Miami: A Young but Turbulent History
By Carlos Miller | Magic City MediaBrash and beautiful. Edgy and enticing. And sultry and swank. Miami is all that and much more.
A city that arose from a swampy flatland a little more than 100 years ago, Miami is a bustling metropolis renowned for tourism, fashion and nightlife as well as a Mecca for international trade and business.
It is the youngest city in the United States, but the third most popular destination for international travelers behind Los Angeles and New York, cities that dwarf Miami in size.
Not even a rash of internationally publicized tourist slayings in the early 1990s was enough to permanently deter tourists from vacationing in this tropical city.
Nicknamed “The Magic City” in the early 1900s because it seemingly became a city overnight without ever being a town, Miami has acquired a myriad of other nicknames over the years, including the “The Gateway to the Americas”, “The American Riviera”, The Sixth Borough” as well as the degrading “Cocaine Capital” and embarrassing “Banana Republic.”
It is a city that has weathered hurricanes, riots, scandals, corruption, crime, racial tension, political turmoil and endless waves of immigration, only to bounce back with swaggering bravado.
On the brink of bankruptcy a little more than ten years ago, Miami once again proved its resiliency by recently becoming one of the hottest – if not hottest – real estate markets in the country with more than 100 skyscrapers under construction that are filling the gaps of Miami’s already colorful skyline. Not that real estate booms are anything new to the Magic City.
It is an ever-evolving city that has yet to reach its potential, a culturally diverse metropolis that many believe is a blueprint for American cities in the 21 century. And although Miami is often criticized for having no history, its name was spoken among these parts more than 10,000 years ago.