OAS Summit in Fort Lauderdale

[Aessotariq 1]

Broward County is hosting the the Organization of American States summit this week, the first such meet to be held in the the United States in over 30 years. This puts Fort Lauderdale in the international spotlight for a few days.

Posted on Wed, Jun. 01, 2005

NOTE TO READERS

Add sophistication to sun-sand image

By TOM FIEDLER

Herald Executive Editor

Like countless others of my generation, I confess that my first impression of Fort Lauderdale didn't come from living nearby but from that frolicky beach flick Where the Boys Are, a pre-Vietnam ode to college youth on spring break.

Those first impressions are hard to shake. For a generation after, the image persisted of Fort Lauderdale as a sun-splashed paradise of perpetual vacations, so different from Miami, its roiling, more aggressive, more international and seemingly more sophisticated neighbor to the south.

So why did the Organization of American States pick Fort Lauderdale for its 2005 General Assembly, which opens next week at the Broward County Convention Center?

Simply this: If there was any truth to that movie image then, the city has long since left it behind. Sure, Fort Lauderdale's beach is a picture postcard of palm trees, sand and turquoise waters. But the city and surrounding Broward County have long since joined the megalopolis that is South Florida.

more editorial: Miami Herald

[Urban_Legend 0]

Wow, this puts Ft. Laud in a good light. What exactly does the OAS do?