Saturday, February 23, 2013

Miami's Magic

If you watched the Today Show yesterday morning then you saw the latest example of how the media continues to believe that Miami = Miami Beach. For people who live here, it's a glaring mistake that must cause the local tourist bureaus fits. Miami is "best known for its miles of beaches and bikinis?" Well, okay. Inaccurate but positive words are better than the opposite, I suppose.

The other glaring omission in this puff piece is the exclusion of anything, well, "real." The culture of Little Havana, Little Haiti, Overtown and Hialeah.  The gardens of Fairchild, the grandeur of the Deering Estate, the funkiness of the Grove, the vistas of Kendall...okay, maybe not that last one. But you know what I mean.

It's as if Miami/Miami Beach/South Florida is nothing but "miles of beaches and bikinis" and gold Lambos and multi-million dollar homes.

Which makes me realize that Miami truly is The Magic City, isn't it? When the media comes to town, 98% of South Florida disappears.

Vanishes.

Into thin air.


Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy



[via Miami Condo Investments]



.


5 comments:

Scott said...

Kevin (of HiddenCity.net) and I had a discussion once about landmarks which you associate with cities. Like the Statue of Liberty, the Golden Gate Bridge, Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, the Colosseum, or the Space Needle.

Miami, despite its perception as a world-class city, has no such landmark. I offered that the iconic image of Miami is the familiar night shot (by nobody in particular) of the Colony and Boulevard hotels at night in all of their bright colors. People see that and they know it's "Miami." (Which is my reasoning why Britto succeeds here. And could have only succeeded here. Bright colors IS Miami to tourists.)

Add in celebrity coverage, music videos, and general pop-culture references and Miami Beach IS Miami to everyone that lives outside of here.

I don't see the perception changing any time soon.

The Chowfather said...

Miami Beach is located in "Miami"-Dade County

Rick said...

Chowfather: and West Palm Beach is in Palm Beach County but I don't think you'll hear many people confusing Palm Beach for West Palm Beach.

Scott: Agreed on the landmark. I was going to say The Freedom Tower but, no...once you get outside of Miami-Dade it loses it's landmark status.

.

Anonymous said...

Miami's landmark is definitely the Ocean Drive hotels in neon, without a doubt.

Anonymous said...

Lebron James made Miami disappear when he made his decision to "take my talents to South Beach."

Nevermind that the team is called the "Miami" Heat and Arena is in downtown "Miami" and the house he bought is in Coconut Grove.

Curious to know if he still refers to the city as South Beach.

Post a Comment

Spam, vulgar language, trolling and off-topic comments are not tolerated at SFDB and your comment will be removed if it meets this criteria.