Pot times

Miami Nice Doesn't Have The Same Ring

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1098/a03.html
Newshawk: Beth

Pubdate: Mon, 11 Jul 2005
Source: Financial Times (UK)
Section: Comment & Analysis
Copyright: The Financial Times Limited 2005
Contact: letters.editor@ft.com
Website: http://www.ft.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/154
Author: Andrew Ward

MIAMI NICE DOESN'T HAVE THE SAME RING

Miami's reputation for drug-trafficking, gun crime and corruption will be revived next year when a film version of the 1980s TV drama Miami Vice hits the big screen.  In reality, the city has undergone big changes since Detectives Sonny Crockett and Rico Tubbs bowed out 16 years ago.  Crime has been on the decline since 1993 and dropped by 9 per cent last year.

Meanwhile, population, employment and wealth have all increasing as ever more people and businesses are drawn to the city's tropical climate and cosmopolitan culture.

Economic growth has helped the city's finances recover from the brink of bankruptcy in 1996 to an A+ credit rating.  But some fear Miami could be heading for another financial crisis in the form of an over-heating property market, with house prices up 85 per cent since 2001.