ANNOUNCER: THIS IS CHRONICLE, ON WCVB CHANNEL 5.
>> WE SAID GET OUT OF TOWN -- TO THE EVERGLADES.
TO A TROPICAL BEACH.
CRITICS -- >> THIS IS YOUR OFFICE?
>> THIS IS MY OFFICE.
>> FENWAY?
>> IT SURE LOOKS LIKE THE GREEN MONSTER.
>> WHEN BOSTONIANS HAD SOUTH, THEY HAD HERE.
CALL IT THE ANTI-FLORIDA.
THEY DO APPRECIATE THE GOOD OLD DAYS.
>> REMEMBER PHONE BOOTHS?
STILL WORKS.
DESTINATION DELRAY BEACH, NEXT ON CHRONICLE.
>> I THINK AT ITS CORE, WE ARE A SMALL BEACH TOWN.
>> STILL A PRETTY SMALL COMMUNITY.
>> IT’S NOT BOCA RATON.
>> SURROUNDED BY MORE FAMOUS NEIGHBORS TO THE NORTH AND SOUTH, DELRAY BEACH HAS LONG CHARTED, NOT SURPRISINGLY, A MORE MIDDLE COURSE, A BIT LESS DEVELOPED, A BIT MORE CONSCIOUS
OF THE FACT THAT WHILE IT MIGHT BE A CITY, IT WOULD REALLY RATHER SEE ITSELF AS A VILLAGE BY THE SEA.
>> WE ARE A VILLAGE BY THE SEA.
>> ALEX HAS BEEN RENTING BIKES TO VISITORS HERE FOR NEARLY 60 YEARS.
HE LIKES THE SCALE OF THINGS.
>> WE DON’T HAVE A LOT OF URBAN SPRAWL.
IT’S A SMALL TOWN FEEL WITH THE SENTIMENTALITY OF A LARGER TOWN.
>> WE HAVE WORKED THROUGH GENERATIONS TO MAINTAIN THAT SMALL-TOWN CHARACTER AND CHARM.
>> HE IS A FOURTH GENERATION FLORIDIAN WHO LIKES HIS WELL-KNOWN NEIGHBORS -- TO A POINT.
IS IT A POINT OF PRIDE TO FOLKS IN DEL RAY TO BE DISTINGUISHED FROM THE TOWNS AND CITIES THAT SURROUND YOU?
>> VERY MUCH SO.
WE DON’T WANT TO BE BOCA.
WE DON’T WANT TO BE FORT LAUDERDALE.
WE DON’T WANT TO BE MIAMI BEACH.
THOSE ARE GREAT CITIES, BUT THEY ARE NOT US.
>> DEL RAY WAS OCCUPIED BY NATIVE AMERICAN SEMINOLES.
THE FIRST WHITE SETTLERS CAME FROM MICHIGAN, FROM WHICH THEY BROUGHT THE NAME, DEL RAY.
>> ONCE THE RAILWAY CAME DOWN AND THE INTERCOASTAL WATERWAY WAS DONE, THAT PROVIDED OPPORTUNITIES FOR SETTLEMENT AND FARMING, AND WE STARTED TO GET AN INFLUX.
>> A CHARMING CAMPUS OF THREE VINTAGE COTTAGES, MORE LIKE A MINI MUSEUMS, ARE ALL OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
VISITORS CAN WALK THROUGH ROOM BY ROOM THE YEARS OF 1950 AND 1935.
>> SOME PEOPLE MIGHT MISTAKENLY BELIEVE THAT THE FLORIDA STATE BIRD IS THE MOCKINGBIRD.
IT IS ACTUALLY THE MOSQUITO.
THEY WERE HORRIFIC.
THEY DROVE A LOT OF PEOPLE AWAY FROM FLORIDA.
>> IN TIMES, THE BUGS WERE MASTERED, MAPS WERE PRINTED, AND PEOPLE DROVE BACK TO FLORIDA.
>> PROBABLY THE 19 20’S-19 40’S WOULD BE CONSIDERED THE GOLDEN AGE OF DEL RAY.
AND THEN WHEN AIR-CONDITIONING CAME IN.
>> TODAY, DEL RAY HAS SHAKEN OFF ITS OLD IMAGE.
WHERE ONCE A PINEAPPLE GROVE PRODUCED AN ACTUAL CASH CROP, IT IS A GROVE IN NAME ONLY NOW.
THE CITY HAS WORKED HARD TO BALANCE ITS GROWTH WITH ITS EASE OH’S --ETHOS.
ATLANTA DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS LIMIT BUILDING HEIGHT TO FOUR STORIES.
-- LAND DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS LIMIT BUILDING HEIGHT TO FOUR STORIES.
>> IT CAN RUIN THE CHARM AND CHARACTER OF A PLACE.
>> IT ENCOURAGES BLOCKING AS -- WALKING AS WELL AS >> WE WANT TO STAY LOW DENSITY.
WE WANT TO KEEP THAT VILLAGE BY THE SEA ATMOSPHERE.
>> HUMAN POWER DEL RAY IS A NONPROFIT DEDICATED TO MAKING IT EASIER AND SAFER TO WALK AND BIKE IN DELRAY BEACH.
ON AN EARLY MORNING, WE MET UP WITH THE CITY COMMISSIONER AND FELLOW FOUNDER OF HUMAN POWER DEL RAY.
>> THE ROADS ARE FLAT, NO HILLS TO CLIMB.
THERE IS A SMALL VILLAGE ATMOSPHERE.
IT REALLY APPLIES TO BIKING AND WALKING.
IT IS PERFECT.
>> THE CITY IS CREATING A NEW NETWORK OF DEDICATED BIKE LANES.
LONG RAGE -- LONG-RANGE PLANS INCLUDE DEL RAY’S OWN GREENWAY.
ANY WALK OR BIKE IN DELRAY BEACH IS BOUND TO EVENTUALLY BRING YOU BY THE BEACH ITSELF, WHICH IS WHERE WE ARE HEADED NEXT.
>> WE HAV AN UPDATE TO REPORT.
THE CITY OF DELRAY BEACH HAS ACTUALLY ADOPTED HUMAN POWERED DEL RAY’S MASTER PLA, AND PRIVATE AND PUBLIC GRANTS ARE BEING PURSUED.
>> AND THE FOUNDER WHO TIM WAS BIKING WITH IS RUNNING FOR MAYOR ON MARCH 13, SO IF HE WINS, THEY WILL HAVE A GOOD FRIEND IN A HIGH PLACE.
>> DIP YOUR TOES IN THE SAND OF FLORIDA’S -- ONE OF FLORIDA’S