Riviera Beach, Florida was a promising area nestled in between West Palm Beach and Singer Island, directly across from the island of Palm Beach. It was the confluence of the end of the railroad, the Palm Beach port, and incredible beaches. Real estate development followed a period of sustained economic growth in the 1910s and 1920s. Its promise was shattered by the Great Depression and even the economic resurgence experienced during WWII failed to resuscitate the area’s prospects. Another surge in economic growth caused by the Great Migration post-COVID, which resulted in real estate prices on the island increase tenfold, Riviera Beach is like Habana: stuck in its bygone promise of development. In our midst, we find what the New Topographics movement captured so well — what human development has done to nature.