"Once known for its flair of a by-gone era, Mid-Beach on Miami Beach, now coined the 'Wunder Mile,' has been getting a major face-lift," reads a press release.
Our first thought was obviously, "Wait, since when has that area ever been known as the Wunder Mile?" A quick Google search confirmed that, in fact, no one in recorded history has ever called it "Wunder Mile" before this press release was sent out.
The whole thing reeks of Karen trying to make "fetch" happen in Mean Girls, but is part of an odd trend over the past few years of Miami developers and business owners coming up with dumb names for areas that already have perfectly fine names.
The press release, in case you're wondering, was put out by PR mavens Tara Ink on behalf of the Palms Hotel and Spa and Circa 39 Hotel.
Circa 39, located at 3900 Collins Ave., is unveiling a revamp just in time for Art Basel season that will include the introduction of a new restaurant, Jules Kitchen, and a new bar, the Wunder Bar. The watering hole will feature craft cocktails and all that fancy jazz, and they're apparently so excited about it that they've decided to rename the entire surrounding area after it. The area apparently starts at 23rd Street to the south and goes as far north as the Eden Roc and Fontainebleau.
Clever, but we just don't see the name catching on.
Just ask developers who have invested in Northeast Overtown and tried to rename it SoWyn -- as in South Wynwood. That happened two years ago, and yet we've never heard anyone actually refer to the area as that.
Ocean Drive tried to rename an area of downtown as NoBri -- as in North Brickell -- which was all for naught.
In 2009 there was a failed push to rebrand a portion of Normandy Isles as "The French District" (so original), and a section of shops along Collins Avenue near Eighth Street as "The District." (So, so original!)
Portion of Little Haiti were once known as Lemon City, and people interested in the gentrification of that area want to bring the Lemon City moniker back. At least that one is actually based on something real.
Coconut Grove decided earlier this year that it is now "The Nearby Republic of Coconut Grove."
Developers also have an odd habit of referring to the eastern part of Edgewater as "Edgewater East," even though the neighborhood is geographically quite narrow and the effect is singling out two or three block on one side from the small handful of blocks on the other.
Then again, sometimes these things do take hold. People now refer to the area generally around the Midtown Miami development as Midtown. We just don't quite think "Wunder Mile" has the same fate in store.
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