In the late 80’s and early 90’s South Miami’s downtown district was faced with many challenges and opportunities. In order to meet these challenges and opportunities, a group of active commercial property owners formed South Miami Hometown, Inc in 1992 in order to work together with the city commission to create positive change.
In 1992 South Miami Hometown, Inc hired longtime South Miami resident Victor Dover, a renowned architect and urban planner to help with this effort. Victor helped organize a charrette. The charrette brought together: property owners, business owners, citizens, city staff and city commissioners to work together for a common goal. This community wide effort enabled property owners and business owners to create a welcoming and vibrant downtown district for its residents and visitors.
In 2011 South Miami Hometown, Inc was reorganized by some former members along with more recent property owners with the goal to help the merchants, the city, and the property owners during these trying times.
The revitalized organization has a 7 member active board and in just a short time has grown the organization to include close to 30 members. All members must either be a commercial property owner or a representative of a commercial property owner in South Miami. The organization’s goals currently include but are not limited to:
• Creating a communication link between the commercial property owners of South Miami and the City of South Miami government and staff for the betterment of the City of South Miami.
• Keeping commercial property owners informed of legislation changes, political changes, ordinances and other related matters that may have an impact on general commercial property in general.
• Communicating to the City the needs of South Miami commercial property owners
Working in conjunction with other organizations including but not limited to:
• Red Sunset Merchant Association, Chamber South, Homeowners Associations, and other organizations within the City of South Miami for the betterment of South Miami.
• South Miami Hometown, Inc. general members meet every couple of months to discuss a myriad of city-wide issues. The organization hosted a coffee meet-andgreet for the City Mayoral and Commission Candidates in January of this year. In February, the group co-hosted a candidate forum at City Hall a few weeks prior to the election.
The board is currently looking in to the possibility of a Business Improvement District (BID) similar to those that exist in Coral Gables, Coconut Grove and thousands of other small towns throughout the country. The BID for South Miami will be geared towards helping the merchants and may include such things as cohesive marketing and street improvements. Recognizing that for improvement and growth in South Miami there must be a cohesive effort; South Miami Hometown Inc is working closely with Red Sunset Merchants, Chamber South, city officials and other community leaders.
For more information on South Miami Hometown Inc or for membership information contact board member Shawn Crews at crews@tangerinepm.com
