, to protect it from hurricane damage.

...Though it isn't well known outside Florida, the St. Joe Co. (NYSE: JOE) is the largest private landowner in the state, holding roughly a million acres, which is even larger than the much more famous Disney holdings...."

Thanks to Peter Slatin