or How to solve the SameAM dilemma

Coconut Grove is in need of a wakeup call. The neighborhood which I hold dear to my heart has seen better times, and I think now is the perfect time to figure out how to revitalize it. I’d like to use this blog as a forum for discussing how to reinvigorate The Grove.

So much arguing is going back and forth about the fact that Center Coconut Grove is being disadvantaged by having to stop serving alcohol at 3am vs 5am everywhere else in the city. MADD, the local cyclists, and Commissioner Sarnoff are all adamantly opposed to moving the rules back to their original and citywide times citing that the extra drinking hours would endanger kids, cyclists, and the whole world. Aside from the fact this rule is negatively impacting the local watering holes, I believe there is a simple solution to be had that would accomodate all.

So if MADD and these other activist groups want to cut back on drunk driving, why not cut back on driving altogether. Lets make it easy for people to get to and from the grove without having to drive. Right now in the grove its an incredible pain in the ass to catch a cab unless you’re outside the Mayfair hotel or the Ritz, or luckout and get a cabbie driving past you. So I propose we establish 2 more taxi stands (2 cab spaces each) in the center grove area. I’d put one right on commodore by Main HWY and the other right in front of Johnny Rockets or Jaguar on Grand. I’d also post taxi info on the new information poles/maps that I’d put throughout the grove (more on this later).

So now that we’ve made getting a cab easier, I think we should incentivize people to use them. Cabs in Miami are relatively expensive (not like London, but not cheap either). So I propose the BID offer a $5 cab voucher to all bar/restaurant patrons who appear drunk. They can give the patron a coupon that the cabbies can redeem for cash at the end of the week, and it counts towards the patron’s cab fare. These coupons only count on fares in and out of the grove.

Incentivizing + improving accessibility to transportation will hopefully appease the groups afraid of higher crime/drunk driving. Once these provisions are put in place, I’d give every venue the same opportunity to stay open late. Though I might consider putting bars on a 3 month probationary period where they have to close earlier while they get their sea legs so to speak. That would need to be a discussion for the local BID.

Then again, a lot has changed in just 6 months. No, I am not retracting my previous statements about saving newspapers (some of my ideas are already being implemented, speaking of which, where is my consulting fee?). In the last six months we’ve seen the old media embrace digital and social tools to as best as they can so far. They haven’t fully figured out the whole puzzle yet, but they are trying in earnest to get it as quickly as possible. I mean six months ago if you told me the Miami Herald would ... Continue reading

My buddy Craig Agranoff wrote for the Palm Beach New Times recently that we were suffering from an identity crisis of sorts, or a disconnect with our communities down here, and he may have been right. I rarely venture north through Broward or even less frequently Palm Beach county (no one ever invites me up there, plus I thought all they did was play polo and talk about their gulfstream jets), so I can't really comment on what's going on up there, ... Continue reading

There are two groups in this fight, those pushing to keep the 3am last call, and those pushing for a return to the more accommodating 5am last call of old. You might think, well what does 2 hours really do for a business anyway, that's only 120 minutes of extra business. Well the issue of 2 hours makes a significant impact on a city where the party culture doesn't get started till 11pm. This is a latin habit, where in countries like Argentina people don't leave their homes until 1am or later to go party. Like it or not, this cultural element permeates south Florida's nightlife scene, it is in fact part of what sets our party scene apart from the likes of New York, or LA. The fact that our neigh ... Continue reading

In reality figuring out the role of the individual in this grand scheme is both the easiest and the hardest part of this series. Why is it hard? Well for one how do you rally thousands upon thousands of individuals spread out across three counties? How can we rally people across an area of more than 6,000 square miles? An area ranked 7th in the nation population wise. So we've covered the logistical challenges, what are the practical challenges of this movement? The practical challenge is finding tangi ... Continue reading

The last few days I've been talking to a lot of people and thinking a lot about how local businesses can support the community. I previously wrote an overview of where the tech community in South Florida needs to reach out for support, and then how I saw the government playing a role in this, now its time to figure out how our homegrown ... Continue reading

Earlier in the week I wrote about the key steps we needed to take in order to build a vibrant community down here. There are 6 key groups I feel we need support from in order to thrive as a community of technologists. They are: government, businesses, individuals, investors, other communities, and the media. Its easy to point fingers in this whole thing, and not offer up any solutions, so with your help, maybe we can collectively improve upon my proposals/ideas.< ... Continue reading

A couple weeks ago my friend Alex De Carvalho wrote a great piece about the history of the tech community in Miami over the last few years. He isn't the only one in South Florida who has been extolling the virtues of our blossoming community, my friend Craig Agranoff the pizza expert alsoContinue reading