South Florida leaders gather to discuss solutions on housing crisis

DOWNTOWN MIAMI – Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava held a roundtable with other mayors Wednesday to talk about challenges and solutions in what has become one of the priciest places in America to rent or buy.

“It’s really on us to cut the red tape and get things to market quicker,” Levine Cava said.

Hialeah Mayor Steve Bovo spoke about how people in Hialeah and Homestead end up living in odd places, because of the rent prices.

“People are parking campers and trailers next to their homes and they’re renting them out for 800, 900 bucks a month,” Bovo said.

As the mayors discussed the issue, they said the problem is that there is too much demand and little supply.

“We even have situations of people living in metal tool sheds in backyards,” Homestead Mayor Steven Losner said.

During this meeting, they all also said that they are going to start thinking differently about properties in a post-pandemic world, especially with more people working from home.

“There has to be buildings that used to be businesses, that if the government gets involved that we can purchase and turn those into the low-income property or affordable housing,” Village of El Portal Mayor Omarr Nickerson said.

Cities are also looking at better transportation as part of the solution, working with the state to cut the exorbitant costs of insurance and bringing developers to the table to figure out what’s the most efficient and responsible way to build with limited space.

Levine Cava plans to host a housing summit in June and wants these meetings to continue to keep tabs on what is happening on the local level in Miami-Dade.


About the Author:

In January 2017, Hatzel Vela became the first local television journalist in the country to move to Cuba and cover the island from the inside. During his time living and working in Cuba, he covered some of the most significant stories in a post-Fidel Castro Cuba.