June 7, 200619 yr I find Bowling Green to be quite depressing... the school that is.... I did this thing in High School called Buckeye Boys State @ BGSU. It was like a summer camp where we all grouped up in artificial cities, got jobs or elected as officials, and set up governments. It was pretty cool. I've got a feeling some other people on here had to be in this as well.... being all civic minded and all. The experience was great, the campus did not impress.
June 8, 200619 yr I've been to Miami quite a few times now. I've obviously spent most of my time in Miami Beach (which is geographically/politically distinct from "Miami" and especially downtown Miami), but I have been through downtown and even spent a little time in Little Havanah. I think Miami Beach is pretty unique place in that it is probably the only place in the country where you can stay at a resort on the beach to relax and then exit your hotel and walk to really nice restaurants, shops, and clubs. Plus everything is in an attractive and an architecturally-interesting neighborhood. You can't do that in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, or Atlanta. Maybe you could do it in Vegas, but that city is a joke; a bunch of hotels and casinos in the desert is not a real city. Miami Beach is urban, and places especially like Lincoln Road in Miami Beach are fantastic. However, this good urban space is certainly limited to Miami Beach, and any place that relies so heavily on tourism to exist; isn't a real city in my opinion. Actually seeing downtown Miami and other downtowns in supposedly more desirable areas than Ohio is exactly the reason why I don't want to leave Cleveland. It also amazes me how places that have much more fluid investment than Cleveland- aren't always developing in sophisticated ways. Someone mentioned in earlier post about downtown Miami building fortress-like apartment buildings, and we would all ask why. Our city officials and developers might be a little short-sighted but no one wants to build another Reserve Square in downtown Cleveland. I do believe there is a strong will to do things right in Cleveland and I think its maybe a combination of the influence of CSU's Levin College and our inflated standards and expectations as Clevelanders.
June 8, 200619 yr What makes Cleveland and Pitt particularly, primed for growth? The real estate investor guy said Chicago is getting too expensive but why is it those cities in particular and not Cinci,Indy,Columbus,Louisville etc? Just curious.
June 8, 200619 yr Anyone familiar with the Overtown area of Miami? Never been there, but one of my favorite Outsider artists is from there, Purvis Young You can visit his studio, but from what I understand, the neighborhood is pretty sketchy. Of course that area is the muse for his art.
June 8, 200619 yr What makes Cleveland and Pitt particularly, primed for growth? The real estate investor guy said Chicago is getting too expensive but why is it those cities in particular and not Cinci,Indy,Columbus,Louisville etc? Just curious. Well one can only speculate. But Cleveland is the largest (metro-area), so that had probably had something do with it. Also, its on the lake and has a rapid transit system. Waterfront property and public transit seem to be two critical factors in real estate development buzz. I'm guessing this guy's comments were probably more based on knowledge of Forest City and DDR's presence in the city, and maybe some knowledge of the Stark, Wolstein, and Fleck talk.
June 8, 200619 yr Anyone familiar with the Overtown area of Miami? Never been there, but one of my favorite Outsider artists is from there, Purvis Young You can visit his studio, but from what I understand, the neighborhood is pretty sketchy. Of course that area is the muse for his art. Sketchy is putting it midly. That area is straight gangsta. A while back, we made a wrong turn in the area and stopped at a gas station to get some gas and double check directions, the man at the gas station asked up why are we here? Then I noticed all the crackheads and dealers...the attendant told me to get back in the car and leave AND do it fast! I was like WTF?? The friends we were visiting cussed us out for going there. I have to say, the area looks like Hough right after the riots! It's not cute!!
June 9, 200619 yr here's something new in miami from just today from the nyc curbed blog. the miami "design district" is getting it's first (miami vice style?) condo tower: How to Make Us Care about Miami Friday, June 09, 2006, by Joey -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hey, speaking of lavish parties, the fine folks at Tungsten Properties held one last night on Crosby Street to celebrate the launch of Boulevard, a new "boutique condominium" in, uh, Miami's Design District. Hmm, would New York brokers really want to dedicate their time to selling Miami condos to snowbirds? Hellz to the yeah, because check out what incentives are being dangled: 5% fees paid to referring brokers, 4-day trips to Le Sereno Beach Hotel in St. Barths and, best of all, free vespas. OK, we have to ask: what is it with brokers and vespas? If anybody was at the party or would like to comment on the correlation between real estate salespeople and small Italian scooters, please speak up. · Boulevard [Tungsten Florida] link: http://www.curbed.com/archives/2006/06/09/how_to_make_us_care_about_miami.php the condo link: http://www.tungstenflorida.com/
June 9, 200619 yr Its so funny that you posted that. The real estate guy I was speaking to a few weeks ago sent me this article. In his email he went on to say, that developers own about 30% of the condo's built. http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/13986063.htm
June 11, 200619 yr Take the Lever House... ...chop off a couple of floors, jazz up the facade, retain the horizontal piece, flip the site plan, garnish with palms... ...and voila!:
June 12, 200619 yr I didn't know that Miami's downtown was so dead. I don't pay much attention to cities outside of the midwest and northeast.
June 22, 200618 yr I just remembered that Miami was founded and built up by a bunch of Clevelanders from Euclid Avenue. Weird.
June 22, 200618 yr ^Is that the origin of "The Clevelander" on Ocean Dr.? Well if anything Miami and LA's dead downtowns prove you /don't/ need to have a vibrant core to be one of the world's most famous cities. Miami is a totally chaotic place with large chunks of the population who seemingly have nothing whatsoever to do with each other. A guy I used to work for was shot by a Cuban there and lost an eye in a case of mistaken identity and I myself took a wrong turn on foot and was accosted by a pack of roving dogs. The place is totally nuts. Meanwhile, the women in Miami Beach are ridiculously good-looking but all have these vacant stares.
June 23, 200618 yr ^^ MyTwoSense, I think you need to make a distinction btw Miami's 2 downtowns: the old rundown one south of the Miami river and that North of the River, around Brickell (w/ all the banks and stuff) where you were. Both are doornail dead after 6p, but at least the North downtown is beautiful and dead. ^^Vulpster, you make some salient points, but I wouldn't say all the condos are "fortress like" Miami's building. Indeed, I found those in N. Downtown, along the beach, to be breathtaking. (I wish Cleveland could grab a few). Btw, I do think the Metro(People) Mover is a pretty slick way to get around downtown and connect to the Metrorail. Also, Vulpster (and others), I agree that the politically/physically removed Miami (South) Beach is the beehive of the entire Southland area (which includes the entire urban land mass more or less south of Palm Beach to the foot of the State). However, none of you mentioned Coconut Grove which is about 3 miles south of downtown along the ocean. This area South Beach-like -- oddly, Miami's City Hall lies there and not downtown. CG is the happening retail/entertainment area and is surrounded by elegant high-rise condos... And there are other similar areas, like Sunset Village. Then, of course there's Coral Gables, where the U. of Miami is, which is kind of like the Shaker Heights of Miami (like Shaker, it was carefully plotted by a wealthy RE guy in the 1920s). Indeed, the city and burb area to the South (along Dixie Hwy and the elevated Metrorail) is where the action in Greater Miami (sans S. Beach) appears to lie. North of downtown (indeed, downtown itself) is poor and rundown and extends deep into northern burbs as well (ie, Opa Locka is merely East Cleveland w/ Spanish architecture, palms and a lot of dirt roads and sand). All that said, I agree w/ MTS and Vulpster -- take away the weather advantage (in my book, not the total advantage as many see it, as I do like the change of seasons -- though our long, bitter winters do wear on me), and Miami's really overrated compared to Cleveland on a national scale. Aside from the weather, it burns me that, in the general public mindset, Miami is positive as a place to visit and we are not, ... though things may be a-changin'...
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