Just How Perfect Is Disney's Celebration?

(Dec. 2) -- Murder has hit the community that Disney designed as an ultra-American wonderland. But while Celebration may feature Bing Crosby-laced foliage and front-porch rocking chairs, this isn't the first time the harsh realities of the rest of the world have crept into the Utopian community.

The Walt Disney Co. developed the central Florida town in the late 1990s to be a real-world manifestation of its midcentury image of American values, as if "Main Street, USA" inside Disney World had become a fully functioning community. Designed for low-density, upscale housing, the town looks like a small New England village caught in a version of 1950s with Wi-Fi.

But while it may not be perfect, many Celebration residents do seem to love their little town, despite comparisons to "Pleasantville" and "The Truman Show." Disney may have built Celebration, but the company sold it in 2004, and now it's managed like any other Florida town.

With Disney out of the picture, Celebration has gone on to experience a range of problems found in ordinary cities and towns across the country.

Housing Bubble
Last year, The Washington Post ran a story about plummeting housing prices and a rash of foreclosures in the worst of the recession. Some homeowners in Celebration had to move out of their dream abodes just a few days after moving in. On the plus side, however, others who initially were kept away by Celebration's prices found that they could move into paradise for a bargain.

Crime
Residents of Celebration face a higher risk of encountering crime than other towns in Florida, according to 2009 figures released by Onboard Informatics. The No. 1 crime risk? Burglary, which is more than four times higher than the national average. To be fair, the stats may be a bit skewed considering they cover a wider area than just Celebration's borders.

Cost of Living
According to Sperling's Best Places, Celebration has a 0.3 percent higher cost of living than the average American town.

High Unemployment
Celebration suffers from an unemployment rate of 13 percent, according to July figures published by ZoomProspector.com.

Still, Americans have long been fixated on the idea of creating Utopian enclaves. In the 19th century, for instance, and luxury railway car magnate George Pullman imagined the Illinois town he named after himself as a perfect community. But it too, fell short of his dream and ended up part of Chicago.

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