By Jodi Farrell

Imagine a Miami with more green spaces and fewer cars.

As parks vie for space amid a forest of condos and clogged roadways, the Arsht Center’s master plan for its neighborhood calls for more public gathering spaces and increased public transportation options to support the cultural district rapidly taking shape around the performing arts center.

More parks and less congestion are no longer distant possibilities, thanks to a powerful volunteer board and community support for thoughtful urban planning. The Arsht Center’s Office of Neighborhood Development and the Town Square Neighborhood Development Corp. Board are working to make the once-desolate neighborhood a vibrant, livable urban center with the arts at its heart.

Miami’s Museum Park opened in June along the city’s waterfront just a few blocks from the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County.[/caption]

Recent signs of progress:

• A new park: In June, the city of Miami opened the long-awaited Museum Park along the downtown Miami waterfront. Just blocks from the Arsht Center and encompassing new art and science museums, the park includes 19 acres of open green space – not a common sight in Miami. In fact, a 2012 study identified the city as having the least amount of park space per capita of any high-density city in the nation. The Trust for Public Land ranks Miami 94 on a list of 100 cities when it comes to park acreage per 1,000 residents — just 2.8 acres per 1,000 residents, versus 4.5 in New York and 6.2 in Los Angeles.

• A new commuter train: All Aboard Florida, a proposed higher-speed passenger rail service, is on track to open in late 2015, connecting Orlando to Miami via a 240-mile route along the Florida East Coast Railway. The trains will operate at an overall average speed similar to the Acela Express that connects New York and Washington, D.C. (80 miles per hour) reducing the travel time between Miami and Orlando to three hours and two minutes, versus the four-hour driving time – potentially reducing traffic congestion in both cities. West Palm Beach and Cocoa also will have stops on the route, with the end of the line in Miami connected to existing Metrorail and Metromover systems (including a stop next to the Arsht Center).

• New car-ride services: Two new ride-for-hire services – Lyft and UberX – have set up shop in Miami this summer, despite threats of fines and car impoundings. The rogue car services are fighting the taxicab industry and stiff county transportation laws that restrict the number of limo permits and taxi medallions that can be sold, but supporters says it’s a matter of time before they become official – and permanently widen transportation options in the Miami area, reducing the need for many city dwellers to own a car.