Miami news, Miami local news

The number of Miami homes in November, in some stage of the foreclosure process, dropped by 5.62% in Miami-Dade County compared to October. However, according to figures released Thursday by foreclosure data firm RealtyTrac, Miami foreclosures were still up by double-digit percentages versus the same month last year.
In November, 7,306 Miami homes had either received a foreclosure notice, were scheduled for auction or taken back by a bank in an auction sale. This was an increase of almost 13% from year ago.
The number of new Miami foreclosures filings was up from last year by a large 30% predicting a bigger lump of Miami homes that are likely to enter the market later on.
Miami-Dade ranked seventh in the state for foreclosures, with one of every 133 Miami homes in some stage of the process. By comparison, one home in every 417 was caught up in foreclosure nationally.
In November, the foreclosure rate in Broward fared slightly worse compared to October, rising 4.44%, with one of every 113 homes in the pipeline.
The rate was up 4.38% from a year ago and new foreclosure filings were up 27% from last year.
Following Nevada, Florida (with one home per 165 in foreclosure) displaced California for the state with the second-highest percentage of Miami homes in foreclosure. In Nevada, there was one home in foreclosure for every 119 that were not.

Winter looks better for tourism this year.
As Art Basel Miami Beach heralds the unofficial launch of the “high” tourism season this week, demand has finally begun to rise for South Beach hotels and Miami Beach vacation properties. That could signal a turning point for a hotel market besieged by discounted rates and weak demand, trends that have pushed some of the region’s flashiest hotels to the brink of foreclosure.
Severe cutbacks in travel spending haven’t stopped art buyers from driving up hotel rates in Miami Beach this week. The cheapest rooms at the Delano are $825 a night this weekend and $345 next weekend.
After the country’s largest contemporary art show turns off the lights at the Miami Beach Convention Center on Sunday the real test begins.
Peter Sahora, general manager of the Z Ocean Hotel in South Beach says, “It looks like the slide is either slowing down or reversing. We’ll see what happens in January and February.”

A column by Daniel Shoer Roth was published in El Nuevo Herald on November 4th criticizing transit officials for not offering a bus route from Miami International Airport to South Beach. Shortly after that, Miami-Dade Transit chief Harpal Kapoor announced that such a route, which will be called the Airport-Beach Flyer route, will exist starting December 13th. Kapoor assures that the new route has been in the works for some time and was not prompted by Roth’s column. The much-needed and heavily-traveled bus route from Miami International Airport to South Beach will follow State Road 112 and make one stop at the Earlington Heights Metrorail station along the way for those wishing to reach Downtown Miami. The bus trip will cost $2.34 and takes about 30 minutes.

If you are a traveler from somewhere else, keep up-to-date on Miami travel tips to make your Miami vacation as smooth as possible.

The Coral Gables Venetian Pool, which started off as just a rock pit when they were planning to build Coral Gables in the 1920s, underwent a six-month, $730,000 renovation that was completed just before summer of 2009. The Saturday following the Friday grand reopening welcomed 471 guests. The Venetian Pool renovation included new and improved bathrooms, walkways, fountains, roof tiles, concession area, patio furniture and wrought-iron gate.

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Miami International Airport came in as number one of the busiest U.S. airport for international travelers during the first 6 months of 2009. From January to June 2009, Miami International Airport received 2.4 million international passengers.

Miami International Airport was the busiest U.S. airport for international travelers in June with 441,000 international passenger boardings. Still, it is down 2.7 percent from the 2.5 million last year. Completing the top three busiest U.S. airport for international travelers were New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Meanwhile, Miami International Airport was not named among the top 10 U.S. airports for domestic travel.

There is a recent development in Miami news, particularly for its Cuban population, that is very interesting to follow:  a Ferry service from Miami to Cuba could very well become a reality. Amando Ruiz is making Miami news as he waits for approval from the Obama Administration, who recently, in an effort to increase contact with the island, granted Cuban-Americans the right to make the trip to the Island without restrictions and allowed money and gifts to be sent in greater quantities as well. Ruiz suggests that this project would go a long way in helping the Cuban people.

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South Beach and Miami Beach nightlife is changing before our eyes. A major South Beach nightclub, Miami Opium Garden with Prive, just closed its doors and is moving to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel in Fort Lauderdale. Is this the beginning of a new trend or just an isolated event? The Miami Opium Garden along with its VIP Prive has been the leading Miami Beach nightlife nightclub in South Beach for decades.

The crisis afflicting South Florida was probably the major factor behind this move. Miami Opium Garden will reopen at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in mid-March. Even the world-renowned Winter Music Conference will hold events there for the first time.

The city of Miami Beach became anti-nightclubs and quoted thousands of violations made by Miami Beach clubs in the past 10 years. Miami Beach vacation rentals attract a large variety of vacationers including clubbers. This aggressive stand by the city might endanger the future of Miami Beach nightlife and reputation as a trendy, hip city. TV series such as CSI Miami have attracted a lot of tourists because of their depiction of the glamorous Miami Beach nightlife. What will become of Miami Beach if the Miami Beach nightlife disappears? Miami Opium Garden was hit with so many noise violations that it decided it could not operate anymore in such a hostile environment. The city noise ordinance was unbearable. The Opium Group sued the city but ultimately lost the fight. Opium Group continues being a part of Miami Beach nightlife and operating Mansion, SET and the Louis Bar Lounge in the Gansevoort hotel.

The Seminole Hard Rock Casino is one of the major entertainment centers in South Florida with a casino, restaurants, concert venues, stores, hotels and night clubs such as Passions, Pangaea and Gryphon. The Seminole Hard Rock Casino is very popular among locals and has a slightly older crowd than you will find within the Miami Beach nightlife.

As expected the attendance at the Miami Boat show declined 26 % compared to the 2008 Miami Boat show , 96 000 people versus 130 000. This Miami event is one of the most important in the calendar year. Exhibitors indicated that they felt their international visitors were less present than last year. The decline of attendance and sales was expected.

Find more pictures and read full 2009 Miami Boat Show Review.

2009 Coconut Grove Arts Festival review and photos.

Art Basel Miami (Art Fair Weekend) will be hosting some new fairs in the schedule and as reported by some experts in the matter around 25 art fairs will take place in the land of exiles, sun, sand and mojitos.

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