1L winter

When I moved to Miami in 2002 there was only one residential tower under construction near I-95.

Within two years the city was covered in scaffolding.

The real estate boom started as I graduated high school and ended when I graduated from the University of Miami. Now the new skyscrapers dominate the skyline.

The short darker building is the only one that existed before 2002.

The most dramatic changes are along the US-1 corridor. In 2002, the Cuban Freedom Tower (the yellowish tower) was the only major building on that part of US-1. It was empty, except for a few squatters.

The tower was restored and the squatters were booted. The building was then gifted to the local community college. I think it currently houses an art gallery.

The skyscrapers aren’t doing as well as the Freedom Tower since the real estate market tanked. Condo units and sometimes entire buildings went into foreclosure. 40 units in our old apartment building are in foreclosure. The new midrise two doors down from my mother’s building is now owned by the bank.  Some condos are auctioned off at half price.

Neighborhoods near downtown are dotted with cleared lots and signs advertising buildings that will never be built. There’s one such aborted project across the street. The lot is currently leased to the city to store construction equipment for the 12th avenue bridge repairs…

Many of the condo tower are now apartments that rent at a loss, and there is a rising squatter problem in the empty new buildings.

The squatter problem is most rampant in foreclosed homes. The city has even stopped clearing out squatters unless the owner complains.*

Although the Miami I left looks like a different city than the Miami I started high school in – it’s really the same city. The University is still crawling with New Yorkers. Little Havana still has Botanicas…

Now life just goes on with a few more empty buildings in the background.

* The exception for this is for crack houses. There was a crack house across from my mother’s apartment building that was raided and boarded up a few months ago.