Story Behind the Story: Rebuilding Miami?

posted by Tina Trenkner

Photo courtesy of Jorge R. Perez/City of Miami

Updated November 3, 2009: This post has been corrected to show that the above image is an actual current photo and not a photo illustration. 13th Floor regrets the error.

When you think of Miami, do you think of sprawl and never-ending condo construction? That could halt in the future.

This photo is what Miami currently looks like, but an idealized vision of a pedestrian-friendly environment that may be possible if a new zoning code, Miami 21, is passed. The code aims to implement New Urbanist principles by encouraging pedestrian activity and discouraging dependence on cars.

In the November issue of Governing, Alan Greenblatt explores how Miami 21 could change the city -- for better or worse. The city commission originally voted against implementing the code, but days later reversed itself and approved the code. The code needs to be confirmed in a second reading, scheduled for this Thursday.

Alan's Observer article on Miami 21 will be posted on Governing.com on November 1.

Story Behind the Story appears every Tuesday.

Comments

[Ernie]

A "pedestrian friendly", so-called "smart growth" environment, only works in older cities, mostly in the Northeast, that have had that type of development all along. These cities, built in the 1800s, have always had dense urban cores (walkeable, by definition, almost), so-called trolley (close-in) suburbs, also amenable to mass transit and walking, and populations long-used to taking the train of the bus. I don't think this scheme will work in cities in the west and south that were mostly built up during the 1960s and 1970s, when upward social mobility was linked with heavy use of a car, and people who didn't conform were seen as "losers." For southern and western cities, the best that can be expected is to have policies in place to encourage people to move to urbanized areas, provide better transit for those people, but tighten up on land use policies in the exurbs to avoid further sprawl. That is the dilemma, anyway, we face in Northern Virginia, in all locations except for Alexandria and Arlington.

[microgaming]

Interesting post and picture. Pedestrian friendly development is a very smart kind of develpment for a city, maybe in a future we would not rely on cars for transportation and it is quite sick to develop everything thinking about cars. I agree with Ernie, pedestrial friendly development is much easier in some cities than others, but we got to do something in the future don't you think so?

[TSPC]

Just a note: This is not an illustration, but a photograph. The Omni station of the metromover, seen in the foreground, has been there for years. For illustrations on what Miami 21 is expected to bring to the city, you may wish to cite illustrations from miami21.org.

[Tina Trenkner]

TSPC,

Thank you for pointing out this error. I've corrected the post and 13th Floor regrets the error.

TT