LITTLE HAITI IN MIAMI, FLORIDA. CREDIT: E.A. CRUNDEN
On the streets of Little Haiti, resentment is brewing in the air. The bright, cheerful neighborhood booms with friendly banter and greetings between neighbors, even early in the morning on a Monday. But the lightest of conversations turns sour when the discussion shifts to the neighborhood’s booming development.
“The developers come and make it almost impossible for a guy that makes under $25,000 a year to make it,” grumbles TiGeorges Laguerre, who runs Kafé Péyi. Laguerre’s Haitian cuisine made him famous in Los Angeles, but he came to Miami seeking Creole and a Haitian community. Now, he feels that familial atmosphere is about to disappear, a trend locals say is thanks to mass-development — as well as climate change.
In the midst of murals adorned with the Haitian flag and iconic Haitian figures, a number of small businesses have shuttered. To the side of a main road cutting through Little Haiti, a large-scale mural oversees one grassy vacant lot, partitioned by a fence strewn with campaign signs in advance of Tuesday’s primary elections. Bordering the area is another, larger lot, where a prominent billboard foreshadows Little Haiti’s imminent future: a wide-scale development project bringing 2,500 apartments and 27-story buildings to the neighborhood. Continue reading
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