Miami, Florida
Miami is a major
city in the southeastern corner of
Florida, in the
United States. Miami and the surrounding
metropolitan area are situated on northern
Biscayne Bay between the
Everglades and the
Atlantic Ocean. By population, Miami is the second-largest city in Florida (after
Jacksonville), and the
county seat and largest city of
Miami-Dade County. It is also the largest city in the
South Florida metropolitan area, which comprises Miami-Dade County,
Broward County, and
Palm Beach County, making up the largest metropolitan area in the
Southeastern United States and the sixth largest in the country as a whole.
Miami was officially incorporated as a city on
July 28 1896, with a voting population of just over 300. In 1940, 172,172 people lived in the city. According to the
2000 census, the city proper had a population of 362,470, while the larger metropolitan area had a population over 5,000,000. The
U.S. Census Bureau estimate of the population of Miami in 2004 was 379,724
[Annual Estimates of the Population for Incorporated Places in Florida, Listed Alphabetically: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2004].
Miami's explosive population growth in recent years has been driven by internal migration from other parts of the country as well as by
immigration. Greater Miami is regarded as a cultural
melting pot, heavily influenced both by its large population of ethnic
Latin Americans and
Caribbean islanders (many of them
Spanish- or
Haitian Creole-speaking).
The region's importance as an international financial and cultural center has elevated Miami to the status of
world city; because of its cultural and linguistic ties to
North,
South, and
Central America, and the
Caribbean it is sometimes called "The Gateway of
the Americas." Florida's former status as a colony of
Spain, its large Spanish-speaking population and strong economic ties to Latin America also make Miami and the surrounding region an important center of the
Hispanic world.
Practically all major foreign countries today maintain consulates in Miami. The city has been involved in numerous political controversies with nearby
Cuba and
Fidel Castro, plus wider concerns with
terrorism,
immigration, and
drug issues throughout the region.
The earliest evidence of Native American settlement in the Miami region came from about 12,000 years ago.
[Parks, Arva Moore. Miami: The Magic City. Miami, Fl: Centennial Press, 1991. ISBN 0962940224 p 12.] The first inhabitants settled on the banks of the
Miami River, with the main villages on the northern banks.
The inhabitants at the time of first
European contact were the
Tequesta people, who controlled much of southeastern Florida, including what is now
Miami-Dade County,
Broward County, and the southern parts of
Palm Beach County. The Tequesta Indians fished, hunted, and gathered the fruit and roots of plants for food, but did not practice any form of agriculture. They buried the small bones of the deceased with the rest of the body, and put the larger bones in a box for the village people to see. The Tequesta are credited with making the
Miami Circle.
Juan Ponce de León was the first European to visit the area in 1513 by sailing into
Biscayne Bay. His journal records that he reached
Chequescha, which was Miami's first recorded name.
[Parks, p 13] It is unknown whether he came ashore or made contact with the Indians.
Pedro Menéndez de Avilés and his men made the first recorded landing when they visited the
Tequesta settlement in 1566 while looking for Avilés' missing son, shipwrecked a year earlier.
[Parks, p 14] Spanish soldiers led by Father Francisco Villiareal built a Jesuit mission at the mouth of the Miami River a year later but it was short-lived. After the Spaniards left, the Tequesta Indians were left to fend themselves from European-introduced diseases like
smallpox. By 1711, the Tequesta sent a couple of local chiefs to
Havana, Cuba to ask if they could migrate there. The Cubans sent two ships to help them, but Spanish illnesses struck and most of the Indians died.
[Parks, p 14-16]The first permanent European settlers arrived in the early 1800s. People came from the
Bahamas to South Florida and the
Keys to hunt for treasure from the ships that ran aground on the treacherous
Great Florida reef. Some accepted Spanish land offers along the
Miami River. At about the same time, the
Seminole Indians arrived, along with a group of runaway slaves. The area was affected by the
Second Seminole War, during which Major
William S. Harney led several raids against the Indians. Most non-Indian residents were soldiers stationed at
Fort Dallas. It was the most devastating Indian war in American history, causing almost a total loss of population in the Miami area.
After the Second Seminole War ended in 1842, Fitzpatrick's nephew,
William English, re-established the plantation in Miami. He charted the "Village of Miami" on the south bank of the Miami River and sold several plots of land. In 1844, Miami became the county seat, and six years later a census reported that there were ninety-six residents living in the area.
[History of Miami-Dade county retrieved January 26, 2006] The
Third Seminole War (1855-1858) was not as destructive as the second one. Even so, it slowed down the settlement of southeast Florida. At the end of the war, a few of the soldiers stayed.
|
Julia Tuttle owned 640 acres in the Miami area at the end of the 19th century |
In 1891, a wealthy
Cleveland, Ohio woman named
Julia Tuttle purchased an enormous citrus plantation in the Miami area, augmenting a smaller plot of land she inherited from her father to make a total of 640 acres. Tuttle's husband, Frederick Tuttle, died in 1886, and she decided to move to South Florida due to the "delicate health" of her children. She and
William Brickell tried to get railroad magnate
Henry Flagler to expand his rail line, the
Florida East Coast Railroad, southward to the area, but he initially declined.
However, in the winter of 1894, Florida was struck by cold weather that destroyed virtually the entire
citrus crop in the state. A few months later on the night of
February 7,
1895, Florida was hit by another freeze. That freeze wiped out whatever crops survived the first one, and the new trees. Unlike the rest of the state, Miami was unaffected, and Tuttle's citrus became the only citrus on the market that year. Tuttle wrote to Flagler again, persuading him to visit the area and to see it for himself. Flagler did so, and concluded at the end of his first day that the area was ripe for expansion. He made the decision to extend his railroad to Miami and build a resort hotel.
On
April 7,
1896 the railroad tracks finally reached Miami, and the first train arrived on
April 13. It was a special, unscheduled train, and Flagler was on board. The train returned to
St. Augustine later that night. The first regularly scheduled train arrived on the night of
April 15.
On
July 28,
1896, the incorporation meeting to make Miami a city took place. The right to vote was restricted to all men who resided in Miami or Dade County. After ensuring that the required number of voters was present, the motion was made to incorporate and organize a city government under the corporate name of "The City of Miami," with the boundaries as proposed. and the city was incorporated with 444 citizens.
Miami's growth up to
World War II was astronomical. In 1900, 1,681 people lived in Miami, Florida; in 1910, 5,471; in 1920, 29,571; in 1930, 110,637. As thousands of people moved to the area in the early 1900s, the need for more land quickly became apparent. Up until then, the
Florida Everglades extended eastward to as close as three miles from Biscayne Bay. Beginning in 1906,
canals were made to remove some of the water from those lands. During the early 1920s, the authorities of Miami allowed
gambling and were very lax in regulating
Prohibition, so thousands of people migrated from the northern United States to the Miami region. The catastrophic
Great Miami Hurricane in 1926 caused 373 fatalities and ended a large building boom. Between 25,000 and 50,000 people were left homeless in the Miami area.
[Great Miami Hurricane retrieved January 27, 2006] The
Great Depression followed, in which more than sixteen thousand people in Miami became unemployed.
[Parks, p 131-132]On
February 15,
1933, an assassination attempt was made on President-elect
Franklin Delano Roosevelt by
Giuseppe Zangara, an Italian
anarchist, while Roosevelt was giving a speech in Miami's
Bayfront Park. Mayor
Anton Cermak of
Chicago, who was shaking hands with Roosevelt, was shot and died two weeks later. Four other people were wounded, but President-elect Roosevelt was not harmed.
[Miami archives retrieved January 21, 2006] By the early 1940s Miami was recovering from the Great Depression, but then
World War II started. Many of the cities in Florida were heavily affected by the war and went into financial ruin, but Miami remained relatively unaffected. Over five hundred thousand enlisted men and fifty thousand officers trained in South Florida.
[ Quick history of South Florida retrieved January 28, 2006] After the end of the war, many servicemen and women returned to Miami, pushing the population up to almost a quarter million by 1950.
Following the
1959 revolution that unseated
Fulgencio Batista and brought
Fidel Castro to power, most Cubans who were living in Miami went back to
Cuba. That soon changed, and many middle class and upper class Cubans moved to Florida en masse with little possessions after Castro began to curtail legal rights. Miami generally welcomed the Cuban "exiles".
[Parks, p 153-155] In 1965 alone, 100,000 Cubans packed into the twice-daily "freedom flights" from
Havana, Cuba to Miami. By the end of the 1960s, more than four hundred thousand Cuban refugees were living in
Miami-Dade County.
Although Miami was not really considered a major center of the
Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, it did not escape the change that occurred. Miami was a major city in the southern state of Florida, and had always had a substantial
African-American and
Caribbean population.
In December 1979, police officers pursued motorcyclist
Arthur McDuffie in a high-speed chase after McDuffie made a provocative gesture towards a police officer. The officers claimed that the chase ended when McDuffie crashed his
motorcycle and died. The coroner's report concluded otherwise. One of the officers testified that McDuffie fell off of his bike on an
Interstate 95 on-ramp. When the police reached him he was injured but okay. The officers proceeded to remove his helmet, beat him to death with their batons, put his helmet back on, and called an ambulance claiming there had been a motorcycle accident. An all-white jury acquitted the officers after a brief deliberation.
After learning of the verdict of the McDuffie case, one of the worst riots in the history of the United States, the infamous
Liberty City Riots, broke out. By the time the rioting ceased three days later, over 850 people had been arrested, and at least eight white people and ten African Americans had died in the riots. Property damage was estimated around one hundred million dollars.
["Reliving the nightmare of the McDuffie riots" ''Miami Herald, dtd September 15, 2002, retrieved January 28, 2006]  |
Cuban refugees arriving in crowded boats during the Mariel Boatlift crisis. |
Later, the
Mariel Boatlift of 1980 brought 150,000 Cubans to Miami, the largest in civilian history. Unlike the previous exodus of the 1960s, most of the Cuban refugees arriving were poor. Castro used the boatlift as a way of purging his country of criminals and of the mentally ill. During this time, many of the middle class non-Hispanic whites in the community left the city, often referred to as "
white flight." In 1960, Miami was 90% non-Hispanic white; by 1990 it was less than 12% non-Hispanic white.
[ "DP-1. Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000" for Miami, Florida. United States Census Bureau, 2000. Retrieved July 13, 2006.]In the 1980s, Miami started to see an increase in immigrants from other nations such as Haiti. As the Haitian population grew, the area known today as
Little Haiti emerged, centered around Northeast Second Avenue and 54th Street. In the 1990s, the presence of Haitians was acknowledged with
Haitian Creole language signs in public places and ballots during voting.
Another major Cuban exodus occurred in 1994. To prevent it from becoming another Mariel Boatlift, the Clinton Administration announced a significant change in U.S. policy. In a controversial action, the administration announced that Cubans interdicted at sea would not be brought to the United States but instead would be taken by the Coast Guard to U.S. military installations at
Guantanamo Bay or to Panama. During an eight-month period beginning in the summer of 1994, over 30,000 Cubans and more than 20,000 Haitians were interdicted and sent to live in camps outside the United States.
|
The aftermath of Hurricane Andrew in the Miami area |
Hurricane Andrew caused more than $45 billion in damage just south of the Miami-Dade area in 1992.
[Hurricane Andrew: South Florida and Louisiana (pdf), by the National Disaster Survey Report, retrieved February 1, 2006.] The
Elián González uproar was a heated custody and immigration battle in the Miami area in 2000. The contoversy concerned six-year-old Elián González, who was rescued from the waters off the coast of Miami. The
U.S. and the
Cuban governments, his father Juan Miguel González, his Miami relatives, and the Cuban-American community of Miami were involved. The climactic stage of this prolonged battle was the April 22, 2000 seizure of Elián by federal agents, which drew the criticism of many in the Cuban-American community.
The controversial
Free Trade Area of the Americas negotiations occurred in 2003. It was a proposed agreement to reduce trade barriers while increasing intellectual property rights. During the 2003 meeting in Miami, the Free Trade Area of the Americas was met by heavy opposition from anti-corporatization and anti-globalization protests.
On July 27, 2005, the popular ex-city commissioner
Arthur Teele walked into the main lobby of the
Miami Herald headquarters, dropped off a package for columnist
Jim DeFede, and told the security guard to tell his wife Stephanie he "loved her" before pulling out a gun and committing
suicide.
["With suicide, Teele tried to take control" Miami Herald, dtd July 30, 2005, retrieved January 28, 2006] |
| The modern Miami skyline as seen from the Rickenbacker Causeway |
Geography
 |
Downtown Miami as seen from the Intercontinental Hotel |
The City of Miami and its suburbs are located on a broad plain between the
Florida Everglades and
Biscayne Bay that also extends from
Florida Bay north to
Lake Okeechobee. The elevation of the area never rises above 15ft (4.5 m) and averages at around 3ft (0.91 m) above sea level in most neighborhoods, especially near the coast. The main portion of the city lies on the shores of Biscayne Bay which contains several hundred natural and artificially created
barrier islands, the largest of which contains the city of
Miami Beach and its famous
South Beach district. The
Gulf Stream, a warm
ocean current, runs northward just 15 miles (24.1 km) off the coast, allowing the city's climate to stay warm and mild all year.
The surface bedrock under the Miami area is called
Miami oolite or
Miami limestone. This bedrock is covered by a thin layer of soil, and is no more than 15 m (50 feet) thick. Miami limestone formed as the result of the drastic changes in sea level associated with recent
glaciations or
ice ages. Beginning some 130,000 years ago the
Sangamon interglacial raised sea levels to approximately 25 feet (7.5 m.) above the current level. All of southern Florida was covered by a shallow sea. Several parallel lines of reef formed along the edge of the submerged Florida
plateau, stretching from the present Miami area to what is now the
Dry Tortugas. The area behind this reef line was in effect a large lagoon, and the Miami limestone formed throughout the area from the deposition of
oolites and the shells of
bryozoans. Starting about 100,000 years ago the
Wisconsin glaciation began lowering sea levels, exposing the floor of the lagoon. By 15,000 years ago the sea level had dropped to 300 to 350 feet below the contemporary level. The sea level rose quickly after that, stabilizing at the current level about 4000 years ago, leaving the
mainland of South Florida just above sea level.
Beneath the plain lies the
Biscayne Aquifer[USGS GROUND WATER ATLAS of the UNITED STATES, retrieved February 19 2006], a natural underground river that extends from southern
Palm Beach County to
Florida Bay, with its highest point peaking around the cities of
Miami Springs and
Hialeah. Most of the
South Florida metropolitan area obtains its drinking water from this aquifer. As a result of the aquifer, it is not possible to dig more than 15 to 20ft (4.57 to 6.1 m) beneath the city without hitting water, impeding underground construction.
Most of the western fringes of the city extend into the Everglades, a
subtropical marshland located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of
Florida. This causes occasional problems with local wildlife such as
alligators and
crocodiles venturing onto suburban communities and major highways.
In terms of land area, the city of Miami is one of the smallest major cities in the United States. According to the
US Census Bureau, the city encompasses a total area of 55.27
mi² (143.15
km²). Of that area, 35.67 sq. miles (92.68 km²) are land and 19.59 sq. miles (50.73 km²) are water. Miami is slightly smaller in land area than San Francisco and Boston.
The city is located at .
Climate
Miami has a humid subtropical climate. The city does experience cold fronts from
November through
March, however most of the year is warm and humid, and the summers are reminiscent of a true tropical climate. In addition, the city sees most of its rain in the summer (wet season) and is mainly dry in winter (dry season). The wet season, which is hot and humid, lasts from May to September, when it gives way to the dry season, which features mild temperatures with some invasions of colder air, which is when the little winter rainfall occurs-with the passing of a front. The
hurricane season largely coincides with the wet season.
Climate Zones of the World, under Koppen's System, retrieved
August 8,
2006In addition to its sea-level
elevation, coastal location and position just above the
Tropic of Cancer, the area owes its warm, humid climate to the
Gulf Stream, which moderates climate year-round. A typical summer day does not see temperatures below 75ºF (21º C). Temperatures in the high 80s to low 90s (30-35 °C) accompanied by high humidity are often relieved by afternoon
thunderstorms or a
seabreeze that develops off the Atlantic Ocean, which then allow lower temperatures, although conditions still remain very muggy. During winter, humidity is significantly lower, allowing for cooler weather to develop. Average minimum temperatures during that time are around 59ºF (15ºC), rarely dipping below 40ºF (4ºC), and the equivalent maxima usually range between 65 and 75 °F (18-24 °C).
Officially, Miami has only once recorded a triple-digit
temperature, the all-time maximum being 100ºF (39ºC), set on
July 21,
1942. However, extreme summer humidity often boosts the
heat index to around 110ºF (43°C). The coldest
temperature ever recorded in the city of Miami was 28 °F (-3 °C) on
January 27,
1940. Miami has only once recorded
snowfall, on January 20, 1977.
Miami receives abundant rainfall, one of the highest among major U.S. cities. Most of this rainfall occurs from mid-May through early October. It receives annual rainfall of 58.6 inches (146.5 cm) [
1]. The
South Florida metropolitan area, which includes the cities of
Miami,
Fort Lauderdale, and
West Palm Beach, is the second largest metropolitan area in the world after
Tokyo that receives regular
cyclonic activity.
Hurricane season officially runs from
June 1 through
November 30, although hurricanes can develop beyond those dates. The most likely time for Miami to be hit is during the peak of the
Cape Verde season which is mid
August through the end of
September[Weather.com Vulnerable cities: Miami, Florida, retrieved February 19 2006]. Due to its location between two major bodies of water known for tropical activity, Miami is also statistically the most likely major city to be struck by a hurricane in the world, trailed closely by
Nassau, Bahamas, and
Havana, Cuba. Despite this, the city has been fortunate in not having a direct hit by a hurricane since
Hurricane Cleo in 1964.
[Miami,Florida's history with tropical systems. Hurricane City web site, retrieved February 19 2006] However, many other hurricanes have affected the city, including
Betsy in 1965,
Andrew in 1992,
Irene in 1999, and Hurricanes
Katrina and
Wilma in 2005. In addition, a tropical depression in October of 2000 passed over the city, causing record rainfall and flooding. Locally, the storm is credited as the
No Name Storm of 2000, though the depression went on to become Tropical Storm Leslie upon entering the Atlantic Ocean.
Demographics
Miami is the 46th most populous city in the U.S., just behind
Minneapolis and
Omaha. The
metropolitan area, which includes
Miami-Dade,
Broward and
Palm Beach counties, with a combined population of more than 5.4 million people, ranks sixth in the United States behind
Dallas and is the largest metropolitan area in the
Southeastern United States. As of the census of 2000, there were 362,470 people, 134,198 households, and 83,336 families residing in the city. The
population density was 3,923.5/km² (10,160.9/mi²), making Miami one of the more densely populated cities in the country. There were 148,388 housing units at an average density of 1,606.2/km² (4,159.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 66.62%
White, 22.31%
African American, 0.22%
Native American, 0.66%
Asian, 0.04%
Pacific Islander, 5.42% from
other races, and 4.74% from two or more races. 67.76% of the population were
Latino of any race. 11.83% of the population were non-Hispanic whites. The ethnic makeup of the city is 34.1%
Cuban, 22.3%
African American, 5.6%
Nicaraguan, 5.0%
Haitian, and 3.3%
Honduran. In 2004, the
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) ranked Miami first in terms of percentage of residents born outside of the country it is located in (59%), followed by
Toronto (43%).
There were 134,198 households out of which 26.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.6% were
married couples living together, 18.7% have a female head of household with no husband present, and 37.9% were non-families. 30.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.25.
In the city the population was spread out with 21.7% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 30.3% from 25 to 44, 22.1% from 45 to 64, and 17.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 98.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $23,483, and the median income for a family was $27,225. Males had a median income of $24,090 versus $20,115 for females. The
per capita income for the city was $15,128. About 23.5% of families and 28.5% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 38.2% of those under age 18 and 29.3% of those age 65 or over.
Based on the
FBI's
Uniform Crime Reports Program, Miami ranks as the second most dangerous metropolitan area in the United States, based number of murders, rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries and motor vehicle thefts that have occurred in the metropolitan area. The city proper ranks 14th.[
2]
The city ranks second-to-last in people over 18 with a high school diploma, with 23% of the population not having that degree.
A wide variety of languages are commonly spoken throughout the city. The City of Miami has three official languages -
English,
Spanish, and
Haitian Creole. Other languages that are spoken throughout the city include
Afrikaans,
Brazilian Portuguese,
Dutch,
Finnish,
French,
German,
Hebrew,
Igbo,
Italian,
Russian, and
Turkish. Miami has the largest percentage population in the U.S. among large cities (74%) of people who speak a language other than English at home.
The Latin- and Caribbean-friendly atmosphere in Miami has made it a popular destination for tourists and immigrants from all over the world, and the third-biggest immigration port in the country after
New York City and
Los Angeles. In addition, large immigrant communities have settled in Miami from around the globe, including
Europe,
Africa, and
Asia. The majority of Miami's European immigrant communities are recent immigrants, many living in the city seasonally, with a high disposable income. For example, Miami's Italian-born community numbers only around 45,000, but it is the wealthiest
Italian American community in the United States.
Today there are sizable legal and
illegal populations of
Argentines,
Bahamians,
Barbadians,
Brazilians,
Canadians,
Colombians,
Cubans,
Dominicans,
Dutch,
Ecuadorians,
French,
Haitians,
Hondurans,
Jamaicans,
Israelis,
Italians,
Nicaraguans,
Nigerians,
Peruvians,
Russians,
South Africans,
Trinidadians and Tobagoans,
Turks, and
Venezuelans, as well as a sizeable legal
Puerto Rican population. throughout the metropolitan area. While commonly thought of as mainly a city of
Hispanic and
Caribbean immigrants, the Miami area is home to the largest
Finnish,
French, and
South African immigrant communities in the United States; as well as one of the largest
Israeli,
Russian, and
Turkish communities. The communities have grown to a prominent place in Miami and its suburbs, establishing area neighbourhoods such as
Little Havana,
Little Managua,
Little Haiti,
Little Moscow,
Little Buenos Aires, and
Little Tel Aviv.
Media
Miami is served by two English-language newspapers,
The Miami Herald and
South Florida Sun-Sentinel, and Spanish-language
El Nuevo Herald and "Diario Las Americas".
The Miami Herald is Miami's primary newspaper with over a million readers focusing mainly on issues that affect the Miami and Miami-Dade area. It also has news bureaus in
Broward,
Monroe, and
Nassau, Bahamas. It publishes daily Monroe County, Nassau, and International Editions along with the daily Miami-Dade edition. Miami is the 12th largest radio market and the 17th largest television market in the U.S. Television stations serving the Miami area include
WAMI (
Telefutura),
WBFS (
UPN),
WBZL (
The WB),
WFOR (
CBS),
WHFT (
TBN),
WLTV (
Univision),
WPLG (
ABC),
WPXM (
i),
WSCV (
Telemundo),
WSVN (
FOX),
WTVJ (
NBC),
WPBT (
PBS), and
WLRN (also PBS).
Sports
The
Miami Heat is the only major league team that plays its games in Miami. The team recently won the
2006 NBA Finals, winning the series 4-2 over the
Dallas Mavericks. The
Miami Dolphins and the
Florida Marlins both play their games in the suburb of
Miami Gardens. The
Orange Bowl, a member of the
Bowl Championship Series, hosts their college football championship games at
Dolphin Stadium. The stadium has also hosted the
Super Bowl; the Miami metro area has hosted a total of ten, more than any other city, and is scheduled to host another in
2007. The
Florida Panthers NHL team plays in neighboring
Broward County, Florida at the
BankAtlantic Center in the city of
Sunrise. Miami is also the home of the
Miami Orange Bowl, the home site for all
University of Miami Hurricanes football games. Miami is also home to
Paso Fino horses, where competitions are held at
Tropical Park Equestrain Center.
A number of defunct teams were located in Miami, including the
Miami Floridians (
ABA),
Miami Gatos (
NASL),
Miami Screaming Eagles (
WHA),
Miami Seahawks (
AAFC),
Miami Sol (
WNBA),
Miami Toros (
NASL),
Miami Tribe (
PSFL), and the
Miami Tropics (
SFL). The
Miami Fusion, a defunct
Major League Soccer team played at
Lockhart Stadium in nearby
Broward County.
Miami is served by
Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS), which is the largest school district in Florida and the fourth largest in the
United States, with a student enrollment of 414,128 (as of
February 15,
2006). The district is also the largest minority public school system in the country, with 52% of its students being of Hispanic origin, 25%
African American, and 6% non-white of other minorities. M-DCPS is also one of a few public school districts in the United States to offer optional
bilingual education. Miami also has several Catholic high schools, among which are Archbishop Curley-Notre Dame High School, Columbus High School, Belen Jesuit, the Carrolton School, La Salle High School and St. Brendan High School.
Among the Colleges and universities in the area include
Barry University,
Florida International University,
Johnson and Wales University,
Miami-Dade College,
St. Thomas University,
Florida Memorial University, and the
University of Miami.
|
The Federal Detention Center in Downtown Miami |
Despite the common conception that Miami's economy revolves around tourism, the fact is that Miami is one of the country's most important financial centers. It is the major center of regional commerce, and boasts a strong international business community. According to the ranking of world cities undertaken by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group & Network (GaWC) and based on the level of presence of global corporate service organisations, Miami is considered a "Gamma World City."
Because of its proximity to Latin America, Miami serves as the headquarters of Latin American operations for many multinational corporations, including
American Airlines,
Cisco,
Disney,
Exxon,
FedEx,
Microsoft,
Oracle,
SBC Communications and
Sony. Several large companies are headquartered in or around Miami, including
Alienware,
Autonation,
Burger King,
Carnival Cruise Lines,
Citrix Systems,
DHL,
Norwegian Cruise Lines, and
Ryder Systems.
Miami International Airport and the
Port of Miami are among the nation's busiest ports of entry, especially for cargo from South America and the Caribbean. Additionally, downtown Miami has the largest concentration of international banks in the country. Miami was also the host city of the 2003
Free Trade Area of the Americas negotiations, and is one of the leading candidates to become the trading bloc's headquarters. This effort has been guided by
Florida FTAA.
Tourism is also an important industry: the beaches of Greater Miami draw visitors from across the country and around the world, and the
Art Deco nightclub district in
South Beach (in
Miami Beach) is widely regarded as one of the most glamourous in the world. However, it is important to note that Miami Beach is not a part of the city of Miami. Even major TV networks sometimes forget this, as when
Good Morning America visited Miami Beach and
Charles Gibson thanked the mayor of Miami (but he was standing next to the mayor of Miami Beach).
In addition to these roles, Miami is also an industrial center, especially for stone quarrying and warehousing.
Miami has also served as host venue for legendary legal proceedings, most notably the astounding $145 Billion verdict leveled against the nation's 5 largest cigarette manufacturers. This case was a class action on behalf of all afflicted Florida smokers and their families, represented by a prominent and successful Miami-raised husband and wife legal team, Stanley and Susan Rosenblatt.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau 2002 American Community Survey, Miami was the poorest city in the United States, with 31% of the residents having incomes below the federal
poverty line. In 2004, Miami moved to third in the rankings ahead of
Detroit, Michigan and
El Paso, Texas.
Miami is also one of the least affordable places to live, with 69% of its residents spending at least 30% of their household income on home ownership. Miami ranks first among least affordable cities for home ownership.
As of 2005, the Miami area is witnessing its largest
real estate boom
since the 1920s.
Miami's main international hub is
Miami International Airport, which is one of the busiest international airports in the world, serving over 35 million passengers every year. Identified as MIA or KMIA by various world aviation authorities, it is a major hub and the single largest international gateway for
American Airlines, the world's largest passenger air carrier; and is also served by many foreign airlines. MIA is the USA's third largest international port of entry for foreign air passengers (behind New York's
JFK and Los Angeles'
LAX), and the seventh largest such gateway in the world (bested only by those two airports; combined with London's Heathrow, Paris' Charles de Gaulle, Amsterdam's Schiphol, and Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok international airports). The airport's extensive international route network includes non-stop flights to over seventy international cities in North and South America, Europe, and the Middle East.
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL/KFLL) also serves the metropolitan area, and actually handles more total passengers who are originating or ending their trip in south Florida than does MIA.
The main seaport, The
Port of Miami, is the largest cruise ship port in the world, serving over 18 million passengers per year. Additionally, the port is one of the nation's busiest cargo ports, importing nearly ten million tons of cargo annually. Among North American ports, it ranks second only to the
Port of South Louisiana in terms of cargo tonnage imported/exported from Latin America.
Miami is connected to
Amtrak's Atlantic Coast services.
Local public transportation includes
Metrobus and
Metrorail, a
metro rapid transit system (both operated by
Miami-Dade Transit). Furthermore,
Tri-Rail, a
commuter rail system, connects the major cities and airports of the
South Florida metropolitan area. Several transit expansion projects are being funded by a transit development sales tax surcharge throughout Miami-Dade County.
|
Miami's Metromover is an efficient and free mass transit system in Downtown Miami. |
A new light rail system is proposed and is called BayLink. BayLink will connect downtown miami with South beach.Miami-Dade County is served by four Interstate Highways (
I-75,
I-95,
I-195,
I-395) and several U.S. Highways including
U.S. Route 1,
US 27,
US 41, and
US 441. Some of the major
Florida State Roads (and their common names) serving the county are:
*
SR 112 (Airport Expressway) Downtown to
MIA* 821 (The
HEFT or Homestead Extension of the
Florida Turnpike:
SR 91/
Miami Gardens to
U.S. Route 1/
Florida City)
*
SR 826 (Palmetto Expressway)
Golden Glades Interchange to
U.S. Route 1/
Kendall*
SR 836 (Dolphin Expressway) Downtown to
Turnpike via
MIA*
SR 874 (Don Shula Expressway) 826/Bird Road to 878
*
SR 878 (Snapper Creek Expressway)
Kendall to
Turnpike/
Homestead*
SR 924 (Gratigny Parkway)
Miami Lakes to
Opa LockaFor information on the
street grid, see
Miami-Dade County, Florida#Street grid.
There are many television shows that have been based in Miami. The controversial
Emmy winning drama
Nip/Tuck and
CBS's
both take place in Miami.
The Jackie Gleason Show was taped in Miami Beach from 1964 to 1970. The NBC show
Good Morning Miami was fictionally based around the workings of a Miami television station. The popular sitcom
The Golden Girls and the detective series
Surfside 6 were also based in Miami Beach. In the 1980's, no show rivaled
Miami Vice in revitalizing the city's image as the 'mecca of cool' for the
MTV Generation. Keeping with its modern music tradition, the city has recently hosted the 2004 and 2005
MTV Video Music Awards. The
TLC reality shows
Miami Ink and
Million Dollar Agents are set in the city. Some other recent reality shows in Miami include
Animal Planet's
Miami Animal Police and
MTV's
8th & Ocean.
The video game
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City takes place in a
fictional city inspired by Miami, including some of the same architecture and geography. There were also people and gangsters in the game who speak
Haitian Creole and
Spanish.
Miami is a center for Latin television and film production. As a result, many Spanish-language programs are filmed in the many television production studios, predominantly in
Hialeah and
Doral. This includes gameshows, variety shows, news programs, and
telenovelas like
Morelia,
La Mujer de Mi Vida etc. Arguably, the most famous being
Sábado Gigante, a Saturday night variety show seen throughout the United States,
South America and
Europe, and the daytime talk shows
Cristina and
El Gordo y la Flaca.
Miami has acted as the backdrop for several movies, including
There's Something About Mary,
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,
2 Fast 2 Furious,
Bad Boys & Bad Boys II,
The Birdcage,
True Lies,
Miami Vice (based on the 80's television series of the same name), and most notably 1983's
ScarfaceMiami music is varied.
Latin American Immigrants brought the
conga and
rumba to Miami from their homelands instantly popularizing it in
American culture.
In the early-1970s, the Miami
disco sound came to life with
TK Records, featuring the music of
KC and the Sunshine Band, with such hits as "Get Down Tonight", "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty" and "That's the Way (I Like It)"; and the Latin-American disco group,
Foxy (band), with their hit singles "Get Off" and "Hot Number". Miami-area natives
George McCrae and
Teri DeSario were also popular music artists during the 1970s disco era.
Miami-influenced,
Gloria Estefan and the
Miami Sound Machine, hit the popular music scene with their Cuban-oriented sound and had huge hits in the 1980s with "Conga" and "Bad Boys".
Miami also had a huge place in hip-hop music since the mid-1980s, with its urban sound, rivaling that of
New York City as the
East Coast's prime
hip-hop mecca. Miami's also the birthplace of
Miami Bass and arguably the birthplace of
Southern Rap. Notable hip-hop artists from Miami consist of
Luther Campbell,
Poison Clan,
Trick Daddy,
Trina,
Pitbull,
Rick Ross,
Skam2?,
DJ Uncle Al, and
Smitty.
Miami has 17
sister cities, as designated by
Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI):{| valign="top" |
*
Agadir,
Morocco*
Amman,
Jordan*
Nice,
France*
Palermo,
Italy*
Ramat Hasharon,
Israel*
Santiago,
Chile*
Santo Domingo,
Dominican Republic*
Varna,
Bulgaria
* Bogotá, Colombia
* Buenos Aires, Argentina
* Cochabamba, Bolivia
* Kagoshima, Japan
* Kaohsiung City, Taiwan
* Managua, Nicaragua
* Montes de Oca, Costa Rica
* Murcia, Spain
* Cancún, México | 
