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Key West's Billion-Dollar Tourist Empire Is Emptying Out — And Nobody Can Save It

145K views · Sep 12, 2026 · People & Blogs

Simon Hammer

1.1K subscribers

Comments · 332

@MikeHudson-px2gc · 2 weeks ago
Key West in the 70s and 80s was rustic and affordable. Jimmy Buffet's Key West. Now homes are $1m plus and has lost it's soul.
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@llynnetucker4964 · 2 weeks ago
Started getting stupid with the proliferation of the T-shirt shops on Duval in the 80’s.  Cruise ships were the nail in the coffin.  KW really was a funky kind of paradise once.  Now it’s a combination of Times Square and Disney.  Ugh.
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@markpashia7067 · 2 weeks ago
Simple answer is to park an older cruise ship there as WORKER HOUSING. Make it cheap and affordable with some amenities but keep it able to sail away in a storm so that workers can evacuate without clogging the highway. Let the cost be borne by the business owners. If they want workers.....
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@kevybaby7 · 2 weeks ago
I drove down from Canada in the 80s , we got a room and a Boat for 69$.... best Vacation ever
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@mariannabauerlein9486 · 2 weeks ago
I lived in Key West from 1988-1991. <br>I Old Town, a bock from Jimmy Buffets studio! Those were the days! It was so special back then. <br>Glad I got to create many paintings and make friends i still have today!
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@beaumob · 2 weeks ago (edited)
Islamorada and Monroe county are felony stupid. They recently built a huge Publix grocery store, and now they have trouble getting employees. They foolishly refused to demand employee housing on top of the grocery store. Because it would have pushed them over their self-imposed height limit for buildings at 32 feet. 1.5 MILLION cars per month drive US1 and it has killed all the coral on both sides of the highway for the entire 113 mile island chain. Tire rubber, antifreeze motor oil transmission, fluid, power, steering fluid, all of it leaks into the ocean. In many places, the ocean is less than 20 feet from the highway.
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@CameraCommando · 2 weeks ago
Crap town. Nobody wants to go there anymore.  Expensive, no beach, destroyed coral, hot, and tacky. Nobody cares.  Enjoy the whole you dug.
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@Trudigen · 2 weeks ago
The worst thing Key West did was bring in Cruise Ships! Key West was a beautiful city to visit before them! Many came not only from Floridians but regular Tourism!
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@pierrelarocque3214 · 2 weeks ago (edited)
Key West Is a  big huge bummer. A tourist trap. Yes a very ordinary tourist trap. Must have been interesting 60 years ago.
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@steinervision7643 · 12 days ago
Glad I was able to enjoy the Keys in the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s!   Great memories ❤
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@Last_Flight_Out · 2 weeks ago
key west resident for 35 years - this is 100% correct
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@stephenphillips5437 · 2 weeks ago
Strap in the world is changing ... Human beings have ruined every good thing  Greed , Arragance , Corruption , and Apathy have and are bankrupting and collapsing everything everywhere  Life is about to become very hard .   Good Luck
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