Urbanization in Miami

Paper Summary:

Miami has long been held out as an ideal city and as a microcosm of cultural diversity. The growing problems in the real Miami are considered by many to be a harbinger of things to come in American cities across the country. The paper examines the problems which Miami faces today, including poverty, crime, corruption, racism and drugs. It looks at the racial element in Miami's poverty problem and the tension between the African-Americans and the Latinos. The paper also discusses the solutions offered to the city of Miami by the State of Florida.

From the Paper:

"Some 300 city or Dade County officials have been indicted, and entire city departments have come under scrutiny. The building department has been given particular attention. The Miami-Dade building department has been cited by a grand jury for failing to enforce the building codes, taking kickbacks for permits and ignoring serious flaws in a large construction project. A team from the Miami Herald investigating county road projects found that more than $1 million had been paid for "phantom road work" which was never performed. The team also found "staggering overcharges" for other work, including one six-figure bill that had been paid twice. In addition, Herald reporters found that no inspections had been performed on some work and that some records had been falsified. It should be no surprise that the city has the lowest credit rating in the country after Washington, D.C. In 1996, Standard & Poor's responded to the city's $69 million deficit by giving its debt the equivalent of junk-bond status, and the governor placed Miami's finances under the control of a state oversight board (Sugarman 16)."

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