HAPPY TO BE A TWO DECADE SHENANDOAH RESIDENT, HONORED TO BE PART OF TEAM WORKING FOR ITS IMPROVEMENT

MIAMI’S SHENANDOAH: A NEIGHBORHOOD AHEAD OF ITS TIME

By the New Tropic Creative Studio:

WHAT IT IS: Shenandoah, a neighborhood just southwest of downtown Miami, is one largest collections of 1920s and 1930s architecture that the city or state hasn’t studied or documented.

Megan McLaughlin moved to the neighborhood 10 years ago because she exhausted of her 90 minute commute to downtown. With two toddlers, she felt like she was missing out on so much time with them. So she and her husband moved to Shenandoah, where they can walk everywhere and catch a bus to downtown.  

McLaughlin and Chris Rupp from the Dade Heritage Trust have partnered to survey the neighborhood and put together a report with the data they collect. With a grant from the state, they’ll create a file for each of the 650 properties in Shenandoah that will include the history of the house, previous owners and residents, and the prominent architectural features.

MOST SURPRISING FACT: According to McLaughlin, Shenandoah is one of the most diverse neighborhoods in Miami, a city that’s already very inclusive of all ethnic and cultural backgrounds. McLaughlin said that city directories show that the neighborhood was at some point home to Jewish, Middle Eastern, and Russian families. Cuban and other refugee families also settled there in the 1960s.

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT: Shenandoah was one of the first suburban developments outside of downtown and has always been ahead of its time, McLaughlin said.

“It was different from Coral Gables and Miami Shores and some of these other maybe more known suburbs because it was diverse from the beginning,” she said. “You had already a mix of duplexes, houses, little apartment buildings, corner stores, all of these things that I think the new urbanism and other planning folk talk about that now as the gold standard of a ‘good urban neighborhood’ but Shenandoah had it 100 years ago.”

HOW TO GET INVOLVED: If you’re interested in volunteering to help conduct the survey or organize the collected data – or organize a similar survey for your own neighborhood – McLaughlin said you can contact Dade Heritage Trust at:

http://dadeheritagetrust.org/

Future of Little Havana under microscope

OUTSTANDING COVERAGE OF PLUSURBIA DESIGN'S WORK
WRITTEN BY SUSAN DANSEYAR OF MIAMI TODAY

Over 100 people gave their opinions last week on what they like about Little Havana and how they want it to develop moving forward.

A number of stakeholders came to Miami Senior High School on Saturday for the first of three community meetings dedicated to Little Havana.

Plusurbia – in partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Dade Heritage Trust and Live Healthy Little Havana – invited anyone with interest in the neighborhood to share thoughts on a long-term plan for the community’s healthy future while protecting its history and heritage.

In January, the National Trust for Historic Preservation declared the neighborhood a “national treasure.”

During a ceremony in the Manuel Artime Theatre, where the announcement was made, Plusurbia principal Juan Mullerat said his architectural and urban design firm headquartered in Coconut Grove, along with its partners, would be launching a long-term planning process to work with neighborhood residents, civic leaders and others to steer the community forward with its past intact.

The first meeting was Saturday, March 11. The next two are to be in April and May on dates to be announced.

Seated at tables wearing tags with just their first names, people from all walks of life talked about their concerns, hopes and love for the historic community.
Called “Little Havana, ME IMPORTA,” the meeting began with a welcome from a woman who’s working with a residential group in the community.

She introduced Mr. Mullerat. “We needed a local to lead us,” Mr. Mullerat said.

“Little Havana is a very special place. The National Trust for Historic Preservation is the largest advocacy group within the nation with a focus on advocacy for neighborhoods which like to restore old buildings.”

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WLRN (NPR-MIAMI) COVERS PLUSURBIA DESIGN PARTNERSHIP WITH NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION

Little Havana named "national treasure" 

by National Trust for Historic Preservation

  

The National Trust for Historic Preservation added Miami’s Little Havana Neighborhood to its list of “National Treasures” which contains more than 75 buildings, neighborhoods and natural landscapes threatened by development or neglect.

The only other treasure from Florida is another Miami landmark, the Miami Marine Stadium.

The announcement that the historic heart of Miami’s Cuban community will join the "national treasures" list comes days after the city of Miami scrapped a zoning proposal opponents argued would displace working-class and immigrant residents.

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