Miami Vice into Virtue with Code 21

No, Miami isn't just the backdrop for the Kardashian sisters. It also happens to be at the forefront of New Urbanism with the goal to completely redesign its cityscape thanks to the October adoption of Code 21.

Code 21 creates a form-based code to encourage walkable streetscape development and mixed-use landscapes. The code is the result of five years of public discussion and debate. The new code will allow for diverse items ranging from wider sidewalks, more green space, and better transit, among other initiatives.

Boston Globe writer Anthony Flint praises the move as a "blueprint for sustainable urban form," and the planning community has expressed enthusiastic approval. The U.S. Conference of Mayors presented Mayor Diaz with an architectural award for efforts relating to Code 21. It seems forward thinking for a city which, as New Geography writes, "[has] been egregiously abused at the hands of the free market; its citizens disenfranchised and suffering from an environment of ugliness, traffic and congestion."

Who in their right mind would oppose Code 21 and its efforts to make more walkable neighborhoods in Miami? You might be surprised...