Education affordability must stay top priority

the Central Florida Future

By Juan David

Guest Columnist

Published: Sunday, September 15, 2013

Updated: Sunday, September 15, 2013 17:09

When getting an education harms someone more than it helps, we have to rethink our value structure in America and “shake up the system.”

At least, these were the words President Barack Obama used on Aug. 22 at the University at Buffalo upon announcing plans for a new college rating system tied to financial aid. The plan unfolds regarding education and the struggles of a knowledge-starved America.

Obama’s plan seeks to evaluate colleges on measures such as tuition, graduation rates, graduates’ debt and earnings and the percentage of lower-income student attendees. It is hard to argue with Obama that this is, indeed, “A knowledge-based economy,” but we all know too well that, “shaking up” an entire nation takes more than the desire of the president or…To read more click Here

Sunset Harbour’s Anchor

Ocean Drive Magazine
September 2013

Sunset Harbour’s Anchor
The neighborhood’s new retailparking venture has aided its transformation into a culinary mecca.

By Juan David Romero

You don’t normally associate parking garages with deliciousness, but in the instance of Sunset Harbour’s new four-story city-owned garage, open since September 2012, that’s exactly the case. Boston’s Emack & Bolio’s ice cream, Wynwood’s Panther Coffee, and Icebox Cafe (formerly of Lincoln Road) have all found a home in the structure’s first-floor retail space, and new nearby eateries such as Brooklyn’s famed Lucali pizza and four Pubbelly restaurants are part of the flavor spike as well. The project, which includes 460 parking spaces and 26,000 square feet of retail, unfolded as a public/private venture between real estate developer partners Scott Robins and Philip Levine and the City of Miami Beach. “We wanted to bring in the best of Miami Beach and people that had been displaced from Lincoln Road and Ocean Drive,” Robins says. Architecture firm Arquitectonica designed the building with an intricate geometrical façade and pedestrian walk-through, providing the bayfront enclave with bites and drinks—and making it one of the most desirable neighborhoods in town.