Baylink will lure young professionals to live, play on Miami Beach

In 2000, when I was mayor of Miami Beach and on the Metropolitan Planning Organization Board, I spearheaded including Baylink in the county’s transportation master plan. At that time, the likely preferred alternative was a light rail system — similar to hugely popular systems in Denver and Portland — circulating downtown Miami and in South Beach, linking both along the McArthur Causeway.

The future need was evident back then, a convenient alternative to cars for commuters to and from the Beach. Even though it passed a citywide straw vote, fearmongering and a lack of leadership stopped Baylink from proceeding. Opponents said, ‘We don’t want those people coming over to the

Beach.’

Who were “those” people? Beach residents working downtown and mainland service workers and visitors coming to our city. Guess who comes to the Beach without Baylink? Car-driving partiers who jam our causeways and streets. Guess who doesn’t come to the Beach? Young professionals and residents of affluent, close-in mainland neighborhoods and suburbs.

Twenty years ago, I worked with a number of young lawyers who lived on or visited the Beach. Today, in my large Brickell firm, not one young attorney lives on the Beach and none visit. Their lives are completely centered around Brickell, Downtown, Edgewater and nearby neighborhoods.

If there were a convenient transit connection to Miami, tied into the existing Metromover system, I believe many would choose to live in neighborhoods close to the proposed Metromover stop on Fifth Street, for instance, along West Avenue and South of

Fifth, and others would rediscover the pleasures of South Beach again, supporting businesses not solely dependent on the cross-the-causeway party scene.

As major global firms with good-paying jobs move to Downtown and Brickell, if we want some of their employees to live on the Beach, we must have a premium transit alternative.

Just as, if not more, important, in a city that is the second-largest employer in the metropolitan region, dependent on tens of thousands of service workers, it is unconscionable that we make them suffer commutes of sometimes more than two hours. That hurts Beach businesses as well, as employees seek jobs closer to where they live. Additionally, the many thousands of tourists staying in Miami have virtually no alternative when visiting the Beach other than driving or ride sharing, greatly adding to causeway congestion.

Metromover’s one-seat ride, with an easy connection to the rest of the county’s transportation system, as well as to Brightline and Tri-Rail, the regional rail systems, will make commuting across the causeway easier and more reliable. Studies also show, that if we can get just 5% to 10% of the cars off the road, congestion will drop dramatically.

Now, under the leadership of Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and Commissioner Eileen Higgins, we again have the opportunity to have a seamless link to the mainland with an extension of Metromover to Fifth Street — leading, I hope, to future connectivity further up the Beach.

But, once again, opponents say they don’t want “those” people coming to the Beach and disregard our best chance to reduce cross-bay traffic, bring balance to our community by encouraging Miami’s young professionals to live on the Beach and provide an alternative to the unconscionable commutes for service workers.

Beach already shot itself in the foot by not proceeding with Baylink 20 years ago.

Let’s not shoot ourselves in the other foot. For a well-planned future for Miami Beach, support Baylink.