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🎅 What happens when a transplant goes to Santa's Enchanted Forest
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🎅 What happens when a transplant goes to Santa's Enchanted Forest

SoFlo Christmas on point

IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR.

You know, the one when you hear that Santa’s Enchanted Forest jingle on the radio and you and all your friends talk about going, but you never actually go.

But our own Ernie Hsiung, a 40-year-old Bay Area transplant, did go last year. And he wrote about it. You’ll laugh. You’ll groan. You’ll wonder whether it was that weird when you went in high school.

We’ve also got the whole 25-year history of the place, from how a Jewish family ended up starting Miami’s ultimate Christmas attraction to how they choose their new rides every year.

WHAT'S NEW IN THE 305

Shut down. The City of Miami Commission voted unanimously yesterday to end its red light camera program. Commissioners and Mayor Francis Suarez said the $158 citation for running a red light have become too much of a burden for most in Miami, one of the poorest major cities in the U.S. The rest of Miami-Dade still has the cameras – for now. The Florida Supreme Court is hearing a case next year on whether they’re unconstitutional. (Miami Herald) 

RIP. Our food scene is bumpin’ but we can’t help feeling a little sad that we had to say goodbye to these 10 SoFlo food spots in 2017. We’re pouring one out for local faves like Epicure and the Japanese Market. (Miami New Times)

We still here. The New Yorkers and high-end art fairs are gone, but the dope new street art that Basel brought us remains, and this is the best time to scope it out. Here’s a sneak peak at the new art on the Wynwood Walls. We recommend checking it out in person, then heading around the corner to 1-800-Lucky, the new Asian food hall that opened just before Basel. (TimeOut)

#NoBe on the move. Wynwood Yard founder Della Heiman, who’s opening a similar spot in North Beach, is working with local developer Sandor Scher to bring new local food and drink spots to the neighborhood. It’s just the latest collab that is sure to bring big changes to the often overlooked North Beach area, which developers hope to turn into the next Sunset Harbor. (The Real Deal)

Sign of the times. Bal Harbor just became the first municipality in the U.S. to pass an ordinance to allow police officers to consider whether criminal incidents have anti-Semitic motivations, which means those incidents can be investigated as hate crimes. Bal Harbor has a large Jewish population, and while it hasn’t had any anti-Semitic incidents recently, other spots in Miami have since the 2016 election. (Miami Herald)

The cool crowd. Developers in spots like Wynwood and Little River let us in on how they get in on the ground floor of the next hot neighborhoods: They handpick their tenants to up the area’s cool factor. Some even subsidize those tenants’ rent. (BisNow)

THAT’S ALL FOR THE WEEK.

We’ll leave you with these five coquito-inspired dishes to hunt down this weekend.

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