Citizens for Park Improvement

Location: Virginia Key and Key Biscayne, Miami-Dade County, Florida (Rickenbacker Causeway / Crandon Boulevard corridor)

Project Type: Civic advocacy, research, and park planning initiative

Status: Phase 1 research complete; Phase 2 master plan development underway

Primary Agencies/Stakeholders: Citizens for Park Improvement (CPI); Miami-Dade County; West 8 (landscape architecture); Cultural Landscape Foundation; Village of Key Biscayne; Crandon Park Master Plan Amendment Committee

Overview

Citizens for Park Improvement (CPI) is a nonprofit organization founded to address longstanding deficiencies in public safety, infrastructure, parks, and open spaces along the Rickenbacker Causeway and Crandon Boulevard corridor. Its work spans two interconnected areas of concern: the structural and recreational conditions of the Rickenbacker and Bear Cut Bridges, and the physical, operational, and governance state of Crandon Park. CPI's broader mission is to advance parks, recreation, and environmental conservation on the barrier islands of Virginia Key and Key Biscayne in ways that benefit all Miami-Dade County residents.

 

Scope & Intent

CPI's primary planning effort — known as One Crandon — was initiated in 2019 when the organization commissioned landscape architecture firm West 8, with advisory support from the Cultural Landscape Foundation, to conduct an objective research and analysis of Crandon Park. The study examined the park's current physical and operational condition and identified how its site, facilities, and governance could be improved.

A parallel concern is the condition of the Rickenbacker Causeway and Bear Cut Bridge infrastructure, which CPI identifies as both a public safety issue and a recreational opportunity — arguing that the Causeway should function as a safe linear park for cyclists, runners, and pedestrians, not only as a vehicular corridor.

Key Components

• Multi-volume research and analysis report (8 volumes) covering site analysis, relevant history, park governance and funding, recent best practices, park precedents, and historic documentation

• Identification of six core challenges at Crandon Park: fragmented identity, an excessively rigid master plan framework, underutilization and weak revenue generation, vulnerability to sea level rise and storms, poor accessibility and circulation, and deferred maintenance

• Area-specific recommendations for the Marina, Crandon Boulevard, Ibis and West Point Preserves, Golf Course, Tennis Center, Calusa Park, Bear Cut Preserve, Marjory Stoneman Douglas Nature Center, Beach, parking areas, Cabanas, Crandon Gardens, and archaeological sites

• Advocacy for bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements along the Causeway corridor, building on the 1993 Olmsted Office master plan

• Phase 2 engagement of West 8 to develop a new comprehensive master plan for Crandon Park, including redesign proposals for east and west park properties and cost evaluations

Process & Status

Phase 1 research was conducted between 2019 and 2020, with West 8 conducting multiple site visits, photographic documentation, on-site observation, and review of historical imagery, maps, surveys, environmental reports, and prior master plans. Findings were compiled into an Executive Summary and the full eight-volume A Call for Change report.

Phase 2 is now underway. CPI has retained West 8 to develop a new comprehensive master plan and redesign proposals, which will be submitted to Miami-Dade County and the Crandon Park Master Plan Amendment Committee. CPI intends to identify major philanthropic donors to fund each element of the improvements, with the explicit condition that the park remain a public resource — not commercialized, not made more expensive to access, and not altered in its fundamental public character.

Reference Context

This entry is drawn from the Citizens for Park Improvement website (parkimprovement.org), which serves as the public repository for the organization's research, reports, and advocacy positions. The One Crandon initiative represents CPI's most comprehensive planning effort to date and is positioned as a community-driven counterproposal to decades of inadequate stewardship of one of Miami-Dade County's most significant Heritage Parks.