So I was born in Hollywood, FL, but spend most of my life in Miami and received almost all my schooling within Miami-Dade Public School System. I went to school in Miami before and after the FCAT, before you had the "3-year vocational" high school diploma's, high school majors and God know what else. I went to school when we had art, music, P.E. and recess. I am lucky. Very lucky indeed. I had the privilege of going to a Magnet school from my last year of elementary to my last day of senior high. Prior to my last year of elementary, I had been in and out of school's and was the constant "new kid", whether it had been Broward County, Lee County, Private Schools, or the Jamaican School system. Nonetheless, I spent the majority of my schooling in Miami, and it didn't matter where I lived, Miami-Dade School's were clueless as to whether or not I lived in the county or the right school district for that matter.
With all this in mind, I spend the largest portion of my life in the area in Miami now called "Edgewater", and it's located in the neighborhood of Midtown. This area is located north of downtown Miami, north of I-395, east of US1(Biscayne Blvd.), south of 36th St (Julia Tuttle Causeway) and bounded by Biscayne Bay on the west . Those are the boundaries set by Neighborhood Enhancement Team(NET) of Miami, but Edgewater could include the area east of NE 2nd south of 36th St, with the boundaries being the train tracks or the old rail car yard( now called Shops at Midtown and Midtown Miami). If you're in Miami and your still clueless: Edgewater can be north of where the Omni mall used to be( now the Arts Institute of Miami), North of the Adrienne Arsht Center for Perfroming Arts, the area south of Morningside or Bay Point estates or the area east of Wynwood (now the Wynwood Art District).
Now, growing up in this area was fun. I lived a 1 minute walk from the bay, 2 blocks from the buses that took us to Miami Beach, 5 mins from Morningside Park, a 10 min bus ride to downtown Miami(Bayside, Main Library, Miami Art Museum, Metrorail, etc). I always had something to do, and friends to play with. Everyone looked out for one another, and we would have block parties for Christmas, New Year's , Fourth of July, and other holidays. Everyone was from different countries, states, and ethnic backgrounds, but we all lived in a thriving community and anyone who dared threaten our community would have to answer to that whole community. I remember one 4th of July, we all put together our own fireworks display at the end of the street (all the streets were cul-de-sacs because they terminated at the bay). We were having a great time, when some guy who was new to the block came out and started to rant ethnic slurs, and told us we had no right to celebrate Independence day because we were all not Americans and that we needed to go back to our countries. I won't get into details, but the following month he had to move from the community...
It breaks my heart to see what's going on in my precious neighborhood now. Developers with no attachment to the community or history with the land(Some are not even based in the U.S.) are buying huge vacant plots of land and building architecturally irrelevant condos and apartment buildings. Most of the homes and apartment buildings in the Edgewater community are old and have a charm that is distinctly "Miami". It is reminiscent of the pioneers of the costal ridge, before the dredging of the Miami River and the numerous canals that gave way to the news cities that surround Miami city limits. The neighborhood has the look of a community that was built by stubborn, resilient and pioneering people, that stayed and fought through hurricanes, floods, humidity and heat that could kill, and mosquitos the size of Campbell's soup cans. As such, the people that have lived and inherited the land through the decades have been those struggling to survive, those fighting to start a family, those trying to obtain the American dream and those that are living it. Why should this land now be threatened by the privileged, rich and careless? Why should the character and charm of this neighborhood change to that of the apathetic and ambivalent?
I find it ironic that for years this community had been considered an eyesore, due to it's contrasting racial and financial capabilties to that of Bay Point Estates (some of the most coveted real estate in the City of Miami),Morningside (a now declared historic neighborhood), and Miami's Upper East side( which contains Magnolia Park, Bay Point Estates, Morningside, Bayside, Belle Meade, Shorecrest, and Palm Grove). For years, this community was plagued with prostitution and drugs,which threatened the families that were living in the Edgewater community. I remember some nights if I went to the mall with my mom can came back after 10pm, my mom would have to deal with men trying to pick her up. In fact, many women who were going out to Miami Beach after hours, would have to deal with either John's trying to get them or Police questioning their whereabouts. There were half-way houses in our neighborhood, for those trying to get back on their feet after battling addiction, and I can imagine that dealing with drug dealers in your community wasn't a factor for recovery. By the time I moved, things had dramatically changed. More business had been introduced, and more families and college aged adults were moving in.
You can see why now that I have a hard time believing that rent in this neighborhood is upwards of $1000/per month. Most of the charming homes and apartments were old and had serious square footage, with rents of about $450-700 a month in the 1990's. There were a few gated, guard-watched buildings, but not more that 10 in the entire community. The rents for those were still lower than what you pay on the beach (and still are). Everyone had access to a beautiful bay view and everyone took full advantage of it. It's astonishing that for years this community was considered crime and drug ridden (even though I had only been offered drugs once my entire time living there, compared to numerous times in the 'burbs) and was colloquially referred to as "The Strip", referencing the string of seedy, old hotels and prostitution that came to a head at 79th street and Biscayne. Now, with the previous real estate market boom, developers were hoping to grab all the ocean and bay front properties to bring in Europeans, South Americans and those from the northeast U.S winter home investments. Thankfully, these people are fighting developers for their deposits and are no longer buying these overpriced, pieces of the sky and bay. Most buildings that were speculated to be built, we never started.
Now, I don't know what the future holds for this and many other neighborhoods in Miami. Some neighborhood need to be preserved, while some need to be improved and investments such as new developments can bring in more property taxes to help slacking schools and local businesses. Some of the developments are great, Midtown mall brought in jobs, I even worked there my sophomore year in college. But when these development push out the lower and lower middle-class families and individuals, it's not right. Many of these people have stayed and maintained these neighborhoods for years...and now they are being uprooted or forced to pay higher property taxes because 1 development brought up the property value. I think that the City of Miami needs to pay attention to their residents and not to how much money they're collecting in property taxes from a 50-story condo. We have a huge housing crisis in Miami and it is exasperated by the economy we're currently in. I would hate to know that Miami is becoming inhabited by even MORE egotistically, social irresponsible, apathetic individuals that care only about their image. The city needs to stop focusing on their image, and property values and consider that an investment in the people is a LIFETIME of revenue. Stop thinking of native Miamian's as charity cases, underprivileged, unAmerican and uneducated, and stop trying to replace us with lofty, uncaring, apathetic,S.O.B.'s that make Miami seem like a war ground between the upper and lower classes, the Americans and immigrants, and the educated and uneducated. Until we focus on people and not appearances, will get a unified community that stretches beyond cultural, racial, ethnic, and lingual differences. That is a lesson that is not just specific to Miami, but to the world in general.
P.S.- I think if you read this, listen to Adele's "Hometown Glory". I think it's an appropriate song for the topic.
*Peace
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