Mid-Beach and North Beach are the parts of the City of Miami Beach north of South Beach. Miami Beach is a separate municipality from the City of Miami, on the barrier island across Biscayne Bay. Mid-Beach runs from about 23rd Street to 63rd Street, where Indian Creek separates the oceanfront hotel strip from the inland La Gorce and golf course districts. North Beach runs from 63rd Street north to 87th Terrace at the Surfside line, and takes in Normandy Isles, Normandy Shores, Biscayne Point, Ocean Terrace and North Shore.
Development
Both areas were developed after Miami Beach incorporated in 1915 and filled in through the 1930s to the 1950s as the city extended north. Mid-Beach is identified with the postwar resort era: Morris Lapidus designed the Fontainebleau, opened in 1954, and the Eden Roc, opened in 1955, setting the template for what is now called Miami Modern, or MiMo; the city later created a Morris Lapidus/Mid-20th Century historic district, and the Faena District added new cultural buildings in the 2010s. North Beach’s building stock is mostly small MiMo and late Art Deco apartment houses: the Normandy Isles Historic District was listed on the National Register in 2008 and the North Shore Historic District in 2009. North Beach is now the city’s principal redevelopment front, with its own community redevelopment agency, the Ocean Terrace project and a planned 72nd Street community complex.
Parks & Recreation
North Beach has North Shore Open Space Park, North Beach Oceanside Park, Normandy Isle Park and Pool, Crespi Park and the Normandy Shores Golf Club; Mid-Beach has the Miami Beach Golf Club, Pine Tree Park and Fairway Park. The Beachwalk promenade runs along the dune line from South Pointe north to 87th Street, linking both areas to South Beach on foot or by bicycle. The North Beach Bandshell at 7275 Collins Avenue, built in 1961 to a Norman Giller design, programs concerts year round.
Transit
No Metrorail crosses the bay to Miami Beach. Local service is the free Miami Beach Trolley, whose Middle Beach Loop, Collins Express and North Beach Loop cover these areas. Metrobus connects them to the mainland: a Collins Avenue route runs the length of the island between downtown Miami and Aventura, express service uses the Julia Tuttle Causeway, and 79th Street routes cross the 79th Street Causeway into North Beach. A rail link to the beach has been studied for decades and has not been built; Metromover, Brightline and Tri-Rail are all reached in downtown Miami.