We’ve been through a lot this year, Miami. At the beginning of 2015, the U.S. and Cuba had their first round of negotiation talks to begin the process of normalizing relations — which throughout the year has made travel and trade more lenient. Gov. Rick Scott started his second term, and this year signed 44 new bills into law, and banned the words “climate change” from official documents. Despite that, there were some wins for the environment, as Miami-Dade County approved $300,000 for sea level rise resilience, and Miami Beach banned the sale of styrofoam throughout the city. It’s been a remarkable year for the LGBT community — as all Florida counties began issuing same-sex marriage licenses and an outdated gay adoption ban was officially taken off the books. And because this is Miami, a few silly things happened. The DDA published a poop map and some crazy kids made a Pitbull for Miami-Dade mayor campaign. Oh, and The New Tropic was born! Hello, World!
Let’s look back at some important (and a few not-so-important) Miami moments.