Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Celebrities were wintering in Miami, international photographers were shooting here,
and the Art Deco Historic District, having been granted federal protection, was going
through renovation and renaissance. Gay men, always on the cutting edge of trends, dis-
covered South Beach's gritty glamour. The city was becoming a showpiece of fashion and
trendiness.
After WWII, the advent of effective bug spray and affordable air-conditioning did more for
Florida tourism than anything else. With these two technological advancements, Florida's
subtropical climate was finally safe for delicate Yankee skin.
The 1990s & 2000s
A combination of Hurricane Andrew and a crime wave against tourists, particularly car-
jackings, equaled a drop in visitors, until tourist-oriented community policing and other
visible programs reversed the curse. Miami went from being the US city with the most vi-
olent crime to one with average crime statistics for a city its size. From 1992 to 1998,
tourist-related crimes decreased by a whopping 80%.
The Cuban American population dominated headlines again during the Elián Gonzalez
nightmare, an international custody fight that ended with federal agents storming the Little
Havana house where the seven-year-old was staying to have him shipped back to Cuba
while anti-Castro Cubans protested in Miami streets.
On the bright side, corruption was slightly cleaned out after the removal of Mayor Xavi-
er Suarez in 1998, whose election was overturned following the discovery of many illegal
votes. Manuel 'Manny' Diaz, who had been a lawyer for the Miami-based Gonzalez fam-
ily, followed Suarez as mayor and pushed for cementing ties between Miami and the Latin
American world - he was fond of saying, 'When Venezuela or Argentina sneezes, Miami
catches a cold.'
During the 2000s Miami proper underwent more 'Manhattan-ization,' with more and
more skyscrapers altering the city skyline. There are currently 307 high-rise buildings in
Miami, 59 of which stand taller than 400 feet. At the same time, Diaz began using arts dis-
tricts and buildings - the former represented by Wynwood and Midtown, the latter by the
Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts - to revitalize blighted areas of town.
Water and a lack of it have always been nagging fears in South Florida, one of the fast-
est growing population areas of the country, but the issue took on new urgency in the
