MIAMI | Development Thread

[pj3000]

Your points are well taken, QuantumX. However, touting current and future real estate developments and tourism does nothing to dispel the notion that "the Magic City still lives under its 20th-century illusion that tourism and condo construction are the basis of a modern economy" and that Miami's economy will continue to be defined by industries which do little to build a stable financial environment with a prosperous middle to upper-middle class... which again, provides the sustainable economic foundation of a major city. What you're bringing up is exactly what the article is talking about.

Wealthy people buying "50 story penthouses" and owning property for income, as future speculation investments, and/or for vacation homes does not translate into the type of investment in Miami necessary to transform the economy into something with much greater substance -- especially when many of these buyers are internationals. Having Canadians, Venezuelans, Brazilians, etc. buying a significant percentage of the property sold in Miami is simply not a realistic method of building a stable, diversified economy in South Florida, which insulates it from the massive booms and subsequent busts that have characterized Miami for much of its existence.

As the article (which I think was a broad simplification and poorly written, by the way) did, you are right to bring up Miami's port operations and its financial industry. Yet, like the article stated, "nor has Miami found a way to turn its robust trade and banking sectors — some $95 billion worth of imports and exports moved through Miami last year, a 21% increase over 2009 — into equally vigorous job-creation engines". No mega real estate development has the power to change that. This is the truth about Miami right now, like it or not.

And, the financial district you mention, while large, is a Latin American center of banking... serving the needs of Latin American investment interests in the US. Remember, for all of the numerous banks located along Brickell and in downtown, Miami does not have a single Top 50 bank headquartered there. Not one. That's very telling of the fact that a real-estate and tourism-based economy does not create the type of LOCAL prosperity which requires, and thus engenders, the need for the foundation of a major local banking presence.