Hello and welcome new subscribers! I am happy you joined me here. And of course, a big thank you to
for pointing you my way.I have been slow to update my Substack because I am back in Miami tending to some family matters.
Some stuff I have on the list for the coming weeks:
Why extreme emission scenarios stick around
“Insurance and climate change” and other slogans
Bloomberg, Bloomberg, everywhere Bloomberg
In my current state of reflection…
I grew up on Miami Beach, the third generation of my family to do so. My family has since moved from there but remain in the Miami area.
Visiting Miami always brings up mixed feelings: pride, joy, disgust, frustration. It is a passionate, vibrant place and for every exchange of warm multi-ethnic pleasantries there are an equal number of dodged swindles.
Miami traffic gives me a lot of time to think about the city.
One of the most breathtaking US views of urban creation is driving at night along I-95 past downtown Miami or across Venetian Causeway looking towards the city. It is locally rivaled by the same view of the skyline by boat. (I have not tried helicopter.)
Passing through historically black neighborhoods has its own wonder. Areas that originated an entirely new genre of hip hop. An urban landscape with the scars of cruel national policies. Communities that appear from the outside to harbor familiarity among neighbors that is a mystery for those that live hidden behind walls and guard gates.
I often wonder if some of the fiercest critics of Miami’s brash approach to development in the hurricane and flood prone region have ever spent enough time in the city to know it.
To appreciate that “Miami” is a place of over 6 million people.
To feel the pulsating $400 billion a year economy.
To marvel at the ingenuity and brazen audacity of a people, generally from elsewhere, hustlin’.
And although there is phenomenal wealth in the area and a lot of very wealthy and relatively wealthy people. Most (there are a lot of people) are not of this upper crust.
If I was to develop a city on the southeastern edge of Florida, it would not be Miami. I miss the foliage, wildlife, and slow pace of life of times past. And I find Miami’s inequities and extractive habits disgraceful.
But, what has been created has a magic to it. It is a major US city, quintessentially American and unlike most of America. Many love to live here, even more love to visit.
For me, it will always be home. But, as it is said, you can’t go home again.
Sorry to be nit-picky but "Miami" doesn't have a population of over 6 million people. That number is for the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach conglomeration. Miami alone has around 440,000. It doesn't seem like there are city boundaries where they are because they blur into other areas. That's true in many places, of course, but we typically distinguish between Los Angeles and Riverside in Southern California, and between Phoenix, Scottsdale, Mesa, Tempe and other contiguous cities here in Arizona. It doesn't affect your point about the economic size of the area. As I said, nit-picky, but I can't help myself. Looking forward to your future posts.