Tradition's Big Summer: A New 110-Acre Park, New Eats, and a Question on Your Ballot
Welcome back to The Treasure Coast Insider — my every-other-week note about the good stuff of living here. This issue leans into one fast-growing corner of our world: Tradition. It's getting a giant new park, a wave of new restaurants, and — for the homeowners among us — there's a property-tax question headed to your November ballot that's genuinely worth understanding. Let's dig in.
Tradition just got 110 acres bigger
The big one: Tradition Regional Park, a brand-new 110-acre park taking shape near the Fern Lake Roundabout at the end of Tradition Parkway. And it's no ordinary neighborhood green space. The headliner is a first-of-its-kind BMX facility — a real race track, a pump track, and a bike-safety learning course built to teach kids to ride the right way — with the first phase set to open this summer. Beyond the bikes, the plans call for baseball, softball, and soccer fields, nature trails, observation areas, and even a canoe and kayak launch. It's the kind of amenity that turns a fast-growing area into a real community.
And if you caught the recent grand opening of the new Stars and Stripes Park at Tradition, you already know the area's parks game is leveling up in a big way. Great news whether you've got kids, a bike, or just like a good place to walk at sunset.
The Fork Report: three new tables in Tradition
Tradition's dining scene keeps getting better. Three to put on your radar:
Island Pig and Fish is bringing scratch-made Southern BBQ and fresh local seafood — think smoked plates, burgers, and coastal comfort food — over on SW Discovery Way, with indoor seating and a generous patio. Swift Grill, a Fort Pierce favorite known for its Greek, Romanian, and Middle Eastern cooking, is expanding into Tradition. And Amore Italian Chophouse is serving a modern take on Italian-American classics. Between these and the spots already here, you could eat your way around the world without leaving the neighborhood.
Worth knowing: the property-tax question on your November ballot
Here's one that actually matters for your wallet. This November, Florida voters will decide on a constitutional amendment that would meaningfully change property taxes for homesteaded homeowners. In plain English, here's what's on the ballot:
- The homestead exemption — the slice of your home's value shielded from most property taxes — would rise from today's $50,000 to $150,000 in 2027, then $250,000 in 2028.
- It would not apply to school-district taxes (those stay as they are).
- It would tighten the annual assessment-increase cap on non-homestead properties from 10% to 5%.
- And it directs state lawmakers to work toward eventually phasing out homestead property taxes altogether.
What could that mean at the kitchen table? Under the 2028 numbers, a homesteaded owner with a $200,000 assessed value could owe zero non-school property tax, while someone at $300,000 would be taxed on just $50,000 of it.
A few honest caveats, because this stuff gets oversimplified fast: it is not law yet — it's a proposed amendment that needs 60% of the vote to pass in November. School taxes aren't affected. And exactly how the state would offset the lost revenue is still being worked out. Read the official ballot summary, and if it touches a big decision for you, it's smart to loop in a CPA or tax pro. My only goal here is to make sure it's on your radar before you're standing in the voting booth.
Until next time
That's the roundup: a bigger, busier, tastier Tradition — and a vote worth understanding. As always, no listings and no pressure. If this place has ever crossed your mind as home, that's a conversation I'd genuinely love to have. Until then, I'll see you around town.
— Jonny