Spotlight 240709 Pedestrians, City Hall, GRACE

In the Spotlight,

South Bayshore’s frustrated pedestrians,
City Hall’s uncertain future, and
The winning campaign of GRACE.

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When Will It Be Safe to Cross South Bayshore Drive?

Frustrated by years of inertia along one of Coconut Grove’s busiest and most dangerous roadways, the newly formed South Bayshore Drive Condo Alliance is leading the call for a pedestrian-friendly approach to traffic management.

by Hank Sanchez-Resnik

An uneasy mix: Pedestrian safety is a top concern of the newly formed South Bayshore Condo Alliance.

A “perfect storm” is heading towards South Bayshore Drive In Coconut Grove. But unlike the 1997 best-selling book that chronicled the rare confluence of meteorological events, precipitating one of the most memorable, if not deadly, storms of the last century, this one may culminate in a less sensational tragedy: pedestrian fatalities.

Is the Sun Setting on City Hall?

Dinner Key’s historic seaplane terminal – and the city offices housed there – face an uncertain future.

by Iris Guzman Kolaya

The terminal of the newly-opened Pan-American Airlines at Dinner Key on April 22, 1934. (Photo courtesy of HistoryMiami).

Seventy-one years ago, Miami city leaders, complaining of cramped quarters in downtown’s Dade County Courthouse, moved its government offices to the former Pan American Airways terminal at Dinner Key in Coconut Grove. The move – always meant to be temporary – finally may be coming to an end.

GRACE: Winning the Battle, Still Fighting the War

Civic group behind redistricting lawsuit promotes affordability, cultural identity as development pressures intensify in the West Grove.

by Alexandra Howard and Grecia Pacheco

New single-family homes in the West Grove, like this one under construction at Hibiscus Street and Percival Avenue, often sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars more than the modest ones they replaced, pricing many long-time residents out of the neighborhood. (Alexandra Howard/Caplin News)

A federal judge’s approval last week of a settlement agreement in a lawsuit challenging the City of Miami’s commission district voting maps brought an end to a three-year legal saga that attracted national attention and cost the city millions of dollars in legal fees.

But for members of the West Grove-based civic group Grove Rights and Community Equity the fight is hardly over.