Friday April 22, 2005

Earth Day

A1A Construction I took A1A to work the other day, from South Beach to Hollywood Boulevard, and counted the number of construction sites I passed on that one street: 44. There is a weird time-travel quality to this trip; the gleaming, glass trump-phalluses share space with quaint relics whose days are obviously numbered. In a year this stretch of road will be very different.

Given that the clock on the wall says it’s Earth Day, there’s a few points to be made about what’s up with this. First, what’s being built isn’t going up on top of pristine beaches or protected estuaries, and what’s coming down is 40 – 60 year old one-and-two story mom and pop style motels, some of which are studies in kitsch and bad taste (but nevertheless interesting). This is a case of erection-swapping, as it were. There’s limited new environmental impact (“No cliffs, sands, or bluffs”).

AIA Construction That said, it doesn’t automatically follow that lining up high-rises on the edge of the ocean is a terrific idea, either. There’s the aesthetics of it – lots of beautiful new buildings are still lots of buildings – as well as the impact of a trillion people and their waste, traffic, mere presence to contend with. Plus the canyonesque wind tunnel effect: On a moderately breezy day, a fart in Golden Isles could carry down AIA all the way to South Beach. Speaking of Trump.

Critical Miami does not have a problem with times changing. We like new stuff! All we’re saying is that stuff is changing fast. Enjoy it before it’s gone.

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  1. Frannie Ross    Wed Apr 27, 08:45 AM #  

    After reading this article, it brought to mind a discussion I recently had with a builder. In Sunny Isles, for example, one of the ridiculously high story condominiums being built is 50 stories high. Many of the buildings are not only sinking and have to be re-built but totally block out the sun on the beach in the afternoon. People actually flock to Florida for the sunny weather and the beaches. Florida is greedily cutting its own throat and ruining the aesthetics of the beach areas.It is sad and unfortunate to observe the “new” Florida. What is even more irritating is that foreign factions are buying these properties at top prices only to raise the prices and immediately flip them for their own financial gains leaving 80% of the condos empty.It’s a huge dilemma that is never ending and a sad commentary on the trendy,obsessive exploitation that is taking place in South Florida today.