Article Courtesy of The Miami
Herald
By JOE CARDONA
Published September 27, 2009
Everyday
we ride, drive, walk and jog by them without a word. They stand as a
pathetic reminder of a recent past where avarice prompted delusions of
early retirement, ownership of multiple beachfront homes and a perpetually
bulging stock market portfolio.
How did our city become a museum of sleek,
modern and predominantly empty condos?
Political apathy, a history of rampant
corruption and little corporate oversight of market forces opened the
floodgates to the mess we're in today.
Developers from far and wide eagerly
descended upon South Florida a decade ago with new visions of what our
city should look like. Miami has a notorious history -- for better and
worse -- of falling in love with everything foreign. These
``carpetbaggers'' joined forces with greedy, shortsighted locals and
commenced their master plan to revamp the skyline with little care for
urban planning, the local economy or the city's history.
At one point, a developer planned to dwarf
the Freedom Tower by erecting a condo onto its annex claiming that that
part of the building had no historical significance. We are a city that is
easily hoodwinked into thinking that conditions are always better
somewhere else. The irony is that Miami is one of the most unique, diverse
and exciting places in America. Yet the city is constantly looking to
reinvent itself as something it is not.
At the height of the construction frenzy,
the Magic City was wowed with swank, South Beach-themed parties chock-full
of beautiful models and lined with lavish ice sculptures. Conversations at
these well-attended affairs highlighted what the city should, could and
would be. Because of our transient, ever-changing population we are
sometimes void of institutional memory, and thus yesterday's zany,
ill-fated plans seem plausibly wonderful today.
Local politicians prematurely drooled over
future tax revenues and basked in the uptick in employment stats. Banks
seemed strong. A new branch appeared in every strip mall. I assumed the
business plans for these new projects that were changing the facade and
culture of my city must have been legit if they were scrutinized by the
same lenders who had gone through my business proposals with a fine-tooth
comb.
To keep pace with the mad real-estate orgy,
folks in the 'burbs decided to join in, buying and selling property
quicker than it took for the ink to dry on the property deed. ``Flipping''
homes became a South Florida pastime. Encouraged by cable reality shows
and persuaded by unscrupulous brokers, many middle-class, coupon cutters
were now property speculators.
Conditions were ripe for the perfect storm.
The rise and fall happened in a decade yet unfortunately the effects will
be longer lasting than Hurricane Andrew.
Property values have plummeted, the sale of
new homes is puttering along after a screeching halt and construction
workers are begging for jobs. Meanwhile, in the throes of this economic
tempest, taxpayers were saddled with a performing-arts center that they
don't attend and a yet-to-be built baseball stadium that likely will be
infrequently visited and significant salary hikes for downtown
bureaucrats.
I often wonder if our politicians live in
the same city as we do? If they do, shouldn't they have considered the
laws of supply and demand?
So as we live amid these hollow, cement
behemoths in ``Empty Condo Land,'' and people wonder who should be held
accountable? Certainly there must be someone to blame.
South Floridians live a quaint form of
civic escapism. Spurned on by decades of corruption scandals involving
elected officials, police chiefs, members of the School Board, union heads
and politically appointed administrators at the airport and port of Miami
-- to name a few -- Miamians have forfeited their stake in local affairs.
Sadly enough, the fault rests on us.
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