Arts festival looking for artists

The Grove Arts Festival is now inviting artists from around the country to apply for participation in this year's event to be held Feb. 16-18, 2007. I don't think I have seen any new artists so I'm not quite sure if this is a joke or not. I just see the same stale stuff year after year. Maybe finally they want something fresh.

Artists can apply online at www.coconutgroveartsfest.com. There is a $55 application fee.

They also are looking at art for the official poster. The deadline is Sept. 18 for both the regular application and the poster design. For more information on the poster contest, call 305-447-0401.

Vizcaya weekend

The masses were out yesterday at Vizcaya, you'd think they were giving something away. Oh wait, they were: Free entry.

People did take advantage. The next Free open house is Sept. 24th.

Vizcaya is Free today!

Admission to Vizcaya Museum and Gardens is free again today for South Florida residents.

Planned are house and garden tours, art-making workshops for kids, flamenco dancing, storytelling and an exhibit of historic cars.

Vizcaya is at 3251 S. Miami Ave. - open from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Admission will also be free on Sept. 24.

For more information, visit www.vizcayamuseum.org or call 305-250-9133.

Service sucks at the Fresh Market

I've finally had it with the Fresh Market and have decided never to shop there again. Their customer service is nonexistent and at their prices, they should be ashamed of themselves.

Any given weekday, at lunchtime, say between noon and 3 pm, there are maybe 25 to 30 customers at the deli waiting for service. Behind the counter are about 7 people, 6 of them with their fingers up their you know whats, and one incompetent one serves the masses.

The one serving never has a clue and never gets the orders right and always has their mind in the clouds. Today I literally told them to cancel my order and I walked out. I had about $100.00 worth of nonsense that I really didn't need (Mediterranean salad, salmon, panini sandwich), all luxuries, which they overcharge you for and you think they would bend over backwards to get you to buy more of this nonsense that you could live without.

So I left the stuff because the person helping me had no clue and had a nasty attitude.

I ended up at Milam's deli where it is worse. There is this dude that looks like Mario from Super Mario Brothers, and he does nothing. An old lady was waiting to be served and "Mario" just fiddled with the food. After 10 minutes of this he asks the lady if she needs help. I had arrived late so I assumed he was already helping her while he was fiddling with the food. She says, "Yes, I thought you were going to help me."

I just walked out. This village is full of fools.

More Grove crime

Another ugly crime in the Grove.

An elderly lady with Alzheimer's was attacked in her own home on Lincoln Ave.

Story here.

Miami Vice - Faces in the Grove

While searching for other things, I came across this old invitation for the 1985 Miami Wrap Party, after their first season. Apparently they liked to hang in the Grove.

You can click here to see photos of Don Johnson and the gang at the old Faces in the Grove.

New Grove library

The new Varrick Park Branch Library in the West Grove broke ground this week. The new library at 3255 Plaza Street should be completed by the end of 2007.

It's an incredible addition to the Grove, where the only library now is quite small.

The new library will have computer terminals and allow people WiFi laptop access.

Village West?

Now they want to call the West Grove the "Village West." Can't anything just be what it is? Does every freaking neighborhood have to change names? The final straw to me was when Cutler Ridge became Cutler Bay. I grew up and went to school in Cutler Ridge, now it doesn't exist.

"Village West" sounds like some TV cowboy show. Isn't that where the tourist was recently gunned down by a modern day bandit? Maybe the name is totally fitting.

More on the Rua project

I had to laugh when I read this final sentence of a Herald article:

"Rua's project is one of several high-density developments in the works near Metrorail stops. County officials hope to increase mass transit ridership by creating jobs, housing and recreational facilities near stations." Total story here.

All the project is going to do is clog up traffic, use up local resources and ugly-up the area even more. People are not going to use Metrorail any more than they do now.

Bring back the Latin American restaurant. That was the perfect thing for that particular site.

Feminist Images of Empowerment tonight

Feminist Images of Empowerment -- Women on the Rise: Jillian Hernandez, curatorial associate of Museum the of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in North Miami, is holding a workshop designed to give each participant a greater understanding of the power of feminist art.

7 p.m. tonight, there is a wine and cheese reception,
7:30 p.m. the presentation starts

Location: Women's Club of Coconut Grove, 2985 S. Bayshore Dr., Coconut Grove; $10, $5 students with ID. Info: 305-374-0371.

Why?

Why was this thing allowed to be built at the entrance to Grove Isle? Do the owners have some sort of vendetta against Grove Isle? I was actually house hunting on this street, saw this on the corner and told my realtor, "next neighborhood, please." Talk about bringing down property values.

Keep the Grove a small village

The Grove does not need more development, low rise or high rise.

The Grove is a small village and needs to remain a small village. Why destroy the area and make it high density? To serve what purpose? To have more people on the streets? How the hell does that help? Less is more.

Do we need to cry for business people who are not locals? People who decided to leave their own neighborhoods to set up shop here, hoping to milk tourists, which are gone now? The tourism business is a risky business.

All of my posts below had to do with people complaining to me about businesses hurting in downtown Grove. My suggestion is -- screw 'em. If businesses want to relocate to the Grove and only be there to cater to tourists, then that is their problem. Try catering to the very people that live in the Grove: people with a lot of spending power.

The Grove can thrive without tourists and actually does. The Grove has some of the highest housing prices in the city, in the world, in fact.

Businesses that will serve the local Groveites will survive. I have no sympathy for businesses that come into an area to milk tourists and then when the toursits are gone, they cry foul. A pharmacy, supermarket, shoe store, bank, hardware store (Shell Lumber, not the Home Despot), will always survive because they cater to locals.

For anyone to suggest we need more development to cater to Cocowalk and Mayfair is out of their minds.

A reader commented below: "The problem is, this involves lifestyle changes for a lot of Groveites, and I certainly don’t get the feeling they are prepared for this. In fact, it seems like a lot of residents wish the Grove would retrofit itself more into a suburban country village than an inner city neighborhood 2 or 3 miles from a major downtown. In my opinion, if this progressive approach or similar is not embraced soon, developers will go elsewhere and this neighborhood’s incredible potential will not be realized."

AMEN. From your mouth to God's ears. When are people going to learn that the Grove does not want developers? We are a village and want to remain that. Who cares that we are a few miles from downtown? Does that mean we need to be enveloped by downtown?

Look at Coral Gables now. It is a total overdeveloped mess. We don't want that here.

How to bring money to downtown Grove

There are lots of comments on the post below.

Basically all I was trying to say is that tourism in the Grove is basically over. People prefer to be in South Beach and the new and growing downtown and design district and now I see where even Sunny Isles Beach and North Beach are attracting celebrities and in turn attracting tourists.

The Grove can attract tourists by actually being the Grove and not being a mall, which it sort of is trying to be, with all the chain stores and restaurants. You can find Johnny Rockets, the Gap, Cheesecake Factory and most of the other places in any mall.

If the Grove went back to being the Grove, that would be the actual attraction of the Grove. Tourists would appreciate the purity and realness of it. A real little thriving village like Greenwich Village in NYC for example.

People are talking about progress and saying the old Grove is gone, but it really isn't. The same charming buildings are basically here -- the same beautiful landscape, large shady trees, waterfront, etc. We just need some funky businesses, a sane parking situation and some originality. Let's get rid of the mall mentality.

Look at the Fresh Market, most days, it is so busy that it is hard to get parking. That is what the Grove needs, more places for locals. I know the Fresh Market is a chain, but it is a supermarket that is frequented by locals, not tourists. And it thrives on local dollars on a daily basis, not on the whims of tourists.

The locals are the ones who will bring business to downtown Grove. Not tourists.

Why does the Grove need 'a draw'?

People keep talking about the Grove needing "a draw." Why?

Why does the Grove have to be a tourist destination? Why can't the Grove be a sleepy little village where the locals can be alone without busloads of sightseers?

As businesses are weeded out through the fight for survival, local businesses can move in. The CVS is doing well, it is used by locals. Why not a Publix somewhere? I always felt the Borders Books location would be good for that aside from the parking problems.

Mayfair used to be a Winn-Dixie and Cocowalk was a gas station that I think ended up being a mini-flea market on weekends after the gas station closed. To be honest, this was the Grove to me, not the monolithic tourist traps that took over. I know the idea of a gas station in the center of the Grove is not very appealing, but it did have a Mayberry-Andy Griffith feel to it. I am not asking for that to return, I am just saying that that was the pure and real Coconut Grove to me.

Rather than try to draw tourists from South Beach, why not try to lure village-friendly businesses that would serve the locals on a daily basis. I think this is more of a pure thing that would draw tourists in the end, rather than chain stores and restaurants. The local flavor would draw tourists, not the Gap and Johnny Rockets.

Peacocks in the park

There is an idea kicking around about: Peacocks in the Grove. They would be painted peacocks just like the Gables did with flamingos and little Havana with chickens. I remember the cows in New York years ago, all parts of the city had the funky painted creatures. It really was fun thing.

The thoughts on the peacocks is that local artists would paint the larger than life sculptures and they would be displayed all over the Grove. When sold at the end, the money raised would benefit Grove artists and possibly other Grove things.

Rua project held to reasonable size

The Cocoanut Grove Village Council is really doing good things these days.

They shot down developer Carlos Rua's plans to take advantage of the Grove by increasing and increasing the size of his project at 27th Ave. and US1. It was first proposed as two towers (10 and 14 stories) in 1999. Then he came back with a proposal for 19 stories, then finally he wants a 35 story and 25 story tower.

Talk about greed.

At one point, a supermarket was planned as part of the towers, makes you wonder if that would be Milam's and that Home Depot would be taking over the whole piece of land at 32nd and US1, easing Milam's out across the highway as part of Rua's project. But that may have been in 1999, when K-mart was still open and Home Depot wasn't even a thought.

Anyway, the Village Council agreed to keep the smaller version by a vote of 5 to 4.

Good news, bad news

The good news: A suspect (Brandon Rolle, shown here) is being held in the tourist killing last week.

The bad news: An innocent man died for a few bucks some jewelry.

Pitch in -- help with house clean-up

Rebuilding Together and the Coconut Grove Village West Homeowners and Tenants Association (two non-profits) will pitch in and fix up a home on Thomas Ave., on Saturday. Painting, repairs and cleaning up are part of the project.

At 7 am, volunteers are meeting at Christ Episcopal Church, on Elizabeth Street and Thomas Avenue, for registration, coffee and doughnuts. Then it's off for a busy day of work.

Tropical Storm Chris seems to be cooperating but this does depend on the weather.

To volunteer, call Lottie Person at 305-441-2013. To be part of Rebuilding Together's future efforts, or to donate materials, call James McCants at 305-668-7237.

Again, the weather will be a factor. (For a better view of the map, click on it and it will enlarge).

Why Grove business is drying up

I have noticed that the cops are lying in wait to give tickets to cars who don't come to a full stop at Mary Street and Grand Ave. Same for Aviation and Bird Ave.

That and the parking situation (confusing meters and such) has kept business from downtown Grove. Also the non-stop street blocking by construction crews doesn't help either. Virginia Street near Cocowalk is a nightmare with that new monstrosity going up. The cement trucks have the street blocked daily.

And Bird Ave. and 27th Ave. is a total mess across from Slice 'n Ice, all traffic is directed away from entering Aviation because builders always get what they want and residents who actually pay taxes suffer. You can see by the photo here that one whole lane of traffic is closed so that private development can go on.

Who is in charge of parking and traffic flow? They really are asleep at their desks.

The Grove is going downhill by the minute. More and more storefronts are shut because of lack of business.