Archive for April, 2009
New Development in Miami?
The Miami Today News recently reported that Miami Commissioners recently approved (4/23) a new hotel/residential/retail project near Downtown Miami at 1700 Biscayne Blvd. For those of you who were used to the almost weekly announcements of new urban projects — this announcement is great news. Things have definitely slowed down on the development side here in [...]
Real Budget Revealed (Tomorrow’s Miami : Part 12)
Let us take a moment to analyze a real 2009 budget proposal from the Commodore Plaza condominium in Aventura (north of Downtown Miami). Owners receive a detailed expense report for the entire building.
Month to Month Housing Costs (Tomorrow’s Miami : Part 11)
Although much of the affordable housing in Miami is located away from connected urban centers away from viable and vibrant neighborhoods, there are also examples of affordable housing for sale that were not executed successfully within urban centers. One example is the Loft 1 project in downtown.
Skyline of Florence from the Duomo
The magnificent skyline of Renaissance Florence is composed of a rigid urban landscape of low-rise buildings, accentuated by towering civic landmarks and important buildings.
New Pocket Parks
The Miami Downtown Development Authority and the City of Miami will be inaugurating a new pocket park on Flager Street in Downtown Miami tomorrow, April 28, 2009. The re-opening of the new Paul S. Walker Urbanscape is the culmination of a DDA program that is bringing three new pocket parks with close to 23,000 square [...]
Colorful Cities Inspire
Cities really are amazing places — a clash of culture and society, the mishmash of people, ideas, creativity, innovation, thought, inspiration, and dreams.
Finish the Park
The Miami Today News reported today that the Brickell Area Homeowners Association is pressuring the Related Group to finish Brickell Park on the south end of the newly completed ICON Brickell. The park, although supposedly finished, is lacking urban furniture (benches and a picnic table would be nice) and proper signage. As it stands now, one can barely [...]
Gehry No More
The Frank Gehry park designed to accompany the New World Symphony in Miami Beach is on life support in it’s current incarnation. The Miami Herald reports that financial issues and a lot of wrangling and finger pointing have led Gehry to step down from the most exciting urban component of the project — the urban park. [...]
Parking Garage Nixed
The Miami Today News reported recently that the Miami Parking Authority and the Archdiocese of Miami have nixed plans to build yet another parking garage in Downtown Miami. Fortunately, a tight credit market has put the plans on hold — the site at 120 NE Second Street sits directly next to another parking garage occupying the rest of [...]
Haight Street
I took a walk the other day down Haight Street in San Francisco. Many know Haight Street because of the popular shopping intersection of Haight and Ashbury — but Haight Street is actually more than just a trendy and touristy street. The entire lenght of Haight Street actually has a rich variety of uses, types, [...]
Creating Defensible Space
Creating Defensible Space is a wonderful and informative Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) publication written by architect Oscar Newman. It deals with the theory of defensible space — the relation between building design and neighborhood safety. According to Oscar Newman, and many out there who have adopted some of his ideas, building design directly [...]
Graffiti Alley
Clarion Alley is one of the many wonderful urban spaces of the city of San Francisco. An otherwise bland service street/alley, Clarion Alley in the Mission District is covered in various forms of grafitti — making the entire alley a colorful, unique, artistic, and lively urban space that people walk through every day.
Public Transit Saves $
For those of you out there that continue to believe the fairy tale that the automobile is affordable or efficient this day in age – a new report from the APTA states that using public transportation and driving one less car can save an individual approximately $8,670 a year. In bigger cities such as Boston and New York [...]
Horrible Transit Oriented Development : Why We Need Miami 21
Santa Clara Apartments is a relatively new “affordable” housing project that exemplifies many of the reasons why Miami needs the new Miami21 zoning code. Located within steps of a Metrorail station, Santa Clara Apartments was (supposedly) designed as Transit Oriented Development. Unfortunately, the ground level and urban interaction of the building is truly lacking.
