Upper Eastside NEIGHBORHOOD GUIDE

Just north of Downtown Miami and its outlying areas is the city’s “Upper Eastside”: a collection of four primarily residential, single-family home sub-neighborhoods lining the coast of Biscayne Bay. The area begins just to the northeast of Miami’s famed Design District, spanning roughly from 41st street up through 83rd, bisected by the iconic Biscayne Boulevard.

The southernmost sub-neighborhood is Bay Point: an exclusive gated community home to the city’s elite, many of them prominent doctors, lawyers, and even celebrities like current and former residents Enrique Iglesias and Dwyane Wade.

To the north lies Morningside: another upscale suburb marked by its 1920s and 30s Art Deco and Mediterranean-style homes, lavish bayside estates, and wide, tree-lined boulevards. One of the first historic areas in Miami to experience gentrification, today Morningside retains much of its character due to the city’s mindful, preservative approach to new structures and improvements.

North of that is Belle Meade: yet another sub-neighborhood sporting a similar mix of gated community security and urban solitude. It’s also home to the even-more-exclusive Belle Meade Island located at the mouth of Miami’s Little River, just south of Upper Eastside’s northernmost neighborhood, Shorecrest.

Situated just south of the uber-residential Miami Shores village, Shorecrest features many historic single-family homes dating to the 1930s and 40s, along with multi-family apartments and condos along its southern and western boundaries. Much like the larger Upper Eastside area, Shorecrest has also experienced a similar uptick in development as new stores and restaurants populate the area.

And yet, for all of Upper Eastside’s residential charm, it’s still defined by Biscayne Boulevard, whose tenants shift from the towering high-rises of Downtown and Edgewater to mid-century hotels and condos brimming in the extravagant, playful designs of the Miami Modernist (MiMo) movement. As a result, this stretch of Biscayne Boulevard is known as the MiMo Historic District. And while the stylish thoroughfare does play host to a burgeoning restaurant and café scene, it’s clear that certain stretches have yet to be fully revived from the widespread urban decay that plagued the area during the 1980s.

In terms of transportation, Upper Eastside is a far cry from its more downtown-centric neighbors, with little walkability and only the local bus system to get you from place to place—your best bet is to own a car. That said, Upper Eastside’s location is still an asset in itself, offering a 10-minute drive to – and a welcome escape from – the more traffic-heavy downtown areas to the south.