Everything about Miami totally explained
Miami (maɪˈæmi or maɪˈæmə) is a
global city in southeastern
Florida, in the
United States. Miami is the
county seat of
Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida. With a population of over 404,048, Miami is the largest city within the
Miami metropolitan area, which is the fourth-largest urban area in the United States with over 5.59 million residents.
Miami is ranked as a global city for its importance in
finance,
commerce,
media,
entertainment,
arts and
international trade. The city is home to many company headquarters, banks, and television studios. It is an international center for popular entertainment in
television,
music,
fashion,
film and the
performing arts. The city's
Port of Miami is known for accommodating the largest volume of cruise ships in the world and is home to many
cruise line headquarters. Miami is also home to the largest concentration of international banks in the United States. Miami’s economic, cultural, and linguistic ties to the
Americas and the
Caribbean make Miami an important center of the
Hispanic world.
As of 2008, Miami is undergoing a large building boom with 24
skyscrapers that are expected to rise over currently under construction in the city.
Miami’s skyline ranks third in the U.S., behind
New York City and
Chicago, and 18th in the world according to the Almanac of Architecture and Design. The city currently has nine of the ten tallest skyscrapers in the state of Florida, with the tallest being the
Four Seasons Hotel & Tower.
In 2008, Miami was ranked as "America's Cleanest City" according to
Forbes Magazine for its year-round good air quality, vast green spaces, clean drinking water, clean streets and city-wide recycling programs. In 2008, Miami was also ranked the 3rd-richest city in the United States and the world's 22nd-richest city in a
UBS study.
History
The Miami area was first inhabited for more than one thousand years by the
Tequesta Indians, but was later claimed for
Spain in 1566 by
Pedro Menéndez de Avilés. A Spanish
mission was constructed one year later in 1567. In 1836,
Fort Dallas was built, and the Miami area subsequently became a site of fighting during the
Second Seminole War.
Miami holds the distinction of being the only major city in the United States founded by a woman,
Julia Tuttle, who was a local
citrus grower and a wealthy
Cleveland native. The Miami area was better known as “Biscayne Bay Country” in the early years of its growth. Some published reports described the area as a promising wilderness. The area was also characterized as “one of the finest building sites in Florida.” The
Great Freeze of 1894-1895 hastened Miami's growth, as the crops of the Miami area were the only ones in Florida that survived. Julia Tuttle subsequently convinced
Henry Flagler, a railroad tycoon, to expand his
Florida East Coast Railroad to the region. Miami was officially incorporated as a city on
July 28,
1896 with a population of just over 300.
Miami prospered during the 1920s with an increase in population and infrastructure but weakened after the collapse of the
Florida land boom of the 1920s, the
1926 Miami Hurricane and the
Great Depression in the 1930s. When
World War II began, Miami, well-situated due to its location on the southern coast of Florida, played an important role in the battle against
German submarines. The war helped to expand Miami’s population; by 1940, 172,172 people lived in the city. After
Fidel Castro rose to power in 1959, many
Cubans sought refuge in Miami, further increasing the population. In the 1980s and 1990s, various crises struck South Florida, among them the
Arthur McDuffie beating and the subsequent riot, drug wars,
Hurricane Andrew, and the
Elián González uproar. Nevertheless, in the latter half of the 20th century, Miami became a major international, financial, and cultural center.
Miami and its metropolitan area grew from just over one thousand residents to nearly five and a half million residents in just 110 years (1896-2006). The city’s nickname,
The Magic City, comes from this rapid growth. Winter visitors remarked that the city grew so much from one year to the next that it was like magic.
Geography
At only of land area, Miami has the smallest land area of any major U.S. city with a metro area of at least 2.5 million people. The city proper is home to less than 1 in 13 residents of South Florida. Additionally, 52% of Miami-Dade County’s population doesn't live in any incorporated city. Miami is the only major city in the United States bordered by two national parks,
Everglades National Park on the west, and
Biscayne National Park on the east.
Miami and its suburbs are located on a broad plain between the
Florida Everglades to the west and
Biscayne Bay to the east that also extends from
Florida Bay north to
Lake Okeechobee. The elevation of the area never rises above 40 ft (12 m) and averages at around 6 ft (2 m) above mean sea level in most neighborhoods, especially near the coast. The highest undulations are found along the coastal
Miami Rock Ridge, whose substrate underlies most of the eastern Miami metropolitan region. 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
Miami Beach and
South Beach. 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.
Geology
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 50 feet (15 m) 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 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, a natural underground source of fresh water 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 isn't possible to dig more than 15 to 20ft (4.57 to 6.1 m) beneath the city without hitting water, which impedes underground construction. For this reason there's no subway system in Miami.
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 venturing into Miami communities and major highways.
In terms of land area, 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 mi² (92.68 km²) is land and 19.59 mi² (50.73 km²) is water. That means Miami comprises over 400,000 people in a mere, making it one of the most densely populated cities in the United States, along with
New York City,
San Francisco, and
Chicago among others. Miami is located at .
Climate
Miami has a true
tropical climate (
Köppen climate classification Aw), with hot, humid summers, and warm, dry winters. The city does experience cold fronts from November through March. However, the average monthly temperature for any month has never been recorded as being under 64.4 °F (January averages 67 °F). Most of the year is warm and humid, and the summers are almost identical to the climate of the Caribbean tropics. In addition, the city gets most of its rain in the summer (wet season) and is relatively dry and cool in winter (dry season). The wet season, which is hot and humid, lasts from May to October, 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.
In 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 doesn't have temperatures below 75 °F (24 °C). Temperatures in the high 80s to low 90s (30-35 °C) accompanied by high humidity are often relieved by afternoon
thunderstorms or a
sea breeze 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 60 °F (15 °C), rarely dipping below 40 °F (4 °C), and the equivalent maxima usually range between 70 and 77 °F (19-24 °C).
Miami has never recorded a triple-digit
temperature; the highest temperature recorded was .. The coldest
temperature ever recorded in the city of Miami was 30 °F (-1 °C) on several occasions. Miami has only once recorded
snowfall, on
January 20 1977. Weather conditions for the area around Miami were recorded sporadically from 1839 until 1900, with many years-long gaps. A cooperative temperature and rainfall recording site was established in what is now Downtown in December, 1900. An official
Weather Bureau Office was opened in Miami in June, 1911.
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 (1488 mm), whereas nearby
Fort Lauderdale and Miami Beach receive 63.8 in (1621 mm) and 48.3 in (1227 mm), respectively, which demonstrates the high local variability in rainfall rates.
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. Due to its location between two major bodies of water known for tropical activity, Miami is also statistically the most likely major city in the world to be struck by a hurricane, 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. 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.
Neighborhoods
Downtown Miami and is technically on the eastern side of the city. This area includes
Brickell,
Virginia Key,
Watson Island, and the
Port of Miami. Downtown is
South Florida's central business district, and home of many major
banks,
financial headquarters, cultural and
tourist attractions, and
high-rise residential towers.
The southern side of Miami includes
Coral Way and
Coconut Grove. Coral Way is a historic residential neighborhood built in 1922 connecting Downtown with
Coral Gables, and is home to many old homes and tree-lined streets. Coconut Grove was established in 1825 and is the location of Miami's City Hall in
Dinner Key, the
Coconut Grove Playhouse,
CocoWalk, many
nightclubs,
bars,
restaurants and
bohemian shops, and as such, is very popular with local
college students. It is a historic neighborhood with many parks and gardens such as
Villa Vizcaya,
The Kampong,
The Barnacle Historic State Park, and home of the Coconut Grove Convention Center, many of the country's most prestigious private schools, and numerous historic homes and estates.
The western side of Miami includes
Little Havana, West Flagler, and
Flagami, and is home to many of the city's traditionally immigrant neighborhoods. Although at one time a mostly
Jewish neighborhood, today western Miami is home to immigrants from mostly
Central America and
Cuba, while the west central neighborhood of
Allapattah is a
multicultural community of many ethnicities.
The northern side of Miami includes
Midtown, a district with a great mix of diversity with many
West Indians,
Hispanics,
bohemians,
artists, and
Whites.
Edgewater, and
Wynwood, are neighborhoods of Midtown and are made up mostly of high-rise residential towers and are home to the
Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. The
wealthier residents usually live in the northeastern part, in Midtown, the
Design District, and the
Upper East Side, with many sought after
1920s homes and home of the
MiMo Historic District, a style of architecture originated in Miami in the 1950s. The northern side of Miami, also has notable
African-American and
Caribbean immigrant communities such as
Little Haiti,
Overtown (home of the
Lyric Theater), and
Liberty City.
Culture
Entertainment and performing arts
Miami is home to many entertainment venues, theaters, museums, parks and performing arts centers. The newest addition to the Miami arts scene is the
Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, the second-largest performing arts center in the United States after the
Lincoln Center in
New York City, and is the home of the
Florida Grand Opera. In it, is the Ziff Ballet Opera House, the center's largest venue, the Knight Concert Hall, the Carnival Studio Theater and the Peacock Rehearsal Studio. The center attracts many large scale
operas,
ballets,
concerts, and
musicals from around the world and is Florida's grandest performing arts center. Other performing arts centers in Miami include the
Gusman Center for the Performing Arts, the
Coconut Grove Playhouse, the
Fair Expo Center and the
Bayfront Park Amphitheater for outdoor music events.
The city is home to numerous museums as well, many of which are in
Downtown. These include the
Frost Art Museum,
Historical Museum of Southern Florida,
Lowe Art Museum,
Miami Art Museum,
Miami Children's Museum,
Miami Science Museum,
Museum of Contemporary Art,
Vizcaya Museum and Gardens,
Wolfsonian-FIU Museum and the Miami Cultural Center, home of the
Main Miami Library. Other popular cultural destinations in the area include
Jungle Island,
Miami MetroZoo,
Miami Seaquarium, and parks and gardens in and around the city; there are over 80 parks in Miami. The largest and most popular parks are
Bayfront Park and
Bicentennial Park (located in the heart of Downtown and the location of the
American Airlines Arena and
Bayside Marketplace),
Tropical Park,
Watson Island and
Morningside Park.
Miami is also a major fashion center, home to models and some of the top modeling agencies in the world. Miami is also host to many fashion shows and events, including the annual
Miami Fashion Week and the
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Miami held in the
Wynwood Art District.
Music
Miami music is varied.
Latin Americans brought the
conga and
rumba to Miami from their homelands instantly popularizing it in
American culture, as well as
salsa music,
bachata,
merengue,
vallenato.
West Indians and
Caribbean people have brought
reggae,
soca,
kompa,
zouk,
calypso, and
steel pan to the area as well.
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 is also considered a "hot spot" for DANCE music,
Freestyle, a style of dance music popular in the 80's and 90's heavily influenced by
Electro, hip-hop, and disco. Many popular Freestyle acts such as
Pretty Tony,
Debbie Deb,
Stevie B, and
Exposé, originated in Miami.
Indie/
folk acts
Cat Power and
Iron & Wine are based in the city, while
alternative hip hop artist
Sage Francis,
electro artist
Uffie, and the
electroclash duo
Avenue D were born in Miami, but musically based elsewhere. Also,
punk band
Against All Authority is from Miami, and
rock/
metal bands
Nonpoint and
Marilyn Manson each formed in neighboring Fort Lauderdale.
Miami is also home to a vibrant techno and dance scene and hosts the
Winter Music Conference, the largest dance event in the world,
Ultra Music Festival and many
electronica music-themed celebrations and festivals. Along with neighboring
Miami Beach, Miami is home to some famous nightclubs, such as Space, Mansion, Parkwest, Ink, Cameo, and Opium Garden. The city is known to be part of
clubland, along with places such as
Mykonos,
Ibiza and
Ayia Napa.
Media
Miami is served by numerous newspapers, the major English-language newspaper is
The Miami Herald;
El Nuevo Herald is the major Spanish-language newspaper. Other major newspapers include
Miami Today, headquartered in
Brickell,
Miami New Times, headquartered in
Midtown,
Miami Sun Post,
South Florida Sun-Sentinel,
Miami Times, and
Biscayne Boulevard Times. Two additional Spanish-language newspapers,
El Sentinel and
Diario Las Americas also serve Miami.
The Miami Herald is Miami’s primary newspaper with over a million readers and is headquartered in Downtown in Herald Plaza. Several other student newspapers from the local universities, such as
Florida International University's
The Beacon, the
University of Miami's
The Miami Hurricane,
Miami-Dade College's
The Metropolis,
Barry University's
The Buccaneer, amongst others. Many neighborhoods and neighboring areas also have their own local newspapers such as the
Coral Gables Tribune,
Biscayne Bay Tribune, and the
Palmetto Bay News.
Miami is also the headquarters and main production city of many of the world's largest
television networks, broadcasting companies and production facilities, such as
Telemundo,
TeleFutura,
Univision,
RCTV International and
Sunbeam Television.
Miami is the twelfth largest radio market and the seventeenth largest television market in the United States. Television stations serving the Miami area include:
WAMI (
Telefutura),
WBFS (
My Network TV),
WSFL (
The CW),
WFOR (
CBS),
WHFT (
TBN),
WLTV (
Univision),
WPLG (
ABC),
WPXM (
ION),
WSCV (
Telemundo),
WSVN (
FOX),
WTVJ (
NBC),
WPBT (
PBS),
WLRN (also PBS) and
WSBS Mega TV
Sports
Miami is home to many major professional sports teams. The
Miami Dolphins, the NFL team,
Miami Heat, the NBA team,
Florida Marlins, the MLB team, and the
Florida Panthers, Miami's NHL team. As well as having all four major professional teams, Miami is home to many other sports teams and activities such as
Miami FC,
Miami Tropics, for
soccer the
Sony Ericsson Open for professional
tennis, numerous
greyhound racing tracks,
marinas,
Jai-Alai venues, and
golf courses.
The
Miami Heat is the only major professional sports team that plays its games within Miami's city limits at the
American Airlines Arena. 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 the game a total of nine times (four Super Bowls in Dolphin Stadium, including
Super Bowl XLI and five at the
Miami Orange Bowl), tying
New Orleans for the most games.
Miami FC, Florida’s only professional soccer team, plays at
Tropical Park Stadium. Miami signed world-famed soccer player
Romario in March 2006 to a one year deal, and possibly longer. The
Florida Panthers NHL team plays in neighboring
Broward County, Florida at the
BankAtlantic Center in the city of
Sunrise. Miami is also home to Paso Fino horses, where competitions are held at Tropical Park Equestrian Center.
Miami is also the home of many college sports teams. Two largest are the
Florida International University Golden Panthers whose
football team plays at
FIU Stadium and the
University of Miami Hurricanes, whose football team formerly played at the
Miami Orange Bowl, but moved to
Dolphin Stadium starting with the 2008 season.
A number of defunct teams were located in Miami, including the
Miami Floridians (
ABA),
Miami Matadors (
ECHL),
Miami Manatees (
WHA2),
Miami Gatos (
NASL),
Miami Screaming Eagles (
WHA),
Miami Seahawks (
AAFC),
Miami Sol (
WNBA),
Miami Toros (
NASL),
Miami Tropics (
SFL), and the
Miami Hooters (
Arena Football League). The
Miami Fusion, a defunct
Major League Soccer team played at
Lockhart Stadium in nearby
Broward County.
Economy
Miami is one of the country’s most important financial centers. It is a major center of commerce, finances, corporate headquarters, 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 organizations, Miami is considered a “Gamma
World City”.
Several large companies are headquartered in or around Miami, including but not limited to:
Alienware,
Arquitectonica,
Arrow Air,
Bacardi,
Benihana,
Brightstar Corporation,
Burger King,
Celebrity Cruises,
Carnival Corporation,
Carnival Cruise Lines,
CompUSA,
Crispin Porter + Bogusky,
Espírito Santo Financial Group,
Fizber.com,
Greenberg Traurig,
Interval International,
Lennar,
Norwegian Cruise Lines,
Perry Ellis International,
RCTV International,
Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines,
Ryder Systems,
Seabourn Cruise Line,
Telefónica USA,
TeleFutura,
Telemundo,
Univision,
U.S. Century Bank, and
World Fuel Services. Because of its proximity to Latin America, Miami serves as the headquarters of Latin American operations for more than 1400 multinational corporations, including
AIG,
American Airlines,
Cisco,
Disney,
Exxon,
FedEx,
Kraft Foods,
Microsoft,
Oracle,
SBC Communications,
Sony, and
Visa International.
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 has the largest concentration of international banks in the country located mostly in
Brickell, Miami's financial district. 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.
Tourism is also an important industry in Miami. The beaches, conventions, festivals and events draw over 12 million visitors annually from across the country and around the world, spending $17.1 billion.. The historical Art Deco district in
South Beach, is widely regarded as one of the most glamorous in the world for its world-famous nightclubs, beaches, historical buildings, and shopping. However, it's important to note that Miami Beach is a separate city from the City of Miami.
Miami is the home to the
National Hurricane Center and the headquarters of the
United States Southern Command, responsible for military operations in Central and South America. In addition to these roles, Miami is also an industrial center, especially for stone quarrying and warehousing.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2004, Miami had the third highest incidence of family incomes below the federal
poverty line in the United States, making it the third poorest city in the USA, behind only
Detroit, Michigan (ranked #1) and
El Paso, Texas (ranked #2.) Miami is also one of the very few cities where its local government went bankrupt, in 2001.
In 2005, the Miami area witnessed its largest
real estate boom
since the 1920s.
Midtown, having well over a hundred approved construction projects, is an example of this. As of 2007, however, the housing market has crashed and more than 23,000 condos are for sale and/or foreclosed. The Miami area ranks 8th in the nation in foreclosures. Miami is also one of the least affordable places to live, with the median percentage of housing costs as a percentage of income was 42.8%; the national average was 27%. Miami ranks twelfth among least affordable cities for home
ownership.
Demographics
| Miami metro area population |
| Year |
Population |
| 1920 |
66,542 |
| 1930 |
214,830 |
| 1940 |
387,522 |
| 1950 |
693,705 |
| 1960 |
1,497,099 |
| 1970 |
2,236,645 |
| 1980 |
3,220,844 |
| 1990 |
4,056,100 |
| 2000 |
5,007,564 |
| 2006 |
5,919,036 |
Miami metropolitan area, which includes
Miami-Dade,
Broward and
Palm Beach counties, had a combined population of more than 5.4 million people, ranked fourth-largest in the 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 10,160.9/mi² (3,923.5/km²). There were 148,388 housing units at an average density of 4,159.7/mi² (1,606.2/km²).
The racial makeup of the city proper is as follows:
White: 66.6% (Non-Hispanic White 11.8%)
Black (many of whom are from the Caribbean or African-American): 22.3%
Hispanic or Latino of any race: 65.8%
Asian: 0.7%
Native American: 0.2%
Pacific Islander: 0.04%
Some other races: 5.4%
Two or more races: 4.74%
As of 2000, in terms of national origin and/or ethnic origin, 34.1% of the populace was Cuban, while 5.6% of the city's population was Nicaraguan, 5.5% of the it's population was Haitian, 3.3% of the population was Honduran, 1.7% of all residents were Dominican, and 1.6% of the population was Colombian. In 2004, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) ranked Miami first in terms of percentage of residents born outside of the country it's located in (59%), followed by Toronto (50%).
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. The age distribution was 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.
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. Miami is regarded as more of a multicultural mosaic, than it's a melting pot, with residents still maintaining much of, or some of their cultural traits. The overall culture of Miami is heavily influenced by its large population of ethnic Latin Americans and cultures from Caribbeans from islands such as Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, The Bahamas, and Cuba; many of whom spoke Spanish or Haitian Creole.
Today, Miami has a sizable community of citizens, undocumented populations, and permanent residents, of Argentines, Bahamians, Brazilians, Canadians, Chileans, Chinese, Colombians, Cubans, Dominicans, Ecuadorans, French, German, Greeks, Guatemalans, Guayanese, Haitians, Hondurans, Jamaicans, Indians, Italians, Mexicans, Nicaraguans, Peruvians, Russians, Salvadoran, Trinidadians and Tobagonians, Turks, South Africans, and Venezuelans, as well as a sizable 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 large French, French Canadian, German, Italian, and Russian communities. The communities have grown to a prominent place in Miami and its suburbs, creating ethnic enclave neighborhoods such as Little Haiti, Little Havana, Little Managua, Little Brazil, Little Moscow, and Little San Juan.
Languages
A wide variety of languages are commonly spoken throughout the city. The City of Miami has three official languages: English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole (French Creole). Miami has the largest Spanish-speaking population in the Western Hemisphere outside Latin America.
As of 2000, speakers of Spanish as their first language accounted for 66.75% of residents, while English was spoken by 25.45%, French Creole by 5.20%, and French speakers comprised 0.76% of the population.
Other languages that were spoken throughout the city include Portuguese at 0.41%, German at 0.18%, Italian at 0.16%, Arabic at 0.15%, Chinese at 0.11%, and Greek at 0.08% of the population. Miami also has one of the largest percentage populations in the U.S. that have residents who speak first languages other than English at home (74.54%.) Miami is home to some of the nation's best high schools, such as Design and Architecture High School, ranked the nation's best magnet school, MAST Academy, Coral Reef High School, ranked 20th-best public high school in the U.S., Miami Palmetto High School, and the New World School of the Arts. M-DCPS is also one of a few public school districts in the United States to offer optional bilingual education.
Private schools
Miami is home to several prestigious Roman Catholic, Jewish and non-denominational private schools. The Archdiocese of Miami operates the city's Catholic private schools, which include: Our Lady of Lourdes Academy, La Salle High School, Monsignor Edward Pace High School, Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart, Christopher Columbus High School, Archbishop Curley-Notre Dame High School, amongst numerous other elementary and high schools. Some of the most well-known non-denominational private schools in Miami are Ransom Everglades, Gulliver Preparatory School, and Miami Country Day School, which are traditionally known as some of the country's best schools. Other schools in the outlying areas include Belen Jesuit Preparatory School and Samuel Scheck Hillel Community Day School.
Colleges and universities
(List includes institutions in and around Miami.)
Florida International University (public, largest university in South Florida)
University of Miami (private, largest private university in Florida)
Barry University (private)
Miami Dade College (public, largest institution of higher learning in the U.S.)
Nova Southeastern University (private)
Johnson and Wales University (private)
St. Thomas University (private)
Florida Memorial University (private)
Carlos Albizu University (private)
Talmudic University (private)
Keiser University (private)
Miami International University of Art and Design (private)
The city ranks second-to-last in people over 18 with a high school diploma, with 47% of the population not having that degree.
Transportation
Airports
Miami International Airport, one of the busiest international airports in the world, is the main airport serving the Miami metropolitan area, catering to over 35 million passengers a year. Identifiable locally, as well as several worldwide authorities, as MIA or KMIA, the airport is a major hub and the single largest international gateway for American Airlines, the world’s largest passenger air carrier. Miami International is the United States’ third largest international port of entry for foreign air passengers (behind New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport), and is the seventh largest such gateway in the world. The airport’s extensive international route network includes non-stop flights to over seventy international cities in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Alternatively, nearby Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Opa-Locka Airport, and Kendall-Tamiami Airport also serve the Miami area.
Seaports
Miami is home to one of the largest ports in the United States, the Port of Miami. It is the largest cruise ship port in the world. The port is often called the “Cruise Capital of the World” and the “Cargo Gateway of the Americas”. It has retained its status as the number one cruise/passenger port in the world for well over a decade accommodating the largest cruise ships and the major cruise lines. In 2005, the port served 3,605,201 passengers. 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 New Orleans in terms of cargo tonnage imported/exported from Latin America. The port is on and has 7 passenger terminals. China is the port's number one import country, and Honduras is the number one export country. Miami has the world's largest amount of cruise line headquarters, home to: Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises, Costa Cruises, Crystal Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, Royal Caribbean International, and Windjammer Barefoot Cruises.
Public transportation
Public transportation in Miami is governed by Miami-Dade Transit, and includes many different modes of transportation, from heavy-rail rapid transit, suburban rail, an elevated people mover, and buses. Miami's heavy-rail rapid transit system, Metrorail, is an elevated system, that operates 22 stations on a 36km-long line, throughout Miami from the western suburbs of Hialeah and Medley, through the Civic Center, Downtown, Coconut Grove, Coral Gables and ending in the southern suburbs of Pinecrest, continuing south as the Miami Busway. In Downtown, a free, elevated people mover, Metromover, operates 21 stations on three different lines, with a station at roughly every two blocks of the city center.
As well as rail, Miami-Dade Transit also runs thousands of buses called, Metrobus that operate throughout Miami. The Metrobus system is also an option for those looking to reach destinations not served by the main transit lines. Furthermore, Tri-Rail, a suburban rail system, connects the major cities and airports of the Miami metro area that connects to Metrorail, Metromover, and ending at Miami International Airport. Several transit expansion projects are being funded by a transit development sales tax surcharge throughout Miami-Dade County.
Construction is currently underway on the Miami Intermodal Center and Miami Central Station, a mega transportation hub for Metrorail, Amtrak, Tri-Rail, Metrobus, taxis, rental cars, private automobiles, bicycles and pedestrians adjacent to Miami International Airport. Completion of the Miami Intermodal Center is expected to be completed by 2010, and will serve over 150,000 commuters and travelers in the center of Miami.
Two new light rail systems, Baylink and the Miami Streetcar have been proposed and are undergoing funding. BayLink will connect Downtown with South Beach, and the Miami Streetcar will connect Downtown with Midtown.
Road and rail
Miami is the southern terminus of Amtrak's Atlantic Coast services, with its final station located in the suburb of Hialeah.
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, U.S. Route 27, U.S. Route 41, and U.S. Route 441.
For information on the street grid, see Miami-Dade County, Florida#Street grid.
Some of the major Florida State Roads (and their common names) serving the county are:
SR 112 (Airport Expressway) Miami Beach to MIA
SR 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-locka
In 2007, Miami was identified as having the rudest drivers in the United States, the second year in a row to have been cited, in a poll commissioned by automobile club AutoVantage. Miami is also consistently ranked as one of the most dangerous cities in the United States for pedestrians.
In popular culture
Emmy winning drama Nip/Tuck, CBS's, and Showtime's Dexter all 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 sitcoms The Golden Girls and Empty Nest, as well as the detective series Surfside 6 and Miami Vice were also based in the Miami area. Keeping with its modern music tradition, the city has recently hosted the 2004 and 2005 MTV Video Music Awards. A recent show to be set in Miami is the USA Network's Burn Notice, which is filmed on location and in studios located in Miami.
In the mid-2000s, Miami started to become a popular backdrop for reality television shows. Reality programming set in the city include the TLC show Miami Ink; Discovery Channel's After Dark; Animal Planet's Miami Animal Police; MTV's 8th & Ocean, Making Menudo, the fourth season of Making the Band, Room Raiders;, and The X Effect; VH1's Hogan Knows Best; TruTV's ; A&E's The First 48 and the third season of Bravo's Top Chef.
Video games, which became one of the best selling video games in history, and take place in Vice City 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 has acted as the backdrop for many movies, including There's Something About Mary, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, Wild Things, Marley & Me,, Out of Time, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Bad Boys & Bad Boys II, Iron Man, Transporter 2, The Birdcage, The Substitute, Blow, True Lies,, Quick Pick, Miami Vice (based on the 1980s television series of the same name), Cocaine Cowboys, 1983's Scarface, and the James Bond films Goldfinger, Thunderball, and Casino Royale.
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. Arguably, the most famous Miami-filmed programs are 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.
Sister cities
Miami has ten sister cities:
Bogotá, Colombia since 1971
Lima, Peru 1977
Buenos Aires, Argentina 1979
Santiago, Chile 1986
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 1987
Kagoshima, Japan 1990
Port-au-Prince, Haiti 1991
Madrid, Spain 1997
Qingdao, China 2005
Salvador, Brazil 2006
Varna, Bulgaria
Nice, FranceFurther Information
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