Local issues on the ballots...

[pod]

With all this talk about the national issues, I think we tend to forget some important local issues are up for a vote this November 2nd.

Depending on your municipality...

http://elections.miamidade.gov/sampleballots.html

The important ones, to me at least are the:

Baylink - Beach residents love this one. My take?: We need some form of mass transit besides the creaky old buses to link the beach with downtown. Their take? All the brown people are gonna invade South Beach and cause a ruckus. Beach voters are racist.

63rd Street Flyover Demolition - What it sounds like. There's a flyover on 63rd Street that some condo residents don't like. They want it demolished. Demolition will take 2 years almost. More traffic!

Building Better Communities Bonds - Various bond acts to "build better communities"...see the website for the skinny.

[web_norah]

i got my absentee and there is a shitload of issues to look at in FL...

[LeVeL]

Thanks Pod for the link, this will be my first time voting so I am basically clueless to this. So many issues and Candidates so little time.

[pod]

The national issues are important, obviously, but so are the local issues...especially this year with the bond issues and Baylink controversy.

[LeVeL]

Exactly you got al these issues on the ballot that people have never evenheard of. I mean I haven't seen a commercial or anybody even mention it. Its like an easy way for the Govenrment to pass a certain issue without people knowing about it. And once its passed and people are complaining its too late.

[pod]

That's the thing. Those bond issues are big things...one of the proposed bonds will finance these huge museums on what is now Bicentennial Park. In my mind this is a waste as Miami has big museums already, but yet doesn't have a proper downtown park. If the museums don't go into place, the park becomes a full-fledged park, and not just a place where they throw concerts from time to time.

Another bond would finance a tunnel from Watson Island to the Seaport so trucks don't clog Downtown Miami trying to get to 395. That is actually a good idea in my mind.

Baylink too is a big deal to me as a regular user of public transit. It would allow a more effective interchange of people to and from the Beach. The current implementation kinda stinks that it is at street-level, but the other implementation was to extend the Metromover, but the Beach residents didn't want to spoil the look of Washington Avenue, so that got shot down...what look?

[LeVeL]

Originally Posted by pod

That's the thing. Those bond issues are big things...one of the proposed bonds will finance these huge museums on what is now Bicentennial Park. In my mind this is a waste as Miami has big museums already, but yet doesn't have a proper downtown park. If the museums don't go into place, the park becomes a full-fledged park, and not just a place where they throw concerts from time to time.

Another bond would finance a tunnel from Watson Island to the Seaport so trucks don't clog Downtown Miami trying to get to 395. That is actually a good idea in my mind.

Baylink too is a big deal to me as a regular user of public transit. It would allow a more effective interchange of people to and from the Beach. The current implementation kinda stinks that it is at street-level, but the other implementation was to extend the Metromover, but the Beach residents didn't want to spoil the look of Washington Avenue, so that got shot down...what look?

I am with youon all those issues....which I was completely clueless about before you posted it.

But that Tunnel idea would be great those dam Trucks do bring enough traffic as it is.

[V. Barbarino]

Originally Posted by pod

Baylink - Beach residents love this one. My take?: We need some form of mass transit besides the creaky old buses to link the beach with downtown. Their take? All the brown people are gonna invade South Beach and cause a ruckus. Beach voters are racist.

can you blame them? miami beach is a war zone...

i'm all for any project that keeps immigrants going east and not north..

[pod]

Not for nothing, but the people that the insular Beach community fears the most come over all the time anyway, but using private transport which adds to the deplorable parking and traffic situation on the Beach. A method of reliable public transit would ease that congestion, with park and rides, and so forth...other major cities have no issues with taking transit to go out on the town...coach pointed out once though that the jet-set wouldn't be caught dead using public transit...then again, the jet-set forms a small minority...the majority of Beach users are people I don't see having an issue taking the train at all...

Yes, I said the Beach is insular. Look around. Most people I know are scared shitless of the mainland. They envision the shiny red trains bringing in loads of crackheads, knife-wielding thugs, and other degenerates. Chaos and anarchy will ensue, and we'll all be going to Epicure in armoured personnel carriers.

Yeah there's some bad parts, but for the most part the mainland is pretty tame (read:boring) and that is why they come to the Beach, and as of late, Downtown. Someone wrote in the Sunpost this week that the Beach is for everyone, black, white, Asian, Latin or anyone in between. Between the rampant opposition to the Baylink project, and the rapid privitization of beachfront property, the Beach is rapidly becoming a private island. Let's get it over with and put up a velvet rope on the causeways manned by the door staff from Mynt.

[bcnjunkie]

In my mind this is a waste as Miami has big museums already, but yet doesn't have a proper downtown park.

absolutely ! the Bass with its' new wing is great, The Wolfosonian is also nice but they are always empty (I never see a great influx of people into these Museums). The Margulies collection is awesome and I think the location is great but It rarely gets the large numbers. MOCA has interesting exhibits also but it's never packed. So I don't understand how they want to build a huge Museum if we can't pack the ones we already have ?

ps for those that don't know the Margulies collection I highly suggest you visit if you like contemporary art. if you are driving on I-95 northbound from dowtown, at about a mile before reaching I195 (SR112) you will see on the right hand side a building with two huge pictures consisting of a man and a woman' face with a sort of blank look... that's the museum. It's in the middle of the garment district and it's a huge warehouse; very city-like indeed