Miami

Its culture, commerce, and climate are hot, hot, hot!
Miami deserves its nickname of the "Magic City." Magically, famously opulent lifestyles coexist with infamously poor inner-city neighborhoods. The tropical climate defies winter's powers and permits year-round boating, golfing, swimming, surfing, and tennis. And when you ask for salsa, you're as likely to get a hot dance as a hot sauce –– impressive tricks for a former swamp.

A trip to South Beach may net you a glance at superstars visiting or living there, but three unlikely celebrities made Greater Miami what it is today. Millionaire industrialist Henry Flagler extended his railroad route to South Florida in 1896, leading to Miami's immediate incorporation as a city. The regime of Fidel Castro led to hundreds of thousands of Cuban refugees in the '60s and '70s, who served as new residents who would help Miami mature into a sophisticated, multicultural metropolis. And actor Don Johnson's 1980s TV show, Miami Vice, gave the city a glamorous reputation, which skyrocketed property values and tourism.

Perched near Florida's southeastern tip, about midway between Fort Lauderdale and the Keys, Miami is hectic in both traffic and commerce. The Port of Miami is distinguished as the world's busiest cruise port, while Miami International Airport claims the country's second highest number of international passengers. Headquarters to several Fortune 500 companies seeking Latin and Caribbean business, Miami also serves as the nation's second largest international banking center. Throngs pack Miami Beach on any given weekend, and a sizeable retiree population supports an abundance of healthcare services.

Though politically conservative, Miami–Dade County is liberal with its free "attractions," such as art deco architecture, bask-worthy beaches, and ubiquitous palm trees. In its tourist meccas, the restaurants and nightclubs are cool, and the people and fashions are hot. Diversity unifies this area where Hispanics count for more than half the population. Bahamians, Haitians, Jews, and other ethnicities also color the cultural mix. The resulting atmosphere will make you feel you've stepped into an exotic paradise.

Miami Transportation

Airports
Miami International Airport
Ft. Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport

Ground Transportation

Bus Service
Metrobus
Serves the area that extends from Miami Beach to west Miami-Dade, and from Key Largo to south Broward County.

Rail Service
AMTRAK
AMTRAK provides nationwide service.
Metromover
A free automated people-mover system serving Downtown Miami from Omni to Brickell. Its 21 stations are spaced about two blocks apart. It also connects with Metrorail at two stations.
Metrorail
This 21-mile, elevated rapid-transit system has 21 stations about a mile apart. The Miami–Dade County service area ranges from South Miami to Okeechobee and connects with Broward and Palm Beach counties.
TriRail
AA full-service commuter train serving Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.

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Miami Attractions

Like so many tropical plants, intriguing attractions thrive under South Florida's sun. You can time-travel via the Ancient Spanish Monastery and the Harry S Truman Little White House. Or flirt with speed on the Dania Beach Hurricane or at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. Mingle with critters at Monkey Jungle or Dolphin Cove. Take to the water with Island Queen Cruises or Loxahatchee Everglade Boat Tours. Act naturally at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park or Fruit and Spice Park. And feed your brain through the New World Symphony or the International Museum of Cartoon Art.

Sites like the Coral Castle and the Venetian Pool may be one of a kind, but just about everything in this city has a distinctly exotic flavor.

American Police Hall of Fame & Museum
Ancient Spanish Monastery
Art Deco Historic District/Miami Beach
Bahia Honda State Park
Barnacle State Historic Site
Bass Museum of Art
Big Cypress National Preserve
Bill Baggs State Park/Key Biscayne
Biscayne National Park
Boca Raton Museum of Art
Butterfly World
Charles Deering Estate
Charles P. Steuber National Croquet Center
Coconut Grove Playhouse
Coral Castle
Dania Beach Hurricane
Dolphin Cove
Dolphins Plus
Dolphin Research Center
Dry Tortugas and Fort Jefferson
Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum
Everglades Alligator Farm
Everglades National Park
Everglades Safari Park
Fairchild Tropical Garden
Fruit and Spice Park
Gold Coast Railroad Museum
Gusman Center for the Performing Arts
Harry S Truman Little White House
Henry Morrison Flagler Museum
Historical Museum of South Florida
Homestead-Miami Speedway
International Swimming Hall of Fame and Aquatic Complex
Island Queen Cruises
Jewish Museum of Florida
John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park
Lowe Art Museum
Loxahatchee Everglade Boat Tours
Marjory Stoneman Douglas Biscayne Nature Center
Miami Beach Botanical Garden
Miami MetroZoo & Zoological Society of Florida
Miami Museum of Science & Space Transit Planetarium
Miami Seaquarium
Miccosukee Indian Village
Monkey Jungle
Morikamai Museum and Japanese Gardens
Museum of Contemporary Art
New World Symphony
Norton Museum of Art
Parrot Jungle Island
Venetian Pool
Villa Vizcaya
Wolfsonian
World Chess Hall of Fame

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Miami Shopping

Price tags will vouch for the glamour of Miami's shopping opportunities. Upscale boutiques supply the beautiful people with fashion, and one can spend a small fortune on avant-garde furnishings. Yet, shoppers can still find average-priced malls, chain stores galore, and discounted name brands. Balmy weather allows for charming outdoor malls, and many retail establishments employ a multilingual staff. For a distinctly Miami flavor, try the Cuban shops Downtown and the pedestrian-only Lincoln Road Shopping District in South Beach.

Shopping Centers:
Aventura Mall
Bal Harbour
Bayside Marketplace
CocoWalk
Dadeland Mall
Dolphin Mall
Downtown Miami
Espanola Way
The Falls
Lincoln Road
Miami International Mall
Miracle Mile
Sawgrass Mills
Shops at Sunset Place
Southland Mall
Village of Merrick Park

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Miami Nightlife

Greater Miami's legendary night scene sizzles with possibility, driven by fashion and entertainment industry mavens. Dubbed the Sun and Fun Capital by Jackie Gleason in the ‘60s, Miami Beach has since evolved into America's Riviera and a Latin Hollywood, with theatrical flair. Television's 1980s Miami Vice has morphed into Miami Vice: The Movie. Plus other memorable made-in-Miami flicks ranging from Goldfinger, The Birdcage and Something About Mary to 2 Fast 2 Furious, Bad Boys, Bad Boys 2 and Out of Sight. As a result, celebrity spottings are a de rigueur reality of Miami nightlife -- at live Latin jazz venues, on dance floors of hipper-than-thou clubs, and tablehopping in lounges of chi-chi restaurants that transform as evenings progress from venues for guava cheesecake dessert courses into wee hours nightclubs.

Staying on top of what's hot poses a challenge, as ever-more fabulous concepts open each season. Just north of downtown, Overtown – one of Miami's oldest African-American neighborhoods – is on the upswing, revitalizing an entertainment district anchored by the historic Lyric Theater. Saturated with Cuban culture, Calle Ocho, Little Havana's main drag, is lined with eateries and places where sounds of salsa and merengue fill the air. South of downtown, Coconut Grove – New Year's home of the King Mango Strut political spoof parade -- awaits with restaurants, movie theaters and bookstores. Lovely Coral Gables teems with top dining enclaves and galleries presenting the crème de la crème of art. Little wonder that Miami consistently ranks at the pinnacle for singles scene action and Latin beats, and nowhere is this more apparent than in clubs of the moment like Prive, Mansion and Mynt, where DJs spin the latest house music. Tourists, locals and celebrities mingle at Hoy Como Ayer to experience the sounds of DJ Le Spam & The All Stars, among happening live music clubs in Little Havana. From live music venues like Churchill's to elegant global gatherings like Rumi, Tap Tap, and Tantra, Miami glitters with stars and excitement.

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Miami Healthcare Facilities

Miami beams with pride about its weather, beaches, restaurants, nightclubs, shopping, and cultural activities. So why would its quality of healthcare be anything less than exceptional? The massive University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center, for example, ranks as one of the nation's top 25 medical centers. And Miami Children's Hospital was recently rated the top pediatric hospital in the Southeast.

Quality healthcare requires quality staff. Miami's demand for healthcare professionals runs high, thanks to the area's 33 hospitals and significant population of retirees.

Major healthcare facilities in Miami include:
Aventura Hospital and Medical Center
Baptist Children's Hospital
Baptist Hospital of Miami
Cedars Medical Center
Coral Gables Hospital
Deering Hospital
HealthSouth Doctors' Hospital
Homestead Hospital
Jackson Memorial Hospital
Kendall Medical Center
Mercy Hospital
Miami Children's Hospital
Mount Sinai Medical Center & Miami Heart Institute
North Shore Medical Center
Palmetto General Hospital
Pan American Hospital
South Miami Hospital

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Miami Nursing Resources

Florida Center for Nursing
Florida Department of Health Services
Florida Nurses Association
Florida Registered Nurses License Renewal
Florida State Board of Nursing
Miami–Dade County Health Department

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Miami Weather

Weatherwise, Miami isn't quite paradise, but it's close. "Snowbirds" from the north appreciate the area's winters, when temperature highs average between 60 and 85 degrees. That allows them to wear shorts on Christmas Day (should they want to). Between December and May, scant rainfall preserves the sunshiny reputation of the Sunshine State. Winter-night temperatures dip into the mid-50s, but rarely are colder than sweater weather.

So what's not to like about Miami's weather? Warmer months brings the three H's: humidity, heat, and hurricanes. Summers are earmarked by oppressive humidity and temperature highs of 80-90 degrees, which feel much hotter with the heat index (calculated by the level of humidity). Hurricane season stretches from June 1 to November 30, yielding frequent afternoon thunderstorms and the infrequent hurricane that actually hits Miami's shores.

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