Miami
Transformed
University of Pennsylvania Press Philadelphia
THE CITY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
Eugenie L. Birch and Susan M. Wachter, Series Editors
Published in collaboration with the Penn Institute for Urban Research
Copyright © 2013 University of Pennsylvania Press
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations used for purposes of review or scholarly citation, none of this book may be reproduced in any form by any means without written permission from the publisher.
Published by
University of Pennsylvania Press
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-4112
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Diaz, Manny.
Miami transformed : rebuilding America one neighborhood, one city at a time / Manny Diaz ; foreword by Michael Bloomberg. — 1st ed.
p. cm. — (The city in the twenty-first century)
ISBN 978-0-8122-4464-9 (hardcover : alk. paper)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Diaz, Manny. 2. Mayors—Florida—Miami—Biography. 3. Cuban Americans—Florida—Miami—Biography. 4. Miami (Fla.)—Politics and government—21st century. 5. Miami (Fla.)—Social conditions—21st century. 6. Miami (Fla.)—Economic conditions—21st century. I. Bloomberg, Michael. I. Title. II. Series: The city in the twenty-first century
F319.M6 D48 2013
975.9'381 2012029839
Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized.
Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will be a living thing.
—Daniel Hudson Burnham, architect and urban planner
Contents
Foreword by Michael Bloomberg
2 The Lost Generation Finds Its Way
8 Expanding Economic Opportunity
12 Designing a Sustainable City
Gallery
Foreword Michael Bloomberg
WE NEED MORE elected officials like Manny Diaz. When Manny was first elected Mayor of Miami, he entered office with the single most important asset any new mayor can have: ignorance. He didn’t know what he couldn’t do. Those who spend their lives in politics learn to live by certain limitations: groups that cannot be challenged, laws that cannot be changed, projects that cannot be undertaken, words that cannot be uttered. Manny had spent his career in the private sector, and he brought none of this baggage with him. When people wise in the way of government told him one of his ideas could not be achieved, he asked a very simple, and very powerful, question: “Why not?”
This book is for everyone who asks that same question about local, state, or federal government. Why can’t government be more efficient and effective? Why can’t government get big things done? Why can’t government be as innovative and dynamic as the private sector? The answer is: it can. But it takes leaders like Manny Diaz to make it happen.
On issue after issue, Mayor Diaz changed the way Miami city government approached long-standing problems. Instead of seeing poverty as inevitable, he saw it as an area where investments needed to be better targeted. Instead of lamenting the middle class exodus to the suburbs, he saw that residents were “voting with their feet” and needed to be convinced to come back to a city that cared about improving services. Instead of blaming failing schools on the bureaucracy, he led the charge to increase mayoral control. And instead of bemoaning traffic congestion, he advocated for expanded mass transit. Manny Diaz never stopped asking “Why not?” And the innovative approaches he pioneered helped Miami become a national leader on issues that will define the future of our country.
I’ve had the pleasure of working with and getting to know Manny Diaz over
