We've heard a lot about Wall Street and the banks and how greed brought them down. We did not hear about how greedy the construction and real estate sales market was. All of the blame seemed to be put on the financial sector, when in fact, these two industries were actually complicit in pushing for more lenient guidelines so that they could build and sell homes.

Florida was the hardest hit of all by the construction bust. Already the fastest growing state in the nation, it dove headfirst into the construction and sales of new homes. In bedroom communities of larger cities, entire economies were built

on the bed of sand that was the housing construction industry. Small town budgets collapsed with the housing boom. In some small towns, such as North Port, Florida, a bedroom community of Sarasota, the unemployment rate went up to 25% at one point. The only thing that brought it back down was that most of those who were unemployed moved out of the area to find work.

While the construction industry has a long history of boom and bust, nothing of this magnitude has been seen since the great depression. While economists call it an “adjustment” in housing prices that were out of control, the people effected the most call it a nightmare.

Who in a local economy is effected by the bust? Since 70% of our economy is based on consumer purchases, almost every sector of the economy is effected. From large companies like Home Depot and Lowe's, to mom and

Some topics in this essay:
Port Florida, Depot Lowe's, Wall Street, , construction workers, closed doors, construction industry, economy effected, real estate, sector economy,