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Editor’s Letter: Leaders and Thinkers from Miami Mayor Francis Suarez to Urbanist Richard Florida

In every issue of SFBW, we aim to present a range of leaders, industries and perspectives, but I’m especially proud of this issue because it offers such candid analysis and intrepid thought leadership—ideas about such subjects as responsible tourism and development, that we haven’t covered in such depth before.

In this issue, we see a Miami, in particular, growing up and grappling with its inevitable status as an emerging major global city. In many ways, this is the futurism issue. In “Future Shock,” which describes a panel discussion to celebrate the upcoming Okan Tower in downtown Miami, the press event quickly tilted toward how to develop Miami in a responsible way. Yes, the 70-story mixed-use edifice will glisten beautifully on the skyline and boast all the amenities that we’ve come to expect of the city’s luxury towers, but also on the agenda that day was easing congestion, efforts to make Miami more walkable, less car-dependent, and, as Miami Mayor Francis Suarez enthused about, perhaps a city of highways in the air to accommodate flying vehicles.

“In New York, it costs $2 billion a mile in transit,” Suarez told the assembled crowd. “Even in our overground Metrorail, it’s around $250 to $500 million a mile in expense.” By contrast, he emphasized, the air is free: “You don’t have to build anything on it, and you have the ability to move across the air.” If an urban network of flying vehicles seems fanciful, Suarez betrayed zero skepticism.

In a very different context, Miami Beach resident Richard Florida—the expert in urbanism and demographics who popularized the term “creative class” and is uniquely positioned to interpret his town—talked to SFBW about his new term, blotto-tourism: the scourge in which hordes of visitors come to wreck the place and themselves.

When Miami Beach began to experience its renaissance in the ‘80s, he reminds us, it was a refuge for gay men—pioneers who landed in the resort city because of its AIDS services and community feeling—and ended up helping to turn the town into an in-the-know style haven for sophisticates and bohemian creatives. Today, locals are in a battle to keep South Beach livable for locals of any stripe and orientation—including families. Florida’s suggestion: more programming, more outdoor markets, more live music. Local flavor for locals.

And finally, our cover story on Michael and Nikki Simkins touches on the tech side of development, part of the futurism promoted by Mayor Suarez. E11even Hotel and Residences, which is being built by Simkins and his partners, is the first pre-construction condominium in the country to accept cryptocurrency as a deposit, through a partnership with FTX, the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange.

So much is happening, and so quickly, that we all can’t help but be stimulated—even overwhelmed—by future shock. This issue is a reminder to fasten our seatbelts. You’ll need to wear them in the sky, too.

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Drew Limsky

Drew Limsky

Editor-in-Chief

BIOGRAPHY

Drew Limsky joined Lifestyle Media Group in August 2020 as Editor-in-Chief of South Florida Business & Wealth. His first issue of SFBW, October 2020, heralded a reimagined structure, with new content categories and a slew of fresh visual themes. “As sort of a cross between Forbes and Robb Report, with a dash of GQ and Vogue,” Limsky says, “SFBW reflects South Florida’s increasingly sophisticated and dynamic business and cultural landscape.”

Limsky, an avid traveler, swimmer and film buff who holds a law degree and Ph.D. from New York University, likes to say, “I’m a doctor, but I can’t operate—except on your brand.” He wrote his dissertation on the nonfiction work of Joan Didion. Prior to that, Limsky received his B.A. in English, summa cum laude, from Emory University and earned his M.A. in literature at American University in connection with a Masters Scholar Award fellowship.

Limsky came to SFBW at the apex of a storied career in journalism and publishing that includes six previous lead editorial roles, including for some of the world’s best-known brands. He served as global editor-in-chief of Lexus magazine, founding editor-in-chief of custom lifestyle magazines for Cadillac and Holland America Line, and was the founding editor-in-chief of Modern Luxury Interiors South Florida. He also was the executive editor for B2B magazines for Acura and Honda Financial Services, and he served as travel editor for Conde Nast. Magazines under Limsky’s editorship have garnered more than 75 industry awards.

He has also written for many of the country’s top newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, Boston Globe, USA Today, Worth, Robb Report, Afar, Time Out New York, National Geographic Traveler, Men’s Journal, Ritz-Carlton, Elite Traveler, Florida Design, Metropolis and Architectural Digest Mexico. His other clients have included Four Seasons, Acqualina Resort & Residences, Yahoo!, American Airlines, Wynn, Douglas Elliman and Corcoran. As an adjunct assistant professor, Limsky has taught journalism, film and creative writing at the City University of New York, Pace University, American University and other colleges.