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The Underline, a 10-mile linear park, urban trail and public arts destination, will meander from the Miami River to Dadeland South under the Miami Metrorail. With its first section, "Brickell Backyard" newly opened, Meg Daly, Founder and President of Friends of the Underline, talks with Lea about Miami's past, present and future.

-- Lea and Meg both grew up in  the Miami area a generation apart. Lea remembers Miami Beach of the past 50 years: no air conditioning, the airport not much more than a hangar, mosquitos sprayed from above with DDT, and much more.

-- Meg tells of growing up in an activist family in the Miami suburb of Coral Gables, in a vintage Spanish-style house. Her family came from Boston in 1960 and was active in keeping the gorgeous Biltmore Hotel from being destroyed.

-- At the beginning of the Millennium, when Miami still did not have a cultural center, Meg's father, Parker Thompson, who would later help plan The Underline, was involved in developing the Arsht Performing Arts center. It influenced an arts scene including museums, Art Basel, Wynwood, and new neighborhoods designed by great architects, spawning great restaurants.

-- Along with progress came heavy traffic  -- and that is where The Underline comes in, bringing us a 10-mile linear park by 2025, leading to a network of parks and trails with native plants, butterflies,  places to connect --"it equals life!"

-- Meg talks about the first section completed, "Brickell Backyard," from the Miami River through Brickell Village.

-- And the four thousand new trees and green design will help Miami get through climate change.

And last, Meg remembers how she conceived of The Underline --combining past, present and future in an engrossing memory.
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Meg Daly is a full-time volunteer, Founder and President of Friends of The Underline,  transforming the underutilized land below Miami’s Metrorail into a 120-acre linear park, urban trail and public art destination spanning 10-miles in the urban core. (www.theunderline.org).  

 A 30-year sales and marketing veteran, she held executive marketing and management positions in the television, public relations, advertising, technology, and real estate industries. Meg has a BA in English from Vanderbilt University and has served on numerous philanthropic boards.
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Podcast host Lea Lane has traveled to over 100 countries, written many travel books, including Places I Remember, and has contributed to dozens of guidebooks. She's @lealane on Twitter and  blogs about travel at forbes.com  Contact her at placesirememberlealane.com.
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