The New York Times: 36 Hours in Miami and Miami Beach
There was a time when it wasn’t unusual to hear visitors use South Beach as shorthand for the entire Miami metropolitan area. The confusion was understandable — for those weekend warriors there was little reason to venture beyond the city of Miami Beach’s telegenic, Art Deco-emblazoned, southernmost tip. No more. South Beach’s famously louche night life has fanned out across Biscayne Bay and onto the mainland, along with cutting-edge art galleries, top-notch restaurants and funky but chic boutiques. The growing pains are unavoidable — traffic jams may sprout up anywhere, and some residents of previously off-the-radar neighborhoods aren’t exactly thrilled with the rent hikes that come with being “discovered.” The upside? An already dizzying multiculturalism has only gotten richer: Little Haiti and Little Havana now find themselves competing for attention and influence with Little Venezuela and Little Moscow. As for the actual white, sandy stretches of South Beach, they remain as stunning as ever, and a meeting spot for locals from Greater Miami’s far-flung corners to strut their barely clothed stuff.