South Beach (a.k.a. SoBe) in Miami Beach, Florida, wasn’t always a playground for the rich and famous. One hundred years ago the area’s original developers envisioned a mid-sized ocean front city of modest single family homes.

Today, not so much.

The 1920s real estate bubble attracted millionaires and speculators.  The 1930s brought an architectural Art Deco revolution, a development trend that gives the city it’s character and sense of place today.

But it was TV that really put South Beach on the map: The Jackie Gleason Show in the 1960s, later Crockett and Tubbs solving crimes in Miami Vice.

Today, South Beach is one of the U.S.’s most international destinations:  English is the first language of only 33% of the residents.

In 2009 Natalie O’Neill of the Miami New Times commented: “Until the 1980s, Miami Beach was a peculiar mix of criminals, Cubans, and little old ladies. Then the beautiful people moved in.”

There are more pictures from Miami Beach here.