We need to reclaim Coconut Grove

There is a lot of negative energy in the Grove these days from the peacock troubles to the CocoWalk Bicycle Issue and of course Jobie's art.

But of course there are so many good things from all the new restaurants opening, to "Burn Notice" being part of our community, for now anyway, to all the tourists and people visiting the Grove these days. And speaking of restaurants, there are so many this year as part of Miami Spice, so that's a great thing.

I travel a lot around the country and many places would kill to have the beauty and atmosphere that we have here in Coconut Grove.

I can think of one headline that sums up the Grove these days: "Tu Tu Tango Out, Chilis In." But it doesn't have to be that way.

There has been more hype about Chili's than anything else around here lately. Who cares? Chilis? Where is the art? Where are the musicians? Where is the bohemia? I am even having second thoughts about the Seminole Boat Ramp now, maybe we need that mess to keep us real.

I remember when I was a child, hippies sold tie died t-shirts on Main Highway. I could just imagine the shockwaves now if someone tried doing that. The homeless guys who are the only Bohemia left from the old Grove are always harassed now.

Boston encourages artists to literally paint on he streets (you can see it right here). New York is an artists paradise, what used to be only in Greenwich Village covers the whole city now, artists are encouraged. New Yorkers would love to have live peacocks roaming the streets. Here most want them gone. Many cities would die to have a major tv show as part of the community, here some politicians want "Burn Notice" out.

Even the flower carts were recently pushed out of the Grove. Most cities have flower carts on every other corner. This photo was taken in New York last month. Here we have ugly black Gulag booths manned by menacing security guards. I can't imagine New York or any other city having guard booths like that. Again I ask, are we in Cuba or China?

Southwest Florida -- Sarasota, Venice, Anna Maria Island, all encourage art. The west coast is an artist's dream. They have little art villages, they have art in public places, they have a uniqueness that looks different and feels different and when you are there, you don't feel like you are anywhere else. Here our art is canned into neat little art shows. We need more spontaneity. We need muscians on the streets, as well.

When you are in New England, you are in unique little villages with antique shops and art villages and they are proud of their heritage. In the Hamptons in Long Island, it is one arts village after another. California has so much diversity that each neighborhood and community looks different and has its own feel.

Here in the Grove we look blah. We want to applaud Chilis and Starbucks (which I am guilty of myself here in the blog, only because I think there is nothing else going on to write about). We don't want to hold onto Grove history or glorify the unique, we want to turn the place into a mall - an outdoor mall that has the look and feel of all the other boring malls across the U.S.

On thing we can be proud of is that most of the restaurants and bars in the Grove are unique and not chain restaurants. This draws many people to the Grove -- to come and try something different.