Qualla: Miami: The City Where Latin America Meets America

Miami: The City Where Latin America Meets America: Introduction

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Public domain. Miami is the only major American city founded by a woman - Julia Tuttle convinced Henry Flagler to extend his railroad south by sending him orange blossoms during a freeze that killed crops everywhere else. The city that emerged in 1896 was a tropical outpost; the city that exists today is the unofficial capital of Latin America, where Spanish is heard more often than English in many neighborhoods, where Cuban exiles recreated Havana after 1959, and where the cultural gravity pulls south rather than north. Miami isn't quite America and isn't quite Latin America - it's something in between, tropical and transactional, beautiful and troubled, sinking slowly as the sea rises.

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Image: Public domain

Miami: The City Where Latin America Meets America: The Cubans

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Farragutful, CC BY-SA 4.0. After Castro's revolution, Cuban exiles began arriving in Miami - first the elites fleeing nationalization, then the broader middle class, then waves that continued for decades. Little Havana on Calle Ocho became a community in exile, preserving Cuban culture while waiting to ret...

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Image: Farragutful | CC BY-SA 4.0

Miami: The City Where Latin America Meets America: Art Deco

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Phillip Pessar from Miami, USA, CC BY 2.0. South Beach's Art Deco Historic District contains the largest collection of Art Deco architecture in the world - over 800 buildings from the 1930s and 1940s preserved in pastel colors along Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue. The hotels were designed for middle-class tourists seeking...

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Image: Phillip Pessar from Miami, USA | CC BY 2.0

Miami: The City Where Latin America Meets America: The Water

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Eric Gaba (Sting - fr:Sting), CC BY-SA 3.0. Miami is among the most vulnerable cities in America to sea level rise. The land is flat limestone; the water table is high; storm surge can overwhelm the coast. King tides already flood streets in Miami Beach several times yearly; the flooding is worsening. The city is spending ...

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Image: Eric Gaba (Sting - fr:Sting) | CC BY-SA 3.0

Miami: The City Where Latin America Meets America: The Money

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit DHSgov, Public domain. Miami is a banking center for Latin America, a condo market for international buyers, and a tax haven for those fleeing higher-tax states. The money that flows through the city has historically included questionable sources - drug money in the 1980s, money laundering that continu...

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Image: DHSgov | Public domain

Miami: The City Where Latin America Meets America: Visiting Miami

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit 8ABL, CC BY-SA 4.0. Miami is served by Miami International Airport, a major hub for Latin American travel. South Beach concentrates Art Deco architecture, restaurants, and nightlife; the beach itself is beautiful and crowded. Little Havana on Calle Ocho offers Cuban food, dominoes players in Máximo ...

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Image: 8ABL | CC BY-SA 4.0