The Upper East Side is primarily a residential neighborhood of single family homes from the 1920s-1960s and many high rise residential towers clustered along the bay with Biscayne Boulevard running along the center of the neighborhood. There are two unique historic styles here: Miami Modern (MiMo) architecture along Biscayne Boulevard (mid-century hotels and condos), and the 1920s-1940s Mediterranean and Art Deco styles found in the Morningside Historic District.
Like much of urban Miami, the Upper East side fell on hard times during the 60s & 70s but had a major resurgence in the 90s and 2000s starting with the Morningside subdistrict. The area is now home to a wide variety of price points and housing styles. Upper Eastside also has solid park amenities, diverse ethnic restaurants and interesting cafes, stylish boutiques and some creative stores, lots of art galleries, and great racial and economic diversity.
Very an urban perspective quality urban form and streetscaping is spotty along the main commercial thorofare of Biscayne Blvd with lots of autocentric stretches, ADA infrastructure is hit or miss, density is pretty low leading to limited pedestrian activity, bike lanes are missing, and about 1/3 of the district is within a gated community. Fortunately these are all areas that can be fixed and I anticipate will improve as the neighborhood densifies and fills in.
URBAN STRENGTHS:
- Incredible racial diversity. It doesn’t get much better than this in America.
- Economic diversity is also near the ideal.
- Decent family and age diversity.
- Thee appears to be a decent amount of dedicated affordable units here. Medium rent is $1,200.
- Several decent walkable schools within or on the western border of the Upper East Side.
- Solid Park amenities with Morningside Park topping the list.
- Excellent Tree Cover especially in the Morningside subdistrict.
- Some really cool Mid-Century Hotels still line Biscayne Blvd and the gated community of Morningside has some wonderful 1920s-1930s homes but much of the neighborhood was blander 1930s-1950 architecture.
- In-fill architecture is a mix of auto centric and pretty decent urban Apartments and Mix-use bldgs. Lots of high rise towers as well.
- Culturally a good array of very diverse restaurants, lots of cafes and dessert spots, a couple community theaters, plenty of art galleries, a couple of local museums.
- Generally pretty safe district with some sketchy pockets.
URBAN WEAKNESSES:
- Roads are generally gridded and connected but 1/3 of all residential areas are within gated communities, providing only limited access to the public.
- Decent dedicated bike coverage but very limited bike lane coverage.
- Rentals are generally pretty expensive but some modest apts still available with some studios leasing around 1K. 1 & beds rent btwn 1.5K-3K. 3-bed product is pretty limited and expensive leasing anywhere btwn 3K-6K. Rentals are generally prohibited im the gated communities.
- For sale also ends to be expensive but decent moderate options oo. Many Studio & 1 bed condos selling btwn 100K-300Ks. Luxury 1-beds sell for more. Significant diversity w/ 2 beds selling anywhere btwn 200Ks-800Ks depending if condo or SF home. Similar situation with 3-beds with price point ranging from 300K- low 1 Ms.4 & 5 beds are more expensive with many homes selling in the Millions.
- Hit or miss with ADA current ramps but most areas have at least decent sidewalks.
- Urban form is so . Biscayne is very much a mixed bag with clumps of decent biz clusters connected by autocentric stretches.
- Okay retail amenities including a supermarket, a couple drug stores, a couple banks, a good # of boutiques & home good stores, . There is also a local library branch and the really cool Ironside complex but no post office.
- Not great pedestrian activity.
Evaluating our Urban Communities [with a focus on America] 