🌅 📈 St. Lucie Adds 12,000 Residents

It's Monday! and I'm putting this to a vote because I've gotten a few emails over the last couple of days that I did not mention the No Kings protest in the newsletter. I must restate this to be clear: the newsletter does not cover politics or crime. But because I got quite a few emails about it, I'm putting it to a vote again.

🚨 Situational awareness: USPS is implementing an 8% price increase on April 26 through January 2027. Affects Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, USPS Ground Advantage, and Parcel Select. First-Class Stamps are NOT affected.

💜 People Pass Shoutout: Thank you to everyone supporting the newsletter! If you want to help keep this going, support here.

Alright, let's jump right in!

☀️ Day: High of 79°F | More clouds than sun. 24% chance of rain.
🌙 Night: Low of 68°F | Winds E at 10-15 mph. 23% chance of rain.
🌅 Sunrise: 7:14 AM | 🌇 Sunset: 7:38 PM
🌙 Moonrise: 5:38 PM | 🌚 Moonset: 5:46 AM
🎶 Sounds like: "Cranes in the Sky" — Solange

St. Lucie County added nearly 11,000 residents last year, defying a dramatic slowdown across Florida as major metros like Miami-Dade and Pinellas County lost population.

Why it matters: While Florida's growth hit its slowest pace this decade, St. Lucie is still booming thanks to domestic migration. But most new residents work elsewhere, raising questions about long term economic sustainability.

The numbers: St. Lucie grew 3.9% between 2023 and 2024, faster than Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach. Approximately 11,600 people moved here from other U.S. counties, while only 3,200 came from overseas.

The catch: Approximately 63% of St. Lucie County workers commute outside the county for jobs. St. Lucie's average weekly wage was $1,054 in Q4 2024, the lowest among Florida's 27 largest counties. Palm Beach County averages $1,590 per week.

The affordability paradox: People flee expensive metros for St. Lucie, but costs are rising.

The other side: Miami-Dade lost 10,000 residents in 2025. Pinellas County lost nearly 12,000.

The bottom line: St. Lucie keeps growing, but is the county building its own economy or just housing someone else's workforce?

Read the full story

Indian River Mall demolition hasn't started and there's no date set, with plans still going through review with county planning staff. DTS Properties plans to strip away the entire eastern half including the old Sears and Macy's stores and build five retail spaces totaling 115,000 square feet

👉 Read more (Vero News)

A bill awaiting Gov. signature would require data centers to pay for their own utility infrastructure instead of nearby ratepayers, though environmental concerns remain about energy usage. Atlas Compute's proposed St. Lucie County data center is projected to generate 1 GW of capacity through its own natural gas power plant, eight times greater than Fort Pierce's entire electrical network at peak.

👉 Read more (TCPalm subscription may be required)

Stuart's proposed Brightline station would create a 53-space parking deficit for courthouse employees, with current plans reducing courthouse parking from 169 to 165 spaces. Mayor Christopher Collins said the city should send a letter to the county and Brightline requiring them to figure out adequate parking before moving forward, whether through shared parking or a parking garage.

👉 Read more (WQCS)

📱 Keep up with the Sunland News: Send comments & suggestions to [email protected] Follow us on, Instagram and Youtube

🙋‍♂️ Did someone forward you this? Subscribe here!