Miami Historic Neighborhoods

Since the beginning of my career, I have been actively involved in historic preservation. I was on the front lines of the efforts to place the Miami Beach Art Deco District on the National Registry of Historic Places, and I photographed the seminal book on the history of the preservation of the district. I also contribute regularly to Dade Heritage Trust’s historic preservation advocacy programs.

Recently, two monumental forces − climate change and climate regentrification − have significantly impacted my focus and given new meaning and incentive to my work. Climate change is threatening Miami as well as all coastal cities. Many structures that may not now be in immediate danger will surely soon be in peril.

Climate regentrification is an even more immediate threat to Miami’s architectural heritage, particularly to its low-rise, residential neighborhoods. In anticipation of an impending increase in coastal flooding, those who can afford to move will inevitably abandon their properties on the coast and begin to inhabit and develop projects inland, in those very historic neighborhoods that are unprotected by historic designations.

I am in a real race against time to document Miami’s historic sites and neighborhoods before they are forever lost. Many of the locations I only recently photographed have been irrevocably changed, the scale of the original fabric dramatically altered, and not for the better. Already in my archives is Miami Beach’s New Yorker Hotel, an art deco masterpiece by Harry Hohouser, demolished in 1990.