Miami Thoughts

Walking in Miami

Since the end of classes at FIU last week, I’ve been taking long walks around Miami.

I love audiobooks, but I find it hard to pay attention if I’m doing something else besides driving or walking. Since I need to commute to North Miami far less these days, walking it is.

The interesting thing about walking is the unusual and unexpected things that I’ve seen. Some of them might turn out to be stories I work on during these hot, wet months. Some, a small bit of investigation, might turn out to be nothing. An editor at the LA Times once gave me and my reporters a sheet of ideas about finding story ideas, and one of them was, simply enough, to take a different route to work.

Yesterday, I walked from my place in Edgewater to the Chicken Kitchen downtown for lunch. Despite my less than stellar experience for the noontime meal, and despite the odd looks I got from people of all stripes for walking in the heat, it felt good to be out. I also got some nascent story ideas, including:

  • On Biscayne Boulevard, there are two “Latin Cafes” only a few blocks from one another. One, though, has a “2000” right below the main words… Was this a falling out between brothers? There seem to be other “Latin Cafes” around town too. Of both stripes?
  • There are a lot of legal aid places on the west side of Biscayne Boulevard in the Midtown/Edgewater area. Well, there used to be, as a lot of the buildings seem to be shuttered. Did they move on? Who owns all of this — increasingly valuable — real estate?
  • In the heat of the day, so, so, so many people are sleeping in the somewhat cooler shades of the Metromover downtown. I’m guessing shelters are only open during the night? Also, what’s the deal with that homeless encampment near I-195 and Northwest 1st Street? Why is everyone there?

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