Aventura is located at the northern end of
Miami-Dade County, Florida, right on the border with
Broward:
Hallandale Beach is to the north, and
Golden Beach to the east.
Originally, Aventura was an undeveloped portion of North Miami Beach, but a company called Turnberry International Realty snapped up the land in the 1970's and began throwing houses and condos on it. They persuaded Congressman William Lehman to give them some pork barrel money for a causeway to the beach, and began touting their new community, Aventura, as an upscale city for New Yorkers who didn't like winter. The plan worked, Turnberry made a killing, and in 1995, Aventura was incorporated as its own city.
The centerpieces of Aventura are a 250-store shopping mall anchored by the likes of Macy's, Bloomingdales, and Lord and Taylor; the Turnberry Isle resort with 36 holes of golf; and a collection of big, shiny, Tylenol-white condo towers that give the city a Manhattanesque glow at night.
The next time you're on an airplane, look for a Turnberry ad in the in flight magazine: you'll probably find one, especially if you're reading the first class edition. Aventura knows who they're marketing to.