[CatDevURandom]

> Miami officials allowed them a place to go: Brickell. But in the 1970s, it began attracting small banks, and in the decades since has boomed into the “Wall Street of Miami."

The reason why Miami has "avoided gentrification" is multifaceted and complex. But it wasn't due to some top-down city planning, I can assure you.

Painting the "history of Brickell" as some sort of strategy to avoid gentrification is comically false. Brickell and those small banks therein were largely built with laundered drug money. The -- mostly commercial & real estate focused -- banking sector in Miami is not what the author would have you picture. While the cocaine cowboy days are long over, Miami feels less like a mini-wall street and more like a sofa to shove money under if you happen to live in a less stable nation; and the investment capital flow in this city represents that.

[brudgers]

To the degree Miami has avoided gentrification [and what was the demolition of the Orange Bowl but that?], it is because there are so many attractive alternatives for the gentry. Unlike San Francisco, most of Miami's border is just lines on a map. But for a roadsign there's nothing to alert the driver like a bridge over the bay.

Also unlike San Francisco, Miami grew around the automobile as primary transportation. Houses come with parking.

Finally, the primary attraction of Miami is water, and to the degree urban life is attractive it tends toward the velvet rope variety rather than slumming in shared public space.

[kenrikm]

Indeed, Miami Native here. (Live in Bay Area Now) This article comes to the conclusion it was looking for that is in fact false and not rooted in reality. Brownsville/Overtown/Liberty city were not intentionally left as rundown ganglands there have been attempts to clean them up but all have failed. Also Little Hati is downright dangerous to enter. [1] And of course Little Havana is still Cuban, it's well maintained generally safe and all that the Cubans who had to leave their country have left (Besides Hialeah). Also Lets not forget that ~70% of Miami is Cuban and they really value their heritage (my wife is Cuban)

[1]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqdObNwHyFI

[brianbreslin]

The dominance of Cubans as part of the demographic is quickly slipping. So many more argentines, venezuelans, colombians, nicaraguans, and brazilians are here now. Agreed that brownsville/overtown/liberty city are all still dangerous. Wynwood was dangerous 5-6 years ago!

[kenrikm]

The Venezuelans took over Weston. ;)

[azakai]

> Painting the "history of Brickell" as some sort of strategy to avoid gentrification is comically false

I didn't get that impression from the story. It said that Brickell helped avoid gentrification, not that it was intended as such. Rather, I understood the story to imply that if cities allow new building fairly freely, then gentrification is less likely to happen; SF doesn't allow it, while Miami does. Miami in fact sounds like the "default" from the article's perspective, so Brickell isn't a clever strategy, it's almost "doing nothing."

[bubbleRefuge]

The main diff between Miami and San Fran which might explain the lag in gentrification(b/c believe me they want it) is the abundance of good paying white collar jobs. A large proportion of the opulent condo towers that have gone up during the boom/bust are owned by wealthy foreigners who use them as 3rd or 4th homes.