Editing Palm Bay, Florida (section)

===2000s===
For three consecutive years between 2003 and 2005, Palm Bay was a finalist for the [[All-America City Award]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.communityguide360.com/location/fl/palm-bay.html|title=Palm Bay, Florida|website=www.communityguide360.com|access-date=11 August 2017}}</ref>

In 2008, the city was named in an article from ''U.S. News & World Report'' as the second "Drunkest City" in the US behind Reno, Nevada.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://health.usnews.com/health-news/diet-fitness/photos/americas-top-10-booziest-cities?slide=2|title=America's Top Ten Booziest Cities|last=Johnson|first=Megan|date=2008-12-17|website=US News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180105011558/https://health.usnews.com/health-news/diet-fitness/photos/americas-top-10-booziest-cities?slide=2|archive-date=2018-01-05|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2008, the former Port Malabar Country Club property was revalued at $300,000. This was considered an essentially "worthless" valuation because [[arsenic]] had been found in the groundwater and remediation would cost an estimated $12 million to clean up.<ref>{{Cite news | first=Kimberly C. | last=Moore | title=Old country club value nose dives | url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/floridatoday/access/1702969211.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jun+19%2C+2008&author=KIMBERLY+C+MOORE&pub=Florida+Today&edition=&startpage=B.1&desc=Old+country+club+value+nose-dives | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130131145025/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/floridatoday/access/1702969211.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jun+19,+2008&author=KIMBERLY+C+MOORE&pub=Florida+Today&edition=&startpage=B.1&desc=Old+country+club+value+nose-dives | url-status=dead | archive-date=January 31, 2013 | newspaper=[[Florida Today]] | location=Melbourne, Florida | date=June 19, 2008 }}</ref>

Hundreds of miles of roads in the city are in such poor condition that the city Public Works Department considers them unserviceable. The voters have consistently defeated measures to raise money to invest in infrastructure to improve the roads, which are described as the worst in Brevard County. In 2005, they voted down a $58.7 million bond measure. In 2009, they defeated a $75.2 million tax referendum. In 2010, voters living in areas with the worst roads voted 9–1 against $44.7 million assessment for repairing them. In 2011, the city government created a Palm Bay Road Maintenance District that they hope can levy taxes and alleviate the situation.<ref>{{Cite news | first=Matt | last=Reed | title=Vote makes way for pothole patching | url=http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110306/COLUMNISTS0207/103060319/Matt-Reed-Vote-makes-way-pothole-patching | newspaper=[[Florida Today]] | location=Melbourne, Florida | pages=1B | date=6 March 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140509081010/http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110306/COLUMNISTS0207/103060319/Matt-Reed-Vote-makes-way-pothole-patching | archive-date=2014-05-09 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 2008, fires on [[Mother's Day (United States)|Mother's Day]] destroyed 37 homes in the southwest area of the city. [[Arson]] has been blamed as the cause of at least a few of the numerous fires.<ref>{{Cite news | first=Bill | last=Berger | title=An eventful time | newspaper=[[Florida Today]] | location=Melbourne, Florida | pages= 13A | date=22 January 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://listserv.palmbayflorida.org/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=POLICE_DEPARTMENT;OhkZPw;20080517145621-0400 |title=City of Palm Bay, Florida LISTSERV - POLICE_DEPARTMENT Archives |publisher=Listserv.palmbayflorida.org |date=2008-05-17 |access-date=2012-12-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714192321/http://listserv.palmbayflorida.org/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=POLICE_DEPARTMENT;OhkZPw;20080517145621-0400 |archive-date=2014-07-14 |url-status=dead }}</ref><!---latter ref corrects date to 2008 vs a later date--->

In 2009, the [[Brevard Zoo]] moved the remaining 15 [[Florida scrub jay]] families native to the city to Buck Lake Conservation Area in [[Mims, Florida|Mims]]. The Florida scrub jay is a threatened species due to it being territorial; it is unable to move to better grounds when its habitat is jeopardized.<ref>{{cite news | first=Jim | last=Waymer | title=A new home, new hope for scrub jay | url=http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20091220/NEWS01/912200323/1010/NEWS0302/A+new+home++new+hope+for+scrub+jay | publisher=Florida Today | location=Melbourne, Florida | pages=1A | date=20 December 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105170628/http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20091220/NEWS01/912200323/1010/news0302/A+new+home++new+hope+for+scrub+jay | archive-date=5 January 2010 | url-status=dead | df=dmy-all }}</ref>