Bohemia is gone
The Grove is getting to be a terrible place to live. I used to think it was the best place in Dade County, but the powers that be, whomever they are, want to ruin it for us all.Now the big thing is code enforcement harassing artist Eugene ''Jobie'' Steppe, who lives on Gifford Lane. It seems that they don't like his art displayed outside his house (shown above).
So in protest, Jobie has parked his van outside City Hall, with displays and art calling the City Fascists and Nazis. I am not sure why code enforcement allows this van to be parked here but they don't allow art to be displayed on the "art street," which is what Gifford Lane is.
That's where the popular Art Stroll is every year, where everyone agrees you are stepping back in time to what the Grove once was. That's where Dave Collins serves up his famous cucumber punch, from his house with the bright green door. Might the door go next? Maybe code enforcement wants that to be a plain brown now. This street has the most concentration of artists, I often think it should be a tourist attraction and that artists should all display more and make it a small "arts village."
Ironically, the same code enforcement allowed this crap to be built on Gifford Lane. These ugly townhouses shown here should have been banned.
These are total messes on artistic Gifford Lane, maybe Jobie should be let loose here and he can do his stuff to make these horrors and other horrors like it on Gifford Lane look presentable.
But the real problem here is that the Grove is turning into a homogenized place, with no character. Maria Freed said it best here.
Read this blog's archives for the past month or so, see what a horror the Grove is becoming: The peacocks have to go, bikes are not allowed at CocoWalk, the colorful flower carts on Bird Ave. were removed (although I saw one today), "Burn Notice" is being kicked out so the Expo Center land can sit as an empty lot for years and so on. We are not Coral Gables. We are not blah Bal Harbour and we don't want to be ugly Sunny Isles.
Now the artists are being shut down and are not allowed to express themselves. Are we in Cuba or China? I am totally confused.
Where has the Bohemian Coconut Grove gone? Why are we allowing this to happen?
More tomorrow.
posted by Tom Falco at 11:36 AM
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17 Comments:
Sounds like Jobie has pizazz. I think that's good for a town.
Poor Hippies.
They are a walking contradiction. They don't think humanity has the ability to live life on their own so they demand more government to solve their problems.
As government grows, like in this case, an overzealous code enforcement, they begin to lose their freedoms.
We may end up like China or Cuba, but it is because "we the people" keep demanding that government solve all of our problems.
Much of this thinking comes right out of the 1960's
Um can someone tell me what that hippie commentator was talking about?
I think Grape's comment was the opposite of promoting governmental involvement and the restrictions.
I don't know about anyone else, but when I moved into the Grove, I expected peacocks (and their accompanying mess)and artists displaying their wares and even green doors on houses. I did not move to Coral Gables or to Celebration up in Orlando.
I frankly think we have the wrong City officials occupying space in the Pan Am Terminal. It starts with the black kiosk guy with a circle and goes up to the Mayor.
I for one do not want to be plain vanilla. I enjoy the Grove and all its diversity.
You don't like it in the Grove Grape? Too much development ever since your high rise was built? Seriously, you might be the biggest hypocrite of all time. Until you drive a hybrid instead of your Mercedes and then sell your high rise condo and move to a shack in the Center Grove then please stop blogging pretending like you are 'bohemian.' You are not a qualified advocate for a solution here. You are part of the problem.
Aw c'mon, don't attack the person, attack the argument. If he didn't present an extreme point of view (whether he lives by it or not) I, for one, wouldn't find this blog nearly as interesting.
50 year native's humble opinion:
The Grove still has that Utopian atmosphere. The waterfront, the tree-lined streets, the sidewalk cafes. They all emit charm and character, very similar to that of a Sausalito.
That will not change.
Attitudes will. I like Jobe Steppe, his art, and Gifford Lane. I think he should be left alone. But the city doesn't care what I think.
Jobe's violation is not displaying the art. It's the selling of the art. Unfortunately, there are rules which apply to home-based businesses.
Grapevine is right. Bohemia is gone. However, c'mon. The Grove is not in any danger of "becoming a terrible place to live".
I love Giffort Lane and its artists!
Please don't take this the wrong way, but I have a question.
Is jobie, the artist creating the art or just importing it from China?
This changes my opinion, anyone know?
-Louis
wow grape u have a jealous reader and a hater
So what is wrong with selling a work or two every once in a while from the home? If that is illegal then why do we put up with institutionalized government official corruption and perverse nepotism in Miami? Why do we put up with political lobbies and soft money? My opinion has been that we are living in Cuba, unforunaely.
Guess you can't be successful and be Bohemian. But without the successful Bohemians there is no Grove. They support us poor artists. Anonomous 3:58 doesnt even have a brain he apparently is warped by jealousy.
OMG, the Schumuck, er, I mean Anonymous 3:58 solved Jobie's problem! Tom can sell his car and move and that will keep Jobie in business. And I am going to sell my car and move to solve world hunger and my boyfriend is going to sell his car and move and cause world peace.
We needed a jealous Schmuck like you Anonymous 3:58 to solve all the world's problems.
I drive a Mercedes, too. I also patronize the arts. I don't understand how one hurts the other. In fact, the people with money are the ones who support the arts. The artists themselves rely on us Mercedes drivers. We are all Bohemian, rich and poor.
Jobie's zeal for art is what the Grove is all about, but what I don't like is the Nazi sign on his van. That is offensive and extreme. Fight back with your rights and a good legal argument.
Anyone know the developer of that big orange duplex - that is an architectural abortion - two big garage doors in the front seem to be the focal point and of course the owners can't even put their SUV or pick up in the garage; it is probably too narrow. And then those towers on either end. OMG.
We can thank Commissioner Sarnoff!
Oh well, the problem started the moment that those McMonstruosities were allowed to be built one after the other, with total disregard for the way surrounding properties looked. I have, out of curiosity, walked inside a couple of those places when they were for sale and was apalled at the amount of square footage that was covered by construction and pavement vs. the lush nature that most of us are used to in the Grove, and thought to myself that it would be an awful place to live at. Unfortunately for us long-time residents, other people didn't think so, and those individuals who bought those properties are the same who have imposed their plastic values and sense of aesthetics to what was once a great place for diverse, free-spirited, art-loving folks to mingle with one another. I have lived in the Grove for the last 25 years, and I have seen a lot of changes for the worse. Art has always been an essential element in this community, and just as everything else that does not conform to the yuppie mentality, it is in danger of becoming obsolete. If we don't want this to become another blah part of Miami, everyone who has a chance should do their part and take the extra step to preserve our wonderful corner of the world. It can be done. We came together during the Home Depot fiasco and were able to alter their original plan to take the entire mall to turn it into another 8th street nightmare, so I have hope that eventually those individuals who feel like they want to live in a cookie-cutter will pack up and go, and the true grovites will prevail.
One of these days a frustrated citizen will take out his aggression on a code enforcement department. Only after someone dies will they receive the attention they have long deserved. If you think Miami is bad, check out Team Metro who have been harassing my parents for years. It is short step for an 80 year old person with nothing to lose to pull the trigger.
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