Florida City | |
---|---|
City of Florida City | |
Motto(s): Gateway to the Florida Keys and the Everglades [1] | |
Coordinates: 25°27′05″N80°29′04″W / 25.45139°N 80.48444°W | |
Country | United States of America |
State | Florida |
County | Miami-Dade |
Incorporated | December 29, 1914 |
Government | |
• Type | Mayor-Council |
• Mayor | Otis T. Wallace |
• Vice Mayor | Walter Thompson Sr. |
• Commissioners | James Gold, Sharon Butler, and Eugene D. Berry |
• City Manager | Mayor Otis T. Wallace |
• City Clerk | Jennifer A. Evelyn |
Area | |
• Total | 6.06 sq mi (15.69 km2) |
• Land | 5.99 sq mi (15.51 km2) |
• Water | 0.07 sq mi (0.18 km2) 0% |
Elevation | 5 ft (2 m) |
Population | |
• Total | 13,085 |
• Density | 2,184.47/sq mi (843.49/km2) |
Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
ZIP codes | 33034, 33035 |
Area code(s) | 305, 786, 645 |
FIPS code | 12-22975 [4] |
GNIS feature ID | 0282605 [5] |
Website | www |
Florida City is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is the southernmost municipality in the South Florida metropolitan area. Florida City is primarily a Miami suburb and a major agricultural area. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 13,085, [3] up from 11,245 in 2010.
The city lies to the south and west of, and is contiguous with, Homestead. Both cities suffered catastrophic damage in August 1992 when Hurricane Andrew struck South Florida.
The city originated as a land promotion named "Detroit". There were no buildings in the area when the first thirty families arrived in 1910, and they had to stay in Homestead until their houses could be built. The name was changed to "Florida City" when the town incorporated in 1914. [6] It has a small historic area, but much of the city is hotels and other tourist facilities.
The city is at the eastern end of the only road running through the Everglades National Park, which terminates at Flamingo. Florida City is the southernmost city in the United States which is not on an island. It is also the last stop on the mainland north of the Florida Keys. The southern terminus of the Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike where it ends at its junction with U.S. 1 is located in Florida City. Homestead is immediately north and east of Florida City, and these two cities comprise the greater Homestead-Florida City area. Some of the notable unincorporated communities in the area are Redland, Leisure City, Naranja, and Princeton.
Florida City is situated mostly atop a limestone ridge called the Miami Rock Ridge [7] that extends south from present day North Miami Beach [8] to a location in Everglades National Park. [9] The ridge, consisting of Miami limestone, [10] serves as the higher ground within the community. The ridge extended from northeast to southwest across the city. The old location of the Florida East Coast Railway track marks the approximate boundary of the location of the limestone ridge south of Davis Parkway. The range of elevation of the ridge is from 5 to 8 feet (1.5–2.4 meters) above sea level.
Before settlement, the ridge was vegetated by South Florida Slash Pine trees, which were alternatively known as Dade County Pine (Pinus elliottii var. densa). (Remnants of these pines can be seen today in local parks and in Everglades National Park at the Long Pine Key picnic area.) These pine rocklands [7] were crushed by equipment and converted to farmland during the 1900s. [11] Tomatoes, squash, and other truck crops were grown in the area during the winter months and packed at the Florida City State Farmers' Market [12] near Krome Avenue and Palm Drive, driving the local economy throughout the 1900s.
East of the natural ridge was a broad area of marshlands surrounding the area. Old timers of Florida City called these coastal glades the "East Glade". [11] This was an extension of Everglades that extended from areas west and south of Florida City to its east. East of the East Glade, marshlands gave way to mangrove swamp [13] prior to reaching Biscayne Bay. [14] Soils in the East Glade primarily consisted of a limey soil called Biscayne Marl. [15]
Development schemes in the East Glade led to the construction of canals in the early 1900s. [16] This led to a lowering of water tables. Although development the East Glade was not extensive prior to the 1980s, agricultural development did occur. Potatoes were the primary crop grown in the East Glade before the construction of extensive housing developments within the areas annexed by the City of Homestead [17] in the late 1970s. Potatoes mostly were harvested from February to March.
Florida City was historically bisected by a slough. Sloughs commonly were found crossing the limestone ridge at a roughly perpendicular angle from Miami to Florida City. Florida City's slough (officially called "Long Slough" or "Long Glade Slough") entered the city near Redland Road and Lucy Street, and extended across the city to the southeast to a location near today's NW 3rd Street and NW 3rd Avenue. East of this point, the slough entered the East Glade.
Long Slough was a slow flowing body of water that originated in the Everglades just south of the Miami Homestead General Aviation Airport. [18] As canals were constructed in the 1900s, and especially the 1960s, the slough was drained and became a low valley in the limestone ridge. Roadways (such as Redland Road near West Homestead Elementary School, [19] NW 6th Avenue north of Davis Parkway, and NW 3rd Avenue about fifty feet north of NW 3rd Street) had culverts constructed under them to allow water to pass through the slough. NW 4th Street east of NW 5th Avenue dead ended near the approximate location where a fictional NW 4th Avenue would intersect that street. During the late 1980s, the street was constructed to reach NW 3rd Avenue since water in the slough had been drained away. Eventually fill was added to the slough and it was destroyed.
Extensive filling operations were conducted in Long Slough near NW 3rd Avenue in the late 1970s. Fill was obtained as waste rock from a nearby rock cutting operation (utilizing Key Largo Limestone, [20] a local coral rock) and was allowed to be dumped in the location by the landowners. Today, this portion of Long Slough serves as a housing development.
An additional natural feature existed along Davis Parkway, extending into the Florida City Camper Park. This feature was a live oak hammock. [21] The understory of the hammock was cleared for the camper park, but much of the hammock remained undisturbed to the south of Davis Parkway and NW 1st Road before the late 1970s.
Florida City today serves as the southern terminus of the Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike. [22] Motels and eateries are located along US 1 before taking the highway south into the Florida Keys. Along with serving as the mainland entrance to the Florida Keys, [23] Florida City also serves as the gateway to the main section of Everglades National Park. [24]
Florida City is located at 25°27′05″N80°29′04″W / 25.451331°N 80.484383°W . [25]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.1 square miles (16 km2), of which 0.07 square miles (0.18 km2), or 1.14%, are water. [2]
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
1920 | 355 | — | |
1930 | 452 | 27.3% | |
1940 | 752 | 66.4% | |
1950 | 1,547 | 105.7% | |
1960 | 4,114 | 165.9% | |
1970 | 5,133 | 24.8% | |
1980 | 6,174 | 20.3% | |
1990 | 5,806 | −6.0% | |
2000 | 7,843 | 35.1% | |
2010 | 11,245 | 43.4% | |
2020 | 13,085 | 16.4% | |
2022 (est.) | 12,644 | [26] | −3.4% |
U.S. Decennial Census [27] |
Race | Number | Percentage |
---|---|---|
White (NH) | 498 | 3.81% |
Black or African American (NH) | 5,786 | 44.22% |
Native American or Alaska Native (NH) | 13 | 0.10% |
Asian (NH) | 24 | 0.18% |
Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian (NH) | 3 | 0.02% |
Some Other Race (NH) | 56 | 0.43% |
Two or more races/Multiracial (NH) | 182 | 1.39% |
Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 6,523 | 49.85% |
Total | 13,085 | 100.00% |
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 13,085 people, 3,050 households, and 2,247 families residing in the city. [29]
Florida City Demographics | |||
---|---|---|---|
2010 Census | Florida City | Miami-Dade County | Florida |
Total population | 11,245 | 2,496,435 | 18,801,310 |
Population, percent change, 2000 to 2010 | +43.4% | +10.8% | +17.6% |
Population density | 1,888.7/sq mi | 1,315.5/sq mi | 350.6/sq mi |
White or Caucasian (including White Hispanic) | 5.6% | ?% | ?% |
(Non-Hispanic White or Caucasian) | 5.6% | 15.4% | 57.9% |
Black or African-American | 52.4% | 18.9% | 16.0% |
Hispanic or Latino (of any race) | 42.4% | 65.0% | 22.5% |
Asian | 0.3% | 1.5% | 2.4% |
Native American or Native Alaskan | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.4% |
Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% |
Two or more races (Multiracial) | 2.6% | 2.4% | 2.5% |
Some Other Race | 5.4% | 3.2% | 3.6% |
As of the 2010 United States census, there were 11,245 people, 2,883 households, and 2,216 families residing in the city. [30]
Based on 2010 data, the ancestries of only the Hispanic and Latino population from highest to lowest were as follows: Mexicans made up the 42.52%, Cubans were at 19.13%, Central Americans accounted for 13.37%, Puerto Ricans totaled 12.87%, and South Americans were 3.74% of all residents. [31]
In 2000, 46.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.6% were married couples living together, 34.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.1% were non-families. 18.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.48 and the average family size was 3.95.
In 2000, the city population was spread out, with 39.7% under the age of 18, 11.0% from 18 to 24, 26.3% from 25 to 44, 15.8% from 45 to 64, and 7.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 24 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.7 males.
In 2000, the median income for a household in the city was $14,923, and the median income for a family was $18,777. Males had a median income of $23,622 versus $20,060 for females. The per capita income for the city was $8,270. 43.3% of the population and 41.7% of families were below the poverty line. 57.1% of those under the age of 18 and 25.6% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.
As of 2000, English was spoken as a first language by 65.64% of the population, Spanish speakers made up 28.33% of all residents, and French Creole was spoken by 6.03% of the populace. [32]
As of 2020, Florida City was rated as the number one "most dangerous" city in the state of Florida. Within a population of 11,826, it had a violent crime rate of 2,908.8 per 100,000. The poverty rate of the city was listed at 14%. [33]
The Florida Department of Corrections operates the Dade Correctional Institution and the Homestead Correctional Institution in an unincorporated area near Florida City. [34] [35] [36] [37] The Dade CI was originally the Dade Correctional Institution Annex, and the Homestead CI was originally the Dade Correctional Institution; the two received their current names on July 1, 2003. [38]
The United States Postal Service operates the Florida City Post Office. [39]
Florida City is a part of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools system.
Florida City is zoned to:
In addition Rise Academy-South Dade Charter School is in the area. [40]
Florida City also has the following Charter Schools:
The Köppen Climate Classification sub-type for this climate is "Aw". (Tropical Savanna Climate) with long, hot summers and short, warm winters. [41]
Climate data for Florida City | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 78 (26) | 80 (27) | 82 (28) | 85 (29) | 88 (31) | 90 (32) | 91 (33) | 92 (33) | 90 (32) | 87 (31) | 83 (28) | 79 (26) | 85 (29) |
Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 54 (12) | 56 (13) | 58 (14) | 61 (16) | 66 (19) | 71 (22) | 73 (23) | 73 (23) | 73 (23) | 69 (21) | 63 (17) | 57 (14) | 65 (18) |
Average precipitation inches (mm) | 1.6 (41) | 1.8 (46) | 2 (51) | 2.7 (69) | 5.9 (150) | 9.1 (230) | 7 (180) | 8.1 (210) | 8.7 (220) | 5.5 (140) | 2.3 (58) | 1.4 (36) | 56.1 (1,420) |
Source: Weatherbase [42] |
The Everglades is a natural region of flooded grasslands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orlando with the Kissimmee River, which discharges into the vast but shallow Lake Okeechobee. Water leaving the lake in the wet season forms a slow-moving river 60 miles (97 km) wide and over 100 miles (160 km) long, flowing southward across a limestone shelf to Florida Bay at the southern end of the state. The Everglades experiences a wide range of weather patterns, from frequent flooding in the wet season to drought in the dry season. Throughout the 20th century, the Everglades suffered significant loss of habitat and environmental degradation.
Cutler Bay is an incorporated town in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, established in 2005. With a population of 45,425 as of the 2020 US census, it is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. Cutler Bay is the 9th most populous of the 34 municipalities that make up Miami's urban core, and the 33rd most populous of the 163 municipalities.
Gladeview is a census-designated place (CDP) in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The population was 14,927 at the 2020 census, up from 11,535 in 2010.
Homestead is a city within Miami-Dade County in the U.S. state of Florida, between Biscayne National Park to the east and Everglades National Park to the west. Homestead is primarily a Miami suburb and a major agricultural area. It is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida, which was home to an estimated 6,012,331 people at the 2015 census. It is located approximately 26 miles (42 km) southwest of Miami, and 25 miles (40 km) northwest of Key Largo. The population was 80,737 as of the 2020 census.
Kendall is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. At the 2020 census, the area had a population of 80,241.
Everglades National Park is an American national park that protects the southern twenty percent of the original Everglades in Florida. The park is the largest tropical wilderness in the United States and the largest wilderness of any kind east of the Mississippi River. An average of one million people visit the park each year. Everglades is the third-largest national park in the contiguous United States after Death Valley and Yellowstone. UNESCO declared the Everglades & Dry Tortugas Biosphere Reserve in 1976 and listed the park as a World Heritage Site in 1979, and the Ramsar Convention included the park on its list of Wetlands of International Importance in 1987. Everglades is one of only three locations in the world to appear on all three lists.
The Miami metropolitan area, also known as South Florida, SoFlo, SoFla, the Gold Coast, the Tri-County Area, or Greater Miami, and officially the Miami–Fort Lauderdale–West Palm Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area, is a coastal metropolitan area in southeastern Florida. It is the ninth-largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States, the fifth-largest metropolitan area in the Southern United States, and the largest metropolitan area in Florida. With a population of 6.18 million, its population exceeds 31 of the nation's 50 states as of 2023. It comprises the three most populated counties in the state, Miami-Dade County, Broward County, and Palm Beach County, which rank as the first, second, and third-most populous counties in the state, respectively. Miami-Dade County, with 2,701,767 people in 2020, is the seventh-most populous county in the United States.
State Road 9336, also known in parts as the Ingraham Highway, Tower Road and West Palm Drive, is an 8.75-mile-long (14.08 km) two- to four-lane road in Miami-Dade County, in the U.S. state of Florida. The route is the only signed four-digit state road in Florida. The route connects US 1, and the Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike by proxy, in Florida City with the Everglades National Park, acting as the park's primary mode of entry. The road continues on from its western terminus at the national park's entrance as Main Park Road for another 39.3 miles (63.2 km), providing access to many of the park's facilities and the ghost town of Flamingo, in Monroe County, at its western end.
Allapattah is a neighborhood, located mostly in the city of Miami, Florida in metropolitan Miami. As of May 2011, the county-owned portion of Allapattah, from State Road 9 to LeJeune Road, is being annexed by the city proper.
State Road 997, also known as Krome Avenue and West 177th Avenue is a 36.7-mile-long (59.1 km) north–south state highway in western Miami-Dade County, Florida. It runs from State Road 998 in Homestead north across U.S. Route 41 to U.S. Route 27 near Countyline Dragway, just south of the Broward County line. Its main use is as a bypass around the western side of Miami, linking the routes that run southwest, west and northwest from that city. The road passes through newer suburbs in the southern third of its length, while the northern two thirds of the highway traverse the eastern edge of the Everglades.
The Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike (HEFT), designated as unsigned State Road 821 (SR 821), is the southern extension of Florida's Turnpike, a controlled-access toll road in the U.S. state of Florida maintained by Florida's Turnpike Enterprise (FTE). Spanning approximately 48 miles (77 km) along a north–south axis, it supplements the 265-mile (426 km) mainline to form the complete 309-mile (497 km) turnpike. The extension begins at its southern terminus at U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Florida City, and transitions into the SR 91 mainline in Miramar at its northern end. Despite their designations as different state roads, the mainline and the extension are continuous in their exit numbering.
Old Cutler Road is an off-grid plan, 14.9-mile (24.0 km) main northeast–southwest road running south of downtown Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States.
Redland, long known also as the Redlands or the Redland, is a historic unincorporated community and agricultural area in Miami-Dade County, Florida, located about 20 miles (32 km) southwest of downtown Miami and just northwest of Homestead, Florida. It is unique in that it constitutes a large farming belt directly adjoining what is now the seventh most populous major metropolitan area in the United States. Named for the pockets of red clay that cover a layer of oolitic limestone, Redland produces a variety of tropical fruits, many of which do not grow elsewhere in the continental United States. The area also contains a large concentration of ornamental nurseries. The landscape is dotted with u-pick'em fields, coral rock (oolite) walls, and the original clapboard homes of early settlers and other historic early twentieth century structures.
The Miami Rock Ridge is an oolitic, continuous outcrop of limestone, part of the Miami Formation, which formerly encompassed a large extent of southernmost South Florida; as part of an ecosystem it formed portions of the Everglades. The traditional base of the elevation, which rises 7 to 8.6 m above sea level, ranges from northern Miami-Dade County—the approximate latitude of North Miami Beach—southward to the upper Florida Keys and extends southwestward into Everglades National Park, creating a karst-dominated landscape.
Before drainage, the Everglades, a region of tropical wetlands in southern Florida, were an interwoven mesh of marshes and prairies covering 4,000 square miles (10,000 km2). The Everglades is both a vast watershed that has historically extended from Lake Okeechobee 100 miles (160 km) south to Florida Bay, and many interconnected ecosystems within a geographic boundary. It is such a unique meeting of water, land, and climate that the use of either singular or plural to refer to the Everglades is appropriate. When Marjory Stoneman Douglas wrote her definitive description of the region in 1947, she used the metaphor "River of Grass" to explain the blending of water and plant life.
Tropical hardwood hammocks are closed canopy forests, dominated by a diverse assemblage of evergreen and semi-deciduous tree and shrub species, mostly of West Indian origin. Tropical hardwood hammocks are found in South Florida or the Everglades, with large concentrations on the Miami Rock Ridge, in the Florida Keys, along the northern shores of Florida Bay, and in the Pinecrest region of the Big Cypress Swamp.
The South Florida rocklands ecoregion, in the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome, occurs in southern Florida and the Florida Keys in the United States, where they would naturally cover an area of 2,100 km2 (810 sq mi). These forests form on limestone outcrops with very thin soil; the higher elevation separating them from other habitats such as coastal marshes and marl prairies. On mainland Florida, rocklands exist primarily on the Miami Rock Ridge, which extends from the Miami River south to Everglades National Park. South Florida rocklands are further divided into pine rocklands and rockland hammocks.
Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most populous county in the United States. It is Florida's third largest county in terms of land area with 1,946 square miles (5,040 km2). The county seat is Miami, the core of the nation's ninth-largest and world's 65th-largest metropolitan area with a 2020 population of 6.138 million people, exceeding the population of 31 of the nation's 50 states as of 2022.
The Seaboard–All Florida Railway was a subsidiary of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad that oversaw two major extensions of the system in the early 1920s to southern Florida on each coast during the land boom. One line extended the Seaboard's tracks on the east coast from West Palm Beach down to Fort Lauderdale and Miami, while the other extension on the west coast extended the tracks from Fort Ogden south to Fort Myers and Naples, with branches from Fort Myers to LaBelle and Punta Rassa. These two extensions were heavily championed by Seaboard president S. Davies Warfield, and were constructed by Foley Brothers railroad contractors. Both extensions also allowed the Seaboard to better compete with the Florida East Coast Railway and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, who already served the lower east and west coasts of Florida respectively.