Flamingo Park

Sometimes you might hear Miami referred to as the "sixth borough", in reference to its status as a haven for New York City vacationers and retirees. If you run with that idea, then maybe Miami Beach is a stand in for Manhattan island, and we can go ahead and count Flamingo Park as Miami Beach's own "Central Park".

Flamingo Park is located in South Beach, in between 11th and 15th street and Alton and Meridian. It is a large urban park with plenty of different recreational activities available. One of these is tennis. Flamingo Park is a popular place in the area to play tennis. Unlike in most tennis complexes, which utilize hard courts, the Flamingo Park tennis courts use clay. So if you want to channel your inner Rafa Nadal, then partake in some rallies here at Flamingo Park. It seems like they are hoping to renovate the court complex soon too.

The park houses not only a tennis complex, but a community pool as well. The pool area has a unique design, and looks like a fun place to go take a swim.
 

The pool and the tennis courts are just some of the draws to Flamingo Park. There is a nice area of wide open space to roam around in, areas to bring the dog, basketball courts, and places for racquetball and baseball/softball as well. There is even a football field with a track circling around it.

Some of the best qualities of the park are its landscaping. The park makes really good use of different kinds of trees and plants, and many areas of the park are well shaded. In a city where temperatures commonly approach triple digits, a little shade can go along way to making a park seem more welcoming.

Flamingo Park is a great park, and it shows given its high use rate by the community. When I went, there was a mixture of patrons: families at the park and playground, tennis players using the courts, basketball players, and even people just walking across the park to get where they needed to go. Its location is a great one, right in the heart of the aptly named Flamingo Park neighborhood. This area of historic art deco style apartment buildings surely benefits from having such a great park at the doorsteps, and given Miami Beach's condensed nature, the park is close to many of the city's other residents too. You can get up close and personal with the Flamingo Park neighborhood just by standing at the edge of the park, but you can also view some of South Beach's taller residential buildings just standing in the center too.

Flamingo Park is a well maintained and exciting place. It has everything from a pool to youth athletic leagues to a Boys and Girls Club. It has something for everyone, whether you're interested in sports, leisurely walking, or just sitting under the trees. Miami Beach is a dense, unique city, with plenty of cultural activities. Plus, there's also the ocean. Still, it was refreshing to see, even with all the other recreational activities available in the area, a public park remain so prominent in the area, filled with people. A great experience from a park I had previously known little about, despite my living in the area!

More images after the cut.

Margaret Pace Park

Plain and simple, this is a blog about parks. I'll use the blog to document exploration of a number of parks throughout Miami, the city that I live in. At times, I might venture outside of the county limits, but for now will stick with mostly Miami. There are a number of parks I hope to visit, and hopefully along the way other people will be able to learn more about the numerous places one can enjoy cheap or free leisurely fun.

Margaret Pace Park is the first park I visited for the purpose of this blog. I had been to it only once before, to play tennis with some friends who live in the neighborhood. It is a City of Miami park that is located at 1775 N. Bayshore Drive, in the area commonly called "Omni", over the by the Adrienne Arsht Center.

Hidden by high rise apartments, Margaret Pace Park is an urban, waterfront park that will make you appreciate the coastal nature of Miami. From the park you can see Miami Beach, as well as the different bridges and causeways linking the mainland to the barrier island, and small islands dotting Biscayne Bay. When I went it was cool, windy and cloudy, which made for an interesting view and feel of the park, in comparison to Miami's stereotypically hot and sunny days.

The park is multifunctional, with basketball, beach volleyball, and tennis courts, a playground and an outdoor gym. The best feature of the park though, is its wide open green space that leaves plenty of room for roaming, or just relaxing. You can even walk down to the edge of the water and stand on the rocks and look out onto Biscayne Bay.

Maybe it was the weather, or maybe it is the hidden nature of the park in a neighborhood under the heavy burden of road construction, but there was a surprising lack of visitors to the park. Despite the multiple recreation offerings, and its unique, waterfront location, most of the people I've seen on both visits have been a mixture of dog walkers and joggers encircling the park, never truly entering it. One would think that, with its proximity to a number of high rise residential towers, you would see more people enjoying a waterfront park right at their doorsteps. Hopefully in the future, I can visit Margaret Pace Park and see a more vibrant scene appreciating this true gem. In a coastal area with a surprising lack of public access to waterfront, a park like this one should be appreciated by all.

More pics after the jump, and thanks to Brian Ray for being the camera man!