County Commissioner Juan Zapata is now spearheading a campaign to quietly rebrand the area of West Kendall as "West End," even if many of the residents of West Kendall aren't aware of it.
Tomorrow, he'll introduce a resolution to rename the West Kendall Regional Library as the West End Regional Library, according to the Miami Herald. A similar rename of the West Kendall Regional Park isn't far behind.
Zapata,
Zapata points out to the Herald that he likes the name because it's a relatively simple change. Just take the "K" and the "All" out of West Kendall and you get West End.
Yet we do see a few problems:
1. It Sounds Way Too Similar to Weston
Weston, of course, is the posh suburb of southwest Broward County. Renaming a suburban area of southwest Miami-Dade as "West End" could present some serious confusion. Seriously, try and say "Weston, West End" ten times fast. They end up sounding virtually the same. (Then imagine people using all the various accents prominent in South Florida doing the same.) It's bound to lead to some confusion, and, we imagine, people getting directions over the phone winding up in Weston instead of West End on more than a few occasions. Having two distinct areas in the same metropolitan area with similar sounding names just leads to confusion.
2. London Already Has the Most Famous West End
I know in South Florida we aren't above ripping off neighborhood names most identified with other cities to use as our own (*cough* *cough* Upper Eastside), but it's worth pointing out that the West End of London is a world famous tourist destination and the city's equivalent of New York's Broadway. The Pet Shop Boys even had a global hit song about the girls from the area. Maybe West Kendall deserves something more original.
Zapata has been using the name on his Twitter with the #WestEnd hashtag.
Go Rangers, keep up the great work representing the Hammocks and the #WestEnd! #playball https://t.co/RRtWS5PvuT
— Juan C. Zapata (@JuanCZapata) October 11, 2015
It's official: #WestEnd Family Movie Nights are back! We are kicking off the season with Paranorman October 16th at Westwind Lakes Park.
— Juan C. Zapata (@JuanCZapata) October 6, 2015
Zapata did eventually tell the Herald that he believed the "West End" name can coincide with the "West Kendall" name.