1) dig pond for drainage, retention, and fill dirt

2) use fill dirt to raise land for houses so they are above flood levels

3) sell houses with "waterfront views"

On 3, this leads to this "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotonda_West,_Florida" hilarious suburban development, complete with inaccessible canals

Corrected link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotonda_West,_Florida

Empty page

That place is beautiful.

They are retention ponds, it’s necessary to create areas where water can drain into.

A large part of Florida is the combination of coastal and at sea level.

People want to live there, so they actively and continuously drain the swamp and build wherever possible.

Sea level rise is posing some expensive problems for them, obviously.

They dig the pond and use the dirt as fill to build houses on at a higher level than sea level.

Florida has unusual issues. The groundwater isn't very far below the surface and you basically can't have basements there. Some parts of it are swamp and it has a lot of karst that is prone to sink holes.

(Off the top of my head -- so anyone more knowledge, feel free to nitpick that to death. Alternately, anyone desperate to pick a fight and not knowledgeable enough, feel free to google my remark to within an inch of its life.)

imagine the smell and mosquitoes

Don't worry, the heat and humidity will distract you from both.

Most ponds don't smell.

Does the water drain, evaporate, or just stagnate?