For decades, Miami politics have been organized around Fidel Castro. A common enemy united the bloc vote of Cuban Americans in Florida's most populous county and provided the energy to form an economic coalition around a $7 billion county budget. Initially through county construction contracts, the Cuban American business elite developed a scalable, user-friendly model of wealth creation; linking big campaign contributors from the development and real estate industries to control of zoning and permitting processes. First you get the votes by organizing around a mutual enemy, then you control the budget, then you provide infrastructure to distant farmland or wetlands, then you knock down regulatory barriers, then you build suburbs: a cut of the action is meted out along the way. This is how Fidel Castro made Miami, and Florida, and ordered US politics.
Now that Fidel Castro is outliving Fidel Castro, what happens? Look for an answer with Cuban American builders and contractors enduring the longest downturn since the Great Depression. For the time being, they survive by renovating kitchens and bathrooms, investing in politics, and waiting for the miracle to come: the resurgence of suburban sprawl. But the bonfire built of a housing bubble-- called "the ownership society"-- scorched Florida. They would do much better in Havana if Fidel's successors would have them. There are many reasons, they won't. Kind of like "True Blood", the HBO series where entry is by invitation only.
For decades, Miami Cubans have fostered the dream of a military takeover or, at least, that the money and allure scarcely 100 miles away would be enough. Once the Latin builders make the Florida Keys a suburb of Sweetwater, Havana is a ferry ride away or a hop from Homestead Air Force Base. If I were part of the ruling junta in Havana I would ask myself: who is that knocking at my door?
9 comments:
Right on the money gimleteye...all the more reason to vote "YES" on Amendment 4. Those of us who have been around long enough know it's our only hope to save what is left of S. Florida, if that is even possible at this point.
Imagine this, we are having a Congressional race in Distict 25 where we are actually talking about things like the economy, not Fidel. It's about time.
Joe Garcia talked about the need to attract large ships traveling through the Panama Canal at the Port of Miami and how the US needs to resolve the trade inequalities with Columbia. He defended lower taxes to, while not apologizing for the basic and essential roles for government.
Ahhh - I love the sound of intelligence.
sorry
"....he defended lower taxes to [too}
(While I love the sound of intelligence, I sometimes type stupidly.)
As a candidate running for the vacant House seat in district 119, I can not state it enough times -- we need to stop developers fixated on building Westward in hopes that "If we build it, they will come". The glut of devopment, often times fueled by greed, has brought us to the state we are in today....property tax inequities, gaps in school funding, overburdened infrastructure, increased congestion on our roadways...you name it.
Somewhere along the line, folks..we royally let things get out of control. What we need to do now is pull on the reigns and get back on the right track. The only way to do that is by voting yes on 4, and voting for candidates that will serve the best interests of the constituency. To truly know where a candidate's loyalty may lie, take a look at their finance reports.
As a first generation Cuban American, I am all for redeveloping a free Cuba, but not at the expense of railroading what remains of our rural areas. If developers need to find new ways to continue making money, perhaps they should look into revitalizing the decayed urban areas that flank I 95.
There is a tinge of racism in this post. Only a minute % of Cuban Americans are builders. Builders business practices are not related to Cuban American's.
And Graziella: revitalizing the decayed urban areas is also called gentrification. Lower income families need a place to live. By revitalizing the area you would be displacing them from their communities.
Gentrification/revitalization shouldn't, and doesn't have to, equate to the displacement of families within a community. Unfortunately, the venture of urban renewal is not viewed as lucrative.
We need to stop thinking within the confines of the past, look to the future and find a way of getting there without resorting to the usual paths -- which are what 'politics as usual' would like us to take.
Sorry, I'm very passionate about preservation of the UDB and containing urban sprawl.
Yeah the construction faiy will spread pixy dust arpound i-95 and it won't cost a dime and all those poor folks won't have to move.
Graziella,
Many infill projects in the County's urban core will require comprehensive plan amendments. In order to truly create infill, we will need to make significant changes to our plans which were created in the late 1980s and to a large degree contemplate low density sprawl development.
If Amendment 4 passes, that would add yet another barrier to doing real infill development. Sure, most developers have no interest in infill development because it is difficult, time consuming, and rarely profitable. Those who have a real commitment to that kind of development, however, will not be served by the blunt instrument that is Amendment 4.
We need to remind ourselves that Amendment 4 is not a "UDB" control tool -- it makes it difficult to make any change to a comprehensive plan. A vote for Amendment 4 is a vote for the low-density sprawl status quo, which is why Florida's planners oppose it.
Low-density sprawl is exactly what would attract people to infill an area that has been abandoned. Less congested = more desirable. No amendment or land use changes would be needed, they are already in place. Clean up and fix what we have first then we can visit changes to land use that developers might want down the road.
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