For some time, downtown Miami has lacked market-rate residential housing, a critical component to revitalizing the urban core. A downtown that could bustle with activity is desolate between 5:00 P.M. and 7:00 A.M. on weekdays and remains desolate on weekends. For 30 years, I have practiced law downtown, and I have witnessed this unfortunate phenomenon. I am pleased, though, with a surge of activity involving approximately $3 billion in mixed-use, residential and commercial developments in the downtown area that results from recognition by the City's leadership of the area's potential and from targeted government incentives.
Miami's natural beauty and scenic landscape undeniably attract new residents. However, a dramatically increasing population over the last twenty years, a restricted development boundary to the West, and frustration from lengthy commutes accentuates the need for increased redevelopment downtown.
