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South Beach Today
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.
South Beach
Residential
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 Stark), 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 & Willinski'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.
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