Connect with us

Miami, FL

Learning From Miami

Published

on


Last weekend, I went to Miami for a conference, and explored a wide range of neighborhoods, including both suburbs like Sweetwater and North Miami, and urban places such as Wynwood and downtown Miami. One of the most unusual things about Miami is that it combines a high density (over 12,000 people per mile in its small central city) with relatively low transit ridership (about 7 percent in 2022, lower than medium-density cities like Buffalo).* Even some of its suburbs are pretty dense: North Miami Beach (where I stayed over the weekend) has just over 8500 residents per square mile, and Sweetwater (where I stayed Sunday night) is more densely populated than Miami. What is Miami doing wrong?

The first thing I noticed was that except for the quietest residential streets, commercial streets are designed for high-speed traffic — even in parts of a city where walking would normally be common. For example, Brickell Avenue is one of downtown’s more high-end streets, one with a significant amount of housing and public transit. So you might think that Brickell is a comfortable street for pedestrians. But Brickell is six lanes wide, not my idea of a pedestrian-friendly layout. Similarly, you might think that streets near Florida International University (FIU) would be pretty walkable — but FIU is moated off from Sweetwater (a suburb just to its north) by an eight-lane street that resembles a highway with traffic lights more than it resembles a commercial street. To make matters worse, this highway is not even fully connected to the Sweetwater street grid: instead of crossing every block to get to FIU, a walker can only cross the street once every several blocks.

Of course, these are major streets. But Miami also suffers from what traffic engineers call collector streets: streets that lack the commerce and excitement of high-traffic arterials but are nevertheless just wide enough to have dangerously fast car traffic. For example, in North Miami Beach, I mostly walked on N.E. 179th Street and the streets just to its north from Northeast 13th Avenue to Northeast 18th Avenue.  13th and 14th Avenues are quiet, two-lane residential streets that I felt comfortable crossing. By contrast, 15th Avenue has a turning lane and is just wide enough to support faster traffic. As a result, crossing it was a bit adventurous.

On the positive side, most of the city buses I was on were at least half full, and some were standing room only.  However, bus rides from city to suburb can be quite long: for example, my ride from downtown Miami to North Miami Beach took almost two hours. By contrast, in Buffalo, most bus routes take only an hour from beginning to end, and even the 20-mile bus ride from Buffalo to Niagara Falls takes about 75 minutes. 

Advertisement

This example illustrates a broader problem with city buses in large metro areas: in an area as large as Los Angeles or Miami-Dade County, suburbs can be so far away from a city that bus commutes can take longer than in a smaller but less dense metro. It follows that in a largish metro area, even an otherwise adequate bus network and high central-city density doesn’t protect people from long commutes. And Miami does not have a strong rail system to supplement its buses: Miami’s Metro Rail has only one line, fewer than other Sun Belt metros such as Atlanta (two lines) or Dallas (five). In other words, you can get almost anywhere in Miami Dade County by bus, but it may take a long time to do so.

On the positive side, Miami suburbs are a little more generous with housing than the suburbs of Blue America. On the major Long Island arterials I have seen, housing other than single-family homes is rare. By contrast, the major arterial I saw in North Miami Beach (Northeast 185th Street) did have plenty of apartments, even though the nearby homeowner blocks had none. So at least Miami’s suburbs have done something to alleviate the national housing famine. Sweetwater was even more generous; I saw apartments on side streets as well as on Flagler (the city’s major arterial).   

In sum, Miami underperforms when it comes to transit, with a lower transit mode share than some lower-density cities. Although I am not completely sure why this is the case, one possible reason is that streets are designed for speeding cars to an even greater extent than in other American cities. In addition, Miami is just large enough that city-to-suburb bus commutes can be more punishing than in a smaller metro like Buffalo.

*Pre-COVID data is similar: in 2015, 11 percent of Miami commutes were by transit, well below the mode share for medium-density Rust Belt cities like Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Hartford. I note, however, that Miami’s transit ridership was higher than that of Sun Belt cities like Atlanta and Dallas.



Source link

Advertisement

Miami, FL

New bodycam video shows fatal 2023 Miami Police shooting as officer cleared

Published

on

New bodycam video shows fatal 2023 Miami Police shooting as officer cleared


New bodycam video shows a fatal police shooting in Miami back in 2023 as prosecutors say the officer was legally justified in the killing.

The footage was released this week after the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office determined the Oct. 11, 2023 shooting of 20-year-old Arnicious Xavier Odom, Jr. was justified.

Family Photo

Family Photo

Arnicious Odom Jr.

According to a Feb. 3 close-out memo from the state attorney’s office, Odom and another man had been seen jaywalking on Northwest 2nd Avenue near Northwest 60th Street while wearing ski masks and hoodies.

Advertisement

A detective approached and the other man was found with a loaded gun in his pants but Odom fled on foot, prompting a pursuit, the memo said.

The bodycam footage shows Det. Sthephany Canizares running after Odom with her weapon drawn.

At one point, Odom threw a gun over a fence and then hopped over the fence at a field at Miami Edison Senior High School.

The memo said Canizares ordered him not to pick the gun up but Odom went to pick it up and that’s when Canizares shot and killed him.

“I told him not to go for that gun!” Canizares is heard telling other officers in the footage.

Advertisement

The state attorney’s office said Canizares’ actions in shooting Odom were legally justified because “it was reasonable to believe that he posed an imminent threat of death or great bodily harm to the officers,” the memo said.

After the shooting, Odom’s mother, Antionette Jones, told NBC6 she wanted answers.

“Witnesses out there said that my baby was running across the field and collapsed,” she said. “If he was running from you, what harm can he do to you? What can he do? Why didn’t you tase him?”



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Miami, FL

Miami never trails in 75-66 win over No. 11 North Carolina

Published

on

Miami never trails in 75-66 win over No. 11 North Carolina


CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Malik Reneau scored 16 points, Ernest Udeh Jr. had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Miami never trailed while beating No. 11 North Carolina 75-66 on Tuesday night for the Hurricanes’ first victory over a Top 25 opponent in two years.

Tre Donaldson finished with 14 points, six rebounds and five assists, and Shelton Henderson added 12 points for the Hurricanes (19-5, 8-3 Atlantic Coast Conference).

Udeh made a free throw with 2:11 remaining, then rebounded his missed second attempt and scored on a layup to put Miami ahead 66-60.

After Donaldson’s layup with 1:20 left made it 69-62, Jarin Stevenson’s layup 5 seconds later got the Tar Heels (19-5, 7-4) within five. Despite finishing 14 of 23 from the foul line, Miami clinched the win with six free throws in the final minute.

Advertisement

As soon as the horn sounded, Hurricanes fans stormed the court, celebrating their first win over a Top 25 team since beating No. 16 Clemson 95-82 Jan. 3, 2024.

Stevenson scored 13 points, Caleb Wilson had 12 and Henri Veesar added 11 for the Tar Heels.

Wilson, the Tar Heels’ leading scorer with 20 points per game, left briefly for the locker room midway through the second half and had his left hand wrapped when he returned with 8:47 remaining.

The loss snapped North Carolina’s five game-win streak.

Miami outscored North Carolina 46-28 in the paint. Udeh made seven of eight shots, including five on dunks. After shooting 7-of-13 from 3-point range in the first half, the Tar Heels were 1 of 14 from behind the arc in the second half.

Advertisement

The Hurricanes opened a 10-point lead on Reneau’s three-point play seven minutes into the first half that made it 22-12.

North Carolina chipped away and stayed within striking distance the remainder of the half. Kyan Evans’ 3-pointer with 1:01 remaining got the Tar Heels to 41-40 before Timo Malovec’s two free throws with 27 seconds left gave the Hurricanes a 3-point lead at halftime.

Up next

North Carolina: Host Pittsburgh on Saturday.

Miami: At North Carolina State on Saturday.

Advertisement





Source link

Continue Reading

Miami, FL

I took a “gigcation” to see Lady Gaga in Miami. It was awesome.

Published

on

I took a “gigcation” to see Lady Gaga in Miami. It was awesome.


I’m sitting at lunch at Lattanzi Cucina Italiana in Manhattan, inspired by Lady Gaga and fiancé Michael Polansky’s dinner date there during the week she hosted SNL. My mom and I are reliving the night before, where we attended the first Mayhem Ball at Madison Square Garden, reeling from her piano rendition of “Hair” over glasses of Pinot Grigio and plates of pollo con peperoni.

My friend Julie texts me.

“How was it?” she asks, referencing the show from the previous night.

“Incredible,” I respond.

Advertisement

“Want to come to Florida and go to the Miami show next weekend?”

I laugh, and hypothetically say, “Um yes.” But despite my light take at her suggestion, the conversation quickly turns serious, and before the bill even arrives at Lattanzi, I’m on the Delta app booking a flight to Fort Lauderdale.

While Gaga was the driving factor, there was another incentive in it for me, too. Despite having traveled to over 90 countries across all seven continents, I had still never been to Miami. Truth be told, Miami was never at the top of my list. I imagined the city to be the Las Vegas of Florida: a kitschy, overpriced theme park for adults with ridiculously good looks and workout routines that consumed half their day to keep up with said good looks. Someone like me, a gritty, tough-as-nails New Yorker with a loud Italian-American accent and the attitude to match, would never fit in in a place like Miami. But for Gaga and Julie, I was finally willing to find out firsthand.

Less than a week later, I landed in Fort Lauderdale. Julie was one of my closest friends in NYC, but she made the move during the pandemic for a more comfortable life. My gigcation to see Gaga was a perfect excuse to double it as a chance to see Julie’s new stomping grounds, and of course, to see her two adorable cats.

We hit the town in Fort Lauderdale, first heading to Pier Sixty-Six to check out Pier Top, a rotating rooftop bar offering 360-degree views of the Atlantic. We sipped mermaid-inspired cocktails made with Lalo Tequila Blanco and grapefruit sherbet, and I got my legally required lobster roll that I need every time I’m in a seaside city. Afterward, Julie brought me to The Pub, the best gay bar in town, and her husband even convinced Brian Mason, the bar’s weekly entertainer and host, to let me jump onstage to sing a song (where I obviously sang “You and I” by Lady Gaga).

Advertisement

The next day was show day. In a sluggish state, we drove down to Miami and needed a cure from our wild night out, which came in the form of chicken tenders and champagne from American Social. Providing just enough relief from our questionable decisions the night prior, we then checked into the Four Seasons Hotel Miami and promptly ordered a bottle of Moët to the room, since, at that point, it didn’t make sense to get ready for a Lady Gaga show without some bubbly. You can imagine the man working room service’s surprise when he opened the door to deliver our precious goods, only to see me half dressed in fishnets and leather as I was slowly transforming into my Little Monster gear.

Photograph: Kaitlyn RosatiJulie and me at the Four Seasons Hotel Miami before the Lady Gaga show.

Simply needing more cocktails, we headed to The Elser Hotel’s Bayview Terrace Rooftop for espresso martinis and empanadas before our short walk to Kaseya Center, where Lady Gaga would be performing.

We made our way to our nosebleeds, which wound up being incredible seats (never let being in an upper section trick you, my view here was just as good as my one at Madison Square Garden). Julie and I scream-sang through her entire two-and-a-half-hour set, losing our voices during “Bad Romance” and “Disease,” holding each other’s hands during ballads like “Million Reasons” and “Die With a Smile,” and singing Ariana Grande’s harmonies in the surprise piano rendition of “Rain on Me.”

Lady Gaga in Miami
Photograph: Kaitlyn RosatiLady Gaga in Miami

The next day was for rest and recovery, and when you’re staying at the Four Seasons, that means rotting by a pool. We went ahead and reserved a cabana for ourselves as soon as we made our reservation at the Four Seasons, knowing we would need the day to sweat out champagne and chicken fingers in the sun. Hey, what can I say? Being in your 30s and 40s looks a lot different than partying in New York in your 20s. We got a plate of fresh Floridian fruit and a smashburger for balance, and naturally, we ordered drinks.

Champagne in room at the Four Seasons Hotel Miami
Photograph: Kaitlyn RosatiChampagne in room at the Four Seasons Hotel Miami

Cabana at the Four Seasons Hotel Miami
Photograph: Kaitlyn RosatiCabana at the Four Seasons Hotel Miami

The day after the show was one of those glorious days where I lost track of time, the most “vacation” part of my gigcation. Julie and I bopped around the pool with cocktail in hand, catching up on the mundanities of everyday life, digging into deep conversations about our current struggles, and laughing just as hard as we used to when we were at dinner or bars in New York when we lived in the same city. As one last hurrah, we had our most civilized moment of the trip with dinner at Nuna, a Nikkei-style restaurant (blending Peruvian and Japanese cuisines), where we indulged in Wagyu and truffle dumplings and so many rounds of tuna nigiri that we lost track.

I love Lady Gaga for many reasons, and I wonder if she knew the impact she has on people like me: a gal who has traveled near and far but only popped her Miami cherry due to her being the driving factor. Not only did the Mayhem Ball give me the opportunity to see a show, a cathartic experience in itself, but it gave me the perfect excuse to hang out with one of my best friends in a city I can now finally say I’ve visited. And yet, the show was only a droplet in an ocean of my long weekend in South Florida, providing me with the perfect excuse to explore somewhere new, and a city I’m now excited to return to.

Lady Gaga’s Mayhem Ball starts its North American reprise on February 14 in Arizona and wraps up on April 13 in New York.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending