Retired U.S. Senator Bob Graham recently invited a group of landscape architecture students from the University of Florida on a tour of Miami Lakes, a community that was once a dairy farm before his family developed the area into an award-winning project of residential, commercial and industrial developments.
The tour was part of the students’ three-day field trip in Florida, where they visited several architecture firms and urban planning projects for the outdoor environment but nothing could compare to their experience in Miami Lakes.
They got an opportunity to see Main Street, The Graham Companies’ crown jewel of stores, restaurants, Don Shula’s Hotel, the state-of-the-art movie theatre and residential living above the shopping center.
The students also saw the symbolism of the original community of Miami Lakes, the cows which were grazing in a large pasture field near Main Street, and Miami Lakes Town Hall, where government officials run the daily operations of the town.
The students also saw upscale residential areas designed with a landscaping and beautification master plan of trees and botanical gardens, ample, open green spaces and nature preserves.
The students also saw the two large Industrial parks, the beaches, Graham Park, Shula’s Golf Club and Athletic Club, the Mary Collins Community Center for senior classes, the Roberto Alonso Community Center at Royal Oaks Park, the new Youth Center, and other areas that made Miami Lakes the model for residential and commercial development throughout the United States.
Maria C. Gurucharri, associate professor and chair of the UF Department of Landscape Architecture and School of Landscape Architecture and Planning College of Design, Construction and Planning, said the field trip to Miami Lakes was “wonderful.”
“We were fortunate that Senator Graham invited us to visit Miami Lakes, and we had a wonderful morning in the life of Miami Lakes,” she said. “Today, it was great.”
Landscape architecture student Kelsey Riordan said the experience gave her chance to see what urban planning in Miami Lakes is all about.
“We enjoyed seeing the urban work, it’s a natural feeling,” she said. “It’s a setting for everyone.”