It’s hard to believe, but Miami 21 (east quadrant) is finally scheduled to go before the City Commission tomorrow for its first reading. It’s been a long two years waiting, but I think the final product will be well worth the wait. While it isn’t perfect, it’s still a monumental improvement over the current code. It will give Miami a fighting chance at becoming a more livable, sustainable, pedestrian-oriented city, which would’ve been highly unlikely under the current code.We must understand, however, that these positive changes will not happen overnight. Most of Miami suffers from legacies of planning incompetence, and it will take years for the new code to manifest large-scale positive change.
As for the hearing tomorrow, there is still some controversy surrounding Miami 21. Some officials and citizens are still concerned about affordable housing, which you can’t blame them for after the disgusting, embarrassing revelations of the past year regarding the Miami-Dade Housing Agency and City of Miami Department of Community Development. It should be interesting to see how the City Commission reacts to these concerns tomorrow morning.
To see the final draft of the code, click on the Miami 21 link above. Also, I recommend checking out the supporting links on the sidebar, which contain a lot of pictures and maps that help illustrate what Miami 21 is all about.
Photo courtesy of Miami21.org
WOW! This can be a HUGE step in the right direction.
55 people spoke. Rocket scientist smart land use attorneys, affordable housing advocates, developers, architects, neighborhood people… All found huge mistakes and problems with the Miami 21 draft submitted. It was not a huge step in the right direction, it would have been a huge jump into a black hole…
Down in flames. 4-0 to defer.
I watched much of the Miami 21 debate on TV. It appeared DPZ and especially its attorney were very confused. I would say if enacted Miami 21 would be a failure.
Why can’t Miami just use the best ideas from Miami 21 and just add those to current code?