The next two contenders in the quest for the Curbed Cup are two very different neighborhoods in two very different parts of Miami. To South Beach glamazons, you can do no better than South of Fifth with its bottle poppin', sky high lifestyle. The views from any of the tall condo towers lining government cut or the bay are grand, and South Pointe Park was celebrated as a big success when it opened, a few years ago. Its pier is getting a fresh new look. Street life, on the other hand doesn't quite live up to the rich and varied melange that one can find in other parts of South Beach. And speaking of the beach, it's there and it's gorgeous, but with no beach walk and Lummus Park ending on Fifth Street, Miami Beach's wide stretch of sand isn't quite as public as it is a bit further north. With the Related Group's new, high end, residential developments finally coming to those three or so blocks of emptiness between Joe's Stone Crab and the condo towers to the south—namely One Ocean and Marea Miami Beach— South of Fifth is good, but only getting better.

Edgewater is booming. In fact, half of it is under construction. Related is building multiple large projects in the area, including Icon Bay and Paraiso Bay gobbling up entire blocks, and public streets, in the process. They've promised to public parks in exchange for the streets. Margaret Pace Park, is constantly brimming with activity. The east side of Edgewater has gotten a spiffy new, realtor-bestowed name, Edgewater East. The western part of Edgewater is now home to the YoungArts Foundation at the historic Bacardi Building, where they've engaged Frank Gehry to design a new campus. Jorge Perez is advocating a new bay walk, stretching between Related's two projects and, hopefully, down to Pace Park, and eventually to the rest of the bay walk network. Finally, Biscayne Beach, yet another bayfront condo tower going up, has proposed the novel idea of providing amenities for its residents to swim in the bay, right off the side of the sea wall.

Source: miami.curbed.com