Downtown, Brickell and the river mouth
Either side of the mouth of the Miami River: a business district that acquired residents, and the densest square mile in Florida directly across the water from it.
One guide so far in the part of Miami that reads least like the rest of it. Brickell is the densest square mile in Florida and almost entirely a product of the last twenty-five years: an avenue of bank offices that filled in with residential towers after 2003 and now holds around forty thousand people. Downtown proper, across the river, is the older half — the government centre, the port, Bayfront Park, and a residential population that has roughly tripled since 2000 without the street life catching up everywhere.
This is the only part of Miami where not owning a car is a normal choice rather than an eccentric one, and the reason is the Metromover: free, elevated, and confined almost exactly to these two neighborhoods. Three things to check before committing. The building's structural reserve study and milestone inspection, because this is the tallest and most condominium-heavy housing stock in Florida and since 2022 an association may not vote to underfund its reserves. The flood map, because much of Brickell's bayfront sits in a mapped special flood hazard area and the elevation certificate is what prices the separate policy you will need. And what the association fee actually covers, which in a tower here can include the structure's windstorm insurance — the single largest line in a South Florida building's budget.
