Patrice Gillespie Smith: Guides Underline Conservancy as linear park nearing finish line

Patrice Gillespie Smith has spent her career reimagining how public spaces can strengthen communities, and few places showcase that vision better than The Underline. Since joining the organization in 2020, she’s helped shape the transformative public space beneath Miami’s Metrorail into one of the region’s most ambitious mobility and placemaking projects.

With a background in both public policy and city planning, Ms. Gillespie Smith has long worked at the intersection of infrastructure, resilience and community engagement. Before joining The Underline, she served as senior manager of planning, design, resilience and transportation for the Miami Downtown Development Authority and previously led Neat Streets Miami for Miami-Dade County. 

Earlier in her career, she directed transportation planning for nonprofits, led community initiatives in St. Louis, and served as chief of staff to Seattle’s Department of Transportation –  roles that sharpened her belief that streets are for people and cities thrive when they’re walkable, livable and green.

That ethos now guides her work at The Underline, a 10-mile linear park and multimodal trail that stretches from the Miami River to Dadeland South. Under her leadership, the organization has grown its team, expanded programming, and deepened partnerships with more than 150 nonprofits and institutions. 

Phase 1 of the park, which opened in 2021, welcomes more than 1.5 million visitors annually and hosts over 200 public events each year while also supporting local entrepreneurs and small businesses through creative activations.

In collaboration with founder Meg Daly and a dynamic board of directors, Ms. Gillespie Smith helped shape The Underline’s five-year strategic plan and community connections initiatives, working to ensure the space is not only a destination but a cultural and civic connector. 

With Phase 2 finished in 2024 and Phase 3 recently breaking ground, she’s focused on scaling the organization’s internal operations while strengthening its impact across Miami-Dade County.

Set to be fully completed in 2026, The Underline will feature 10 miles of trails, bike lanes, bioswales, native micro-forests and gathering spaces, offering Miamians a new kind of public commons – one that’s green, connective, and built for community. 

The park will host arts and wellness programming, public events and environmental features designed to improve both quality of life and regional resilience. Ms. Gillespie Smith’s vision is to build not just a park, but a public realm where people come together to walk, bike, reflect and connect with the kind of purpose and joy that shapes the soul of a city.

Ms. Gillespie Smith spoke with Miami Today reporter Genevieve Bowen.

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