Clogged streets, over-development harming Coral Gables

My wife and I have loved living in Coral Gables for more than 30 years.

We are fortunate enough to live within walking distance of the downtown area. A 10-minute stroll through a quiet, tree-lined neighborhood brings us to all the sophisticated pleasures of a vibrant urban core.

Miracle Mile, and the downtown in general, used to be rather drab and provincial, but over the past 20 or so years, we have watched it blossom into a world-class city with a fabulous bookstore, theatre, movie house, museum and countless great restaurants, bars and cafes, all within easy walking distance of each other.

But all that changes when I need to drive my car within the city. What once took 10 minutes, now can take almost an hour; sitting at one jam-packed intersection after another. The automobile traffic is destroying the quality of life in our city and it will only continue to get worse with all the current monster development projects.

Candidate for mayor Jeanette Slesnick is right to argue for “tapping the brakes on mega-development.” In the March 31 Miami Herald article, “Development is major focus of rivals in race for Coral Gables mayor,” I was pleased to see that finally somebody is opposing the “Brickellization of Coral Gables and its future as a traffic-clogged concrete canyon.”

Let us hope she is not too late to save the City Beautiful.