It’s been a bit quiet here on the Kneedl Blog, but worry not, we’re just completely re-coding the site to combat our speed issues. Hopefully we’ll have some exciting news in the coming week or so.
We’ve been working hard on getting the new data ready for Washington DC, our next city. But we’ve also been making lots of improvements and fixes to the live site.
We know we’ve got some speed issues with the server so we’re working with a development company to get this fixed before we make any PR noise. We also have a bunch of larger scale features we want to add too which should hopefully all come as part of the next release.
Next up we’re headed to an area almost 100% different to Miami, Fl. the home of the Obamas, Washington DC. At the moment we’re researching neighborhoods, taking photos and planning the new site developments.
If you want to be a Featured Realtor, or can help out with neighborhood recommendations, please get in touch.
We’ve just stared hurricane season in Miami and don’t we know it! Last week we had a month’s worth of rain in just two hours. This resulted in some pretty bad flooding in South Beach. Many of Miami’s activities are outdoors, so what can you do when it rains?
Well obviously there are the countless bars and restaurants, but how about a few frames of pool at one of the bars (we particularly like Mikes just over the causeway). Or throw a few arrows (that’s Darts) at Abbey Brewing Company. If this is all a little low-brow for you, how about afternoon tea at The Biltmore?
The rain can’t spoil a trip to the pool, you’re wet already after all. The Venetian Pool is back open again. How about bowling at Lucky Strike (they have some bargain day-rates at the moment). But if you prefer to watch people being active, how about seeing what’s on at the American Airlines Arena, see if the Dolphins are playing, or catch a bit of Jai Alai.
The Duck Tour is a covered amphibious bus that travels round Miami. It’s worth a trip for both tourists and locals. If you’d rather be in the driving seat, how about a jet-ski tour? If it’s not raining too heavily, the Lion Country Safari could be an option. You’ll be nice and dry in your car at least! Miami Metro Zoo has a reasonable number of covered/indoor attractions too.
There are lots of shopping options, but for maximum shopping within minimum rain exposure, it has to be a Mall. Try Sawgrass, Ball Harbour or Dolphin.
The Wolfsonian museum in South Beach has a good permanent design exhibition as well as hosting touring exhibitions (don’t be put off by their terrible website). Downtown’s Musuem and Art Gallery are also worth a visit. Quite small as individual attractions, but you can visit both for a discount. The Miami Science Museum in North Coconut Grove is worth a look. Again, quite small, but some imaginative exhibits and an aviary in the back yard!
You could also check out Miami’s numerous theatres such as; the Andrienne Arsht in Downtown, Jackie Gleason in South Beach and Tower Theatre near Coral Way.
I hope there were a few ideas there for you.
The folks over at the politically charged ‘Eye on Miami‘ have undertaken some interesting research in the foreclosure figures in Miami.
In the first 4 months of this year we have had 25,577 foreclosures in Miami Dade County. That is almost as many as we had the entire year in 2007 (26,391) and more than 3 times as many as we had the entire year in 2005 (7,829). [...] If we keep up with the current trend, we will close 2009 with more than 75,000 foreclosures.
Miami-Dade could achieve six years worth of foreclosures in just one year. Although we’re assured that the economy is flat-lining and not getting any worse, these figures show that we’re definitely experiencing one of Miami’s real estate bust periods. Yet, even though many of Downtown’s apartments are struggling to fill their vacancies, we’re still building new high rises. I suspect global warming will flood Downtown before it reaches anywhere near capacity.
Read the full article on Eye on Miami
Good news! Kneedl.com is now available in Spanish and English.
On every page you’ll see a new button at the top of the page which allows you to switch between the two languages. Its doesn’t just change the text, we actually recommend different neighborhoods based on this switch. Some neighborhoods in Miami are very popular with the Hispanic community and we’ve reflected this with the language switch.
We are unfortunately not able to bring the APIs and Real Estate content in dual language as they are provided by third parties. We’re working through the whole site to translate all the remaining copy.
I’m going to try and publish regular updates on the tweaks and updates we’ve done to the site. I’m a big fan of ‘fail fast, fail often’ so I’ll be putting features live that may not be perfect, but please give us any feedback so we know if we’re going in the right direction.
This week I’ve mainly been fixing and tweaking:
The warm climate and clean air has always made South Florida a popular retirement destination. Because of the down-turn in the housing market there are now some great bargains to be had across the region. But there’s more to the area than Golf courses, no state income tax and sunny beaches, US News’ feature on the ‘best places to retire‘ in the USA features South Florida heavily for various reasons.
Melbourne Beach for good value for money, Doral for it’s low tax, Pembroke Pines because it’s political mix and Fort Lauderdale for those seeking a more active retirement. The proliferation of local NFL teams (Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Jacksonville Jaguars) made Miami Beach a good location for football fans. Even winter sports are possible in the South with Clearwater’s Ice Arena and the Tampa Skate Academy enabling residents to skate and sunbathe on the same day!
Our top three picks for best retirement neighborhoods in Miami are; Coconut Grove (an active community with great facilities but without the bustle of central Miami), Key Biscayne (for the outdoor retiree who isn’t ready to hang up their fishing poles quite yet) and Coral Gables (a more Hispanic neighborhood but featuring lovely, quiet, tree-lined streets). Miami isn’t full of white haired old people waiting to pass over, it has a lot to offer retirees of all ages, abilities and interests.
“If you’re poor or a minority, your children have nearly twice the likelihood of attending a daycare with a questionable safety record” that’s according to CBS4’s i-Team . To illustrate the state of Miami’s daycare they put together this Google map. If you’re raising a young family, it will be worth taking a look to find the safer family friendly neighborhoods in Miami.
We’ve put the site live… It’s a very soft launch as we know we have a bunch of teething issues. Please have a poke around and get in contact with questions/problems. Any feedback is gratefully received. Check out http://www.kneedl.com and wish us luck!
