Envisioning Brickell Bay Park

Written by & filed in Community, Quality of Life, Urbanism.

Check out this brilliant idea by husband and wife team Douglas Thompson and Ebru Ozer.

Existing Brickell Bay Drive (click to enlarge)

Proposed Brickell Bay Park (click to enlarge)

This is what Mr. Thompson had to say in an email:

This is the street nearest the waterfront, south of SE 8th St. For most of its length, this street lies behind waterfront condos, but one section of the street runs directly along the waterfront between SE 14th St and SE 15th Rd.  The section seems to be the longest continuous stretch of waterfront that is publicly accessible in Brickell.  However, it has few pedestrian amenities.  Along the water, the sidewalks are very narrow.  From our observation, the street is not heavily used and all of the condos fronting it have additional entry access via SE14th lane.  We believe this section of the street has the potential to be re-purposed as a linear waterfront park.”

Those that live in the area should strongly support this idea. This is pretty much a no-brainer. The park would make a great amenity and increase the desirability of the condos on this street. Who wouldn’t want to have this park at their doorstep? This would add significant and much needed green space to Brickell. What a kick-ass idea. Time to reclaim some of our streets and turn them into public spaces. Will we have the community support and political will to make this happen.  I sure hope so.

Douglas Thompson is a landscape architect and his wife, Ebru Ozer, is a professor of landscape architecture at FIU.  Please check out his website: www.landscapede.com

Fly Boutique Lands in MiMo

Written by & filed in Retail, Urbanism.

The Fly Boutique has opened it’s second location on 7235 Biscayne Boulevard.  The hugely successfully vintage thrift-clothing store first opened their doors on Lincoln Road 16 years ago and now they are bringing their talents to the MiMo District.

For those of you that appreciate quality second-hand clothing, this store is worth checking out. The owners personally handpick worthy items and display them in tasteful fashion. The store carries mostly clothes, but they also have a selection of shoes, handbags, luggage, and some furniture. You’ll find a little bit of everything and you are certain to come across something unique. They also do consignment.

This is a great addition to my neighborhood and I look forward to shopping for clothes within walking distance of my home.

Now if we can only convince the FDOT to make Biscayne Boulevard more business and pedestrian-friendly we would all be better off.  Take a second to check out the Biscayne Boulevard Streetscape rendering that the MiMo Business Improvement Committee commissioned a couple of years ago. Wouldn’t it be nice if:

  • Cars traveled more slowly along Biscayne Boulevard?
  • We had crosswalks at every intersection?
  • We had parallel parking on Biscayne Boulevard?

    Dreaming of a pedestrian and business-friendly Biscayne Boulevard