GREENACRES — Welcome to a land where time stood still, whose problems capture Palm Beach County's crucial question — Who can afford to live here? — and whose future raises issues about its blue-collar workforce.
Few parts of the county have changed as much in the past 30 years as Greenacres and Palm Springs . Since 1990, their combined populations have more than doubled and now stand at nearly 71,000, more than either Jupiter or Wellington . If they were one city, they would be the county’s fourth-largest.
That growth has come from the Caribbean and South and Central America and has made the area the hub of the county's Hispanic community. Its residents have become the people who make the county's economy go, driving 30 minutes or more every day to jobs in construction, health care, schools and service industries.
Yet the new construction that has altered the county's landscape is nowhere to be seen in Greenacres and Palm Springs. Residents are crowding into apartments and single-story homes built for smaller households decades ago and that are quickly becoming unaffordable — and pushing them to move out of the county and leave those jobs.
“It’s like it's gotten stuck in time and not moved forward,” said School Board member Alexandria Ayala, a Palm Springs resident since coming to Florida from Puerto Rico more than 20 years ago.
Both communities say they want to pivot, turning some of their aging strip malls into town centers teeming with workforce housing and places where people can gather. They have started planning for it, looking for the money, land and developers to make it happen.
They know it will take time — and that time may be running out on the community they want to preserve.
"If we can't build housing for people that work service-oriented jobs, are friendly and make our lives better, the magic of living here will lose its luster," said Florida Atlantic University professor Ken Johnson, an authority on Florida housing.
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Palm Springs and Greenacres stayed behind because previous leaders wanted to preserve them as bedroom communities, and now the housing and commercial areas don’t meet the needs of its residents, said Joel Flores, who was Greenacres’ mayor for eight years before leaving office in March.
In the meantime, Palm Beach County all around them has been transforming.
Since the pandemic, rents in Greenacres and Palm Springs have soared. The rise in demand for the limited supply of rentals has driven prices up and residents are being priced out of the communities that make them feel at home.
In 2017, a two-bedroom apartment in Greenacres and Palm Springs rented for $1,200 a month. Now, the same apartments start at $2,500.
“My community is a blue-collar community,” Flores said. “They can't afford for housing to just continue to skyrocket."
As a result, Flores says, multiple families have resorted to moving in together or have opted to leave the county and often their jobs behind.
County Commissioner Michael Barnett, appointed last year to represent the majority-Hispanic district, thinks the area has gone ignored and neglected for years. He says it is crucial that funds from the county's $200 million housing bond go toward projects in the area.
Thousands of families “don't have a place to live in Palm Beach County right now,” said Barnett, who faces a challenge from Flores for the commission seat in the November election, one drawn to have a majority of Hispanic voters. “And a lot of them are in District 3."
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Area leaders say they are eager to take up the challenge of shaping the area’s future, making Greenacres and Palm Springs a more enjoyable and affordable place to live, work and play.So far, however, sharing ideas has proven easier than turning them into realities. The communities are mostly built-out with single-family homes and have outdated plazas that need to be redeveloped.
“We are limited,” Flores said. "How are we able to attract a developer to come in, buy that piece of property, flip it and turn it into something a destination that is going to attract people?"
Brandon Cabrera, who was raised in Greenacres by Cuban parents who own Tropical Bakery in Palm Springs, says both communities need to build apartments that cater to low- and middle-income families and revitalize blighted shopping plazas to lure people and businesses.
Cabrera says the most important factor is that redevelopment occurs in a way that doesn't gentrify the communities. If not, he is afraid the area will lose what makes it special: the people who brought their families, food, culture and work ethic from Latin America and the Caribbean.
“I want people who live here to stay here,” Cabrera said.
Ayala said Hispanics in Palm Springs and Greenacres contribute to the county's economy beyond the traditional dishes they serve residents.
“We're not just here to cook for you,” Ayala said. “We have leaders in every industry. We are principals, lawyers, doctors, teachers, firefighters and community service workers.”
Ayala and Cabrera say they hope the district grows and remains an affordable area where Hispanic and Caribbean cultures are celebrated.
“I would like to see Palm Springs and Greenacres become the hub of affordable housing and Palm Beach County,” Ayala said. “Because we can. ”
Valentina Palm covers Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, Greenacres, Palm Springs and other western communities in Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post. Email her at vpalm@pbpost.com and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @ValenPalmB. Support local journalism: Subscribe today .
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach County housing crisis squeezing blue-collar workers out of two Hispanic cities
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