The Redland

Incorporate The Redland

December 1st, 2007 Categories: The Redland

When I moved to South Florida over 6 years ago I saw the signs all over the Redland.

KEEP IT RURAL. INCORPORATE REDLAND

The others said FARMERS AGAINST INCORPORATION

OK, I could see there were two different points of view going on but something wasn’t right.

Even before knowing the issues or how long the battle had been going on, something was amiss. One group wanted to keep it rural. I got that one. And the other (whom I thought was synonymous with “rural”) were against them. That one I didn’t couldn’t get. What the??

I could not wrap my head around the notion that a group was trying to keep things rural and farmers were going against them to not keep it rural. Aren’t farmers rural? Don’t they have tractors and other slow moving vehicles which work best in rural areas? Don’t they have open land where their crops are planted and isn’t that where the term rural originated? Why would farmers not want to keep things rural?

After a little investigation, naive me got it. The problem was that I was applying logic to this. There was no logic involved in this at all. Logic tells you that farmers embrace rural.

The problem stems from the fact that greed is what’s driving this. Yeah, the almighty dollar, peso, dubloon, whatever. The farmers have been farming the land for decades. And when they’re done farming they want to be able to sell it. OK. I see no problem with this. The land is theirs. They have every legal right to sell it.

But it isn’t enough to be able to sell it for one million when ten million is so much more. Not direct enough for you? Try this then:

1. Land in the Redland is listed for about $250,000 per acre. It’s a hard sell in this market, but that’s about the average list price.
2. The Redland sits outside the UDB and if you want to build out here, you either need a minimum of 5 acres or a smaller parcel that has been grandfathered in. Developers don’t like this. I can sum it up in one word: density. Why build one house when you can stick 40 in the same space?
3. If the Redland incorporates, developers know they’ll have a snowball’s chance in H-E-Double Hockeysticks of getting a development approved.
4. Developers can’t build, developers won’t buy.
5. The farmers’ exact parcel is worth less if a developer won’t buy it.

The fight to incorporate the Redland, and keep it rural, has been going on for about 10 years. Here’s an article that does an excellent job if providing the history and players.

I’ll be writing more about this. But for now, this should prove a satisfying appetizer.

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All I Want For Christmas…

November 21st, 2007 Categories: The Redland

I see them all the time. Riding their bikes they look like any other boys across America two-wheeling around town. Except they’re not riding for fun. Some are barely past the boy stage. Others left it a long time ago.

I’m referring to the farm workers I see all around the Redland riding their bikes to and from work. The other night as I drove west on 200th street I passed two of them, one after the other. It was pitch black and they seemed to come out of nowhere. Of course, they had been there but I just didn’t see them until they came into the realm of my headlights.

I was struck by the notion that anyone who might have had too much to drink could have killed one of them. Or both. The thought still pops into my head when I see another on this mode of transportation.

As dangerous as it may be to ride a bike at night on the dark, agricultural streets of the Redland, they’re thankful to have a way to get to work. Some aren’t so lucky and have to walk. I saw two ladies and a child walking in the rain one evening and backtracked to pick them up. Part of me wanted to help them and another part was troubled that they had taken a ride from a stranger. We hear so many bad things.

I had my mother and daughter in the car with me and even so, they thought twice before getting in the car with us. I rejoiced at that secretly. They had been waiting for their ride when it started raining. The ride was late and they headed to Krome on foot. It was at least a mile and a half away.

Just today Dad brought a migrant worker to the house to pick out a bicycle for himself. He had given him a ride in the past and knows that this man walks about 3 miles each way, each day. We have some unwanted bikes and knew it would make a difference to him to be able to cycle to work and not have to walk. I fixed him a sandwich while they looked at the bikes.

It turns out he had a bike in the past but it had been taken from him. Stolen would be my guess, although he didn’t call it that. As I looked at the grown man pedal away on a bike that had belonged to my then-twelve-year-old nephew I hurt for him and those like him.

Working for pay that I’m sure is less than most Americans will work for. And back-breaking work at that. Some like to whoop it up on the weekends and head down to Homestead for a little beer and a little dancing. After working hard all week, I can’t say I really blame them. Some have no way to get there and have their beers closer to home. Others don’t drink and just keep to themselves.

I’d love to get bicycles for all of them. And give them jackets with reflective decals to keep them safe. And while I’m wishing, I’d like dedicated bike lanes too. I can dream, can’t I?

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Community Activist Selling Redland Home

November 21st, 2007 Categories: The Redland

I was somewhat surprised, and more than a little disappointed to see Pat Wade’s home with a For Sale sign outside. And my disappointment did not stem from the fact that she did not list with me. lol

No, my disappointment wasn’t self-serving. I’ve seen how hard Pat has worked in the effort to incorporate the Redland. I support Redland incorporation. I hope Pat won’t be going too far and will be available for guidance, if needed. My best wishes to Pat and her family in their new endeavours.

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Resting In The Redland

November 6th, 2007 Categories: The Redland

Sunday was a glorious day in the Redland. The air was crisp with the coming fall (at least for an hour or two it was LOL). The sun was shining. A gentle breeze was blowing. I sat on my porch late afternoon and took a snooze. Well, as much of a snooze as my two cats will let me take. The dogs were busy inside barking as well. It didn’t take a lot of effort on my part to ignore them =)
Days like that one make me glad I moved to the Redland. Selling real estate in Miami isnt terribly easy right now. But resting in the Redland is.

I listened to the birds calling. I watched the palm trees swaying in the breeze. I saw the neighbors take their horses for a stroll. They rode them down the dirt road. At the main road they could at least see some cars pass by. I preferred the tranquility of my porch.

Apart from the horses and the neighbors I saw no one else. Our street, like most in the Redland, doesnt get a lot of traffic. Ours gets even less since its not paved. Not many want to encounter the wrath of the mud puddles of a dirt road after a rain.

I closed my eyes half-way and enjoyed the time I spent doing nothing. The next day Id be actively back at work. That afternoon I had been working. But that very moment I did nothing but sit on my porch and enjoy the Redland. I highly recommend it.

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Brand New Homestead Hospital Is Open For Business

July 12th, 2007 Categories: The Redland

While looking through my files today I realized that I had taken pictures of the brand new Homestead Hospital at their open house last month and never posted them.

Homestead Hospital is as impressive as we thought it would be. Just the mere fact that it was built to withstand a category 5 hurricane is pretty impressive to me. To read more about the hospital and it’s construction, check out my prior blog. It opened it’s doors on May 6, 2007. In the meantime, here are some real pictures of the place. I’ve been playing around with a photo editing program. Hope I didn’t mess them up too much =) The lights reminded me of a UFO so I included them here.

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Hi Ho Silver Awaaayy!!

June 7th, 2007 Categories: The Redland

It’s not every day I get stuck in traffic behind a horse.  Oh, living in the Miami Redlands, I see horses being transported all the time.  And I usually see local horse owners taking them out for leisurely rides.  But today I saw something different.

I was driving on SW 200th Street when I saw a horse galloping like a bat out of you-know-where towards 200th street.  I knew that if I didn’t slow down he and my vehicle might actually have a sudden and, more than likely, injuring collision. 

As he reached the street he barely slowed and turned onto the street and in front of my car.  He didn’t even signal.  That told me he’s a Miami native   My daughter and I were very interested in seeing where he was going.  He continued galloping at about 25 miles per hour with us right behind him. 

The cars started to accumulate behind us.  SW 200th Street has a speed limit of 45 mph in that area but I can tell you most folks do 60.  To the state troopers it’s like shooting fish in a barrel when they hang out on that street and give out speeding tickets.  They can reach their monthly quota in one day, I bet.  But now everyone had to slow down to 25 or less based on the horse’s whim.  Plus the horse had the oncoming traffic to deal with as well.

Thankfully most folks were pretty patient and everyone was slowing down to look at this spectacular creature running free in the middle of traffic.  Whheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!  I kept thinking I had to do something and asked my daughter for permission to stop.  I was taking her to school, you see, to look at the posted results and find out if she had made it onto the cheerleading squad.  We mustn’t be late!  It might rain or something and the ink could run and render the results illegible and she might have to wait until Monday to find out if she’d made it.  Horrors!  She begrudgingly agreed that she could spare 5 minutes.

Broker Maggie and Little One to the rescue!  The horse had now decided that a side road looked more interesting and turned down that way (again, without using the turn signal).  We had travelled about half a mile from were we saw the horse get onto the street and I had not seen any vehicles come in off that road.  I checked traffic and made a u-turn.  As I passed a few cars that had gathered I asked one man getting out if that was his horse.  He told me it wasn’t and I told him I knew where he’d come from and I would go alert the owner. 

The horse was oblivious to all this hoopla and was now quietly and calmly getting farther and farther away from us and the civilization to be found on the state road.  I took off to find the owner, the whole time hoping I would be successful.  I’d heard stories of horses getting stolen in the Miami Redlands and I certainly didn’t want this poor fella to be one of the statistics. 

As I reached the road from whence he’d come I turned and saw a truck careening down the dirt road towards us.  I honked frantically at him and he finally stopped.  It turned out he was indeed the owner and I told him exactly where he could find him.  As soon as you pass the train tracks make a right and follow the road.  No, no, the horse isn’t on the train tracks, he’s on the next road that runs beside them and gaining distance every minute.  He thanked me and off he sped!

As we got back on course and headed to school Little One commented “that was fun.”  “Yes Little One.  Living the Redlands often is.”

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