North Beach wants its own say

North Beach Now is a group of residents who have come together to advocate for responsible development that will reinvigorate the inactive areas of North Beach, while preserving historically significant buildings that form the character of the community.

We are launching our group in an effort to realize a vision of North Beach as a family-oriented, vibrant neighborhood with a high quality of life for its residents. North Beach deserves world-class and active parks.

We also need more of a variety of businesses within centrally-located, walkable mixed-use destinations.

This can be realized by transforming Town Center and upper Collins Avenue into retail destinations that focus on products and services for local families, and emphasize active living.

North Beach Now members believe the area is in dire need for additional parking and more diverse transportation options for residents that will help reduce congestion such as: trolleys, buses, bike lanes, and water-taxis.

We want to see the Art Deco and MiMo architecture that characterizes North Beach safeguarded for future generations through the preservation of truly contributing properties in the area west of Harding.

In addition, we believe that our community should have a rich arts and culture landscape, which can be advanced through incentivizing arts organizations to relocate to the area, where they can invest in the next generation of North Beach artists.

And finally, we want to work with the school system and parents to improve education in North Beach, namely through finding ways to support and enhance Biscayne Elementary.

We invite all North Beach residents to join us as we work towards these goals by signing up to receive updates at nobenow.com and following us on Facebook at North Beach Now.

This story was originally published April 16, 2016 at 1:00 PM with the headline "North Beach wants its own say."