Mixed-Use Development Heats Up In Miami

"Ada Portillo is tired of trekking 45 minutes from her West Miami-Dade County neighborhood just to eat a nice dinner. After she moves into her downtown condo next summer at Met Miami, she won't have to. The restaurants, a movie theater and a grocery will be right there.

Portillo is part of a growing group of South Floridians buying into a lifestyle that allows them to live, work and play in the same area. It's a concept that new urbanists have preached for years but has been slow to catch on here, where suburban sprawl and strip shopping centers have long ruled.

'Where I live, it's very pretty,' said Portillo, 46. 'But there's no life at all.'

Not anymore. The way we shop is undergoing a huge transformation. Mixed-use development -- combining stores, restaurants, condos and offices -- is all the rage. The trend is most obvious in the eastern corridor, an area once largely avoided by many national retailers but now in an unprecedented building boom. Instead of building out, developers are going up, as in New York and Chicago."