It would appear as though Miami Beach is no longer the “in-place” for the glitterati, because of rowdy behavior:
South Beach is losing its appeal with some buyers “because of how loud it can be, how dangerous it can be,” said Antonio del Rosario, a New York real-estate agent who also works in Miami. “Many of my clients don’t want to be there.”
Let me tell it like it is. I used to work for a South Florida-based company, spent a week a month down there for nearly four years, and South Beach was always a scummy area. So no matter how trendy the place, or how highly it was regarded by “celebrities”, I never felt safe there and couldn’t wait to leave.
I mean, Madonna supposedly owns a condo there, which should tell you all you need to know.
I lived in southwest Florida (Cape Coral/Fort Myers/Naples) for 40 years, 1966-2006, and in all that time serious people never gave the entire Miami area the time of day. It has always been the worst of the worst, at least since Jackie Gleason’s days. 3rd world country in a 3 piece suit
A few years back one of the Brit comedians .. Stephen Fry, IIRC… did a series where he traveled through all 50 states and spent a day or 2 in each and gave his impressions of the place.
When he got to Miami his impressions was “What a …. hole! Obviously he thought “shithole” but couldn’t say that on camera, so he just kinda paused before saying “hole.”
I did contract work for a year right in that area (University of Miami), and made a few excursions into South Beach. Classy and sophisticated are not the first words that come to mind.
Colorful, and Overpriced.
I work for an architectural firm in Boca Raton. We haven’t done any projects in Dade County (Miami) for more than two decades. You simply can’t get anything through the various building departments unless you hire a Cuban firm as a facilitator.
Around 2008, I went on a reunion cruise with some WWII vets from the USS Abner Read, a destroyer sunk in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. My aunt and uncle came down from Pennsylvania for the cruise. It left the Port of Miami a week after Hurricane Wilma savaged the area. I had arranged for a limo service to drop me off and pick me up after the cruise. When we got back, the limo driver agreed to detour over to the Miami airport to drop my Aunt and Uncle off. He took a short cut. My Aunt remarked a one point that the area we were traveling through had taken a big hit from the storm. I had to tell her no, it had been like that for decades. We were traveling through the Liberty City riot area.
As for South Beach, if you drop your billfold, kick it to the edge of town before you try to pick it up.