Archive for the 'Sweetwater' Category

Miami Mentality: Ignorance

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on June 21, 2007
in 836, Dolphin Expressway, Expansion, Highway Expansion, Ignorance, MDX, Miami Mentality, Sweetwater and Zapata
. 4 Comments
The new tolls on the 836 will be opening up soon (July 1) along with the new MDX 3 mile west extension of the highway. You can read all about it here. But, once again, the comments section of this article is where we’ll find some of the finest examples of the Miami Mentality:
“Nothing but a scam, to steal your money anyway they can. Things are just going to get worse and the traffic that will be backed up at that toll plaza in the morning will be a nightmare for the commuters. This county and it’s politcians who permitted this to go thru are nothing but a bunch of scoundrels, and thiefs. THIS COUNTY SUCKS !! I will definitely try to find a way around this toll and not pay them a single red cent. MDX = CROOKS” -A Commuter

“What ever happened to the extensions they were going to build down to kendall and homestead? We voted for the 1/2 penny tax, they took our money to build toll plazas in order to take more money from us! This is nothing new in Miami, they’re simple lining their pockets as usual.
Anyone that does not vote for the property tax cut in January will only continue feeding money to these crooks!” -Mike

“Your 1/2 penny tax is going to a stupid “Move it Yes you can!” public awareness campaign. How about giving us some toll relief instead? Or building the FIU metrorail route? We need to repeal that 1/2 penny tax now!” -Ollie

“What about the taxes we all pay hidden in every gal. of gas? Do the people know the goberment is selling every bridge, roads to China, Chavez and Arabes countries to any one with money. That’s why we have to pay tolls. e” -Pedro

It’s amazing to see how many people blatantly do not understand where the money from the 1/2 penny sales tax goes. MDX is a separate entity from MDT (which it shouldn’t be) and was operating a system of toll roads where only 28% of users were paying for 100% of the tolls. There were some comments calling for the expansion of metrorail, but with representatives like Zapata leading the Sweetwater community against those efforts as well, any reasonable plan to alleviate the problem seems impossible…

Same Ole Sweetwater

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on November 13, 2006
in FIU, Metrorail, Miami, NIMBY, Sweetwater and Urban Planning
. 0 Comments

The reoccurring theme lately has become centralized on the opinion of the public with regards to community projects. Community involvement opposition recently has driven many projects in directions that most city planners/urban developers would not necessarily agree with and Sweetwater is no exception. The architecture department at Florida International University has created a master plan to help transform Sweetwater from just another suburban residential enclave to a self sustainable college town that together with the university can continue to grow mutually to serve all area residents needs. Needless to say, the city opposes any change, especially change that could involve bringing the metrorail into their area.

Given the ridiculous opposition, one would assume that the FIU architecture department proposed to integrate mammoth sized buildings in the single family home neighborhood. However, the FIU plan would begin to slowly transform Sweetwater to better suit it and the college, by providing a sort of center where denser housing, government jobs, public services, and parks would be located. The growth would help to sustain the city tax base and would be a boon to the local residents by drastically improving the connection between the school and the city. It would also help minimize the impact of metrorail on the surroundings by creating a more densely urbanized area where the train would arrive.

The fact of the matter is that Miami residents seem very opposed to change. Understandably, most people do not trust the local government entities to make sound decisions on growth and development in the area given the track record of abuse by developers and city/county officials. I’m certain, however, that with the aide of the University’s school of Architecture, the city residents could work together with planners to lay a better foundation and identity for their city…

Not on My Street

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on July 17, 2006
in East West Corridor, Flagami, Metrorail, Parking, Planning, Sweetwater, Transit Oriented Development and Urban Growth
. 0 Comments
We’ve seen this occur countless times; a good project becomes an ugly mess when too many chefs are placed in the kitchen. The East/West rail corridor is supposed to link the communities of Flagami, Blue Lagoon, Doral and West Kendall. However, Flagami residents are putting up a fight to derail transit plans to place the line down NW 7th street, through the urban heart of their community. Instead, they want to see the train travel along the Dolphin expressway, where it will be relegated to serving as a Park-N-Ride Commuter rail station, at best. The Urban life concept is a foreign one here apparently. Peace and quiet are suddenly extremely important qualities for a neighborhood situated under the flight path of MIA, citing the train would bring excessive noise to their area. Give me a break.

I love how everyone suddenly becomes an expert on the subject, knowing what’s best for the area and its’ future. I thought we hired city planners and engineering professionals for a reason. I mean after all they are professionals who have studied the subject for at least four or five years and have had to pass various certification exams. How is it that Joe Blow Flagami resident, can whine for a little while and have the whole future of Miami Public Transportation in the area changed just because he doesn’t like the idea? What happened to being progressive and doing what is best for our community’s future? Now, don’t get me wrong, I do believe the people should have a say in the projects in their backyard, but when is it the right time to trump their ideas and do whatever is best for the future of the community. I believe it is up to planners to a certain extent to guide and steer growth appropriately through intelligent systems. Baylink is great example of a project that should have occurred, with or without the local community support, because of the long-term benefit it would have provided to all citizens.

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FIU Fiasco

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on June 19, 2006
in FIU, Metrorail, Miami-Dade Transit, Sweetwater and Transit Oriented Development
. 0 Comments

Well, I may be a day late, but I’m definitely not a dollar short. Hmm, where shall I begin? FIU, Florida Incredible University. It truly is incredible that so many visionaries are at the helm of this institution, leading the Golden (eh, they’re a few shades off) Copper Panthers well into a traffic fiasco. Honestly, I’m really glad the FIU officials have decided that their land is too precious to fit a Metrorail station on their campus, it’s a great Urban Planning lesson in the making (Oh wait, they don’t offer that major, my bad.) Better watch out, or there may not be enough room to fit another one of those hideous, well built parking garages in the future.

FIU officials, (with their all knowing superpowers) think a commuter train just wouldn’t make sense for a school that’s ranked as one of the top 10 commuter schools in the nation (Education should not be accessible to all apparently.) For a school looking to grow in prestige, accessibility, and educational ranks, they are doing a great job at keeping students away.

Someone at the MDTA has got to step to the plate on this issue. We need to look down the road for once and see that traffic is not going to improve any time soon. Let use other cities outside of Miami to see how things are done elsewhere, public education and public transit go hand-in-hand.

Here is a list of major Universities linked by Public Transit rail lines (off the top of my head): Harvard, MIT, Boston University, Boston College, NYU, Tufts, Rice, San Diego State, UMASS, University of Pennsylvania, Villanova, Drexel, Loyola, Tulane, Columbia, UM, Stanford, etc…

Schools that FIU would rather not be associated with apparently…