What's in and what's out in Miami as 2022 departs?

Why it matters: We wanted to reflect on what we learned in 2022, and set the tone for our "Jordan year" in '23.

What's in

Soccer: Miami's football fandom — which hibernates for four years between World Cups — was shaken awake this month when Argentina became the world champion.

• What's ahead: Argentine superstar Lionel Messi, who played in a friendly match with the Argentine national team at Hard Rock prior to the tournament, is rumored to be in talks to join Inter Miami.
• Plus, Miami is slated to host some World Cup games in 2026.

Pizza: The pandemic sparked a wave of new pizza joints in Miami. Spots like Eleventh Street, which started as a pop-up but has plans to expand to a second location, led the Miami Herald to proclaim the 305 a pizza town this year.

• Old Gregg's Pizza operated out of an apartment during the pandemic but opened a sit-down location in January near the Design District.
• Another newcomer, Miami Slice — which serves the "perfect slice of pizza," according to The Infatuation — opened in August.

🏋️‍♀️ Fitness month: Miami Beach wants to turn the page on spring break by branding March "fitness month."

• The City Commission approved a $3.2 million plan to create a monthlong sports and fitness event to curb the rowdy partying that has frustrated city leaders in years past.

What's out

Crypto clubbers: The days of crypto millionaires popping bottles at Miami's most lavish nightclubs and flaunting their bitcoin wallets may be over.

• After the crash of the crypto exchange FTX, the sector's high rollers have "disappeared," a Moxy Hotel group representative told the Financial Times.
• The nightclub E11EVEN, which processed $6 million in crypto payments last year, saw less than $10,000 over a recent three-month period.

Buying a home: This one isn't so much "out" as it is "out of reach." We live in the least-affordable housing market in the country, according to a RealtyHop report.

• The red-hot real estate market is slowing down, but it's still pricing out a big share of potential buyers. The median sales price of a house in Miami-Dade was $575,000 this past October — 17% higher than it was in October 2021, according to the Miami Association of Realtors.

• Plus, home prices are forecast to rise in 2023.

The UDB: At least, for now. Miami-Dade commissioners in November voted to allow developers to build beyond the UDB, or Urban Development Boundary, for the first time since 2013.

• The greenbelt is designed to keep development from encroaching on environmentally sensitive lands.
• The planned South Dade Logistics and Technology District will convert about 380 acres of farmland into an industrial complex north of Homestead.
• Opponents of the project have filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the commission vote.

Honorable mention

"Salt Bae": We thought Miami "canceled" the meme-famous chef Nusret Gökçe back in 2017, when an old photo resurfaced of him posing as Fidel Castro.

• But "Salt Bae," who has a restaurant in Brickell, was back in the news this week after he inexplicably joined the Argentine national team on the field after their World Cup win — and got ignored by Messi when he tried to pull him in for a hug.