North: SW 88^th Street (Kendall Drive)

South: SW 120^th Street

East: SR 821 ET

West: SW 137^th Avenue

The Crossings, southeast of Southwest 137th Avenue and 104th Street borders West Kendall, one of Miami’s most dynamic communities. The Crossings is also known as Calusa mainly because of its main development “The Calusa Country Club”. The club and its golf course, opened in 1968, and it features a links style layout with some of the best ‘greens’ around in South Florida (Golf Digest). This is a somewhat, wide-open course because Hurricane Andrew ruined many of its trees. While the replanted trees grow in, the club is maintaining a defined cut of thick rough bordering the fairways (Golf Digest).

            The country club is currently in dispute with the Crossing’s homeowners association. Facundo Bacardi a major developer in the area has plans to replace the aging golf course with an exclusive multimillion dollar facility, fencing off the access. “It's just that they want to be able to see it from their backyards (Riise 2005). Plans call for making it as private and secluded as possible for big-money golfers” (Piniero2006). “It's like having a house on the beach and you can't see, or use, the beach,'' said Marilin Cabassi (her backyard overlooks the golf course). Shawn Crews, general manager of the facility at 9400 SW 130th Ave., assures residents nothing is being hidden. In the long run, Crews said, the project will pay off for homeowners. “When they lose their view, some would argue that depreciates their property value,” Crews said. However, the flip side is that now their property is sitting on a low to middle of the road public course and, “after construction, they will sit on the best course in South Florida” (Piniero 2006). Some homeowners see the plans as a positive development. Shawn Crews adds, “those trees are going to be beautiful. Other residents similarly believe, “this is the best thing that could have happened to us and the neighborhood. It could make our property values soar” (Piniero 2006).

Even with a multimillion dollar development project underway the neighborhood still faces obstacles. The neighborhood still shows the damages of the 2005 hurricane season. The association’s Board of Directors states “the neighborhood is still inspecting the damage from Wilma, which included minor to moderate roof damage and extensive tree and fence damage” (Ayo 2005). The Board of Directors just asks homeowners to please be patient.  Further, while many residents said they praised the work of the homeowners association and it’s master association, more must be done about the safety of the community. The master association acts like an umbrella association for each of the four subdivisions in The Crossings. The neighborhood is concerned about burglaries in the area and keeping the community clean (Colon 2006).
            Mr. Roldan, president of the master association, has experienced various burglaries in the past, and warns “no one is immune from the criminal element in Miami” (Colon 2006).  Miami-Dade Police Major Grace O’Donnell in charge of Kendall’s police task-force reports no robberies in the neighborhood as recent as May, 2006, but emphasizes that there is currently a lack of sufficient officers in the district.  Police services will be increased in the coming months.

As of the 2000 census tracts 101.74, 101.76, 101.75, 101.77, there were 23,557 people, 8,264 households, and 6,255 families residing in The Crossings. From an aerial view, The Crossings shows a high housing units density, and when refering to the data this also shows. There were 8,672 housing units at an average density of 2,321.0/mi², compared to Naranja, a southern similar sized neighborhood, where there was 1,630 housing units at an average density of 1,072.7/mi². This high density has had urban side effects. This has caused the traffic jams to escalade on the main roads (Herald Staff 2005). This is a serious issue in The Crossings and its surrounding that will only worsen over time as the suburban population becomes increasingly dense.

            The Crossings is mainly a white Hispanic community with 85.20% White, 4.64% African American, 0.09% Native American, and with 56.11% of the population Hispanic or Latino of any race. The Crossings’ population is young and spread out. 25.9% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 32.0% from 25 to 44, 24.6% from 45 to 64, and 8.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years.

            The median income for a household in the neighborhood was $55,517, and the median income for a family was $60,263. Males had a median income of $42,360 versus $32,543 for females. The per capita income for the Crossings was $23,762. 6.5% of the population and 5.1% of families were below the poverty line. 5.4% of those under the age of 18 and 5.3% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

Ayo, Elaine. Wilma’s Wrath Stymies Katrina Cleanup. Miami Herald, The (FL). October

30, 2005. Section: Neighbors. Page 4WK.

Colon, Yahnilet. Cleaning, Safety Top Neighbors’ Worries. Miami Herald, The (FL). February 5, 2006. Section:  Neighbors. Page:  4WK.

Herald Staff. Hey Intersection Idlers: ‘Don’t Block the Box!’. Miami Herald, The (FL).

June 12, 2005. Section: Neighbors, Page 14 WK.

Piniero, Yudi. Private Course Has Some Concerned. Miami Herald, The (FL). April 30, 2006. Section: Neighbors. Page 6NW.

Riise, Torben. Homeowners’ New Leader Has Grand Plans. Miami Herald, The (FL). June 16, 2005. Section: Neigborhs. Page 6WK.

U.S. Bureau of the Census.  (2000).  Statistical File 3, P31 and P32 for Census Tracts 101.74, 101.76, 101.75, and 101.77.  http://www.census.gov