Even from afar, Mayor Manny Diaz’ ambition burns hot. He would be the state’s first Cuban-American governor. He would be a cabinet secretary. He would be a US senator. And to be more than he is, he would be “green”.
We are all for “green”. But in Mayor Diaz’ case, the color does not fit. Here is what fries us:
Miami’s transportation is a nightmare. This is an unwalkable city. According to a recent survey, 98th rank out of 100 of America’s largest cities.
Miami has no parks. Among American cities, Miami has one of the lowest ratios of parks to people.
Miami’s beaches are an unpopular mess, unless you belong to the family of fecal coliform, in which case we have a place for you.
Miami has plenty of empty condos. Under Mayor Diaz, a forest of construction cranes has risen over a city where every necessary infrastructure improvement is an afterthought.
And billboards. And Bayfront “Park”, where public input is an afterthought.
And the Free Trade of the Americas in 2003: instead of embracing the environmental issues raised by “free” trade protesters, “green” Mayor Manny Diaz allowed the peaceful protesters to be squashed like bugs.
Don’t get us wrong: we want Manny Diaz to be “green”. But just because he is green in Vanity Fair, don’t expect it to wash anywhere else.
Part of the problem is the nature of Miami itself.
It is a city built by dredging and filling. Then came Big Sugar, wrecking the Everglades and keeping Miami mute with its long list of big law firms under retainer, senators and presidents on the phone. Then it was Big Development, bleeding the urban cores to grow suburban sprawl without a hint of protest from the Chamber of Commerce or the mainstream media. Then it was losing the river front and bay front to private property owners, making Miami—with one of the most unique bays in the world—one of the toughtest cities in the world for ordinary people to experience the environment.
We bet seventy five percent of the Miami lawyers that support Manny Diaz have never put a foot in the Everglades.
Being green is more than building "green". If the color washes out in the rain here, in Tallahassee and Washington, it will wash out too.
13 comments:
For a minute I thought you were betting lawyers...I was hoping to win some lawyers and take that bet.
When Bloomberg was in town the other day looking at some of Miami's "greenness," WPLG reported that someone had asked Diaz if he had ever rode Metro Rail to which Diaz responded, "No comment."
Would love to see a survey of Miami members of the Florida Bar: how many attorneys have ever been to the Everglades. How many attorneys have been there more than twice.
Was Diaz supposed to turn Miami into Paris in eight years? The poor guy has managed to instigate a parks master plan, a tree canopy plan and a new zoning code to guide the very urban density that is crucial for Everglades survival and completely ridiculous to imagine happening in the squalid mess of a city bureaucracy that he has been instrumental in cleaning up. He is also proposing a streetcar. I don't get the vitriole. Because he consorts with developers? Who builds cities?
You mentioned beaches...
It is hard to imagine, but the City of Miami has very little beach property - coliform tainted or not. Who would believe that? But it is true. They have virtually given away most of their waterfront. At the former Segregated beach the water current is so strong, people cannot swim safely. (Why it propbably was given to the African Americans during segregation.)
The causeway beaches are run by COUNTY Public Works although the city police responds to calls. These beaches are indeed often closed because of high coliform levels. But they are not run by the city.
The only beach the city owns and operates is the "Windsurfer" beach near the beginning of the sewage outfall pipe (near Jimbo's).
The construction cranes irk me. There wasn't a thought to whether there were going to be people flocking to the downtown. Build it and they will come seems to have been the driving force. Now what?
I don't understand how the Mayor was named a "green Mayor" How did he do it? Good PR agent?
There are three shades of green on Concrete Manny.
1) the green light s he has demanded that all his developer friends be given
2)the green in his pockets for allowing , or demanding, that shortcuts be taken to avoid public hearings regarding development issues.
3) and the green faces of those who must live in the not so fair green cesspool that is the City of Miami.
Just a thought.... Doesn't all those condos should they manage to be sold, become a walkable community for those who live and work downtown?
This is a healthy discussion that deserves more comment on issues raised by blog readers. Walkable communities in condo canyons: if today's condos were all occupied, you would HAVE TO walk because Brickell Avenue would be IMPASSIBLE with traffic. Who allowed that to happen, without first providing for traffic infrastructure improvements? For the time being, those condos will be mostly empty, or occupied by Euro dollars or flight capital. But even now, taxpayers are stuck paying for all the escalating service and essential infrastructure costs. Paris in 8 years: the effort by citizens to enhance City of Miami with parks and a better quality of life goes back decades, and in the meantime many people who deeply cared about Miami's quality of life simply threw up their hands and gave up. One example: Bayside--that cut off downtown from the Bay-- was sold to city commissioners on the idea that a portion of tax revenues would be set aside to purchase private property for parks. Where did the trust fund go? Anyone? Mayor Diaz came into office riding a magic carpet as the housing boom and speculation was rising. Is it "vitriolic" simply to call it, for what it is? Perhaps someone can comment on why Mayor Diaz did not advocate shutting down all new zoning requests until the new "progressive" zoning code was in place, which would have been the green thing to do and also protective of taxpayers. We're all in favor of putting a new zoning code in place for Miami as soon as possible, but if you want to see what the landscape looks like when all the horses have been let out of the barn, just have a look at downtown Miami from Route 95 any day of the week.
Remember when Bayside was Pier 5 and that was a Sunday afternoon out for the family?
And the library held a place of importance in BayFront Park?
You sat on the curb for the Orange Bowl Parade... getting out there early morning to make sure you had front row seats?
Those were good times.... times that the 'real' folks in Miami could enjoy.
Yea, those were the days when the main library was undersized and scary, when the orange bowl was a whites only event that enjoyed the musical talent of black-folk...
What is so wrong with the condo canyons of downtown? Don't build outside the UDB, don't build on the coast near Mercy Hospital or public parks and museums, don't build east of 826 in your neighborhood, and don't build up the downtown, well then where pray tell honey should we build? Not at all, well you may be right, but where should we build if it was least objectionable, perhaps as far away from your neighborhood as possible right? How about that UDB again, that is pretty far eh?
last anonymous:
I don't think anyone is saying don't build downtown. However, Coconut Grove, is that downtown? 40 stories anywhere, even in Manhattan is a tall building .
What people seem to be saying in my view is: Build in SCALE with the neighborhood. What about mid rise? Where are all the 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, story buildings? They are not being built. When you are building in residential areas, might you think of mid-rise?
And I think people are saying about the downtown, is it now at a point of saturation. Should we wait to see how many peope absorb the stock we now have? Why build more when you have a glut of buildings condos in the same price range.
I think there is a call by citizens for some common sense. I don't see it as all or nothing as you put it.
And who gets your designation "honey"...people who disagree?
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