Disappointed and embarrassed
I know that my ranting about the poor state of affairs in the Grove may come off as rude sometimes, but to be honest, I am concerned, like many others. What I am saying is what many others have been saying for quite a long time. You hear it all over the streets of Coconut Grove.
Daily I receive emails from residents concerned about what is closing around town and rumors they hear. I am stopped in the street daily by people concerned about the empty store fronts and the tree whacking plan. And if I am being emailed and approached, I am sure that those in charge around here are getting ten times that amount of email and questions from the community.
I write about the Grove daily, I can only ignore what's going on around us for so long. I always try to talk up the place, I like to write about events and fun things and new openings and things like that, but as the place gets bleaker and bleaker, it's hard to just make believe that everything is just great. I only blame the BID because the BID is the be all and end all when it comes to the Center Grove around here. They want to put their necks out and call all the shots, they want to take credit when things are great, so they have to accept the blame when things are not so good.
I am not picking on any one individual. But should we just ignore what's happening around here and act as if nothing is wrong? Is someone responsible? Is no one responsible? Is it the landlords and not the BID? But to be honest, the landlords ARE the BID. They pay the BID tax, they are on the BID board. Normally I would blame the poor economy, but when the rest of South Florida is booming, especially during tourist season, how can we assume that the poor economy is only hurting Coconut Grove? Makes no sense.
I have a large family event coming up soon and there will be lots of family members coming to town, many have asked about staying in Coconut Grove, they want to stay here rather than South Beach or Key Largo or other areas where they normally stay when visiting. And that has brought more awareness to the Grove for me because as I look around, quite frankly, I am totally embarrassed to have my cousins and relatives come to the Grove.
Just yesterday I was walking around the village with a friend who used to live here. She was totally shocked at all the shuttered businesses. It was quite embarrassing. We were walking behind these tourists (shown above) who were at a loss for things to do in the Grove as they walked down a block of empty store fronts.
I always tell people that I can easily get in my car and be in South Beach or Coral Gables in a few minutes, Brickell is right down the street, but to be honest, I don't live there. I live here. So while I can run out of the Grove to shop and eat and wine and dine, I prefer to do it here. But there are not many places to do that these days. I go to Lincoln Road often on Sundays where it is elbow to elbow people, especially during tourist season, and then I come back to the Grove and I hear crickets.
I stand in the Center Grove a lot and see the tour buses come through. They stop and one or two people get off, if that. These people on the top of the open air double decker buses, are not even intrigued enough by our village to get off the bus to spend some time here. Nothing catches their attention enough for them to exit the bus! They stay on and prefer Coral Gables and I hear that Little Havana is a big draw with the cigar rolling, Domino Park, food and culture. So as pretty as the Grove is compared to these other locations, people don't care. They don't want to stop and visit.
I am thinking my cousins are going to be very disappointed when they visit. And that disappoints me.
Daily I receive emails from residents concerned about what is closing around town and rumors they hear. I am stopped in the street daily by people concerned about the empty store fronts and the tree whacking plan. And if I am being emailed and approached, I am sure that those in charge around here are getting ten times that amount of email and questions from the community.
I write about the Grove daily, I can only ignore what's going on around us for so long. I always try to talk up the place, I like to write about events and fun things and new openings and things like that, but as the place gets bleaker and bleaker, it's hard to just make believe that everything is just great. I only blame the BID because the BID is the be all and end all when it comes to the Center Grove around here. They want to put their necks out and call all the shots, they want to take credit when things are great, so they have to accept the blame when things are not so good.I am not picking on any one individual. But should we just ignore what's happening around here and act as if nothing is wrong? Is someone responsible? Is no one responsible? Is it the landlords and not the BID? But to be honest, the landlords ARE the BID. They pay the BID tax, they are on the BID board. Normally I would blame the poor economy, but when the rest of South Florida is booming, especially during tourist season, how can we assume that the poor economy is only hurting Coconut Grove? Makes no sense.
I have a large family event coming up soon and there will be lots of family members coming to town, many have asked about staying in Coconut Grove, they want to stay here rather than South Beach or Key Largo or other areas where they normally stay when visiting. And that has brought more awareness to the Grove for me because as I look around, quite frankly, I am totally embarrassed to have my cousins and relatives come to the Grove.
Just yesterday I was walking around the village with a friend who used to live here. She was totally shocked at all the shuttered businesses. It was quite embarrassing. We were walking behind these tourists (shown above) who were at a loss for things to do in the Grove as they walked down a block of empty store fronts.
I always tell people that I can easily get in my car and be in South Beach or Coral Gables in a few minutes, Brickell is right down the street, but to be honest, I don't live there. I live here. So while I can run out of the Grove to shop and eat and wine and dine, I prefer to do it here. But there are not many places to do that these days. I go to Lincoln Road often on Sundays where it is elbow to elbow people, especially during tourist season, and then I come back to the Grove and I hear crickets.
I stand in the Center Grove a lot and see the tour buses come through. They stop and one or two people get off, if that. These people on the top of the open air double decker buses, are not even intrigued enough by our village to get off the bus to spend some time here. Nothing catches their attention enough for them to exit the bus! They stay on and prefer Coral Gables and I hear that Little Havana is a big draw with the cigar rolling, Domino Park, food and culture. So as pretty as the Grove is compared to these other locations, people don't care. They don't want to stop and visit.
I am thinking my cousins are going to be very disappointed when they visit. And that disappoints me.
posted by Tom Falco at 8:08 AM
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9 Comments:
I hear you. My friends and family are visiting from Ireland in a few weeks and I don't know what to do with them.
@fearghaloreilly
http://www.onefootinthegrove.com
Oh yeah.. and here's a tweet and a response I got:
Fearghal O'Reilly @fearghaloreilly
Coconut Grove needs a @shakeshackfans. I hate travelling this far for a hot dog. And that's not a euphemism - 8:18 PM - 1 Feb 12 via Twitter for iPhone.
14h Shake Shack @shakeshackfans
@fearghaloreilly We hear you, thanks for making the trip to the Beach! We'll be coming to Coral Gables by early summer...closer!
People are opening business' and expanding, sadly they are just not coming to the Grove.
Landlords have to realize that you cannot charge 2005/6 rent rates during an economic downturn.
Does anyone know how the hotels are doing by the way? Are they filling up their rooms?
@fergs
I would love to see shakeshack here, but they are already planning to open near UM. Plus we just got Lokal which has good burgers too.
There should be more guidance to rent kayaks (say in end of peacock park or near city hall), rent bicycles, maybe local tours on golf carts through the area (take them to kampong?).
The Coconut Grove BID and landlords need to embrace the creative community. Vacant spaces should be made available free or very cheaply for any kind of use that will congregate people - art, music, performance, community organizing. That needs to be coupled with regular public events - not just on weekends. Maybe daily "Twilight mini-festivals" and "Wine downs".
Over time, people will come back and that will draw stronger franchise type businesses.
In a nutshell, turn it over to the creatives and let them improve the area so they are priced out of it.
In my opinion - the Grove should be about live music.
To get it done, the BID will have to pay a full time person to coordinate the effort.
Level the playing field:
1. Closing time at 5am, as everywhere else.
2. Rents equal or lower than in Brickel or S. Beach (they have more traffic now, find a way, incentives, credits, use freakin LOGIC to convince the owners to lower the rents, or keep a vacant lot)
3. Free Parking on weekends or certain areas, as they do in many other booming places.
4. More public events, music outdoors, go back to the "Groovy Grove" image, as opposed to the decrepit, old town, "has-been" image we now have. REJUVENATE this Village, dancing clubs, happy hours after business, do what we did a decade ago.
5. Marketing: Advertise the New, revitalized Grove, AFTER the above significant changes were made.
Signs on the street, use the media, paper, radio, instead of wasting 40K on a stupid website.
And back it up, with original events all year long, like the Arts Festival, Bed race, Saturday Gallery, etc, more music in the streets, get the old gizzards to move to freakin' Naples or Palm Beach or pinecrest if they don't like it.
5. Get rid of old papa Sarnoff and his rancid entourage.
6. Fire most people on that BID thing, whatever they do, get young blood, and coordinate with Michele and the Village Council.
7. Open up the Bay! We are one of the few priviledged places in South Miami with 5 miles of beautiful Bayfront property. Yet, we can't see the freaking water anywhere!! except for a few spots, seminole ramp, that's it.
That is, implement the Waterfront plan now, move the Sailor's club, move the sacred freakin' Mangroves elsewhere from Peacock and other parks, open up the views, leve; that horrid expo center, open up the bay there too, so people can see the freakin' water when they walk by or drive by!! It's an invaluable resource that would set us apart from most other places.
8. (and this is just an impromptu, improvised list, on the run..).. Restore and reactivate the Grobe Historic Theater.
Again, ADVERTISE the new Grove as a YOUNG place that is Happening again, but also advertise it's Historic sites, such as the Barnacle, Pan Am City Hall (without Sarnoff) Library/Women's Club, Science Museum, Vizcaya, etc, etc, etc.
9. Fix the streets to attract more runners and cyclists, and pedestrians. Forget about the damn bricks on sidewalks!! Fix the freakin' road and build sidewalks where there are NONE, as is 27th ave, or S. Bayshore, or Main Hwy, or Douglass.. (I know, I know, it's the county, not the City, there are projects, blah, blah, blah..)
10. It ain't gonna happen anytime soon,,,,we've tried hard a couple of times,,, but the best solution would be to secede from the City of Miami, and become independant as our own jurisdiction, Cocoanut Grove Village, as other localities have done, successfully, in the past.
That would be the fastest way to recovery, to revitalize the Grove to something even better than what it was a decade ago.
Meanwhile, the above measures, plus others I probably forget, or others could contribute, would bring incredibly fast results.
CI
Excellent suggestions. Sledge is on target.
Especially opening up the bay. That's the number one most beautiful panorama that you can imagine, but it's mostly hidden.
Mangroves are protected by law. You can't cut them.
Coconut Grove Sailing Club, as well as Shake A Leg and the other clubs on the bay, brings in thousands of sailors and their wallets during the winter racing season. These are the people you've seen shopping in the Grove since December.
The Center Grove is what needs help. Bring in live music, promote free parking, give people a reason to come spend money.
I agree with you Tom the Irony of all this is most of the ideas you have above have been on the table and nixed because, unless certain people are in charge it won't happening, it's a power play. As we all know absolute power corrupts.
Now you do still have the CGAFestival there after you'll be dead in the water. Always after the CGAF the very next weekend bring your friends to the largest street painting festival in the U.S. Lake Worth a straight shot up I-95 ps that also was on the table about 7 years ago. Now I will come down for Gifford Lane and participate as I am nostalgic.
AnnaMaria
I am a business owner on the bowling alley of Fuller st. Fuller st needs a restaurant, and to be made a pedestrian only walk way. People park there cars there and don't even look in the unique shops on this tree lined street. At the foot traffic just keeps going in a straight line across Main highway. I propose that the street name is changed to Boutique Row instead of Fuller st. Make it a Lincoln Rd. Our businesses are lucky to see even 8 people in a day. We will not survive if not even the locals support the local businesses in the grove in general. This is why the businesses are closing. Too many of the locals get in their cars and go to the Malls.
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