Bringing Pedestrian Life Back to Little Havana

A grassroots effort of community members in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood is trying to wrestle control of their streets from the automobile. Tanvi Misra reports in CityLab that the Florida Department of Transportation has begun studying how to improve mobility options along the community's iconic 8th Street and 7th Street corridor. Community groups and local officials are wary of FDoT's efforts and have begun offering their own solutions to turn the auto-dominated street into a Main Street, where cars get less room and pedestrians have a chance to mingle on wider sidewalks.

Plusurbia, a local urban design and architecture firm, has proposed converting 8th Street from one-way back to a two-way thoroughfare, as it was before the 1950s. The Plusurbia plan also envisions shady trees, bulb-outs, narrower driving lanes and street furniture.

The push to revitalize Calle Ocho comes as Little Havana experiences changes that locals believe threaten its character. The National Historical Preservation Trust put the area on its list of 11 most endangered sites in 2015 because of its dilapidated architecture. As housing prices elsewhere in the city skyrocket, Little Havana’s aging housing stock makes its residents vulnerable to displacement. Plusurbia’s plan, however, would only foster and conserve economic and cultural diversity, the firm says.