For or Against Incorporating the greater Kendall area into a City? (Miami: homes, high schools)

[bale002]

Originally Posted by doggiebus

Kendall would benefit from it too.

Exactly what are the benefits? Especially for a extended morass like Kendall?

I too would be concerned about the duplicity of administrations, services, higher taxes, etc., unless there were some concrete, in-the-pocket, meets-the-eye benefits. What would they be exactly?

I'm not saying there aren't any. But I would not want Coral Gables-style taxes with Kendall-style eyesores. One of the benefits of being unincorporated is relatively lower taxes, and acceptable eyesores.

What exactly, visibily, is going to improve before the first tax increase? How can I measure any benefit?

I don't know, it seems it ain't broke, why fix it?

[doggiebus]

From what I've been told, most of these cities the taxes do go up the first few years but with in a few years the taxes usually go down below what they were paying when they were unincorporated. Which makes sense as they have to pay for setting up things like police, police cars, government buildings, etc. Here are some benefits usually:

Your tax dollars stay in your area, police response time get shortened, streets usually get better looking landscape wise, the ability to apply for state grants for your city, streets usually are better taken care of, recreational facilities are well taken care of, cultural facilities and events in the local area, city government closer to the people (meaning you won't have to drive all the way to downtown), more efficient governments because they are smaller, less corruption, incorporated cities have more control of what is zoned in their area (not allowing the county to control this).

I used to be against incorporation, now that I've seen the benefits that other cities have gotten. I'm all for incorporating. Someone told me Broward doesn't have any unincorporated cities.

[JacobMAX]

I'm generally for it, but unsure - County is not doing bad work currently in my area (it's Glenvar Heights abeam Dadeland though). It isn't great, but it isn't as bad, and as abandoned as before.

The best thing - as in many subjects - is looking down recent history. The last places to be incorporated were respectively Cutler Bay, Doral, Miami Gardens, Palmetto Bay, Miami Lakes, Sunny Isles Beach and Pinecrest (all between 95' up to 05'). Frankly things got better off in some - if not many - aspects for most of these cities. Yes, taxes would be a downside, as it would be enlarging the scope of Govt. in the local community. But another upside would be probably less corrupt Govt (especially when comparing to Miami-Dade, which is not good at all in that aspect) and more approachable, hands-on, efficient Govt.

I'd gladly be for incorporating - regardless of taxes, personal opinion - IF that meant locally elected proper politicians with a proper and good non corrupt history. And community based improvements throughout the area.

[JacobMAX]

Originally Posted by bale002

Exactly what are the benefits? Especially for a extended morass like Kendall?

I too would be concerned about the duplicity of administrations, services, higher taxes, etc., unless there were some concrete, in-the-pocket, meets-the-eye benefits. What would they be exactly?

I'm not saying there aren't any. But I would not want Coral Gables-style taxes with Kendall-style eyesores. One of the benefits of being unincorporated is relatively lower taxes, and acceptable eyesores.

What exactly, visibily, is going to improve before the first tax increase? How can I measure any benefit?

I don't know, it seems it ain't broke, why fix it?

How it ain't broke as you're saying "Kendall-style eyesores" (although certain blocks in East Kendall frankly look much better than nearly anywhere in Gables)? That's just one of the issues.

Although I agree with some of the things you said...it is a double edged sword this sort of thing...

Also, how people want better standards of living without paying their fair share?

[JacobMAX]

Originally Posted by VinnyShaw

While we are on this topic, lets talk about Country Club. Country Club lies north of Miami Lakes and west of Miami Gardens. Yet when i receive my mail, they always say Hialeah. Country Club needs to be the next incorporated City. And North Palm Springs should join them too. Then all of NW dade would be incorporated.

That would be another good area (that is, both Country Club and North Palm Springs) for incorporating. Its neighbors Miami Lakes and Miami Gardens were both incorporated in the early 2000s.

[WINTERFRONT]

I never know what to say about this topic...

[straight shooter]

Originally Posted by WINTERFRONT

I never know what to say about this topic...

I am in the same boat. I don't know if it is good or bad.

[bale002]

Originally Posted by JacobMAX

How it ain't broke as you're saying "Kendall-style eyesores" (although certain blocks in East Kendall frankly look much better than nearly anywhere in Gables)? That's just one of the issues.

Although I agree with some of the things you said...it is a double edged sword this sort of thing...

Also, how people want better standards of living without paying their fair share?

I am uneasy with the idea because "Kendall" is too nebulous. What and where is it exactly?

What I mean by "it ain't broke" is that I do not perceive any pressing problems in the area as a nebulous whole that need immediate fixing by means of one incorporation. Or to put it another way, I don't see how incorporating "Kendall", as most people define it - and even that has no unanimous consensus -, would lead to the benefits that doggiebus listed.

Such a "Kendall" could be the size of a county itself and have the same governance problems as Miami-Dade already has, just as far from the citizens, so to speak, with possibly even greater incompetencies. So why duplicate or even exacerbate them?

Or it could be divided into several parts with several different municipalities and each one progresses according to the abilities of the local residents. Maybe that would work better.

On the whole, however, more pressing, in my view, would be an east-west metrorail line, say Kendall Drive, then one that goes from Dadeland directly to the airport, rather than through only downtown (and one from downtown to Miami Beach, but that's another story). Of course no consensus on that either, and in any case easier said than done.

By the way, I agree that some blocks in Dadeland (East Kendall as you put it) look better than many in Coral Gables.

But to me the idea of "greater Kendall" is a horror, with very high potential to be worse than Miami-Dade which isn't that bad.

Hence "if it ain't broke" in relative terms.

[tallrick]

The fact is that a suburb is not a city, period. Do gooders salivate thinking that a new, local Big Brother will be there to beat the nonconformists into submission. Just look at Doral, the worst city ever formed from suburbs. Ugliness that no one can fix. The fact is that you still have to pay taxes to the corrupt county and any new city is just more layers of corruption that costs more. You know that the new city will be made up of the usual suspects who already have their hands in the cookie jar. Most voters are just sheep and will beg to be fleeced in the usual way. Personally I think the best way is to move to a rural county and take the best people from south Florida to control it. Take over government and law enforcement and finally be the stone wall that developers cannot cross and cause the usual problems.

[Cubanchic]

I would say yes but Kendall is either east or west each with parameters. I know that what we liked about cutler bay as it's own city was we had our schools re zoned for better ones. We have 26 police patrol cars for our area and I see them everywhere. We as residents have actually more say in city meetings and because of that there are more folks that attend.

The area I have seen cutler bay or rather cutler ridge east of us 1 improve greatly and I use to be a home inspector during the early 90's and saw what Andrew did to the place as well. My cutler bay taxes over dade county are about 200 to 400 of my total tax bill a year, worth every penny.

East Kendall will be easier to incorporate then west, but west needs major improvements.