South Beach Miami, or SoBe, conjures many cliches for this Aussie girl. And once there, some of those ring true. For example, it really is a place where the eye candy can be pretty interesting! 
However, its history is equally if not more interesting. SoBe is a beachfront neighbourhood of Miami Beach. It was originally farmland - wouldn't you love that! Then it was slowly developed as a seaside resort starting in the early 1900s. In the 30s, an architectural revolution began bringing Art Deco, Streamline Moderne and Nautical Moderne architecture to the shores. SoBe is today known for having the world's largest remaining collection of Art Deco and Streamline Moderne architecture. (Napier, NZ, is the other). In this regard, it really is beautiful. Some of the buildings are divine and give the area a wonderful old world charm. Strangely, it kind of felt like the Gold Coast, Queensland, about 30 years ago. Albeit there are new constructions, and some high-rise, the vast bulk are mid rise and most have wonderful old facades.
Then, with the attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941, the US Army Air Corps took command of the area and interestingly, that brought tourism! Today, tourism is one of Miami's largest industries and in June, with the US school holidays on, its is flooded with folk.
The 1960s saw Hollywood come to town with various movies and TV shows being filmed there right through until today, all of which have continued to fuel the imagination and the 'mythical' Miami picture.
