Driving through Rotonda West, Florida

Rotonda West is an unincorporated, deed-restricted community situated in Charlotte County, Florida, United States. The U.S. Census Bureau lists it as the Rotonda census-designated place, with a population of 15,600. It is part of the Punta Gorda Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was developed and named Rotonda West by Cavanagh Communities Corporation, which purchased the land in 1969.
That developer also bought land for a projected but never developed community named Rotonda East in swamp lands in southern Martin County and northern Palm Beach County; it was not considered wise to drain those wetlands and that project was abandoned.
The area was part of ranch lands prior to development for housing in the 1970s; there was no airport at this location prior to development.
The land was first part of a large cattle ranch owned by brothers William and Alfred Vanderbilt, direct descendants of Cornelius Vanderbilt. They purchased the land in 1952 and sold a portion in 1969 that became Rotonda West. The development of Rotonda West began in 1970. The layout of Rotonda West precisely mimics temporary World War II airfields in Florida, laid out like a wagon wheel. There are canals as well as streets in this development; the canals are generally parallel to the streets. Shallow craft can maneuver on the canals.
There was an intention to develop Rotonda, essentially Rotonda East, in a tract of land on the east coast of Florida in Palm Beach County and the adjacent Martin County. The land selected for that development was swamp; changing views on the value of wetlands stopped that area from being drained for housing when the Army Corps of Engineers refused a permit.
Baseball superstar Reggie Jackson, appearing at a "Superstars" television competition in Rotonda in 1977, gave a derogatory opinion of the community when he excused himself from an interview for a bathroom break: "I gotta take a Rotonda," he quipped.

[@KingOFuh]

Thanks for the tour. Nice backing track, almost like Errol Morris/Tangerine Dream.

[@gatorpics09]

Thanks for listening