Gentrification of Miami

Last updated

The gentrification of Miami is the process taking place in which Miami is transitioning to appeal to a more typical, middle and upper-class taste. This occurred in the same way most cities are gentrified, by cleaning up the neighborhood, rebuilding cultural monuments and parks, and encouraging artists to engage in business there, with the promise of consumers to buy their wares. [1]

Contents

The gentrification of Miami was driven by wealthy South American investors. [2] Miami became a multicultural city, due in great part to promotion by the entertainment industry. Latino celebrities are notorious for their eye-catching "Miami lifestyle". The lives of most immigrants are far from glamorous or celebrated. Non-white immigrants—specifically African descendants—continue to experience difficulty finding employment and risk displacement by the city's growth and development. [3]

History

As recently as the 1970s, South Beach was mostly deserted, aside from retirees. Art Deco buildings built in the 1920s and 1930s had mostly deteriorated. The primary commerce available was minimal and catered to retirees. From 1965 to 1973, an estimate of 300,000 Cubans were transported to Miami seeking refugee in what is known as the Freedom Flights. In 1980, the Mariel boatlift brought 125,000 Cuban immigrants. This influx of immigrants brought significant change to Miami. Some of these immigrants had been released by Fidel Castro from mental hospitals and prisons. Many were regular citizens fleeing political persecution. The mass influx of immigrants overwhelmed South Beach. The area did not have the infrastructure to house them and the city degenerated into slum and blight. In 1981, the Miami Beach Community Development Corporation devised a plan to revamp the city, exploiting its tropical climate, beaches and available workers in the area. [2]

Neighborhoods

West Coconut Grove

Bahamians were some of the first settlers in Coconut Grove before it was annexed by the city. They began settling in the 1800s, many immigrating from Key West in pursuit of jobs and sustained their heritage and culture there. The original Bahamian settlement grew to incorporate African American settlers in the 1920s. At that time, the area was segregated to split it from nearby Coral Gables. These settlers constructed the first black church, cemetery and library, which survive. [4] The community has remained cohesive through continued efforts to separate it from the rest of Coconut Grove and Coral Gables, including the West Grove trolley garage. The community resisted city zoning and redevelopment that would have adversely impacted their community via historic district and neighborhood conservation district classifications. The Miami 21 Zoning Code refers to the West Grove as being “of special and substantial interest due to the unique Caribbean and Bahamian character and heritage”. Nevertheless, some politicians and developers circumvent these regulations. Community Benefits Agreements allowed developers to engage directly with the community, attempting to expedite gentrification. [5]

Little Haiti

Haitians began arriving in Miami in the 1960s, peaking at 25,000 refugees in 1980.[ citation needed ] Many Haitians were sent back to Haiti, lacking the favorable status granted to Cuban immigrants. Using the Cuban/Haitian immigration disparity to unite Haitians, Viter Juste, Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer for the Miami Herald , coined the phrase “Little Haiti”. [6] Gentrification in Wynwood and the Miami Design District is spilling over into Little Haiti and displacing Haitians. Haitian communities are some of the poorest in Miami-Dade County, and the relocation of wealthy residents to other areas has not helped their plight. Their Haitian Creole language increases isolation from the outside world.[ neutrality is disputed ] The social cohesion of language and culture in the community intensifies the disruptive effects of gentrification. [5] [ clarification needed ] One 2017 study predicted that Little Haiti would gentrify more rapidly than any other neighborhood in South Florida. [7] Community leaders aim to target this problem by encouraging and assisting home ownership by locals. [5]

Overtown

Overtown was established as the central African-American neighborhood in segregated Miami during the Jim Crow era. Originally labeled “Colored Town”, it soon grew to incorporate immigrants from the Caribbean, such as Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago. These immigrants established some of the first Black-owned businesses in South Florida. [8] By the 1960s, it had a thriving musical culture and became known as “The Harlem of the South”, catering to artists such as B. B. King and Aretha Franklin. The construction of the I-95 in the 1960s was a major contributing factor in the decline of Overtown. The highway divided the community into four quadrants that complicated efforts by community developers to unify it. Due to the destruction of homes and businesses, from 1960 to 1970 the population decreased by 50%. [9] Efforts to improve the neighborhood include renovations of the Lyric Theater and the Miami Greenway River Action Plan of 2001. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gentrification</span> Urban socioeconomic process

Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has been used to describe a wide array of phenomena, usually in a pejorative connotation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coconut Creek, Florida</span> City in Florida, United States

Coconut Creek is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. Situated 37 miles (60 km) north of Miami, it had an estimated population of 57,348 in 2022. It is part of South Florida's Miami metropolitan area. The city seceded from Pompano Beach in the 1960s. It is nicknamed "Butterfly Capital of the World" because it is home to Butterfly World, the world's largest butterfly aviary, with over 80 species and 20,000 individual butterflies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coconut Grove</span> Neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States

Coconut Grove, also known colloquially as “The Grove,” is an affluent and the oldest continuously inhabited neighborhood of Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The neighborhood is roughly bounded by North Prospect Drive to the south, LeJeune Road to the west, South Dixie Highway and Rickenbacker Causeway to the north, and Biscayne Bay to the east. It is south of the neighborhoods of Brickell and The Roads and east of Coral Gables. The neighborhood's name has been sometimes spelled "Cocoanut Grove" but the definitive spelling "Coconut Grove" was established when the city was incorporated in 1919.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Haiti</span> Neighborhood of Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States

Little Haiti, is a neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States. It is known historically as Lemon City, Little River and Edison. It is home to Haitian immigrant residents, as well as residents from the rest of the Caribbean.

Bahamian Americans are an ethnic group of Caribbean Americans of Bahamian ancestry. There are an estimated 56,797 people of Bahamian ancestry living in the US as of 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Overtown (Miami)</span> Neighborhood of Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States

Overtown is a neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States, just northwest of Downtown Miami. Originally called Colored Town in the Jim Crow era of the late 19th through the mid-20th century, the area was once the preeminent and is the historic center for commerce in the black community in Miami and South Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Miami</span>

Thousands of years before Europeans arrived, a large portion of south east Florida, including the area where Miami, Florida exists today, was inhabited by Tequestas. The Tequesta Native American tribe, at the time of first European contact, occupied an area along the southeastern Atlantic coast of Florida. They had infrequent contact with Europeans and had largely migrated by the middle of the 18th century. Miami is named after the Mayaimi, a Native American tribe that lived around Lake Okeechobee until the 17th or 18th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liberty Square (Miami)</span> Public housing apartment complex in Miami, Florida, United States

Liberty Square, often referred to as the Pork & Beans, is a 753-unit Miami-Dade public housing apartment complex in the Liberty City neighborhood of Miami, Florida. It is bordered at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard/North 62nd Street to the south, North 67th Street to the north, State Road 933 to the east, and Northwest 15th Avenue to the west. Constructed as a part of the New Deal by the Public Works Administration and opening in 1937, it was the first public housing project for African Americans in the Southern United States. It is featured in the 2023 documentary film, Razing Liberty Square.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greater Downtown Miami</span> Neighborhood in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States

Downtown Miami is the urban city center of Miami, Florida, United States. The city's greater downtown region consists of the Central Business District, Brickell, the Historic District, Government Center, the Arts & Entertainment District, and Park West. It is divided by the Miami River and is bordered by Midtown Miami's Edgewater, and Wynwood sections to its north, Biscayne Bay to its east, the Health District and Overtown to its west, and Coconut Grove to its south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wynwood</span> Neighborhood of Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States

Wynwood is a neighborhood in Miami, Florida. Wynwood is known for being an entertainment district, with artwork, restaurants, breweries, clothing stores, and dance venues, among other retail options. Formerly an industrial district, the area is now known for the murals that cover the walls of many of the buildings and many of the sidewalks. It is north of Downtown Miami and Overtown, and adjacent to Edgewater. Wynwood has two major sub-districts, the Wynwood Art District in northern Wynwood, and the Wynwood Fashion District along West 5th Avenue. Wynwood roughly is divided by North 20th Street to the south, I-195 to the north, I-95 to the west and the Florida East Coast Railway to the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haitian diaspora</span> Geographical distribution of Haitian people

Haiti has a sizable diaspora, present primarily in the United States, Panama, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Canada, France, the Bahamas, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil and Chile. They also live in other countries like Costa Rica, Mexico, Bolivia, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, Venezuela, Argentina, Barbados, Dominica, Suriname, Aruba, Guyana, Belgium, Switzerland, United States Virgin Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, among others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conch house</span> House style in Florida, US

A conch house is a style of architecture that developed in Key West, Florida in the 19th century and used into the early 20th century. The style was also used in the other keys and in the Miami area. The introduction of the conch house style is attributed to immigrants from the Bahamas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peacock Park</span> Public urban park in Miami, Florida

Peacock Park is a 9.4-acre (3.8 ha) public, urban park where Indian peacocks roam in the Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami, Florida on the shore of Biscayne Bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlotte Jane Memorial Park Cemetery</span> Cemetery in Miami, Florida

Charlotte Jane Memorial Park Cemetery formerly known as Coconut Grove Bahamian Cemetery, is a historic cemetery in Miami, Florida where many Bahamian settlers were buried.

Gentrification, the process of altering the demographic and socioeconomic composition of a neighborhood usually by decreasing the percentage of low-income minority residents and increasing the percentage higher-income residents, has been an issue between the residents of minority neighborhoods in Chicago who believe the influx of new residents destabilizes their communities, and the gentrifiers who see it as a process that economically improves a neighborhood. Researchers have debated the significance of its effects on the neighborhoods and whether or not it leads to the displacement of residents.

Race riots in Miami include a series of violent events that occurred in Miami mainly through the 1980s. After desegregation, much of the racial violence in Miami had calmed only to be reignited by the 1980s. The decade of riots were the result of policing controversies and ethnic tensions fueled by the perceived threat of recent immigrants to African Americans on the Miami job market.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gentrification of Baltimore</span>

The gentrification of Baltimore, Maryland, began in 2000 and continues to transform the city by redeveloping specific neighborhoods to appeal to wealthier residents. Due to Baltimore's large amount of gentrification, the city accounts for a significant amount of the United States gentrification. The gentrification of Baltimore has occurred throughout the city, but particularly in the neighborhoods surrounding the Inner Harbor in Central Baltimore and East downtown Baltimore. The gentrification of Baltimore has occurred through the addition of new housing, increased commercial spaces, and more. The transformation that has occurred throughout the city of Baltimore has many benefits as it improves the city in various ways. However, many others feel that gentrification is unfavorable for Baltimore because it displaces current residents from their homes due to rising prices in newly gentrified neighborhoods.

Climate gentrification is a subset of climate migration, in which certain lower-socioeconomic communities are displaced in place of housing for more wealthy communities. Areas affected by this phenomenon are typically coastal cities, islands, and other vulnerable areas that are susceptible to rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and other climate-related disasters.

Alicia Cervera is a Peruvian-American businesswoman, real estate broker and philanthropist known for her work as the founder and chairman of Cervera Real Estate, a real estate brokerage firm headquartered in Miami, Florida. Cervera has worked alongside notable developers including Harry Helmsley and Jorge M. Perez. She has been compared to Julia Tuttle as one of the women whose impact on the development of Miami has been the most prolific."

Eddie Arroyo is an American visual artist working primarily with landscape painting. His canvases often depict urban scenes and local reference points for the South Florida communities as way to comment on economic and social issues such as gentrification, migration, and intergenerational relationships.

References

  1. Feldman, M., & Jolivet, V. (2014). Back to Little Havana: Controlling gentrification in the heart of Cuban Miami. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 38(4), 1266-1285
  2. 1 2 Viegas, M.S. (2005). Community Development and the South Beach Success Story. Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law & Policy,12, 389-437.
  3. Yudice, George. (2005). Miami: Images of a Latino pols. (REPORT ON RACE, PART 3)(cultural and economic conditions). NACLA Report on the Americas, 39(3), 35-40.
  4. Nebhrajani, R. (2016, May 9th). The Early Bahamian History of Coconut Grove. The New Tropic.
  5. 1 2 3 Dluhy, Milan; Revell, Keith; Wong, Sidney (March 2002). "Creating a Positive Future for a Minority Community: Transportation and Urban Renewal Politics in Miami". Journal of Urban Affairs. 24 (1): 75–95. doi:10.1111/1467-9906.00115. ISSN   0735-2166. S2CID   14339165.
  6. Goyanes, R. (2016, January 31st). Big History of Little Haiti. The New Tropic.
  7. Iannelli, J. (2017, January 6th). Study: Little Haiti Will Gentrify Faster Than Any South Florida Neighborhood in 2017. Miami New Times.
  8. The History of Overtown. (n.d.) Urban Philanthropies.
  9. 1 2 Dluhy, M., Revell, K., & Wong, S. (2002). Creating a Positive Future for a Minority Community: Transportation and Urban Renewal Politics in Miami. Journal of Urban Affairs, 24(1), 75-95.