What changes do you want to see around here?
Carl Templer, the new BID Director, asked everyone on the room at the BID Marketing meeting last week to come up with a list of five things that the BID needs to do, or not do, in order to make changes and make the BID and the Grove better.
What do you think? What suggestions do you have?
People have mentioned quite a few things. One thing I have been thinking about for a long time is about moving the tour bus stop from one end of Grand to the other. What I mean is that the double decker and other buses arrive up Mary Street onto Grand Avenue, they pass a quiet, almost dead Mayfair area and stop in front of closed storefronts on Grand. It's not very appealing and not as many tourists get off as should.
As the bus continues down Grand, that is when the tourists see CocoWalk and the Bookstore and Johnny Rockets and other areas of the Grove, but it's too late, there is no other stop and the tourists are whisked off to their next stop in Coral Gables. So maybe a bus stop near the post office might be a smart idea. More people may want to exit the buses then.
I was also thinking that the BID could hire a sort of "headhunter" but for businesses. Someone who knows how to lure new stores and such to the area. That seems like the most important thing, to fill in the empty store fronts.
The PanAm museum is also always in talks, but nothing seems to get done. Putting a committee on that would be something to consider. Someone mentioned that it could be PanAm, National and Eastern Airlines all in one museum, right here in the Grove.
And of course a no brainer is to put more art and music on the streets, to add life to the streets. Fete de la Musique is coming later this month, that is something that is going to be great.
And of course the trolley thing. So many people have stopped me in the street to say we need that City of Miami trolley to come here. For those who left comments like, "You want the trolley to go up Grand Avenue?" or "You're gonna take a trolley to Target [in midtown]?" The answer is yes. I also would take it to Marlins Stadium, Wynwood for the Art Walks and other places that it goes and I am sure others would do the same in reverse, bringing them from those areas into the Grove for lunch, dinner or just a quick little trip. I think it would add life to the Grove.
So many tourists ask Louis, the Grove Ambassador, how to get to Vizcaya or the Museum of Science or other areas, that the trolley could take them. The trolley should also connect with Metrorail somewhere, like maybe at 27th Avenue, a lot of people ask about that, too.
What do you think? What suggestions do you have?
People have mentioned quite a few things. One thing I have been thinking about for a long time is about moving the tour bus stop from one end of Grand to the other. What I mean is that the double decker and other buses arrive up Mary Street onto Grand Avenue, they pass a quiet, almost dead Mayfair area and stop in front of closed storefronts on Grand. It's not very appealing and not as many tourists get off as should.
As the bus continues down Grand, that is when the tourists see CocoWalk and the Bookstore and Johnny Rockets and other areas of the Grove, but it's too late, there is no other stop and the tourists are whisked off to their next stop in Coral Gables. So maybe a bus stop near the post office might be a smart idea. More people may want to exit the buses then.
I was also thinking that the BID could hire a sort of "headhunter" but for businesses. Someone who knows how to lure new stores and such to the area. That seems like the most important thing, to fill in the empty store fronts.
The PanAm museum is also always in talks, but nothing seems to get done. Putting a committee on that would be something to consider. Someone mentioned that it could be PanAm, National and Eastern Airlines all in one museum, right here in the Grove.
And of course a no brainer is to put more art and music on the streets, to add life to the streets. Fete de la Musique is coming later this month, that is something that is going to be great.
And of course the trolley thing. So many people have stopped me in the street to say we need that City of Miami trolley to come here. For those who left comments like, "You want the trolley to go up Grand Avenue?" or "You're gonna take a trolley to Target [in midtown]?" The answer is yes. I also would take it to Marlins Stadium, Wynwood for the Art Walks and other places that it goes and I am sure others would do the same in reverse, bringing them from those areas into the Grove for lunch, dinner or just a quick little trip. I think it would add life to the Grove.
So many tourists ask Louis, the Grove Ambassador, how to get to Vizcaya or the Museum of Science or other areas, that the trolley could take them. The trolley should also connect with Metrorail somewhere, like maybe at 27th Avenue, a lot of people ask about that, too.
posted by Tom Falco at 7:40 AM
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14 Comments:
I agree with everything you say...the Trolley would be a great plus to the Grove.
Get rid of the homeless people. The other morning I was at Starbucks and two homeless men were harassing the customers. I have been a resident for a few years and have seen the homeless population both grow and become more aggressive recently.
1. Connecting the trolley would be awesome. A Brickell <> Grove connection would be a huge economic stimulator for the Grove.
2. Close Commodore Plaza to pedestrians only during the Art Walk nite. Maybe put a band on the street. People love to hang around and drink wine outside on the street.
3. Free Parking Fridays, bring a picture on your smartphone of your currently used parking ticket to a restaurant and get the parking fee credited on your bill. That's like an average of $5.
4. Critical Mass, a monthly bike event, has large groups (sometimes 200+) that ride together every month after work. CM is for everyone, not just the die hard bikers. Wouldnt it be awesome if the ride would start at the playhouse parking lot (free parking for bikers participating). Then have an after bike ride drink special somewhere different every month.
6. Set up yellow water jugs for the bikers/runners that ride thru on Sat and Sun. Publicize the grove as a bikers Paradise. I kow were a sailing village, blah blah blah...but biking is a pretty big thing in Miami. Lets be more things to more people.
7. Dog Days of Summer Sundays. local businesses offer water for the pets and maybe a snack, for the customers who bring along their 4 legged friends.
8. Publicize that the Grove is a Bikers Paradise. We have the 1-Bike Route on Bayshore. Start from the historical Barnacle and go in any direction to find early Miami history. Maybe offer a brochure for people to follow to different historical sites.
YES to the Trolley. I have seem them and used them. I see no reason why they cannot make it to The Grove.
There will be no transformation of the center Grove until the pier at the foot of McFarlane Road is built. That will take political will that doesn't seem to exist in the city.
But a short term plan could be to move the sailing club out of the prime waterfront space it occupies and turn the building into a visitors center/observation area. This would cost very little in the scheme of things and provide a huge incentive for tourists and locals to spend some time in the village and have a waterfront experience.
If necessary, a couple of electric golf carts could run tourists around the village.
When will Chamber and NET finally move out of Glasshouse and put it to better use?
Agree with all suggestions from Anton. I would also like to see the Farmers Market move to Commodore Plaza and close the road on a Saturday.
I don't want to see any home people begging or any more homeless guys stealing from the Grove.
-Reopen the Playhouse NOW.
-Negotiate for free parking during slow days and off peak hours to bring in more customers.
"8. Publicize that the Grove is a Bikers Paradise. We have the 1-Bike Route on Bayshore. Start from the historical Barnacle and go in any direction to find early Miami history. Maybe offer a brochure for people to follow to different historical sites."
Well that would be untrue. Cycling on Bayshore, which I've been doing for over 7 years several times a week, is highly dangerous, especially for Road Speed bikes whick make up for the vast majority of bikes out there. Even for "recreational", sidewalk bikes, it's a major hazard, especially in certain areas.
Anyone who bikes regularly and has ridden on other Cities knows that all too well..
Now here's my 2 cents (besides fixing the sidewalks everywhere and especially the ROAD for bikes, runners and pedestrians (good start arounf the Fresh Market recently, but only a couple blocks, plus 27th av, bravo!!)
Open up the WaterFront, which is virtually inexistant!! With 5 miles of Bayside Water luxury views, you can't even SEE the water anywhere if you pass by, except for a few yards around Seminole ramp. What a waste of such a rare and unique asset around here.. do you know how much Tourists, business, visitors and residents Love to see whatveiews? Well, you can't even see it from Peacock Park..
Carlos I.
I suggest we clean up the trash and put more trash cans around - of course, they must be emptied more than occasionally.
Following up on anton m and sledge regarding biking: Coconut Grove has one problem - and thankfully this is easy to fix. It has a parking problem. Increasingly I find it difficult to find an empty bike rack when I go into the Center Grove.
At the very least this means that the racks are being used frequently and there are ample studies that show that providing bike facilities (including bike racks) are an investment that pays off handsomely. It also alleviates congestion from cars and the like.
The other problem is that biking to Coconut Grove should be made safer. The city / county have started to recognize this with the inclusion of sharrows on Mary Street and the bike lane to be installed on 27th Ave. But Bayshore remains woefully inadequate for recreational cyclists as the sidewalk disappears and meanders dangerously. The same is true for coming in from the Cocoplum area.
Bike racks are easy, creating the infrastructure a bit more tricky and some will cry out because to make it good may mean to get through the Grove five seconds slower (if that, because what slows a car driver down are other cars and rarely cyclists). But maybe that little storm is something to withstand.
Add a circular trolley that goes in both directions between downtown Gables and the Grove via Coral Way and both Metro Rail stations.
Add another that circles on the North side of the Grove between the Viscaya and Grove stations via coral way. This would connect almost all the area restaurants, museums, parks, and businesses with Metro Rail and be very scenic as well.
I'm a 16 year old girl that lives in the grove, and I always wish that the area around and in the Mayfair and behind it (around Virginia Street) could be made into more lively places. The Mayfair is empty now, with only the addition of a new sweet shop, but what would we have to do to get some stores to buy out the unattended properties? There's restaurants in the grove, but what about adding more quiet and intimate restaurant settings throughout Virginia street and in the Mayfair similar to the atmosphere created by the bookstore, and then nice shops to go through after a nice dinner or lunch. And I don't mean large retail stores like Hollister and Urban Outfitters that could possibly drag in a bunch of loud and obnoxious teenager like Sunset Place and other malls do, but a more mature setting similar to Lincoln road - a nice blend of many small and good restaurants balanced by stores. And by stores, I mostly mean boutiques, the grove used to have Butter boutique, and it has other boutiques on Commodore plaza now, and around that area, but maybe if they're were newly added boutiques with jewelry and clothes for men and women more closely together it would attract more customers so we wouldn't see stores shutting down (like Butter and that store to the left of H&H jewelry) I think boutiques and not very popular chain stores will leave the grove at a higher position because it doesn't necessarily downgrade the social status (as people I've previously proposed this to have argued about) with nice restaurants and hair cuttery's, the stores will add a much need jump to what has become of that area. The peacock garden is a perfect example of the environment we can build in our own backyard, if we utilize it correctly.
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