The city suburban: an increasing number of businesses are moving into the central core of Coral Gables, lured by the successful launch of a mass transit trolley system. But can George Merrick's leafy planned community maintain its suburban charm?

South Florida CEO, Nov, 2004 by Jaclyn Alcantara

The city's demographics are skewing younger too. "Coral Gables 10 years ago was an aging community," says Mayor Donald Slesnick. He says many of its elderly have moved northward to smaller cities. "I believe that the age has probably dropped each year for the last 10 years. As those people leave, young families usually come in."

The Hispanic population in Coral Gables is expanding as well. In 2000, the US Census showed the city's population was split nearly evenly among white non-Hispanics and Hispanics. "In the last four years, the Hispanic population has inched up a little bit more. And that's just a reflection of the continuing trends of Dade County," Slesnick says.

While leisure tourism may not be as large an industry in Coral Gables as it is in some other South Florida locales, the city has, because of its many multinational headquarters, been successful in attracting business tourism and conventions. Slesnick says. "Sometimes business tourists are better spenders than leisure tourists," he says. Still, he adds, "Our leisure tourist market isn't bad either. We get a lot of people that come here for football games. They come here because they want to do other leisure things that don't necessarily involve putting your feet in the sand, so therefore they choose Coral Gables. It's a convenient, centrally-located place."

The Seaway Group's White concurs, pointing out that the Biltmore Hotel continues to see a greater demand from leisure travelers and is responding by refurbishing its rooms and providing new amenities, such as an additional spa, which are meant to appeal to the high-end leisure traveler.

But will these leisure tourists be able to find their way around "The City Beautiful" once they get there? Slesnick says he has some ideas on making its historical, yet hard-to-see, 12-inch high street markers more visible, such as putting reflective paint on the lettering for easier viewing by nighttime drivers. Even so, there are no plans to replace the aging white concrete markers with modern street signs. "It's been there since the beginning, and it's just something that visitors have to put up with," says Slesnick.

RELATED ARTICLE: BEHIND THE SCENES

Coral Gables is having an ongoing love affair with the trolley. Its now ubiquitous cars ply the city's downtown streets, depositing residents, employees and shoppers, making it one of South Florida's mass transit success stories.

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Behind the scenes, trolley manager Ed Cox, a veteran of the New York City transportation system, constantly tweaks schedules and routes to ensure the trolleys remain a convenience and not a nuisance. "It's a tremendous challenge ... it can be hell on wheels behind the scenes," Cox says.

The city's free trolley system launched on Nov. 25, 2003 when it began its loop from Metrorail's Douglas Station down Ponce de Leon Boulevard to Eighth Street. The response to the trolley exceeded even the city's most ambitious projections: For the year through mid-October, approximately 390,000 passengers hopped a ride on the trolley--an average of 2,500 passengers a day. That was up from a 2004 projected average of 1,000 passengers a day, or approximately 250,000 by yearend.