Julia Tuttle came to Miami in 1891 and promptly predicted that a great city would one day rise around her Fort Dallas homestead. So strong was her belief that she offered up some of her downtown real estate holdings as a lure for Henry Flagler to extend his railroad into Miami.

The rest is history.

In 2005 another woman left the northeast and ventured to downtown Miami, where she would direct operations at 61 Macy's Florida stores for one of the nation's premiere retailers. Two years later, Julie Greiner would predict that a great city could rise around her downtown store if only the city would address the infrastructure, traffic and safety issues that affect the area. Her lure: The permanence of Macy's corporate offices and retail store, in the heart of downtown. The same landmark store that Julia Tuttle's friend John Burdine established in 1898.

The initial audience for Greiner's unquestionably strong message comprised some top echelon business and civic leaders at the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. Several weeks of continuous media coverage later, it has become everybody's issue: Raising downtown Miami's physical and operational systems to match the standards of the major metropolitan area it is blossoming into.

And that is a good thing.

Granted, it's not like nothing has been happening. The recent past has witnessed a flurry of activity: Biscayne Boulevard improvements, sidewalk replacements, progressive homeless initiatives, more litter containers and street sweepers, directional street conversions, security cameras, and even the exquisite restoration of the Gusman Theatre.

Add to that visionary plans and studies ranging from the Downtown Master Plan and Museum Park, to bay walks, greenways, sidewalks, lighting, security, streetcars and tunnels.

Unfortunately, it's not happening fast enough to keep up with demand and need.

Julie Greiner's speech has struck a chord that might well serve as the catalyst that expedites these needed improvements. Perhaps it will compel the City of Miami and the Downtown Development Authority to fast forward the way-overdue Downtown Master Plan, and ensure that it doesn't stay on a shelf where, until recently, it lingered since its first iteration and adoption in the late eighties.

However, city governance and its agencies cannot fix all; downtown stakeholders must also heed Greiner's call. Dilapidated and abandoned buildings; trash-strewn empty lots; dirty, unkempt storefronts with helter-skelter signage and unsightly vacancies greatly contribute to the area's unpolished image, and can be immediately acted upon.

Surely, Miami's Code Enforcement Department should become far more effective, imposing and punitive than it is. Downtown building and business owners, on the other hand, must start exhibiting a deeper sense of pride and responsibility.

As occupancy burgeons in the towering downtown condominium buildings, a newly actualized market will spawn a more attractive business mix. Many will follow the lead of braver visionaries such as La Loggia Restaurant and La Epoca Department Store, two great examples of the city center of the future. The critical mass of thousands of new residents will spur economic development and create the market demand for better quality merchants and eating establishments, and the corresponding patronage. Just like Lincoln Road and Ocean Drive – not long ago derelict and abandoned.

Already Greiner's stance has generated definitive action: the dilapidated Lerner's building is scheduled to be demolished, over 70 burned out light bulbs have been replaced on street lamps, and dozens of agencies and organizations are abuzz on the subject of the revitalization of downtown. And they say a woman can't change a light bulb….

The timeline will now depend on accountability and responsibility. The City of Miami must help the DDA move from slow consultancy to expedient implementation, direct the police department to enhance security and traffic control, and demand that code enforcement become zero tolerant.

Camillus House and the municipal homeless agencies must hustle to establish increased homeless alternatives and care, while the Downtown Business Partnership further helps the merchants they represent achieve better business facades, store displays and signage – with grants, education and motivation. It is imperative that the private sector own up to its responsibilities as building owners, merchants and proprietors.

The days when the shopkeeper pulled out the broom and swept the storefront sidewalk every morning are not a thing of the past. They are the way of the future.

One woman has sparked the fire, and the media has aptly fanned it. Further media coverage can only serve to urge participation and watch-dogging by the citizenry, who, at the end of the day, will be the main contributors to, and beneficiaries of, a thriving business center and a model for urban living.

The downtown we are working towards is not like the downtown of the past. We are reinventing Miami, and guiding it into maturity as a world-class city. And that takes a little time.

So please, let's hurry.