South Beach
From Open Encyclopedia
This article is about the section of Miami Beach known as South Beach. For more options see South Beach (disambiguation).
Image:South beach miami at night.JPG Image:South beach.jpg
South Beach (or "the Beach" as known to its locals) is a section of Miami Beach, Florida that encompasses the lower 23 blocks of the island from the point south of 1st Street to 23rd Street. This area was the first section of Miami Beach to be developed starting in the 1910s, thanks to development efforts of Carl G. Fisher, the Lummus Brothers, John Collins, and others. The area has gone through numerous changes over the years, some man-made and some due to the forces of nature, like the hurricane of 1926 that destroyed much of the area.
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History
South Beach started as farm land. In 1870, Henry and Charles Lum purchased 165 acres (668,000 m²) for coconut farming. Charles Lum built the first house on the beach in 1886. In 1894 the Lum brothers left the island, leaving control of the plantation to John Collins, who came to South Beach two years later to survey his land. He used the land for farming purposes, discovering fresh water and extending his parcel from 14th Street to 67th in 1907.
In 1906, South Beach's first bar, Mac's Club Deuce (which still exists today), opened its door on 14th Street.
In 1912, Miami Businessmen the Lummus Brothers acquired 400 acres (1.6 km²) of Collins, in an effort build an ocean front city of modest single family residence.
Carl G. Fisher, a successful entrepreneur who made millions in 1909 after selling a business to Union Carbide, came to the beach in 1913. His vision was to establish South Beach as a successful city independent of Miami. This was the same year that the famous restaurant Joe's Stone Crab opened.
On March 26, 1915, Collins, Lummus, and Fisher consolidated their efforts and incorporated the Town of Miami Beach. South Beach is born. In 1918 the Mac Arthur Causeway was completed. The Lummus brothers sold their oceanfront property to the city from 6th Street to 14th, which was then and is now the area known as Lummus Park.
In 1920, the Miami Beach land boom began. South Beach's main streets, 5th Street, Alton Road, Collins Avenue, Washington Avenue, and Ocean Drive were all suitable for automobile traffic. The population was growing in the 1920s, and several millionaires such as Harvey Firestone, J.C. Penney, Harvey Stutz, Albert Champion, Frank Seiberling, and Rockwell LaGorce built homes on Miami Beach. President Warren G. Harding stayed at the Flamingo Hotel during this time, driving up interest.
In the 1930s an architectural revolution came to South Beach bringing Art Deco, Streamline Moderne, and Nautical Moderne architecture to the Beach. To this day, South Beach remains the world's largest collection of Streamline Moderne Art Deco architecture. Napier, New Zealand another notable Art Deco city, makes an interesting comparison with Miami Beach as it was rebuilt in the Ziggurat Art Deco style after being destroyed by an earthquake in 1931.
By 1940, the beach had a population of 28,000. After the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, the Army Air Corps took command over Miami Beach.
In 1966, South Beach became even more famous when Jackie Gleason brought his weekly variety series to the area for taping, a rarity in the industry. Beginning in the late 1970s through the 80s, South Beach was used as a retirement community with most of its ocean-front hotels and apartment buildings filled with elderly people living on small, fixed incomes. This period also saw the introduction of the "cocaine cowboys," drug dealers who used the area as a base for their illicit drug activities. The TV show Miami Vice used South Beach as a backdrop for much of its filming due to the area's raw and unique visual beauty.
While many of the unique Art Deco buildings, such as the New Yorker Hotel, were lost to developers in the years before 1980, the area was saved as a cohesive unit by Barbara Capitman and a group of activists who spearheaded the movement to place South Beach on the National Register of Historic Places.
In the late 1980s, a renaissance began in South Beach with an influx of the fashion industry moving into the area. Most major modeling agencies had offices in South Beach, and fashion photographers used the area as a backdrop for their photo shoots.
Presently
Today the South Beach section of Miami Beach is a major entertainment destination with hundreds of nightclubs, restaurants and ocean-front hotels. The area is popular with international tourists as well, with German being the third most spoken language after English and Spanish. The large number of European tourists contribute to why South Beach is one of the few public beaches in the United States where topless sunbathing is common.
Geography
South Beach is traversed by numerical streets which run east-west, starting with First Street, and the largely pedestrianized Lincoln Road (between 16th and 17th). It also has 13 principal Roads and Avenues running north-south, which from the Biscayne Bay side are Bay Road, West Avenue, Alton Road, Lenox Avenue, Michigan Avenue, Jefferson Avenue, Meridian Avenue, Euclid Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue, Drexel Avenue, Washington Avenue, Collins Avenue (Route A1A), and Ocean Drive. There are three smaller avenues (that do not run the entire length of the beach) in the Collins Park area, namely Park, Liberty, and James. Most locals agree that South Beach's northern boundary runs along Dade Boulevard from Lincoln Road on the bay side of the island, and heads east-north-east until it connects with 23rd Street, which forms the northern boundary on the ocean side.
Residential neighborhoods
There are several residential neighborhoods in South Beach. South of Fifth (also known as SoFi) encompasses the area from the Atlantic ocean east to Biscayne Bay on the west, and from Fifth Street to the South Pointe. It is, as of 2005, the area with the highest property values. This area is home to several large scale development projects and large buildings such as the Portofino and its sister buildings, Icon (spearheaded by designer Philippe Starck), and several other buildings. This area has several notable nightlife destinations, such as Opium Garden, Prive, Nikki Beach Club, and Pearl. It also has several smaller, upscale bars, and in addition several restaurants, including world famous Joe's Stone Crab, Smith & Wollensky's steak house, and China Grill. However, it is mostly residences.
Flamingo Park is the neighborhood directly north of Fifth, and expands from Alton Road on the west to Washington Avenue on the east, with its northern boundary being Lincoln Road. However, it does not include Lenox This area contains very few businesses (with the exception of those on Alton Road and Washington Avenue, and Lincoln Road, all of which are commercial streets), and consists mainly of low rise apartment buildings. There is virtually no notable nightlife in this area presently, with the exception of Tantra on 15th Street. It is also home of Flamingo Park, one of South Beach's public parks, which includes recreational facilities such as tennis and basketball courts.
Flamingo West is a neighborhood of single family homes that spans from north of the Park to Lincoln Road on Lennox and Michigan Avenues.
Collins Park, which, according to the Miami New Times, is the most "up and coming" South Beach neighborhood, is located between 17th Street on the south, 23rd Street on the north, the Atlantic Ocean on the east, and Washington Avenue/Pinetree Drive on the west. It is directly across from the Miami Beach Convention Center. This area is currently undergoing gentrification, as many of the old apartments from the 1980's (many of which still have bars on their windows) are being purchased by major New York and South Florida real estate developers for purposes of condo conversion. The Sanctuary, located on James and 18th, plans for a new public library, and several open projects in this neighborhood, are cited by the Miami New Times as evidence that this is the next South of Fifth. This area consists mainly of low rise art deco buildings built in the 1930's and 1950's, as well as the Bass Museum of Art.
Additionally, many high-rise buildings exist on the entirety of Bay Road (home of the world's largest apartment complex - The Flamingo), and West Avenue, and there are multifamily residence located north of Lincoln Road and east of Collins Park.
Commercial and other areas
Lincoln Road is an open-air pedestrian mall, and is considered the premiere shopping area in South Beach. It is home to many restaurants, and several night clubs such as Rumi and State. Additionally, it is home to many retail outlets. While Lincoln Road at one time was rather down trodden, its unique botique shops and restaurants have given it what was called by Ocean Drive Magazine an esoteric chic that maintains its trendy appeal. It is located in between 16th Street and 17th Street and spans the beach in an east-west direction.
Ocean Drive is the easternmost street in South Beach, and stems from south of First to 16th Street, running in a north-south direction. While being home to Pearl and Nikki Beach, two famous, yet predominantly local night spots, It is a popular Spring Break and tourist area. It is home to several restaurants (including the popularized by MTV "Clevelander" and "Mango's") and gives South Beach the aesthetic that out of town visitors would expect. Locals largely avoid most of this street.
Collins is parallel to Ocean, but one block west. It is where A1A begins. Collins is home to many historic Art Deco hotels, and several nightclubs on the north, such as Rokbar and Mynt.
Espanola Way, which runs from Collins Avenue to Pennsylvania Avenue, was conceived by N.B.T. Roney (of the Roney Palace Hotel) in 1925 as The Historic Spanish Village, modeled after the romantic Mediterranean villages found in France and Spain. Today it consists of art galleries, restaurants and quirky shops.
Alton Road is a street located three blocks from Biscayne Bay and running north-south, which hosts many local businesses. While this street has very few nightlife destinations, it is home to such businesses as dry cleaners, supermarkets, and fast food restaurants.
Perhaps the most well known street in South Beach is Washington Avenue. Running parallel with Ocean and Collins, Washington is notorious for having the world's largest and most popular nightclubs. It is a unique street, the likes of which can not currently be found anywhere in the U.S. It is home to such famous nightlife destinations as crobar and Mansion, and during "season" (October 15th to May 15th) there can be seen a traffic jam on this street until early in the morning (as late as 6 am) every night of the week.
Nightlife
Currently, and according to several popular magazines such as The New Times and Ocean Drive, South Beach has replaced both Los Angeles and New York City as the premier and most popular nightlife spot in the U.S. It is host to over 150 clubs and other destinations, most of which close at 5 am. South Beach can be expensive, and access to nightclubs is oftentimes difficult for non-locals who do not have connections. Assuming one does not have connections, access to the more popular nightspots can cost from $20-60 for entry (depending on event and venue) and a wait of up to several hours, in addition to the loss of dignity from being scrutinized by door staff.
Nightlife in South Beach is dynamic. Clubs constantly change decor, name, and owner, so it is difficult to state at any given time which clubs are popular. For a current look, see cooljunkie.com.
Fashion shooting
South Beach is one of the world's foremost locations for fashion shoots. Approximately 1,500 models live in the area, with many more arriving during the prime fashion shooting season from October through March. Ocean Drive it the most popular place for shoots, but back streets are also used.
See also
References
- Florida, DK Eyewitness Travel Guides, 2004, pg. 67de:Miami Beach
