Obliterating Blight
By Angelica Wells
Published in the Biscayne Times
The buzzing of a single electric razor rattles through the firetruck-red walls of Cut Masters Unisex Salon on West Dixie Highway.
Seven other chairs sit empty while Exequias Saint Fleur, 38, quietly chats with his client. Outside, the strip mall housing the salon is a jumble of hand-scrawled signs, fading paint and outdated architecture, exemplifying the appearance of much of the heart of the main commercial corridor in North Miami.
A hundred years ago, West Dixie Highway began as a sandy, dangerous route linking Miami to northern states with the hope of drawing more tourists south. Today, the highway is lined with auto repair places, empty storefronts, pawn shops and inexpensive restaurants between NE 125th and 135th Street.
The North Miami Community Redevelopment Agency, established in 2005 to eliminate blight, envisions a future West Dixie that is as popular, prosperous, and pleasing to the eye as nearby Biscayne Boulevard, which runs parallel to Dixie. The CRA hopes to get a start on uplifting and beautifying the corridor with unified signage, landscaping and attractive street furniture, such as bus stops.
“This year, we’re planning to use a minimum of $1 million, if not more, so that we can see transformative change in West Dixie Highway,” said Mary Estimé Irvin, vice chair of the NMCRA.
The agency also provides commercial grants in the area to both help small businesses and address community concerns.
For his part, Saint Fleur, the barber, is frustrated. He wants to receive a commercial grant to grow his salon, but says that obtaining one is a lengthy, tedious process full of paperwork and unclear requirements.
“We could lower our prices, get new equipment, hire more people,” said Saint Fleur. “But by the time you apply for a grant, it’s already gone.”
Between 2023 and 2024, the CRA funded seven businesses along West Dixie Highway with a total of $475,000. Much of the money went to improve aesthetics. Of those seven businesses, three received $25,000 to improve their storefront appearance and $190,000 was used for streetscape improvements on West Dixie.
Leonie Hermantin, 67, is the director of special projects at the Sant La Haitian Community Center at NE 135th Street and West Dixie. The community center advocates for the Haitian community, which makes up nearly 40% of the North Miami population, by providing social services at no cost.
“There’s not much that’s attractive,” says Hermantin of West Dixie. “You don't get the sense that there’s a corridor. Trees, benches – it’s inviting to people. But we’re not there yet.”
Over on Biscayne Boulevard, store owners must adhere to strict city codes. Every sign, for instance, must be approved by the city. In contrast, West Dixie Highway is located in an older commercial zone with less restrictive regulations, leaving the upkeep of storefronts and their signage to the discretion of business owners.
Gio Negron, 26, moved to the North Miami area one year ago from Miami Lakes to be closer to his job as manager at the Audio Vision recording studios on West Dixie. While waiting for his lunch at the Haitian restaurant L’Auberge, he said the area is being slowly gentrified.
“People still think North Miami is low-income,” said Negron. “It’s a good and a bad thing. But I need people to keep thinking that so I can buy property before it goes crazy. Everyone’s moving here.”
The median income in the city in 2023 was about $30,000. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of just over 60,000.
A building boom is underway in the city now, with scores of units either under construction or recently completed – though few of them are on West Dixie.
Hermantin hopes the CRA keeps its promise to address blight in the area. She believes that development agencies should focus not on the wealthy, but help people in need to receive opportunities, resembling the historical purpose of redevelopment agencies.
“I think that gentrification is caused by other factors that's not necessarily the commercial boulevard,” said Hermantin. “That kind of redevelopment does not cause displacement.”
Jocelyn Villate, 26, has lived next to West Dixie Highway for 20 years. She cites crime and traffic as being the biggest problems in the corridor.
“People are still running red lights,” she said. “There was supposed to be another light [at 135th Street], but it's been like, what, two years now? They haven't touched it at all.”
Dayana Rivera, 41, the director of Imagination Learning Academy Daycare on 141st Street and Dixie, also expressed concerns about the many cars on the main drag, which average more than 35,000 trips a day, according to CoStar, a firm that provides real estate-related data and analytics.
“Some parents have even been involved in accidents because of the high speeds while trying to drop off and pick up their children,” Rivera said. The speed limit in the area is 35 miles per hour.
Yalda Olina, 45, owns Sugar Wax Center on NE 130th Street and West Dixie Highway. She says she’s had to close a location in Hallandale Beach and lay off employees to keep her five-year-old business afloat in North Miami.
“Not many business owners are rich,” Olina says. “But we want to open a business. We have skills to grow, to open opportunities.”
Negron, of Audio Vision recording studios, has been coming to the corridor for four years. He says he believes that Biscayne Boulevard is only the beginning of expensive development that will eventually take over the inner city.
“I hope the city doesn't lose its culture,” says Negron. “I think we should always blend cultures to be united as one.”
Hermantin, of the Haitian community centers, argues that it is challenging to find a unified voice that includes business owners, shoppers and residents along the corridor.
“Once you have all citizens represented in the articulations of the visions of the CRA or city level, the concerns that are raised by us can find a way into whatever design will develop,” she said.
But after years of empty promises, those who work and live on West Dixie Highway remain frustrated at being ignored. They say they want a better quality of life and a community where they can thrive.
“The city says they want to change how people are living, how people are buying stuff, how people are driving around,” says Villate. “We want them to hear our voice, to hear us.”
