Overhaul: Coral Gables spruces up the Miracle Mile streetscape
FLORIDA TREND — June 2016 — BY ROCHELLE BRODER-SINGER. To boost evening and weekend business, downtown Coral Gables is undergoing major streetscape improvements. The two most radical changes on Miracle Mile will be 23-foot-wide sidewalks that can accommodate outdoor dining (sidewalks are currently 15 feet wide) and parallel parking along the street instead of angle parking. There will also be gardens, landscaping, more trees, decorative lighting and better directional signs, along with a new drainage system.
The parking change is the m ost controversial, since it will mean 96 fewer spaces (out of 236). Retailers – mostly locally owned stores – worry that customers who can’t easily park in front of their stores will go elsewhere.
