After reading former Florida senator Bob Graham's guide to navigating democracy, America: The Owner's Manual, I knew that South Florida's suburban sprawl issue was too large for a young person like me to solve. His advice? Bring something in society that bothers you to focus. Many things bother me: our national obesity rate, greenhouse gas emissions, limited street culture, and irrational parenting. If you didn't already know this, read this entire blog for details. Tied together, proper urban planning could solve such issues by creating safe, walkable, and interesting neighborhoods (the Wynwood Arts District is becoming one of these) through Form-Based zoning and more public transit options. Attention residents of Cutler Bay, Palmetto Bay, and Pinecrest! South Miami-Dade can expect a projected growth of 83% in the next few decades and only 7% growth of transit (according to MDX's presentation of the matter). Clearly, we have a fathomable problem.
The Miami-Dade Expressway Authority is conducting a study which proposes to build a tollroad on top of the US1 Busway. What a terrible idea. This busway is our only Curitiba-esque infrastructure this county has:
This project, in coordination with Miami-Dade Transit, will evaluate the use of Managed Lanes along the South Miami-Dade Busway as an opportunity to improve mobility, enhance mass transit and relieve congestion along the US-1 corridor. The proposed US-1 Express project encompasses the corridor extending from SW 88th Street/Kendall Drive on the north, to Florida City on the south, for a distance of approximately 20 miles.
At a public hearing on Wednesday, November 16th, at Pinecrest Gardens, panelist and senior project manager of MDX's US1 Express study, Alan Brick-Turin explained to residents that they have no plans to eliminate the Busway, but simply want to investigate the option to keep fewer cars on the road. Want a cheaper idea? Fix the traffic lights so the buses get to destinations more quickly--then people may choose transit over automobile. The Green Corridor residents were not fooled, even though he did mention that they would look at all options. I know very well, based on reading works by the well-respected Elizabeth Plater-Zyberck, dean of University of Miami's School of Architecture and urban planner for Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company, a highly reputable firm, that adding lanes is the ultimate paradox-- instead of three crowded lanes, you will have five. South Florida residents would choose to take the toll-a-coaster to escape Turnpike traffic, bringing more cars to the area, reducing property values in the Green Corridor, and slowing down public transit progress. Local car dealers will be thrilled; everyone else will be choked in traffic.
Many questions were answered during this meeting. I often wondered why we do not have a Metrorail extension south of Dadeland; Katie Sorenson, former city commissioner, answered logically that there is not enough density for the Metro to even serve its purpose. So let's improve that right? With 83% projected growth, there would most definitely be more density in future decades. I can hope for there to be more transit-oriented development, but that would require cutting all of those parking lots in half and building over strip malls to build higher housing. We should avoid what Brickell did by inviting skyscraper construction which is essentially cookie-cutter housing built upward (but praise Brickell for still managing to increase downtown urbanism over the last few years). I do not know why the Green Corridor's residents did not bring up zoning changes; there has to be some sacrifice on part of the residents in order to do what is best for the area in the future. Letting MDX know they are not welcome to contribute to urban blight down south was step one. Funding a study for TOD along US1 is the next step. In the meantime, everyone should attend future meetings on the issue to find out exactly how this could be done.
Read more at: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/11/16/3100761/south-dade-residents-skeptical.html
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