With $2.5 billion in construction projects lined up, West Palm Beach is growing up. But will it grow up a beauty or a beast?
The city of 100,000 boasts a natural setting like few others in the United States, with views of a yacht-dappled lagoon, a green barrier island and an azure Atlantic beyond. But its man-made environment, while manicured by city hall planners armed with dusty tomes of rules and regulations, has yet to produce the winsome architecture that distinguishes a bayside burg from a world-class metropolis.\
That may change.
City officials, developers, an economic upswing and competition are encouraging a trend toward enhancing West Palm Beach’s skyline through more innovative design of buildings large and small.