Coral Gables Environment, Politics and Government
October 15, 2010 Leave a comment
The program does not help homeowners whose drywall came from companies other than Knauf. Some of those Chinese firms have ignored U.S. lawsuits.
To be eligible, a home must have had virtually all of its defective drywall made by Knauf. Many of the affected homes in Florida contain a blend of Chinese drywall from Knauf and other companies, said Kerry Miller, a lawyer for Knauf.
October 12, 2010 Leave a comment
See my post on the University of Miami agreement. As a neighbor of the area, the recent approval process for the UM long-term master plan always had the feeling of being rushed through, although the city government followed all of its regulations and there were no secrets of approval. The agreement included a 200,000 square foot health center ( hospital) and it was discussed in public. It was included in the master plan and Commissioner Kerdyk briefly questioned the calculations for parking.
It is my understanding that the city has a number of built in controls and oversight of the development and traffic monitoring of the commercial-like area of UM along Ponce de Leon. The BankUnited Center capacity will be expanded and almost certainly a hotel will be constructed in the area.
Some neighbors are convinced, and I heard this from several neighbors citizens, that this development district extension in UM was approved fearing that the proposed Constitutional Amendment 4, if approved by voters, would require the citizens of Coral Gables to approve each and every master plan modification.
Presumably, Baptist Health bought Doctors Hospital assuming that they would have a local, let’s call it, advantage, because of its location in the center of Coral Gables. Also, the new health center would compete directly with South Miami Hospital.
Let’s hope that a little competition will be good for Baptist Health, neighbors and students and staff at the university.
October 7, 2010 Leave a comment
This is realism–to face the future of the economy and the continuing sluggish economy that will keep the Coral Gables’ economy down, property values constant or down and further challenges for the city government.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said the U.S. economy is likely to be “fairly bad” or “very bad” over the next six to nine months.
“We see two main scenarios,” analysts led by Jan Hatzius, the New York-based chief U.S. economist at the company, wrote in an e-mail to clients. “A fairly bad one in which the economy grows at a 1 1/2 percent to 2 percent rate through the middle of next year and the unemployment rate rises moderately to 10 percent, and a very bad one in which the economy returns to an outright recession.”
via Goldman Sachs Says U.S. Economy May Be ‘Fairly Bad’ (Update2) – Bloomberg.com.
August 19, 2010 Leave a comment
I have been reading through the “Roadmap to FLorida’s Future: 2010-2015 Strategic Plan for Economic Development”. This provides an solid basis for thinking about new sectors, clusters and strategies for the growth of Florida and for regions that are able to think about their future. I will be adding some additional comments on the roadmap one basis for the future of Coral Gables and South Florida.
Coral Gables Watch 