SO out of here...

I have always loved Miami. I guess it started when we came on vacation in the 70s, and my father, who was my mentor and hero, said he never breathed as well as he did when he entered the hot, humid air. The place was exotic to me, as well as familiar -- plenty of NY culture mixed with that of Latin America...

When I moved here full time in 1979, things were turbulent. The Mariel Boatlift was the last straw for xenophobic natives. Some of those folks said "MiamUH," and hailed from Georgia and Alabama. But some, to my embarrasment, were Jews who were born and raised here, and somehow forgot that Jews were perpetually outsiders, and not moronic nativists who resented folks who spoke other languages...

A popular bumper sticker said "Will the last American to leave Miami please bring the flag." A lot of thse popped up, and I always thought they showed that idiots were inside. So a lot of folks speak Spanish here. Who gives a hell? So much of what one overhears in everyday life is banal --I figure it's a blessing to not have to listen to store clerks discussing matters of vast importance like who was going to win "American Idol."

And then there were the elites in the early 80s, claiming that Miami was a cultural wasteland. Somehow those have been proven wrong, as Miami is now considered an artistic and musical and architectural mecca --even the snotty NY Times crows about Art Basel, and the new concert halls, and the booming Design District.

To me, Miami was always a young city on the make, whose ultimate beauty would come from the fact that people came here from all over --like New York 100 years ago.

It seems there are fewer naysayers. I no longer see the bumper stickers. D1 moved to Brickell, and her whole neighborhood teems with young professionals building a real urban neighborhood.

Last night, I had a cocktail at Trulucks, and the place was packed with new arrivals, including a CEO from Minneapolis who can't get over how much he loves it here --after a lifetime in the awful weather of the Midwest...

The piano player was from Cleveland, and in our group was a former Pittsburgher, a Philly guy, 2 fellow Long Islanders, and, by some strange coincidence, THREE Hoosiers. My bartender George is a Miami Cuban who lived for years in Atlanta and missed it here too much.

It helps to have a lot of money here. Especially in the suburbs, there is a lot of bitterness from those who haven't made it. They decry the shallow materialism of South Florida. In other words, bitter losers...

So, I used to argue with the malcontents. Now I figure --if you don't like it here --fine! Don't let the palm fronds hit you on your ass on your way out. The traffic IS awful. IT used to be that crime was the main problem --now it's not much of a factor.

The traffic crawls. I guess too many folks want to live here after all. Like the answer bumper sticker said "The flag's staying!" And, happily, so is my family and me. (Even if the Heat loses the Finals)