Miami before MV

[S.FL84]

Sinatra's classic film A HOLE IN THE HEAD and later films like the TONY ROME series imho really capture what Miami Beach was like before MV.  Before MV Miami Beach was just a sleepy little winter vacation spot for northern residents.  As Jon Roberts in COCAINE COWBOYS clearly explains even as late as the mid 70's there were no skyscrapers and The Fountainbleau was the biggest structure in the immediate area.  I really would have loved to lived in Miami in the early 1960's BEFORE the weed and coke helped fuel the exponential growth that MV was based on and made Miami into the crime-filled cesspool it still is today, living on the fumes of the billions pumped into the area thru drugs.  

Here's a tasty little Tony Rome outake from 1967.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sO2e8WbTFU0

Edited July 15, 2019 by S.FL84

[S.FL84]

Here's another shot from A HOLE IN THE HEAD which very interestingly is in front of Hoffman's Cafeteria which later became the Warsaw Ballroom which was used in the opening scenes of MADE FOR EACH OTHER which we all here know and love.

 

Hoffman's (built in 1928) which became the Warsaw Ballroom in the 80's is now Senor Frog's mexican restaurant w/ basically (0) exterior alterations...thankfully.

http://www.miamivicelocations.org/page34.html

Edited July 15, 2019 by S.FL84

[miamijimf]

8 hours ago, S.FL84 said:

Sinatra's classic film A HOLE IN THE HEAD and later films like the TONY ROME series imho really capture what Miami Beach was like before MV.  Before MV Miami Beach was just a sleepy little winter vacation spot for northern residents.  As Jon Roberts in COCAINE COWBOYS clearly explains even as late as the mid 70's there were no skyscrapers and The Fountainbleau was the biggest structure in the immediate area.  I really would have loved to lived in Miami in the early 1960's BEFORE the weed and coke helped fuel the exponential growth that MV was based on and made Miami into the crime-filled cesspool it still is today, living on the fumes of the billions pumped into the area thru drugs.  

Here's a tasty little Tony Rome outake from 1967.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sO2e8WbTFU0

Crime filled cesspool is a little harsh.  It has everything  that every other major American city has both good and bad but with a Latin twist.  Miami is unique in many ways as you know because you have been on this site for a while, weather, recreation etc etc.   Actually the crime rate is much lower than it was during the Cocaine Cowboys era and better than a lot of other big US cities.  Drugs are still prevalent, of course, but these days foreign investments and tourism dominate the economy. Would I want to move back?  If I had plenty of money maybe, I still have friends there.  Everything is expensive.  Not being fluid in Spanish would be a problem but there are some Anglos who get by with only English.  Most young people speak English.

[Matt5]

11 hours ago, S.FL84 said:

Here's another shot from A HOLE IN THE HEAD which very interestingly is in front of Hoffman's Cafeteria which later became the Warsaw Ballroom which was used in the opening scenes of MADE FOR EACH OTHER which we all here know and love.

 

Hoffman's (built in 1928) which became the Warsaw Ballroom in the 80's is now Senor Frog's mexican restaurant w/ basically (0) exterior alterations...thankfully.

http://www.miamivicelocations.org/page34.html

Love this - it looked so much better in the Sinatra movies than it does today. Senor Frogs has really gone down. Bad exterior paintwork and brickwork falling off - people selling coke on that corner. 

[Kladdagh]

It is a shame that it is gone down ... 

[S.FL84]

As I said to have been a single 35 - 45 attractive, well-dressed man tooling around Miami in a convertible in the early 1960's  must've been incredible.  Hell even in the early 1980's (hence MV!) would be fine w/ me.  I honestly think if you ask most educated, moral decent people in Broward  county if they were given a chance would move to another state they would.  The drugs of the 79's & 80's and all the problems it brought basically destroyed Miami and it most likely will never recover.  The mega-vacuum left by the billions of narco dollars that literally filled everyone's pockets w/ money  in Miami during the 80's is still palpable to this day.  Its one of the most incredible things I've ever seen.  A perfect example is last year I was in Fort Lauderdale on the train down to Miami and I honestly saw a new $300k Ferrari parked near the train track under a cheap tarp next to a dilapidated 30+yr old travel trailer up on cement blocks.  HONESTLY!!!  < That perfectly typifies today's Miami/Broward County.   Can you imagine the vain superficiality of that person?  But that today's Miami.  Wow. 

Edited July 16, 2019 by S.FL84

[S.FL84]

I think it all boils down to the fact you can't live in Disneyland.  Its a great place to visit but its just not reality.  I don't think there's any legal way "Sonny Crockett" could possibly sustain his lifestyle on "the bread cops make these days".

[pahonu]

On ‎7‎/‎15‎/‎2019 at 6:19 PM, miamijimf said:

Crime filled cesspool is a little harsh.  It has everything  that every other major American city has both good and bad but with a Latin twist.  Miami is unique in many ways as you know because you have been on this site for a while, weather, recreation etc etc.   Actually the crime rate is much lower than it was during the Cocaine Cowboys era and better than a lot of other big US cities.  Drugs are still prevalent, of course, but these days foreign investments and tourism dominate the economy. Would I want to move back?  If I had plenty of money maybe, I still have friends there.  Everything is expensive.  Not being fluid in Spanish would be a problem but there are some Anglos who get by with only English.  Most young people speak English.

I completely agree with your assessment of major American cities Jim.  There's definitely both good and bad.  The LA-area, where I live, also has a lot in common with Miami in terms of the Latin culture and foreign investment, tourism, weather, etc... that you mention. I also agree if you have enough money, living at the beach or in the hills here is a great lifestyle, but it is very expensive, and only growing more so.  My wife and I bought a fairly small two-bedroom condo at a marina here in Long Beach just south of LA about 20 years ago.  We couldn't afford a house with a yard and garage in the area at the time.  Even still, as two fairly new public school teachers, we had to sacrifice a lot at the time, and many of our friends who used to live in the area moved inland for cheaper rents and larger spaces.  We stayed put, raised a family here, and don't regret it one bit.  Our place, however, would be far out of the financial reach of two new teachers today.  As two experienced and much better paid teachers today we would likely not even qualify for a loan on our own place!  Housing prices are rising fast since the Great Recession, and our location never lost a huge amount of its value even at the bottom of the market like some places.  Coastal property is a limited resource.  It's since surpassed it's value before the recession and is still climbing.  We were definitely lucky with the timing but we also made due with a pretty small space.  Now we're in a great place at a great price.  I feel really bad for younger folks trying to get started in a home here today.  It's way more expensive than it was for us.  My own children are in college and finishing up high school.  It's going to be tough for them.  The LA market is among the top-5 most expensive in the nation.

[pahonu]

On ‎7‎/‎16‎/‎2019 at 8:24 AM, S.FL84 said:

I think it all boils down to the fact you can't live in Disneyland.  Its a great place to visit but its just not reality.  I don't think there's any legal way "Sonny Crockett" could possibly sustain his lifestyle on "the bread cops make these days".

He wasn't really paying for that lifestyle even then.  It was all seized property used as part of his undercover work for the department.  Forget the boats and cars, he even joked the clothed weren't his.

...and if you make enough money you can create your own Disneyland.  That's just not most of our realities.

[S.FL84]

Even then its not reality that a department would allow one single officer to take seized property use this far.  On a single case or two maybe, just maybe he could get away w/ it but indefinitely.  Tongues would start wagging and his lieutenant would get called on the carpet for abuse of the use of seized/forfeited property.