Miami Neighborhoods

Rennert Miami invites you to join us in the fun and sun capital of the USA - Miami, Florida! Sun and sand, salsa and style - Miami's cultural mix is uniquely diverse yet quintessentially American. From trendy South Beach to ethnic Little Havana and creative Coconut Grove, the sun-soaked Miami area offers many opportunities for fun, relaxation and cultural understanding.

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Fort Lauderdale, located north of Miami, is a recreational center for tourists of all ages. Long known as a gathering place for college students celebrating their spring break, the city is a center for swimming, yachting, fishing, snorkeling, rollerblading, bicycling and nightlife. Greater Fort Lauderdale offers 23 beaches, many of them close to hotels, restaurants and nightclubs. In downtown Fort Lauderdale, the Riverwalk Arts and Entertainment District features cultural attractions including the Museum of Art, the Florida Grand Opera and the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. Maritime attractions include sightseeing cruises on cruise ships, yachts and glass-bottomed boats. Short cruises to the Caribbean sail out of Fort Lauderdale on a daily basis.

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Located in suburban Miami, the city of Aventura is named after the Aventura Mall, an international tourist haven that is comprised of more than 2.3 million square feet of retail space anchored by Bloomingdale's, Macy's Sears and J.C. Penney. Aventura is the largest conventional mall in Florida and an expansion this year will make it the sixth largest mall in the United States. At that time a new anchor, Nordstrom, will debut, joining 250 other shops and attractions in the Mediterranean-style mall.

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Many Miamians regard Little Havana as the capital of their city. The neighborhood was created by Cubans who fled the island in the 1960s. It has attracted immigrants from Central America in the past few decades. There is a distinctive Latin flavor in Little Havana, with signs and billboards in Spanish and music to match. On Calle Ocho (officially SW 8th Street), Little Havana's main artery, everything is authentic, from the fruit stands and cigar factories to the eat-at windows of the cafeterias crowded with patrons enjoying croquetas and passionately discussing politics.

Cultural Fridays take place monthly along Calle Ocho and feature music, dance, and visual arts. Little Havana is one of the best places to experience Cuban culture and Latin cuisine. Latin life takes center stage during Carnaval Miami, a celebration of Hispanic culture culminating with Calle Ocho a street festival often referred to as the largest block party because it attracts more than one million people each year. Calle Ocho was cited in the Guinness Book of World Records when 119,986 people formed the world's longest conga line on March 13, 1988.

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Miami Beach's trendiest neighborhood is anchored by Ocean Drive, a 10-block stretch of ocean front hotels, cafes, nightclubs and boutiques. It is famous for its pastel Art deco architecture and world class beach. The creative inspiration for the television show Miami Vice, its days are filled with beach activities, touring and shopping and its neon lit evenings with sumptuous dining, dancing and celebrity-watching. Beach umbrellas can be rented for a day in the sun, and fishing, sailing, scuba diving and rollerblading are favorite pastimes, too. South Beach is also a center for fashion. More than 1,500 fashion models live in the area, according to Wikipedia, and fashion photography shoots are a frequent event in the neighborhood.

Aficionados of Art Deco design flock to South Beach. Reasonably priced Art Deco tours are offered several days a week by the Miami Design Preservation League at its Art Deco Welcome Center and in January the Art Deco Weekend® Festival features tours, film, lectures, music, dance, theatre, shopping and a dog promenade. Art lovers also favor the Bass Museum of Art, an Art Deco structure that houses a diverse and constantly changing array of art ranging from European masterworks to Caribbean themes.

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The city of Coral Gables was designed by George F. Merrick in the 1920s and with its "villages of houses" built in Colonial, French, Dutch, South African and Chinese styles, tree-lined boulevards, winding roadways and greenery has been named "The City Beautiful".

The City is home to many historic landmarks as well as 22 parks and other first-class recreation amenities. The Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden is the largest tropical botanical garden in the continental United States. The 83-acre natural preserve offers guided walking tours, tram tours, and special seasonal events. Its paths provide splendid views of exotic plants, tropical flowers and fruits, flowering vines, palms, and oaks. Hidden trails meander around 11 lakes, rain forest displays, wild undergrowth, ferns and orchids. One of its best-known attractions is the Venetian Pool. Sometimes touted as "the world's most beautiful swimming hole," this 820,000-gallon swimming pool was built in 1923 from a coral rock quarry. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The pool is fed by cool spring water and is surrounded by two waterfalls, coral caves, and grottos.

For shopping, the famed Miracle Mile and its surrounding downtown streets with their European-style outdoor cafes provides residents, employees, business people and visitors with an enjoyable tropical shopping experience. The downtown area is home to many specialty stores and more than 120 international restaurants, a paradise for casual and gourmet diners. Fashion centers in the Village of Merrick Park include Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom as well as 115 other world class shops and restaurants.

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Coconut Grove is one of the oldest and most diverse neighborhoods in Greater Miami, and a former home to Alexander Graham Bell, Howard Hughes, Tennessee Williams and singers Joni Mitchell, David Crosby, Jose Feliciano and Jimmy Buffet. Its reputation as a creative, eclectic enclave with an open-minded ambience continues today.

More than 75 restaurants and cafes line its streets, along with art galleries, antique shops, boutiques and bookstores. Two open air malls offer shopping. Mediterranean style CocoWalk is the new village hub. Its three levels of terraces and balconies house shops, restaurants and a 16 screen movie theater.

Vizcaya, a 70-room Italian Renaissance-style mansion with 10 acres of formal gardens, is located here on the shores of Biscayne Bay.

The Miami Museum of Science and Space Planetarium is a few blocks away. Dinner Key, once a launching base for seaplane flights, is now home to Miami City Hall, which is housed in a converted 1930s Pan American World Airways hangar. Festivals and street fairs add to Coconut's Grove's tourist appeal. The Coconut Grove Arts Festival, an annual February event, draws more than 100,000 visitors, making it one of the largest art festivals in the country. Night life revolves around fun and funky neighborhood bars, livened up with plenty of jazz, salsa and reggae.

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