Miami Beach is a city in
Miami-Dade County,
Florida,
United States. The city was incorporated on
26 March,
1915. It is located on a barrier island between
Biscayne Bay and the
Atlantic Ocean; the Bay separates Miami Beach from the city of
Miami, Florida. The city is often referred to under the
umbrella term of "
Miami," despite being a distinct
municipality. As of the
2000 census, the city had a total population of 87,933. 55.5% of the population was
foreign born. A 2005 population estimate for the city was 87,925. Miami Beach has been one of America's pre-eminent
beach resorts for almost a century.
Description
In 1979 Miami Beach's
Art Deco Historic District was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places. The Art Deco District is the largest collection of
Art Deco architecture in the world and comprises hundreds of hotels, apartments and other structures erected between 1923 and 1943. Mediterranean, Streamline Moderne and Art Deco are all represented in the District. The Historic District is bounded by the
Atlantic Ocean on the East, Lenox Court on the West, 6th Street on the South and Dade Boulevard along the Collins Canal to the North. The movement to preserve the Art Deco District's architectural heritage was led by former interior designer
Barbara Capitman, who now has a street in the District named in her honor.
Government
Miami Beach is governed by a Mayor and 6 Commissioners. The mayor runs commission meetings and the mayor and all commissioners have equal voting power. The Mayor serves for terms of 2 years with a term limit of 3 terms and commissioners serve for terms of 4 years and are limited to 2 terms. Commissioners are voted for by region and every two years 3 commission seats are voted upon. A city manager is responsible for administering governmental operations.
As of January 2009 the Mayor is Matti Herrera Bower. The Commissioners are: Saul Gross, Jerry Libbin, Victor Diaz, Ed Tobin, Deede Weithorn and Jonah Wolfson.
Culture
Image and cultural depictions
South Beach (also known as
SoBe, or simply The Beach the area from 1st street to about 25th street) is one of the more popular areas of Miami Beach.
Topless sunbathing is tolerated on certain designated areas of the beach. Before the
TV show Miami Vice helped make the area popular, SoBe was under
urban blight, with vacant buildings and a high crime rate. Today, it is considered one of the richest commercial areas on the beach, yet
poverty and
crime still remain in some places near the area.
[ www.msnbc.com]Miami Beach, particularly
Ocean Drive of what is now the Art Deco District, was also featured prominently in the 1983 feature film
Scarface and
the Birdcage.
The
New World Symphony Orchestra is based in Miami Beach,
Florida, under the direction of
Michael Tilson Thomas.
Lincoln Road is a nationally known spot for great outdoor dining, bicycling, rollerblading and shopping.
Jewish population
The Miami Beach environs are home to a number of
Orthodox Jewish communities with a network of well-established
synagogues and
yeshivas. It is also a magnet for
Jewish families, retirees, and particularly snowbirds when the cold winter sets in to the north. They range from the Followers to the
Modern Orthodox to the
Haredi and
Hasidic - including many
rebbes who vacation there during the North American winter. There are a number of
kosher restaurants and even
kollels for post-graduate
Talmudic scholars, such as the
Miami Beach Community Kollel. Miami Beach had roughly 60,000 people in Jewish households, 62 percent of the total population, in 1982, but only 16,500, or 19 percent of the population, in 2004, said Ira Sheskin, a demographer at the University of Miami who conducts surveys once a
decade.
Miami Beach is home to the
Holocaust Memorial on Miami Beach.
Other
According to the
Morgan Quitno Awards, Miami Beach is one of the most dangerous small cities (population between 75,000 and 99,999) in the country.
Each December, The city plays host to the major contemporary art exhibition
Art Basel Miami Beach. In November of 2007, a multi-media art festival was held based on
Nuit Blanche.
Geography and climate
Panoramic view of South Beach
Typical winter day in South Beach
Miami Beach is located at (25.813025, -80.134065).
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 48.5 km
2 (18.7 mi
2). 18.2 km
2 (7.0 mi
2) of it is land and 30.2 km
2 (11.7 mi
2) of it (62.37%) is water.
It has a
Tropical monsoon climate (Köppen Am), with hot humid summers and warm winters. There is a marked wet season during the summer months, with dry winters that feature much lower humidity. Miami Beach is one of only a handful of U.S. locales that has never recorded snow or snow flurries in recorded weather history.
Miami Beach's location on the
Atlantic Ocean, near its confluence with the
Gulf of Mexico make it extraordinarily vulnerable to
hurricanes and
tropical storms. Despite only experiencing one direct hit from a major hurricane in recorded weather history, (
Hurricane Cleo in 1964), the area has seen indirect contact from hurricanes
Betsy (1965),
Andrew (1992),
Irene (1999),
Michelle (2001),
Katrina (2005), and
Wilma (2005).
Surrounding areas
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there were 87,933 people, 46,194 households, and 18,339 families residing in the city. The
population density was 4,829.5/km
2 (12,502.1/mi
2). There were 59,723 housing units at an average density of 3,280.1/km
2 (8,491.2/mi
2). The racial makeup of the city was 86.74%
White (40.9% were Non-Hispanic Whites,) 4.03%
African American, 0.23%
Native American, 1.37%
Asian, 0.04%
Pacific Islander, 4.05% from
other races, and 3.53% from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 53.45% of the population.
There were 46,194 households out of which 14.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 27.4% were
married couples living together, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 60.3% were non-families. 48.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.8% had someone living alone who was sixty-five years of age or older. The average household size was 1.87 and the average family size was 2.76.
In the city the population was spread out with 13.4% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 38.2% from 25 to 44, 21.3% from 45 to 64, and 19.2% who were sixty-five years of age or older. The median age was thirty-nine years. For every 100 females there were 105.0 males. For every 100 females age eighteen and over, there were 105.4 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $27,322, and the median income for a family was $33,440. Males had a median income of $33,964 versus $27,094 for females. The
per capita income for the city was $27,853. About 17.0% of families and 21.8% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 25.2% of those under age 18 and 24.5% of those age sixty-five or over.
As of 2000, speakers of
Spanish as a
first language accounted for 54.89% of residents, while
English made up 32.75%,
Portuguese was at 3.38%,
French was at 1.66%,
German at 1.12%,
Italian 0.99%, and
Russian was 0.85% of the population. Due to the large
Jewish community,
Yiddish made up 0.81% of speakers, and
Hebrew was the
mother tongue of 0.74% of the population.
As of 2000, Miami Beach had the twenty-second highest percentage of
Cuban residents in the US, with 20.51% of the populace. It had the twenty-eighth highest percentage of
Colombian residents in the US, at 4.4% of the city's population, and the fourteenth highest percentage of
Brazilian residents in the US, at 2.2% of the its population (tied with
Hillside, New Jersey and
Hudson, Massachusetts.) It also had the twenty-seventh most
Peruvians in the US, at 1.85%, while it had the twenty-seventh highest percentage of
Venezuelans, at 1.79% of all residents. Miami Beach's
Honduran community had the thirty-third highest percentage of residents, which comprised 1.03% of the population. Its also home to the forty-first highest percentage of
Nicaraguan residents, which made up 1.03% of the population.
Education
Miami-Dade County Public Schools serves Miami Beach.
- Feinberg/Fisher K - 8 Center
- Treasure Island Elementary
- Ruth K. Broad/ Bay Harbor Elementary
Private schools include
Alexander S. Gross Hebrew Academy, Landow Yeshiva - Lubavitch Educational Center (Klurman Mesivta for Boys), and Mechina High School.
Neighborhoods
A portion of the southern part of the South Beach skyline as seen from
Biscayne Bay.
Photo: Marc Averette
The northernmost section of the city referred to as
North Beach- * Sunset Islands III & IV
- * The Townhomes at Sunset Harbour
- * Stillwater Drive Neighborhood
- * Lower North Bay Road Neighborhood
- * Middle North Bay Road Neighborhood
- * Alton Road Neighborhood
Points of interest
Sister cities
Miami Beach has 10
sister citiesSee also
