Future plans for Homestead (Miami, Everglades: 2015, crime, hotels) - Florida (FL) -Miami-Dade County - City-Data Forum

popcorn247 · 01-30-2015, 03:47 AM

Here is a short film about the coming year for the town of Homestead
[vimeo]118060198[/vimeo]
2015 State of the City: Building Homestead on Vimeo

pslhomie · 01-30-2015, 05:45 AM

So that is all a load of crap. The trouble with Homestead and why it will have difficulties growing is that the only way to get in and out is a narrow turnpike and US1. Until they widen the turnpike to shorten the commute in and out it will never do anything. It is a remote place with a reputation that is very hard to overcome. I hope they make it.

popcorn247 · 01-30-2015, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pslhomie

So that is all a load of crap. The trouble with Homestead and why it will have difficulties growing is that the only way to get in and out is a narrow turnpike and US1. Until they widen the turnpike to shorten the commute in and out it will never do anything. It is a remote place with a reputation that is very hard to overcome. I hope they make it.

Many people who live in Homestead, work in Homestead....or in the Keys.

straight shooter · 01-30-2015, 09:30 PM

Homestead has a lot of minuses like pslhomie mentioned, but it will continue to grow even with those minuses because it is cheaper to live there than in Miami.

perry335654 · 01-30-2015, 09:50 PM

I'm amazed Homestead is a going concern.

Cubanchic · 01-30-2015, 10:48 PM

I think homestead will grow if it is a out post for the Keys (which is un affordable) or if employment starts to develop outside of the major employment hubs ( downtown, coral gables, doral,airport area )

Get jobs that carter to the area or outside residences to tourist managed hotels you might makea living.

doggiebus · 01-31-2015, 08:03 AM

This is all great for Homestead.

StarfishKey · 01-31-2015, 11:27 AM

Wow, that is a pretty impressive, well-done video. I encourage everybody to take the time to watch it!

But I don't get it - how could Homestead possibly afford all of the improvements they're building? The list of improvements is so long I couldn't even remember them all, and many of them are REALLY expensive. I know they said they had some bond initiative to raise funds, but how could Homestead residents possibly buy enough bonds to pay for all that, especially in the relatively short time it may take to build these things? They mention $60mil, but I kind of doubt even that is all-encompassing, because the structures they are talking about look far more expensive than that... especially if they are being built hurricane-proof, which I really hope they are.

Homestead, as the current Siberia between Miami and the Keys, and the home to most of our nation's tropical plant agriculture (and yes, the racing speedway they mention...), has an opportunity to make more money than either Miami or the Keys in tourism as the ideal location between the two, and next to the Everglades. Right now, there is no affordable place with easy access to all of the many things to see in extreme SFL, especially as they mention for longer-term vacations. Homestead actually WAS more built up, and unfortunately Hurricane Andrew is the reason for its relatively small size and poverty today. But, there is no guarantee that hurricanes won't severely impact these new efforts in the future, especially if they are not made with severe weather in mind. The money has to be wisely and carefully spent.

If I ever get to a point that I can no longer afford the Keys, I would definitely consider living in Homestead. They have access to the Keys and Miami without having to live in either, and I know some acquaintances who live there (who have tried to encourage friends of mine who work in Miami to move there too). I personally am not thrilled about living too near Turkey Point though, and Homestead is pretty swampy with a lot of petty crime. On the other hand, it is certainly closer to a range of job opportunities than the Keys has, without some of the craziness of Miami criminals/drivers/angry residents. And it has better Mexican food. I wonder if these new proposals are steamrolling right over environmental concerns though, which are very important in a region like Homestead... I notice they don't mention a single thing in all of that about environmental concerns, which seems odd given all the development (some brand new) and the fact that they are home to a lot of agriculture and right next door to the Everglades.

The free Homestead weekend trolley to local attractions sounded great, and I will have to check that out assuming there is a safe place for visitors to park their cars!

Cautious optimism for Homestead that they can pull this together and build a nice town to live in, while addressing current residents' concerns! Primarily, it needs to be a safe place to live and enjoy recreation. You can't just build nice things and expect them to stay nice if there are serious problems in the area that are not being fixed. I suspect Homestead needs WAY more free afterschool programs to keep kids off the street and help them achieve in school, as well as learn about other activities that they may not get to learn about in school. My impression has been that it is a pretty dead farming/commute town that has very little to keep a teenager occupied other than drinking, drugs, and petty crime involvement.

popcorn247 · 01-31-2015, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StarfishKey

Wow, that is a pretty impressive, well-done video. I encourage everybody to take the time to watch it!

But I don't get it - how could Homestead possibly afford all of the improvements they're building? The list of improvements is so long I couldn't even remember them all, and many of them are REALLY expensive. I know they said they had some bond initiative to raise funds, but how could Homestead residents possibly buy enough bonds to pay for all that, especially in the relatively short time it may take to build these things? They mention $60mil, but I kind of doubt even that is all-encompassing, because the structures they are talking about look far more expensive than that... especially if they are being built hurricane-proof, which I really hope they are.

Homestead, as the current Siberia between Miami and the Keys, and the home to most of our nation's tropical plant agriculture (and yes, the racing speedway they mention...), has an opportunity to make more money than either Miami or the Keys in tourism as the ideal location between the two, and next to the Everglades. Right now, there is no affordable place with easy access to all of the many things to see in extreme SFL, especially as they mention for longer-term vacations. Homestead actually WAS more built up, and unfortunately Hurricane Andrew is the reason for its relatively small size and poverty today. But, there is no guarantee that hurricanes won't severely impact these new efforts in the future, especially if they are not made with severe weather in mind. The money has to be wisely and carefully spent.

If I ever get to a point that I can no longer afford the Keys, I would definitely consider living in Homestead. They have access to the Keys and Miami without having to live in either, and I know some acquaintances who live there (who have tried to encourage friends of mine who work in Miami to move there too). I personally am not thrilled about living too near Turkey Point though, and Homestead is pretty swampy with a lot of petty crime. On the other hand, it is certainly closer to a range of job opportunities than the Keys has, without some of the craziness of Miami criminals/drivers/angry residents. And it has better Mexican food. I wonder if these new proposals are steamrolling right over environmental concerns though, which are very important in a region like Homestead... I notice they don't mention a single thing in all of that about environmental concerns, which seems odd given all the development (some brand new) and the fact that they are home to a lot of agriculture and right next door to the Everglades.

The free Homestead weekend trolley to local attractions sounded great, and I will have to check that out assuming there is a safe place for visitors to park their cars!

Cautious optimism for Homestead that they can pull this together and build a nice town to live in, while addressing current residents' concerns! Primarily, it needs to be a safe place to live and enjoy recreation. You can't just build nice things and expect them to stay nice if there are serious problems in the area that are not being fixed. I suspect Homestead needs WAY more free afterschool programs to keep kids off the street and help them achieve in school, as well as learn about other activities that they may not get to learn about in school. My impression has been that it is a pretty dead farming/commute town that has very little to keep a teenager occupied other than drinking, drugs, and petty crime involvement.

Homestead has grown tremendously since Hurricane Andrew.

angelscorpio · 01-31-2015, 05:27 PM

There is a project for an attraction park building from Walt Disney company. We were told about this by first hand since we rented our house there to a bunch of engineers. Also, there will be a huge NETFLIX project but they didn't want to give us any advance. I really wish Homestead become "the new Miami" far from this intoxicated city.