For fun, inexpensive ways to spend time outdoors with the kids, head to the Village of Pinecrest schools for their carnivals.
Pinecrest Elementary’s Wild West Fest is this Saturday. Howard Dr. Elementary is also having theirs this Saturday from 10:00-4:00.
Palmetto Elementary has their Jungle Jamz on Saturday, November 17 from 11-4.
The Mournings sold their home in Coral Gables and downsized to the Village of Pinecrest. The Mournings join several distinguished residents who call Pinecrest home.
The Pinecrest Tribune, a Community Newspapers paper, has endorsed Jennifer Wollmann for the Village of Pinecrest Council, Seat 1. Among their reasons for the endorsement were:
Thank you, Community Newspapers!
Pinecrest Gardens, the site of the old Parrot Jungle on Red Road in the Village of Pinecrest, is more than a beautiful tropical garden. It could also be considered the Village’s downtown. Since the Village’s borders are US 1, Red Road, 136 Street and 88 Street, there weren’t many areas to create a Village Center when the Village first incorporated in 1996. Today, Pinecrest Gardens hosts a weekly farmer’s market, a jazz series, classical concerts, art exhibits, plays, a horticultural series, movie nights, food tastings, and so much more. Couple it with the Village Community Center and the Library and it is definitely the place to hang out in Pinecrest.
Pinecrest Gardens, the site of the old Parrot Jungle on Red Road in the Village of Pinecrest, is more than a beautiful tropical garden. It could also be considered the Village’s downtown. Since the Village’s borders are US 1, Red Road, 136 Street and 88 Street, there weren’t many areas to create a Village Center when the Village first incorporated in 1996. Today, Pinecrest Gardens hosts a weekly farmer’s market, a jazz series, classical concerts, art exhibits, plays, a horticultural series, movie nights, food tastings, and so much more. Couple it with the Village Community Center and the Library and it is definitely the place to hang out in Pinecrest.
If you drive US 1, you may have noticed that there is a lot of new construction going on. The Village of Pinecrest Council hired a consulting firm, C3TS, and formed a steering committee to come up with a vision for the future of Pinecrest Parkway, the section US 1 that makes up the Village’s western border. The steering committee, made up of a cross-section of Pinecrest residents and business owners, met 4 times and participated in the Pinecrest Parkway Visioning Session that was open to the public and took place on June 9, 2012. The results of those meetings are in the final draft of the Vision Plan, which will be presented at Village Council’s meeting on Tuesday, September 11 at 7 p.m.
Miami Spice is worth staying in, or visiting, Miami during the hot months of August and September. In addition to the daily lunch and dinner specials offered at many of our best restaurants, some of the participants are offering happy hour specials.
There are so many participating restaurants this year, it is going to be hard to choose. If you live here, be adventurous and try a new restaurant, maybe even outside of your immediate neighborhood. If you are visiting, try Pubbelly and Barceloneta Bistro on Miami Beach; Atrio, Zuma and db Bistro Moderne in Downtown/Brickell; Ortanique and Graziano’s in the Gables; and one of my absolute favorites, Two Chefs in Pinecrest. Their desert souffles alone are worth the visit.
This beautiful bar is one of the many fine details in this 11,533 square foot home by Portoundo Perotti. The home is currently listed for $5.3 million by Lourdes Alatriste with Engel & Voelkers.
Yesterday I attended a Tier 1 workshop put on by MDX to explain the US 1 express lane project development and environment study. Considering how large this proposed project is and how many residents and businesses it will have an effect on if it goes through, there were not a lot of people in attendance.
Based on the current study, the express lanes will have potential overpasses at each intersection on the busway where there is currently a traffic light. The maximum height of these overpasses will be 24-25 feet high, which is the height of the Metrorail track.
The impact on the abutting neighborhoods of having this expressway will be significant. While trying to ease congestion on US 1 and decrease travel times from the southern end of the county to the Metrorail stations are laudable goals, as currently conceived, I think the project is going to create havoc on the neighboring communities and create more traffic, not less, along the corridor. Having an extra 2-3 lanes of “express” cars exiting at the end point will create a logjam. Add to that the plans to link the expressway to the Turnpike and the Palmetto and you get the picture.
This project will have a significant impact on the surrounding neighborhoods as well, with the potential to affect property values, mostly downward in my opinion.
If the whole goal is to get people out of their cars and onto Metrorail, wouldn’t it be a smarter use of taxpayer dollars to build Metrorail down to the southern part of the county as originally proposed. If they add express buses to the bus lanes, that could also help.
If you live in any of the neighborhoods that abut the busway, please contact Tere Garcia, Public Information Officer at MDX. Her number is 786-277-9292.
At a special Village council meeting this evening, a resolution was passed stating opposition to the proposed boat storage facility at Matheson Hammock Park. Council members felt that the county’s Parks Department did not provide the public and surrounding municipalities with opportunity to provide input to their Request For Proposals for dry boat storage at the park.
Although the developer said that opposition was premature since impact studies had not been conducted, it was specifically because of the lack of information available about the impacts of the proposed structure, which is completely out of scale for the park in its sheer size (500 feet long and 50 feet high!), that the Village passed the resolution.
Matheson Hammock Park is a park used by many residents and visitors in Miami-Dade county and the addition of any structures should proceed slowly and with public input. It is, after all, supported by our tax dollars and admission fees.