A momentous event occurred just a dozen hours before the city of Miami deferred consideration of a proposal to change Miami 21's Building Code to better protect Neighborhoods: the Champlain Towers South in Surfside collapsed probably killing perhaps more than 150 of its residents. This tragedy revealed a hidden connection between the two: government disregard of what contributes to "quality of life."

What happens when the wishes of a neighborhood's residents are ignored and developers are permitted to build a five-story condominium just a few feet away from a one-story single family home as recently happened in the Miami neighborhood of Silver Bluff? A private developer gets richer and adjacent neighbors have their quality of life diminished.