Catch it while it looks great: the county beach renovation project along the Rickenbacker Causeway. The last stretch of the project opened to traffic this week. I checked it out yesterday and was impressed with what the county achieved. Who knows whether it was within budget etc., but for the time being it is enough of a surprise that Eyeonmiami finds itself checking the box, "compliments the county from time to time".
The beach at Rickenbacker Causeway has been the poor man's Riviera in Miami, a popular (weekend) spot because it was free. It was also disgusting, gross and poorly maintained. Even third world Latin American nations did a better job with their waterfront public property. Until now.
County government needed a public park project to be proud of; the beach renovation, even if the sand washes away in winter storms and with sea level rise, shows that someone in government knows how to put value back into a degraded urban landscape.
The beach renovation took over a year, but it is ready for the winter season. No more exotics, Australian pines, and chaos: I'm guessing that not as many people will be able to use the area as in the past, and so the county should offer some form of trolley transportation to separate parking areas on the Key, on weekends. Anyhow, here's another suggestion for the county parks suggestion box.
Imagine what Miami-Dade could do if it worked with the zombie banks and took over some of those crappy shopping centers that are scarcely occupied and turned them back into parks for people.
5 comments:
So when are they going to replant Bill Baggs with those enchanting Australian Pines?
It was a paradise where even in July, there'd be a cooling breeze.
Seems my happy place got bent double by an invasive agenda.
Is this area of the Rickenbacker considered Key Biscayne or part of Virginia Key or neither?
Key Biscayne island begins after the Bear Cut bridge.
It does look good. Too bad I can no longer use it as there is no shade. I'm very sad to have lost one of my favorite running spots in the world. My skin cannot take 5 miles of blistering sun. For me, as for many fair-skin runners, the whole thing was, and is, quite depressing. My tax dollars took away one of my reasons for living here.
Yes, I know all the ecological reasons, but its still depressing.
tom
Congrads on the Herald reprint.
Invasive or not the pines were nice to listen to when the wind blew through them. They were such a part of old Crandon when the zoo was there.
And I can't do the sun thing either :(
In order to appreciate what Miami-Dade Co. has done here one must understand the degradation caused by invasive exotic species in our natural ecosystms. Yes, the pines created shade but so do the Malleluca's and Brazilian Peppers, both highly undesirable trees. These exoctics choke out the natural vegetation and do not provide the habitats for wildlife and other naturally occuring creatures. Austrailian Pines change the acidity of the soil prohibiting other understory plants from developing and have a shallow root system allowing them to topple in storms and cause beach erosion. We need more projects like this around the county to preserve the very reasons we all want to live here.
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