Making a home in Homestead

“Our little town is changing,” says Epling, president of the Homestead-based Community Bank of Florida for the past three decades and a resident of the town for most of his life. “The face is changing. Its a community in transition.”

If you haven’t been to Homestead in a few years, you might not recognize it. Nearly 10,000 new families have moved into the area since 2000, a growth rate of 32 percent, or almost triple the county average. Now retail shops are moving in, and city leaders are looking to attract offices and industrial businesses.

Before Hurricane Andrew walloped Homestead in 1992, the city’s two principal industries were farming and the Homestead Air Force Base, which then employed close to 10,000 people.

After the storm, the military reduced the site to an Air Reserve Base. The facility has taken on more personnel in recent years, but its still nowhere close to pre-storm levels. It now has around 1,100 full-time workers, plus about 1,200 reservists who come to perform monthly drills. An additional 175 full-time workers are expected to arrive soon.