The Underline

The past year has served to reconfirm the importance of a robust, nature-rich public realm that is welcoming to all. From health and wellbeing to environmental and economic resiliency, our parks, trails, libraries and community centers are critical civic infrastructure that provide multi-faceted benefits for communities. Today, the eighth in our series of photo essays reflecting on public space efforts in cities across the country, features The Underline in Miami.

Washington has a consensus: American infrastructure is overdue for capital improvements and maintenance. The most fervent debates on this topic have focused on how much funding should be allocated. But the most important discussion, even when it comes to hard infrastructure (e.g., rail, bridges, roads, and sidewalks), should be about how funding should be spent.

Until recently, the land under an elevated Metro line in Miami was little-used, wasted urban space. Now it’s becoming a park, with the first stage of the Underline—a 10-mile-long space for bikes and pedestrians in a car-centric city—having opened.