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drop of the stock market in 2001 led to our soaring real estate boom of the last five years. Brent Parker, President of the architectural firm Parker Walter Group, explains. "The stock market no longer becomes a safe haven for your funds. Stocks drop even faster when everyone pulls their money and thrusts it into real estate. So millions of dollars swell the real estate market and all of the sudden, your $200,000 cottage is worth $375,000. Then, when the population flux reaches its down cycle and there's too much inventory, sellers become desperate and the prices start to drop, which is where we are heading now." Thank you, Economics 101: we are reaching the trough. Beneficial for the buyer, yes; but, the seller need not fear, because according to Parker, "Everything is repetitive. It's like the sine wave curveinterest rates, houses, buyers, sellers, you name itit's always too much or too little."

Part of that surge in real estate investment, whatever the original motive or cause, instigated the phenomenally aesthetic architecture, in both residential and commercial sectors. If a pro-con sheet were to be filled out, it is hard for some to believe that one might be more prevalent than the other. Venture down South Osprey Avenue into the heart of downtown, winding your way up to Bay Shore Road and the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art; reverse the vehicle to cross the sublime bridge to the once quaint Saint Armands Circle and hit the long stretch that is Longboat Key Drive. Modernization has painted this town all shades of architectural styles, so what is the dilemma? Many of the instrumental people at contracting and architectural firms have lived here long enough to be both witness and executor of the changes.

One major debate has been the "old Florida versus new views" concept of growth: how much can charm preservation and modernization overlap before their symbiotic relationship becomes more abrasive than beauteous? Architect Michael Epstein of Seibert Architects shares, "I've been here 21 years, and much of our superior potential downtown has been a missed opportunity. There's a general misperception that modern means cold and insensitive, so this "faux charm" has been created. New should look like new, because that will protect the character of the past. That lust for yesteryear, even if it's pretend, robs the old." Preserving the charm is not the problem, according to Epstein. Contextualizing the new buildings is the point. In all great cities, buildings

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