Have you noticed a desolate strip mall or two while making you way through Miami-Dade? If so, know that your scenic view may be changing in the future. The county’s parks department is making plans to turn failed strip malls into parks in an effort to fulfill its 50-year plan of promising green space within walking distance of every resident. Although planning is still in the initial stages, Mayor Carlos Gimenez is already backing the idea.

As it was reported in the Miami Herald,

the approach, dubbed Red Fields to Green Fields, is based on a strategy developed by Michael Messner, a Wall Street hedge-fund manager who says it can help reverse the flow of red ink in commercial real estate while removing blight and jump-starting the economic redevelopment of neighborhoods hit hardest by the recession.

To read more on the plan to turn failed strip malls and car lots into parks visit The Miami Herald.