SMART GROWTH COMES TO HIALEAH Part 8

SMART GROWTH COMES TO HIALEAH , FLA

Oscar Machado, a Hialeah resident for four-plus decades, a University of Miami Architecture professor and a consultant to the annexed territory master plan of Jaime Correa & Associates, is enthusiastic about the city’s future.

He notes that Hialeah has excellent fixed rail transit in the form an Amtrak station; a Tri-Rail station, which connects the city to Broward and Palm Beach counties; and four MetroRail stations, which provide rail transit to Downtown Miami and the University of Miami.

“Until recent times, so much of Hialeah’s development has been about the car. The city experienced its most rapid development in the car era,” Machado said. “That kind of development forgets about the public realm. It forgets to provide shade and benches and safe sidewalks.

“Now we are re-planning downtown and planning a new growth area that will feature the classic urban pattern, which is what you have to have to be sustainable,” he said. “That is why the Hialeah annex territory is one of the last great chunks of land in South Florida that could set the tone for good urban development all over the area and state.”

“There’s always been a stigma about living in Hialeah,” Machado said. “The new area is about creating an opportunity for the city to come to terms with its ultimate destiny. This is an opportunity to change the mindset about Hialeah forever.”

Machado said watching Hialeah’s Mayor Martinez produce rapid results during more than two decades in office has made him a fan of the strong mayor system helmed by a mayor with a strong personality.

“Every project that happens in Hialeah goes through the mayor. There is no city manager to slow things down,” Machado observed. “There is a very aggressive urbanist in charge – and good things happen. A strong mayor allows the process to be streamlined.”