Miami's Melting Pot

The authors are principals of Fusion 5, Westport, Coon.

Go ahead and straddle a stool at the counter of a South Beach luncheonette, but don't be surprised if you've got a transvestite to the left of you, a blue-haired retiree to the right and a couple of South American bankers talking shop across the way.

The Miami neighborhood is a community of contradictions, a place where culture meets counterculture. Some have called South Beach a classically American melting pot where people escape to express themselves and break all the rules.

Anything goes in South Beach. You'll find young punks blending with old folks, '80s Miami Vice kitsch fusing with '90s cigar-lounge posturing. It's been described by some as a haven of healthy hedonism, where one indulges without tilting into self-destruction.

Given its significant Hispanic population, many are surprised to find that South Beach is home to a spectacular mix of nationalities: Argentinians, Poles, Latvians, Lithuanians and Romanians among others.

But what really defines South Beach, as with other capitals of cool, is the attitude. Not attitude in the "I'm hipper than you" sense, but on the contrary, an all-embracing acceptance that doesn't leave much room for disputes over what's hot and what's not. Just about everything, it seems, is considered cool in South Beach.

Could it be greater Miami's reputation for tacky tourists and violent crime (cabbies say Gianni Versace's murder site is the most popular tourist drive-by) that has rendered the locals so nonchalant about being cool? Since South Beach is a relatively young neighborhood, perhaps it lacks a feeling of "establishment" to rebel against.

Hip mecca that it may be, it is interesting that South Beach has not exported a trend of note to other parts of the world since Miami Vice caused a proliferation of facial stubble, pastel Armani suits and Art Deco minimalls more than 10 years ago. Instead, trends tend to migrate, converge and morph into something else entirely here.

COPYRIGHT 1998 BPI Communications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group