CURB DANGEROUS AND NOISY USE OF FIREWORKS

THE CITY OF MIAMI MUST PROTECT QUALITY OF LIFE

Many people are elderly or have a disability.

Many take medications that create noise sensitivity.

Most of us work for a living and cannot suffer with a noise from dusk till 3 a.m. for three or more nights leading up to and including July 4, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.

Little to no sleep, for days on end, three holiday time per year, negatively impacts health.

To restore tranquility while acknowledging some partying, I suggest a compromise.

Even though most of these dangerous explosives are illegal, have “suspend the rules” period twice per year.

From 10 pm. to 12:30 am. on July 4 and Dec. 31 – people can set off all the fireworks and noise makers they want.

The police will not intercede.

All other times outside those two “immunity” windows, the police must go to the offending homes.

 

CURB DANGEROUS AND NOISY USE OF FIREWORKS

THE CITY OF MIAMI MUST PROTECT QUALITY OF LIFE

For more than a decade, I have rescued dozens of cats by getting them trapped, neutered and released so they cannot add to the stray population.

Some live inside and others in houses that I have built for them.

The cats suffer with the noise.

Some have ran away, never to return.

Any vet or pet owner can verify that hours of loud fireworks are torture for dozens of kinds of house pets.

I understand that people stay up till midnight on New Year’s Eve.

I can put up with the sound of folks talking to each other at the backyard barbecue.

I understand that Dec. 31, I will hear music playing past bedtime.

I will tolerate it, so long as it is not thundering at South Beach nightclub level.

But night after night of noise that sounds like military artillery?

No, that is not appropriate for any place.

 

 

CURB DANGEROUS AND NOISY USE OF FIREWORKS

THE CITY OF MIAMI MUST PROTECT QUALITY OF LIFE

The fireworks noise must stop.

It is abusive.

Endless noise -- that terrorizes pets and triggers PTSD in humans -- is not essential to celebrating a holiday. 

My house is old with thick cement block for an exterior.

It has noise-insulating impact glass in all windows.

None of that holds up to be bombardment that denies sleep.

I have purchased white noise machines and turned them up to the max.

I have tried earplugs and noise canceling headphones.

None of it comes close to canceling out the terrifying artillery noises.

CURB DANGEROUS AND NOISY USE OF FIREWORKS

THE CITY OF MIAMI MUST PROTECT QUALITY OF LIFE

In most of the nation, the noise and terror for pets is limited to July 4.

Because of the warm winters, people fire them off on Christmas and New Year’s Eve in Miami.

Shenandoah is one of dozens of neighborhoods where the ear-splitting bombardment has gotten out of hand.

When I first moved here nearly a quarter of a century ago, the noise was roughly limited to about 9 p.m. till 12:30 a.m. on July 4 and Dec. 31.

Now, it takes place from a dusk till 3 a.m. on Independence Day, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.

People also fire off hundreds of these noisemakers – long past midnight -- for days leading up to each holiday.

 

 

 

 

CURB DANGEROUS AND NOISY USE OF FIREWORKS

THE CITY OF MIAMI MUST PROTECT QUALITY OF LIFE

I have proudly lived in Miami’s historic Shenandoah neighborhood for 24 years – pouring a good chunk of my life’s savings into restoring, repairing and maintaining a 100-year-old home just blocks south of Calle Ocho.

Most of the year, I have great neighbors in a great neighborhood close to everything.

But there are two times when life is unbearable.

Miami people love to shoot off fireworks and set off illegal explosive devices – firecrackers, cherry bombs, M-80s, etc. – on holidays.

Virtually none of these explosives are legal for home use and each year they cause many deaths and serious injuries around the nation.

 

 

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Universal Design in Avila, Spain

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Recently, it has been getting 25,000 to 50,000 readers per day.

Wheelchair Accessibility consulting in Madrid Spain

My posts would fill the equivalent of 12 full nonfiction books.

I have successfully transitioned from an expert writer on planning…to an acclaimed planner focused on Universal Design, Inclusive Mobility and Aging in Place.

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I still write.

I published independent journalism.

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The urban designer part of me has delivered keynote addresses at global gatherings of planners, engineers, architects and others who work on quality of life at a community and regional level.

I have also teamed with some of the best urban design and mobility firms to work as a subconsultant on Universal Design plus wheelchair access.

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Some trivia?

Its guests have included actors and actresses of the stature of:  Catherine Deneuve, John Wayne, Rock Hudson, Rita Hayworth, Fernando Fernán Gómez, Emma Cohen, Arturo Fernández and Johnny Depp.