An opinion of Miami...

[Guest eroc0411]

why do u keep saying that??? what am i so tight about???

and by the way im in long island right and this Mall country. Its ugli as all sin.... I HATE having so many MALLS... I prefer lil mom and pops stores that give character 2 a neighborhood... STOP plz assuming... Ur just making as ass of urself and ultimately me... Which is sorta kinda starting 2 piss me off.

Ummm ur just being ignorant any trying 2 get a rise out of me...

no time have i said Miami should turn in 2 boca in any shape or form... Buddie im out roaming the streets every day in 1 form or another...

All i want is some sort of balance... And u should be able 2 agree that Miami is a town of extremes...

[Guest pod]

And there is balance, already. If you want strip malls and a safe place to raise your kids:

West Kendall

Sweetwater

Medley

Redlands

Homestead

Aventura

Miami Springs

Miami Lakes

Doral

El Portal

Pinecrest

Coral Gables

Cutler Ridge

Fun, sun, parties:

Downtown

Miami Beach

Design District

Grove

What I'm railing against here is that the people moving in want to change the four neighborhoods I've listed as fun places to go, into the class of places that are listed above that. If you want a place to live in Miami that's quiet, there's over 40 municipalities and neighborhoods that are waiting for your real estate and tax dollars. There is simply no need to further regulate Downtown, Miami Beach, the Design District, and the Grove into a utilitarian sameness that pervades the rest of the region and state.

If I can sound cheesy for a moment, at the end of the day, I'm fighting for mine and your right to party. People are more than welcome to move Downtown and to South Beach. Hell, two best party places in the country bar none, but at the same time, realize that first and foremost, that they are party neighborhoods, and it does tend to get a bit noisy at night.

It gets me pissy when I hear about all these new arrivals that wanna change things over in some of my favorite places to hang out and enjoy myself. It's like moving to near the airport and bitching about the planes. And you know what, people do that too. In some cities, they have to alter approach paths because some schmuck developer plops a condo complex a mile west of 32R. The airliners suck more fuel since they have to go around or something, and plane ticket prices go up.

Gentrification, mall-ification, whatever you want to call it, just plain sucks. There's oodles of great places in South Florida to raise a family, yes, even in Miami-Dade County, there's no need to convert some of the last unique and fun neighborhoods over just so Mr. and Mrs. Jones can have a Starbucks.

[Guest eroc0411]

And there is balance, already. If you want strip malls and a safe place to raise your kids:

West Kendall

Sweetwater

Medley

Redlands

Homestead

Aventura

Miami Springs

Miami Lakes

Doral

El Portal

Pinecrest

Coral Gables

Cutler Ridge

Fun, sun, parties:

Downtown

Miami Beach

Design District

Grove

What I'm railing against here is that the people moving in want to change the four neighborhoods I've listed as fun places to go, into the class of places that are listed above that. If you want a place to live in Miami that's quiet, there's over 40 municipalities and neighborhoods that are waiting for your real estate and tax dollars. There is simply no need to further regulate Downtown, Miami Beach, the Design District, and the Grove into a utilitarian sameness that pervades the rest of the region and state.

If I can sound cheesy for a moment, at the end of the day, I'm fighting for mine and your right to party. People are more than welcome to move Downtown and to South Beach. Hell, two best party places in the country bar none, but at the same time, realize that first and foremost, that they are party neighborhoods, and it does tend to get a bit noisy at night.

It gets me pissy when I hear about all these new arrivals that wanna change things over in some of my favorite places to hang out and enjoy myself. It's like moving to near the airport and bitching about the planes. And you know what, people do that too. In some cities, they have to alter approach paths because some schmuck developer plops a condo complex a mile west of 32R. The airliners suck more fuel since they have to go around or something, and plane ticket prices go up.

Gentrification, mall-ification, whatever you want to call it, just plain sucks. There's oodles of great places in South Florida to raise a family, yes, even in Miami-Dade County, there's no need to convert some of the last unique and fun neighborhoods over just so Mr. and Mrs. Jones can have a Starbucks.

so how is that u seem 2 classify as some1 that wants 2 take the party away? .. I moved here for the party... All those assholes moving in2 south beach and then bitching about the noise r assholes... Oh and im no big fan of starbucks... i prefer dunkin donuts... And if i drink coffee i like an espresso w/ a little sambuca on the side... And when it comes time 2 raise a family, alongside the Miami river is becoming a family oriented place... fyi...

[Guest pod]

Well, your initial posts seemed to be taking the side of these cretins trying to alter the Miami landscape for the worse. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see a clean Downtown, but not at the expense of restricting the operations of the established businesses in the area. I'll put up with bums and crackheads, thank you very much.

[Guest eroc0411]

well there u go "seemed" again assuming... So from now on ask me directly about what i mean if u dont understand... don't go in ur own little world and talk for me... I got my gf 4 that... ;D

[Guest coach]

I live in south beach. It is unlikely I'll move off of it for a long time to come, unless I end up falling in love with some place as much during European vacations. I spend a decent amount of time in the Wynwood arts district and some in the Design District. I work in Coconut Grove. I really enjoy all the little ethnic areas of Miami.

We moved here originally because of the combo of nightlife, ocean, fun, and sun. And because Miami really had character, which Dallas no longer does. Once here we also fell in love with the people, the dynamic and burgeoning arts scene, and how there is so much life and vitality in this city with something interesting going on practically every weekend, and even many weekdays.

Big glass and steel skyscrapers aren't character, but I'm not totally opposed to them, I completely support the "up not out" movement, and I like my cities dense so I don't have to go far to get to where I want to be. Plus, my heart belongs to the Everglades and I hate to see us encroach anymore upon them.

However, growth needs to be moderated with wisdom. As I mentioned, throwing skyscrapers around where-ever and ruining otherwise interesting neighborhoods is uncool. We have an established skyscraper zone with plenty of room to put more. There's no reason to wreck other people's lives to put in places for the rich.

Also, I am tired of the lies the developers and politicians tell us to support their pet projects. They claimed over and over that these would bring in so much money to the city coffers. But did anyone notice that the county Mayor just cut next year's budget by 30%? This affects a lot of the services that would help the people that you guys are supposedly concerned about.

As far as my age, I'm old enough to know better, but young enough to not give a fuck. I've studied things like economics, sociology, and psychology for years. I've been an entrepreneur for a long (long) time, so I know a lot about business and people. I am a freelance business coach, focussing primarily in artistic businesses.

For the past 3 years, I have worked with Henry Stone Music. For those that don't know, Henry has been instrumental in the Miami music scene for over 50 years. He ran TK Records, amongst over a dozen other levels. He basically invented music distribution the way it worked up until the internet times. And he has lived through all of this Miami history and Miami music.

I already have seen one city, Dallas, have it's character ruined by the developers, and corporate business people. They came into a rugged western town and turned it into blandsville. I'd like to not see that happen in Miami.

[Guest coach]

Okay, after all this, I did try to go read it. But I just can't. This guy is such a clueless idiot, that yes, I will discount his opinions out of hand. I made it to his 3rd paragraph and all 3 were just filled with such nonsense that it isn't even worth it.

[Guest pod]

There ya have it. I've never seen it firsthand, but Miami is being subject to some unfortunate trends in development right now.

[Guest ICON]

EXCELLENT SOURCE ON THE WEB FOR THOSE THAT DON'T LIKE LIVING HERE

[Guest pod]

I've read and heard stories of this before. San Francisco comes to mind. In the early 1990s, this area (Mission District) was going from a raw, bohemian area of local shops, clubs, and so forth (let's forget it was an offshoot of hippie culture for a minute), to an area resembling our Collins Avenue. High-end chain stores, chain bars, and cranky newcomers pissed about the noise of the few locals/independent joints left over, and of course, the people it drew. SF locals actually smashed a few windows and scared off one or two retailers in the whole ugly process.

Now, in the Miami situation, there's really no chain stores and Starbuckses in the area as of yet. A lot of the "complaints" thus far have been staged due to some club on club competition, though more so from the outside by people not even in the area, you know, being prompted by some outside parties.

But, any way you slice it, gentrification is an ugly process. It's sad to see what makes a city or neighborhood unique, be stripped away in the name of bland, Middle-American sameness.

There's ways of doing it, a neighborhood can be revitalized and cleaned up, without losing it's essential "character". To a small extent, they've done it with the architecture on Miami Beach, as there's preservation boards that oversee that sort of thing.

What I'd honestly like to see for Downtown, especially, and to a greater exent all the unique neighborhoods of Miami (Overtown, etc...) is more in the nature of restoration than gentrification. Commissioners Art Teele and Johnny Winton had this vision for the Downtown area, but unfortunately, Teele is dead, and Winton had an incident at the airport and was dismissed. Their plans had the clubs, and the 24-hour concept in general, as one of the linchpins of the area, and thus worthy of City support and protection.

[Guest 0crystal0]

dan when are you running for office?

[Guest pod]

I should figure out what I need to do to represent my district. It's worth a shot.

[bobbalou]

interesting read.

[Guest myles hie]

I've read and heard stories of this before. San Francisco comes to mind. In the early 1990s, this area (Mission District) was going from a raw, bohemian area of local shops, clubs, and so forth (let's forget it was an offshoot of hippie culture for a minute), to an area resembling our Collins Avenue. High-end chain stores, chain bars, and cranky newcomers pissed about the noise of the few locals/independent joints left over, and of course, the people it drew. SF locals actually smashed a few windows and scared off one or two retailers in the whole ugly process.

Now, in the Miami situation, there's really no chain stores and Starbuckses in the area as of yet. A lot of the "complaints" thus far have been staged due to some club on club competition, though more so from the outside by people not even in the area, you know, being prompted by some outside parties.

But, any way you slice it, gentrification is an ugly process. It's sad to see what makes a city or neighborhood unique, be stripped away in the name of bland, Middle-American sameness.

There's ways of doing it, a neighborhood can be revitalized and cleaned up, without losing it's essential "character". To a small extent, they've done it with the architecture on Miami Beach, as there's preservation boards that oversee that sort of thing.

What I'd honestly like to see for Downtown, especially, and to a greater exent all the unique neighborhoods of Miami (Overtown, etc...) is more in the nature of restoration than gentrification. Commissioners Art Teele and Johnny Winton had this vision for the Downtown area, but unfortunately, Teele is dead, and Winton had an incident at the airport and was dismissed. Their plans had the clubs, and the 24-hour concept in general, as one of the linchpins of the area, and thus worthy of City support and protection.

Part of a revitilization would mean jobs, those jobs will come from what you want to call gentrification. Because you or a small groupof you want to POTT does that mean it in the best interests of the city as a whole? I can totally see your side of the argument, its the same as when a Walmart moves into a rural town and the mom and pops suffer, but Miami (downtown especially) is beyond that, there is little or nothing that alot of these people have. .

The nightclubs downtown were allowed to set up shop to start making the area a little more viable and start down the road for further growth and devolpment in that area. The city won't gives 2 shits about those clubs when it comes down to it. The potetntial money to be made in that area far outreaches the city's care for people to drink 24 hours a day. The condos are going up so fast and plans for the area are coming along so quick the nightclubs have outlived thier inital use. I don't see them closing or being forced to move, but they will be on the bottom of the priority list and as soon as enough negatives or complaints start to pile up you will see the city start to take action against the clubs. The night clubs are a mere pawn in the whole scheme of things and the city would rather develop a family orientated downtown area then a couple of nightclubs and rightfully so, the family friendly stuff will be way more important financially, asthetically, and image wise, which will help the city more.

I understand you want the grit and grime of a city, but you yourself said you will move when your done playing. So why should the city cater to what people like you want as opposed to people who are planning to set roots down or already have?

[Guest pod]

It's symptomatic of the greater problem in this country, which seems to be that people take on an almost virus-like behavior when they move. Yeah, yeah, like he said in the Matrix, but still, the point is, is that we can't really think it's OK to make every stitch of this country into a PG-rated version of itself.

There are methods and concepts where a blighted neighborhood can be revitalized, while maintaining it's essential character and spirit. They started to do this on South Beach, but it did go too far, and the end result is Collins Avenue and Lincoln Road, which are just fancy malls with palm trees. Washington Ave is the last best hope for keeping the individual character of South Beach alive, but even that is going downhill, with no less than 3 Starbucks and other such bland chain stores moving in. You can clean up an area and preserve what makes an area unique.

Downtown, well, people in this city do enjoy to go out. The thousands of people at Space this weekend prove that. The nightclubs might not be as financially appealing as a strip of Tony Romas, Starbucks, and Gaps, but at the same time, what happens is, the clubs and entertainment venues keep on having to move around.

Again, the initial idea of Eleventh Street was to provide a permanent, government-approved home for the clubs, but now the City is essentially reneging on these promises, in the interests of developers intent on putting more cookie-cutter sameness into the area.

Pretty soon, if unchecked, living in Miami will be no different than living in central Illinois.

[Guest macboy]

I really enjoy all the little ethnic areas of Miami.

Does that include Liberty City and the "Triangle" in Opa-Locka?

[Guest pod]

I'd take the Triangle over yet more condos. At least walking the street has some excitement.

[Guest myles hie]

Pretty soon, if unchecked, living in Miami will be no different than living in central Illinois.

hahaha, thats the thing though, it never will. Miami is not white culture and never will be. Anything that gets built here will have a latin or carribean flavor, or a unified concept like a deco. Miami with all its cultures can never really be homoginized they way you threaten. I don't even think they have that flavor of vanilla here.

It takes more to revitilze an area or neighborhood than to rebuild. The people living there need to be able to afford to live there, they need jobs to do so.

Thousands of people at Space don't really mean anything in the scheme of things. Those people don't live downtown they come into the cities from surrounding areas.

[Guest pod]

OK, well, Central Illinois with palm trees and brown people.

Right now, the clubs are a decent economic engine for the area. The initial, City-promised and backed plan had the clubs as the cornerstone for the neighborhood. But, as condo-mania took over, and the prime movers in the City government for this plan died and got into legal trouble, unfortunately promises were broken, leaving the clubs with little support from the very government that encouraged them to move there in the first place.

I just think the big irony is that some of the residencies nearby were advertised as being near the Entertainment District, and now the developers want that very district shut down.

It's really not the residents complaining, ya know. Since, other than the Park Place tower, no one actually lives in these buildings yet. There's closings, but no one's moved in. The developers are complaining, since the clubs are for the most part refusing to sell, so they're getting underhanded and trying to make a grab "the other way".

[Guest macboy]

I'd take the Triangle over yet more condos. At least walking the street has some excitement.

That's an understatement:

http://www.miamiherald.com/540/story/199336.html

33054: Dade's most dangerous ZIP for teens

The deadliest ZIP Code for teenagers in Miami-Dade County is a place where boys play ball on the street, other children ride their bikes up and down sidewalks, and teenagers congregate on the neighborhood wall.

The placid scene belies the tragic reality of ZIP Code 33054, which includes parts of Opa-locka and Miami Gardens. A review of five years of statistics from the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner's Office shows a higher rate of gunshot deaths among children 17 and younger in this area than in any other part of the county.

''It's sad, it's scary,'' said Toya Legett, 13, who lives on the Miami Gardens side. ``But it can happen anywhere.''

It can happen anywhere. But 33054 led the county in fatal shootings per 1,000 youths, 17 and younger, between 2002 and the first six months of 2007.

The ZIP Code is bordered by Northwest 167th Avenue to the north, Northwest 119th Street to the south, and West Fourth Avenue in Hialeah to Northwest 17th Avenue, west to east. The tragic incidents of teen violence are part of a broader story in the larger Miami-Dade communities, long plagued by violence. In one week in July, the county medical examiner's office had five homicide victims from Miami Gardens alone, including a 19-year-old man gunned down in a double homicide.

One in 10 homicide victims in Miami-Dade are teenagers, said Larry Cameron, a spokesman with the office. There were 258 homicides in Miami-Dade County last year. Cameron said current homicide trends suggest that Miami-Dade could end the year with almost as many. ''Twenty-six of them will be teenagers,'' Cameron predicted. ``Almost all of them will be gunshots.''

Founded in 2003, Miami Gardens is only 22 square miles. The young city acknowledges its problems, and Miami Gardens Mayor Shirley Gibson, a former Miami-Dade police officer, says the city is trying to implement programs to help youths in the community.

''We are working on interaction, bringing people together. We are trying to link hands between adults and teens,'' Gibson said. ``It's not just a children problem, a youth problem. It's an adult problem.''

[Guest myles hie]

OK, well, Central Illinois with palm trees and brown people.

Right now, the clubs are a decent economic engine for the area. The initial, City-promised and backed plan had the clubs as the cornerstone for the neighborhood. But, as condo-mania took over, and the prime movers in the City government for this plan died and got into legal trouble, unfortunately promises were broken, leaving the clubs with little support from the very government that encouraged them to move there in the first place.

I just think the big irony is that some of the residencies nearby were advertised as being near the Entertainment District, and now the developers want that very district shut down.

It's really not the residents complaining, ya know. Since, other than the Park Place tower, no one actually lives in these buildings yet. There's closings, but no one's moved in. The developers are complaining, since the clubs are for the most part refusing to sell, so they're getting underhanded and trying to make a grab "the other way".

Backing from 2 corrupt politicians is not a way to start a mega plan like that. To really get the job done they need more decision makers on board. The clubs are for the most part owner -operated, so to the city they would be the easiest to deal with as opposed to mega corps and thier stores which would want or demand the city clean up the area before they set up shop. It's pure fucking politics at its worst. Use something cheap and easy (clubs) to gain leverage on something else( hopes of a downtown) to eventually gain more leverage(property and housing) and eventually shut down the cheap and easy in(clubs , nightlife) and take everything in a different direction, something i like to call the old "Shake and Fake" (no realtion to shake and bake). I guarentee the first person mugged outside Target sues the city, the county, Target, the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker. Now, its your own damn fault if your in that area and you get mugged, ya know? So twisted!

[Guest pod]

Winton wasn't corrupt. Teele unfortunately was. Winton, like me, likes to drink and argue.

[Guest myles hie]

Winton wasn't corrupt. Teele unfortunately was. Winton, like me, likes to drink and argue.

haha, not yet!

Real estate developer+City commissioner= recipe for scandal

[Guest pod]

I'm waiting for the day they expose the others for similar corruptions.

[Guest myles hie]

I'm waiting for the day they expose the others for similar corruptions.

Fo real, i mean..where the hell does it go?!?1

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_dade/story/201741.html

This article is more of an oops we over shot our selves, but still ineptness reigns supreme in the MDC.