Urban Environment League

A UEL Dialog – Open Space: New Visions

Tony Garcia — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:48:36 +0000

OPEN SPACE: NEW VISIONS

Saturday, Janurary 28, 10-12 pm
Grand Central Loft, 697 N Miami Ave Miami, FL 33136

Food Truck Roundup and a Tour of Grand CentralPark to follow

The UEL – Advocating for a New Vision for Open Space
Barbara Falsey, President , Urban Environment League (15 min)

Tactical Urbanism: Short Term Action, Long Term Change
Anthony Garcia, Principal, the Street Plans Collaborative (15 min)

Presentations, “Reimagining Public Space” (5 min each)
Ralph Rosado – Biscayne Parkway: Streets as Open Space
Roger Horne – Urban Greenworks: Agriculture & Open Space
Mark Shrieber – Brickell Green Space
Brenda McClymonds – Trust For Public Land
Brad Knoefler – Grand Central Park: A Lesson in Revitalization

On the Evolving Mission & Goals of Miami-Dade County Parks
Maria Nardi, Chief, Planning & Research Division, MD County Parks, Recreation & Open Spaces (15 min)

Audience Q/A (30 min)

Genting to Miami: We Were Just Kidding

Tony Garcia — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 15:44:00 +0000

From the Herald:

“A casino planned for the current Miami Herald site would be comparable to some of the biggest in the United States, a top executive for Genting Group told a gambling forum at Miami-Dade College. That’s still a sizeable venture but not the gargantuan casino that critics have seized on in warning Genting’s plan would overwhelm downtown Miami.

“That’s simply false,’’ Christian Goode, Genting’s top Florida executive said when a fellow panelist talked of bringing the “largest casino on the planet” to Miami. “It’s not even close to being the largest.”

What a bunch of clowns. I think its safe to say that these folks will say/do anything to get a casino approved. In an effort to try to overstate the potential economic benefits of the casino they went overboard. With a growing backlash against the scale of the resort casino, they are now backpedaling to find a size that will not attract as much attention.

For those who attended the UEL Casino Forum – we should keep on reminding ourselves of Dan Gelber’s repeated insistence to not get sidetracked with details about the project(s). They will morph and change but once the flood gates are open – there is no turning back.

Gambling With Our Future? UEL Casino Dialog December 10

Tony Garcia — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 23:03:22 +0000

South Miami Neighbors Candidate Conversation

Tony Garcia — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 01:16:36 +0000

Please join the South Miami Neighbors as they convene a Monday night meeting, November 21, 7:00 pm at South Miami City Hall for a community conversation where candidates for upcoming commission elections will candidly discuss what they seek to accomplish for South City.
Invitations have been sent to candidates Josh Liebman, and Mayor Julio Robaina, as well as current Mayor Phil Stoddard and Commissioners Velma Palmer and Brian Beasley. Also, if you or anyone you know are considering running for a commission seat, please come too. Please pass the word to other neighbors.

Mayor Regaldo to Genting: Not So Fast

Tony Garcia — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 23:07:40 +0000

Replacement for Fresen Bill? Seminoles May Pay More

Greg Bush — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:14:50 +0000

“In an attempt to shift the debate from Miami casinos to the state’s bottom line, state Rep. Joe Abruzzo is filing a bill Wednesday to direct Gov. Rick Scott to give the Seminole Tribe exclusive operation of casino games in Florida for 15 more years in exchange for an annual guarantee of $750 million.

The four-page bill would authorize the governor to re-open the 20-year gambling compact signed in 2009 by Gov. Charlie Crist that now requires the Seminole Tribe of Florida to guarantee $1 billion in the first five years in exchange for the exclusive right to offer table games in Miami Dade and Broward and slot machines outside of South Florida. The tribe now pays an average of $150 million a year under the agreement.”

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/11/15/2503940/bill-would-replace-resort-casinos.html#ixzz1dph7lxz1

Former Mayor Joe Carollo on the Proposed Genting Casino

Tony Garcia — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 17:09:30 +0000

In case you missed it, the Miami New Times did a great piece a few weeks back on the growing opposition to the giveaway of public land planned for the Genting Casino /Herald site.

Joe Carollo‘s Chevy Impala idles at a red light on North Bayshore Drive at NE 14th Street. Dressed in a neat white polo shirt tucked into pressed khaki pants, the former Miami mayor is on a short tour of what could be the most ambitious redevelopment project in the city’s history. “Here is where the Genting Group wants to put a fountain,” he says with a scowl.

The light turns green. As Carollo cruises toward 1 Herald Plaza, he points to the perimeter of the Miami Herald‘s employee parking lots. “Those sidewalks belong to the city,” Carollo asserts. “In their promotional video, Genting is building over them and this street I’m driving on.”

He makes a left past the Omni Metromover station. “That land is owned by the taxpayers too,” Carollo declares, gesturing toward the station. “In their presentation, Genting’s big lagoon starts where that bus depot and the Metromover station are located.” By his calculation, the Malaysian gaming giant’s planned megacasino resort will gobble up six acres of publicly owned land and millions of dollars more in air rights. That’s on top of the 13.9 acres including the Herald‘s waterfront headquarters purchased in May for $236 million and the recently garnered control of the cavernous Omni property for a cool $206 million.

Carollo is part of a growing wave of people — including two other ex-Miami mayors, one of the city’s most prominent attorneys, and a top developer — to begin building roadblocks to Genting’s $3 billion plan. Citing the company’s reputed ties to an organized-crime figure, a mysterious trip that Miami’s current mayor and his pro-gambling consigliere took to the Far East, and the possible giveaway of more than $100 million in public land, Carollo contends Genting’s project is a disaster in the making. Complicating matters further is the Herald‘s role in reporting on a deal involving its longtime home. As demonstrated by some of the newspaper’s recent effusive coverage of Genting’s proposal, the Herald — which employs more reporters than anyone else in town — is severely conflicted.

Announcing Nature Links at Virginia Key Beach to Start Fall 2011

Greg Bush — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 22:37:59 +0000

Nature Links for Life long Learning announces an exciting new partnership with the Historic Virginia Key Beach Park Trust. Beginning with introductory sessions to begin by early November, NL seeks to address the needs of young adults over 22 years old with disabilities by providing unique opportunities for regular programming focused on continuing education, health and exercise, job training and social activities for a population so often overlooked in South Florida.

Reconnecting young people with natural world in ways that combine fun and fellowship with learning and the potential for productive careers is the central goal. “The facilities at Virginia Key Trust are ideal for this program. We believe there can be great synergy in all of this,” said Gene Tinnie of HVKBT. Program elements includes organic gardening, habitat restoration, animal rescue, learning about weather, sea life, healthy bodies, and using the existing concession stand to learn cooking and marketing of produce. Community Dinners are planned in the future.

Building on the successful Project Bridge program begun in 2007, aimed at high school age students, located at Shake a Leg Miami and funded and run by the Miami Dade County Public School, NL now seeks to expand and add another location by addressing the needs of those over 22 years of age.

By providing opportunities for both young adults with special needs and integrating their learning and social lives with college age students and other volunteers, NL seeks to provide a holistic relationship with many facets of the natural world. In recent years, a host of new organizations have been formed around the world to reconnect people to the natural world, including the writings of Richard Louv and his Children & Nature Network. In South Florida, Earth Learning and other organizations have sought to expand local interest in organic food.

Nature Links seeks to create a curriculum and protocols for a variety of business and non-profit partnerships to assist in educating, training and enhancing the lives of those with disabilities – and others- in the coming years. “Forging models of behavior that foster more consciousness of healthy habits and the benefits of the natural world will assist all residents,” said Nature Links founder and UM professor Gregory Bush.

For further information about becoming part of the Nature Links movement – as a donor, volunteer educator, organizational partner, professional or participant, contact us.

Contact: Gregory Bush, Director, 305-926-5001; publicbush@gmail.com

Or Jennifer Balfe, Assoc Director, 305-965-0817; jenna.balfe@gmail.com

Virginia Key Coalition Masterplan Meeting

Tony Garcia — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 10:23:20 +0000

The Urban Environment League will convene a morning discussion with Virginia Key Coalition stakeholders to discuss the ongoing implementation of the Masterplan and next steps. Speakers will discuss the recent completion of the North Point Bike Trails, planned improvements to the Rickenbacker Causeway, ongoing Marine Stadium preservation efforts, and the still unfulfilled mandate for a Virginia Key Oversight Board.
Saturday, September 24, from 10 am – 12 pm
@ the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
come back soon for more details

Overtown/Park West Redevelopment Association, UEL & Transit Miami to Host PARK(ing) Day 2011

Tony Garcia — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 23:49:54 +0000

Parking spaces around the globe to be temporarily reclaimed for people

Miami, FL September 16, 2011 — In cities around the globe today, artists, activists and citizens will temporarily transform metered parking spaces into public parks and other social spaces, as part of an annual event called “PARK(ing) Day.”

Originally invented in 2005 by Rebar, a San Francisco-based art and design studio, PARK(ing) Day challenges people to rethink the way streets are used and reinforces the need for broad-based changes to urban infrastructure. “In urban centers around the world, inexpensive curbside parking results in increased traffic, wasted fuel and more pollution,” says Rebar’s Matthew Passmore. “The planning strategies that generated these conditions are not sustainable, nor do they promote a healthy, vibrant human habitat. PARK(ing) Day is about re-imagining the possibilities of the urban landscape.”

Locally, a group of organizations such as OPRA, Transit Miami, the Street Plans Collaborative, and the Urban Environmental League have partnered with the City of Miami Parking Authority to transform ten metered parking spaces in one of Downtown Miami’s least green neighborhoods into a park. The event will take place at 700 N. Miami Avenue, directly in front of the old Miami Arena, demolished in 2008. The Old Arena site is also the future site of Grand Central Park (www.grandcentralpark.org), an OPRA project to convert five acres of rocks on the former arena site into a three year temporary park.

Since 2005, the project has blossomed into a worldwide grassroots movement: PARK(ing) Day 2010 included more than 800 “PARK” installations 180 cities around the world. This year, the project continues to expand to urban centers across the globe.

PARK(ing) Day is an “open-source” user-generated invention created by independent groups around the globe who adapt the project to champion creative, social or political causes that are relevant to their local urban conditions. More information regarding local PARK(ing) Day activities can be found and a global map of all participating cities are available on the PARK(ing) Day website, at parkingday.org.