ICYMI, last week we shared this memorable quote from Anthony Bourdain about Miami:

“Miami sneaks up on you. Or do we change and find ourselves sneaking up, washing up, ending up in Miami? It’s the kind of place you say, ‘That could never be me.’ And then it is.”

We posted it to Instagram, and it prompted a ton of you to share your own feelings about the 305. Reading your comments made us so warm and fuzzy inside, we just had to share a few of them back.

From the transplant:

“This is the story of my life. Never thought this could be… yet here I am, sipping cafecitos at 3:05 p.m. and dancing casino every Friday night at @ballandchainmia – Gringo from Chicago” – @mr.wanderlust

From the native:

“I’ve been here since I was a year and a half old. I’ve done most of my education, career, relationships, marriages, birthed a child, and buried a child here in Miami. I still love Miami. I’ve traveled the USA, Canada, the Caribbean, and Europe and I still prefer Miami. As my son used to say: “Don’t bash down Miami, we are lucky to live in the city that everyone in the world wants to come to visit. We just need to take advantage of all it offers. Be a tourist where you live!” – @mayling_9

And this one, well, it felt like “Moonlight” and Anthony Bourdain’s Miami episode and rush hour traffic and weekday afternoon beach visits all rolled into one:

“Miami is not what people think it is. Dade County is Miami. People think South Beach or Hialeah is Miami… It’s so much more than that. It’s sun con sabor. It’s cafecitos and croquetas at any hour. It’s the Dade County Youth Fair and Calle Ocho every year. It’s knowing that the Dolphin and Palmetto will always be under construction. It’s knowing what Sak Pase and Pata Sucia mean… It’s avoiding downtown when you know the Heat are playing… It’s Santa’s Enchanted even though it’s overpriced and so done…Its Rey’s pizza at 3am… so much more… Angry people love to say “sunny place, shady people” I say take that pa’ya and go shade up another City. 💓” – @ninanaisnin

Now that we’ve got you starting the week on a great note, let’s get to the news…

🤓Got an idea for releasing poetry out into the wild? Applications are open for the 2019 O, Miami Poetry Festival, whose goal is to have everyone in the 305 encounter a poem at least once in the month of April. Apply here.

💰Are you a Miami Beach resident with questions about the general obligation bond that will be on your November ballot? Tomorrow night, Sept. 25, Commissioner Ricky Arriola and the city’s finance director will be answering your questions at a public forum.

🌿You’ve heard about food deserts. You’re heard about hydroponic farming. But have you heard about Box Greens? They’re opening a hydroponic farm in Overtown soon to address the neighborhood’s lack of quality produce for residents, and they want to introduce you to the whole shebang on Thursday night at a kickoff celebration.

🎬 You probably know beloved local musical duo Afrobeta well for their funky tunes. Now these young Cuban-Americans are making a documentary about their first trip to Cuba and what it means to be a hyphenated American today. They just launched a crowdfunding campaign to support the project, which you can get in on here (and get local goodies when you donate).

Got an opportunity, workshop, scholarship, grant, etc. you want other curious locals to know about? Hit us up at [email protected] (subject line: “Bulletin Board”) to have it listed here.

Feeling left out. You might have assumed all the islands along the Venetian Causeway between Miami and Miami Beach were part of Miami Beach,but actually  the two islands closest to the City of Miami (Biscayne and San Marco) are actually part of Miami. Some residents want that to change. They’re circulating a petition asking to be annexed into Miami Beach, arguing that they’re missing out on services provided by the Beach and that  the City of Miami isn’t always responsive. (Miami Herald)

Sounding the alarm. Environmental activists are trying to draw attention to a key deadline for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which goes toward preserving things like protected forests, city, county and state parks, and marinas in Florida and across the U.S. . That federal funding will end on Oct. 1 if it’s not reauthorized by Congress before the end of the month. To avoid future last-minute scrambles like this one, activists want the fund to be permanently authorized. (WLRN)

It’s all connected. The New York Times dug into a bunch of Facebook data to show how connected our country is via relationships on the social network. No surprise, Miami-Dade residents are most connected to neighboring counties like Broward and Monroe, but Leon County, home to our capital, Florida State and FAMU, came in at No. 3. And for all the Gators out there, Alachua County was near the top, too. It’s a similar trend across the nation since “many people on Facebook know one another through real-world sites like grade schools, colleges and offices.” (New York Times)

The case of the cloned avocado. If you’ve enjoyed a tasty Carla avocado lately, you might be eating a super-scientific knock off. That’s what the Dominican “inventor” of the avocado species is claiming in a lawsuit. They claim that Miami-based Fresh Directions International stole from the actual tree branches in the Dominican Republic and then copied the crop, all the way down to the avocado’s DNA.  (Miami Herald)

A deep dive into shipwrecks. When big storms like Hurricane Irma toss ships around and leave them wrecked in waterways across the state, it can be extremely complicated and costly to get them cleared out. Since many boat owners don’t have insurance or can’t pay to recover their boats, they often just abandon them, leaving local governments to pay tens of thousands of dollars to clear out the mess. After Irma, it cost about $51 million for state and national agencies to remove and store more than 1,000 abandoned boats. (Miami New Times)

Cuban sandwich comeback. Permitting and zoning woes shut down the pop-up Cuban sandwich spot, Sanguich de Miami, last year, but they’re making a comeback in a new permanent spot not too far from the shipping container they operated out of last year on Calle Ocho. Its sleek decor is inspired by early Cuban architecture, and they’re still serving up a full array of sandwiches and tasty “batidos.”  (Eater)

THAT’S ALL FOR TODAY.

Have a great week, Miami! ✌️

– The New Tropic