PROUD TO LIVE IN SHENANDOAH/LITTLE HAVANA, TO WORK ON PLUSURBIA DESIGN TEAM PARTNERING WITH NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION AND TO HAVE WORKED WITH MIAMI CITY COMMISSIONER JOE SANCHEZ WHO CREATED VIERNES CULTURALES/CULTURAL FRIDAYS
by CARMEN
SESIN and MARISSA ARMAS/NBC News
MIAMI - On a
recent Friday afternoon, German tourists Laura Neufert and Johannes Fuehner
strolled through Miami's famed Southwest 8th Street, often referred to as
'Calle Ocho.' They stopped at Maximo Gomez Park, also known as Domino Park, to
gaze at the older gentlemen playing. You could hear the click clack of the
dominoes being spread around the table as the players focused intently on the game
and planned their next move.
"It's
nice to see how people came from Cuba and brought their culture," said
Fuehner.
The young
couple is staying in downtown Miami, but they read about the neighborhood
called Little Havana in a tour guide and decided to check it out.
"I find
it astonishing how people speak more Spanish than English here," Fuehner
said, as a red double-decker bus stopped and unloaded a stream of tourists who
dispersed between the park and other parts of the neighborhood.
Little
Havana, known to Miami residents as a working class, immigrant neighborhood,
has been receiving a flood of tourists for over 5 years now.
They are
attracted to the neighborhood because "travelers want local authentic
organic experiences," according to Rolando Aedo, Vice President of the
Greater Miami Convention and Visitor's Bureau.
"Little
Havana has become one of the most unique experiences from a tourism perspective
that Miami has to offer," he said.
When
tourists began visiting the neighborhood years ago, tour buses would drop them
off along Calle Ocho because they wanted to immerse themselves in the cultural
experience. But there was no one to provide any guidance about the area and
tourists would often resort to asking the businesses about the history. But
that changed as demand grew and in 2015, the Little Havana Visitor Center opened.
Last year, an estimated 3 million tourists visited Little Havana, according to
the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau.
But when the
area was founded in the early 20th century, it was starkly different from what
it is today. Little Havana was once a deep south neighborhood, according to
Paul George, Resident Historian at the HistoryMiami museum and an author
of books, including one titled "Little Havana."
When the
area was developed in the early 1900s, it was comprised of two different
neighborhoods known as Riverside and Shenandoah. By the twenties Riverside and
Shenandoah began to see a Jewish influx, which kept growing throughout the 30s
and 40s.
But by the
1950s, the Jewish community began to move to newly established suburbs and
Cubans fleeing the Fulgencio Batista dictatorship began to settle in. It was
after the 1959 revolution in Cuba that the Cuban population in Miami exploded
and they concentrated heavily in this area.
"By the
late 60s you start to hear reference to Southwest 8th Street as 'Calle Ocho'
and Riverside and Shenandoah as Little Havana," said George.
And it's the
quaint Cuban-owned businesses that for decades have lined the thoroughfare now
known to many as Calle Ocho that are attracting the attention of tourists
around the world.
Further
placing Little Havana on the spotlight, the National Trust for Historic
Preservation added the neighborhood to its list of 11 Most Endangered
Places in 2015, to help protect the community while planning for the future.
Earlier this year, the Trust declared it a national treasure.
Some
pinpoint the beginning of tourism in the area to an art, musical and cultural
event called Viernes Culturales/Cultural Fridays, which began in Little Havana
in the year 2000. The event, organized by a nonprofit on the last Friday of
every month, attracted 2,000 attendees at the first gathering. The idea was to
promote and preserve the neighborhood's rich history. Eventually, tourists
began to trickle in.
Aedo and
George agree the past five years have been significant and they attribute it to
the entrepreneurs. One of the main investors in the neighborhood is Bill Fuller
and his partners, who have acquired a vast amount of properties in recent years.
The group's most popular business is a bar and live music venue called Ball and
Chain.
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