Miami Gardens, Florida

This article is about the city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. For the census-designated place in Broward County, Florida, see Miami Gardens, Broward County, Florida.
Miami Gardens, Florida
City

The Sunshine State Arch of Miami Gardens in 2014

Seal

Location in Miami-Dade and the state of Florida.
Coordinates: 25°56′31.64″N 80°16′11.71″W / 25.9421222°N 80.2699194°W / 25.9421222; -80.2699194Coordinates: 25°56′31.64″N 80°16′11.71″W / 25.9421222°N 80.2699194°W / 25.9421222; -80.2699194
Country  United States of America
State  Florida
County Miami-Dade
Incorporated May 13, 2003
Government
 • Type Council-Manager
 • Mayor Oliver G. Gilbert III
 • Vice Mayor Felicia Robinson
 • Councilmembers Lisa Davis, Rodney Harris, Dr. Erhabor Ighodaro, Lillie Q. Odom, and David Williams Jr.
 • City Manager Cameron Benson
 • City Clerk Ronetta Taylor
Area
 • Land 20 sq mi (51.8 km2)
 • Water 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation 7 ft (2 m)
Population (2010)
 • City 107,167
 • Density 5,878.4/sq mi (2,269.7/km2)
 • Metro 5,564,635
Time zone EST (UTC-5)
 • Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
Zip code(s) 33014, 33054, 33055, 33056, 33152, 33169
Area code(s) 305, 786
FIPS code 12-45050[1]
GNIS feature ID 0286754[2]
Website miamigardens-fl.gov

Miami Gardens is a suburban city located in north-central Miami-Dade County, Florida. Its boundaries stretch from I-95 and NE 2nd Avenue on the east, to NW 47th and NW 57th Avenues on the west, and from the Broward County line on the north, to 151st Street on the south.[3] The city name comes from one of the major roadways through the area, Miami Gardens Drive. According to a 2011 estimate from the US Census Bureau, the city had a population of 109,680, and it is the largest city in Florida that has a majority African American population.[4] It is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to an estimated 6,012,331 people at the 2015 census.

History

In the wake of the construction of I-95 in the late 1960s, many middle and upper income African American and West Indian American families migrated from Miami neighborhoods like Liberty City to what became Miami Gardens (also called Carol City, Norland or Norwood) as race-based covenants were outlawed with the Fair Housing Act, and mostly lower income blacks moved into the Liberty City and Little Haiti neighborhoods surrounding Liberty Square and Edison Courts.

Miami Gardens was incorporated on May 13, 2003.[5] The city's neighborhoods of Andover, Bunche Park, Carol City, Lake Lucerne, Norland, Opa-locka North, and Scott Lake were previously unincorporated areas within Miami-Dade County.

In 2007, Mayor Shirley Gibson said that the city would no longer allow any low income housing developments; many residents blamed the developments for spreading crime and recreational drugs throughout the city. Around that time the city's tax revenues dropped to being the third lowest in Miami-Dade County.[6]

In 2012, Oliver Gilbert, only the second mayor the city has had, proposed to form a Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA).[7] CRAs are formed to remove "slum and blight," to improve the physical environment of the city and to combat the social and economic problems typical of slum areas.CRAs are funded with property tax increases, which funds are used, in part, to stimulate private investment in the rehabilitation of the community.[7] Once inaugurated, Mayor Gilbert expressed confidence that a CRA would have the effect of stimulating economic growth in Miami Gardens and proposed to establish one.[8]

Police misconduct against Earl Sampson, who was repeatedly questioned, detained, jailed, and/or arrested for trespassing at his own workplace, against the wishes of his boss, occurred from 2008 until roughly 2013.[9]

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop. %±
2000124,656—
2010107,167−14.0%
Est. 2015113,187[10]5.6%
U.S. Decennial Census[11]

The city was incorporated in 2003, but various parts of the city appear as census designated places in the 2000 census and previous censuses. They now make up the neighborhoods of Andover, Bunche Park, Carol City, Lake Lucerne, Norwood, Opa-locka North, and Scott Lake. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of Miami Gardens was 109,680 on July 1, 2011, a 2.3% increase since the 2010 census.[4]

Miami Gardens demographics
2010 CensusMiami GardensMiami-Dade CountyFlorida
Total population107,1672,496,43518,801,310
Population density5,878.4/sq mi1,315.5/sq mi350.6/sq mi
White or Caucasian (including White Hispanic)18.3%73.8%75.0%
(Non-Hispanic White or Caucasian)2.6%15.4%57.9%
Black or African-American76.3%18.9%16.0%
Hispanic or Latino (of any race)22.0%65.0%22.5%
Asian0.6%1.5%2.4%
Native American or Native Alaskan0.2%0.2%0.4%
Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian0.0%0.0%0.1%
Two or more races (Multiracial)2.2%2.4%2.5%
Some other race2.6%3.2%3.6%
# 2010 Hispanic population of Miami Gardens[12] Percentage
1 Cuban 40.61%
2 Central American 18.38%
3 Puerto Rican 11.63%
4 South American 9.71%
5 Mexican 2.01%

In 2010, there were 34,284 housing units of which 6.0% are vacant. As of 2000, the age distribution was 6.9% under the age of 5, 7.1% from 5 to 9, 7.7% from 10 to 14, 17% from 15 to 24, and 13% 25 to 34, 12.9% 35 to 44, 13.3% 45 to 54, 10.8% 55 to 64 and 11.2% who are 65 years of age or older. The population is 46.8% male and 53.2% female. Family households made up 78.4%, while 21.6% were non-family households. The average household size was 3.28 members, and the city covered 20 square miles.[13]

As of 2000, the Bunche Park neighborhood of Miami Gardens had the ninth highest percentage of African-American and black residents in the US, with 96.5% of the populace.[14] It also was the most Bahamian place in the United States,[15] as well as having the highest percentage of British West Indians in the US, at 1.8% (which tied with Brentwood, Maryland.)[16] It was also home to the fifty-third highest percentage of Haitians in the US, at 2.8% of all residents (which also tied with Sunrise, Lake Alfred and Brentwood, New York.)[16]

As of 2000, the Carol City section of Miami Gardens had the twenty-seventh highest percentage of Cuban residents in the US, with 18.75% of the populace.[17] It had the nineteenth highest percentage of Jamaican residents in the US, at 5.80% (which tied with Lake Park, Florida,)[18] and the thirty-ninth highest percentage of Dominican residents in the US, at 3% of its population.[19] It also had the fifty-sixth most Haitians in the US, at 2.50% (tied with five other areas in the US, including Plantation and Taft, Florida)[20] while it had the twentieth highest percentage of Nicaraguans, at 2.20% of all residents.[21] The Carol City neighborhood of Miami Gardens is also home to the seventieth highest percentage of Colombian residents in the US, at 2.15% of the population.[22]

As of 2000, before being annexed to Miami Gardens, the Andover neighborhood had English as a first language accounted for 74.96% of all residents, while Spanish accounted for 17.91%, French Creole accounted for 4.61%, French made up 1.58%, West African Niger-Congo languages (Kru, Igbo and Yoruba) were at 0.52%, and Yiddish was the mother tongue for 0.39% of the population.[23]

As of 2000, before being annexed to Miami Gardens, the Bunche Park neighborhood had English as a first language accounted for 95.97% of all residents, while Spanish was at 3.07%, and French Creole as a mother tongue made up 0.94% of the population.[24]

As of 2000, before being annexed to Miami Gardens, the Carol City neighborhood had English as a first language accounted for 53.73% of all residents, while Spanish accounted for 43.16%, and French Creole as a mother tongue made up 2.15% of the population.[25]

As of 2000, before being annexed to Miami Gardens, the Lake Lucerne neighborhood had English as a first language accounted for 82.27% of all residents, while Spanish accounted for 14.16%, French Creole was at 2.55%, and French as a mother tongue made up 1.00% of the population.[26]

As of 2000, before being annexed to Miami Gardens, the Norland neighborhood had English as a first language accounted for 74.87% of all residents, while French Creole accounted for 12.92%, Spanish was at 10.19%, and French as a mother tongue made up 1.02% of the population.[27]

As of 2000, before being annexed to Miami Gardens, the Opa-Locka North neighborhood had English as a first language accounted for 75.24% of all residents, while Spanish was spoken by 21.04%, French Creole was at 3.27%, and Jamaican Creole as a mother tongue made up 0.44% of the population.[28]

As of 2000, before being annexed to Miami Gardens, the Scott Lake neighborhood had English as a first language accounted for 85.76% of all residents, while 6.81% spoke Spanish, French Creole accounted for 5.83%, French was at 0.93%, and Jamaican Creole as a mother tongue made up 0.64% of the population.[29]

Crime rates

According to City Rating, Miami Gardens crime statistics have decreased in the past 7 years. The crimes that have decreased the most are property crimes and violent crimes. The crime rate for Miami Gardens for 2012 is expected to be lower than in 2010. Miami Garden's city violent crime rate was 138.67% higher than the national violent crime rate. City property crime rate was 66.98% higher than the national property crime rate.[30]

In 2010 Miami Garden's city violent crime rate was higher than the violent crime rate in Florida by 77.64% and the city property crime rate was 38.05% higher.[30]

In 2010, there were 663 reported cases of aggravated assault, 12 reported cases of arson, 1,321 reported cases of burglary, 25 cases of forcible rape, 3,515 cases of larceny and theft, 574 reported cases of motor vehicle theft, 22 reported cases of murder and manslaughter and 351 cases of robbery.[31]

The projected 2012 crime data is as follows: 253 reported cases of aggravated assault, 0 reported cases of arson, 1,760 reported cases of burglary, 6 cases reported of forcible rape, 3,535 cases reported of larceny and theft, 489 cases report of motor vehicle theft, 30 reported cases of murder and manslaughter and 357 reported cases of robbery.[30]

Community centers

Miami Gardens is home to the Miami Dolphins, who play in Sun Life Stadium on land that was part of the Lake Lucerne CDP. This stadium also hosts the annual Orange Bowl college football game and is the home field for the University of Miami Hurricanes football team. The Major League Baseball team Florida Marlins previously shared Sun Life Stadium with the Dolphins for almost 2 decades. In 2012 they relocated to Miami and changed their names to the Miami Marlins. Calder Race Course is also located in the city.

The Antioch Mission Baptist Church of Miami Gardens is a megachurch with over 7,500 members, active in the community.[32]

The city wishes to attract more commercial investment to stimulate economic growth.[33]

Health

Medical

The city of Miami Gardens has several health care clinics and facilities that offer medical care and support to its residents. Although the city has no hospital directly within its limits, Jackson North Medical Center, Concentra Urgent Care, and, Chen Medical Center provide medical services to the residents of Miami Gardens. Supplementing this, several health care clinics and facilities provide medical services that include general medicine, walk-in/urgent care, dental services, gynecology, physical therapy, chiropractor services, laboratory tests, x-rays, sonograms, osteoporosis screening, vaccinations, and health and exercise programs.[34]

Government

Miami Gardens is governed by a seven-member City Council. Members include Mayor Oliver Gilbert (since 2012), and six Council members, four elected from districts and two elected city wide. The Mayor recommends, and the City Council hires, the City Manager, City Attorney and the City Clerk.

These are 15 of the many departments for which the City Manager of Miami Gardens creates a budget.

# Department City Manager's budget 2011-2012 [35]
1 Legislative Department $358,001
2 Office of City Manager $851,773
3 Office of City Manager Media and Special Events Division $2,243,850
4 Office of City Clerk $619,924
5 Finance Department $638,244
6 Human Resources Department $784,323
7 City Attorney Department $500,279
8 Public Safety Department Police Administration Division $1,838,024
9 Public Safety Police School Crossing Guard Program Division $670,940
10 Public Safety Department Police Investigations Division $7,532,750
11 Public Safety Police Operations Division $12,106,281
12 Public Safety Police Support Services Division $6,236,147
13 Public Safety Cops Grant $771,706
14 Code Enforcement Department $1,419,385
15 Parks & Recreation Department Recreation Division $3,315,366

Mayors

Police

The Miami Gardens Police Department is the lead law enforcement agency for the 110,000 residents living within the city's 20 square miles. The department operates under a unified command structure with its headquarters located at 1020 NW 163 Drive, Miami Gardens, Florida 33169. The department became operational on Sunday, December 16, 2007 with 159 sworn officers. Since then, the department has grown to 259 members consisting of 201 sworn positions with 58 non-sworn support positions.[36]

Police Controversy

In 2013, gross law enforcement abuses were uncovered regarding the Miami Gardens Police Department with coverage appearing in numerous news outlets.[37][38][39] The abuses were first uncovered when it became public that a convenience store employee, Earl Sampson was arrested 27 times for trespassing, while working at and around the store at which he was employed. Video evidence was gathered by the owner of the store, Ali Saleh, showing Miami Garden police involved in clear and repeated misconduct involving his employee, and customers. According to the Miami Herald's Julie K. Brown: "The videos show, among other things, cops stopping citizens, questioning them, aggressively searching them and arresting them for trespassing when they have permission to be on the premises". It appeared Sampson had been arrested in this way due to police quotas, a department culture, and that Sampson was easy to arrest. Sampson always pleaded guilty so they would let him out almost immediately, with one exception where he pleaded not guilty, and he was jailed for 20 days. The guilty plea would validate the officers improper arrest and increment their quota, so he became a continuous target.

Volume of stops

It was later uncovered that between 2008 and 2013, there were 99,980 stops which occurred in Miami Gardens, involving 56,922 people, over half of the city's population. This is compared to the City of Miami, where 3,753 stops occurred during the same period, with four times the population. Some of the stops included children ages 5 to 7, including over 1,000 children. These numbers were compiled after news regarding Earl Sampson began to be reported.[40]

Resignation and lawsuits

As a result of the attention received by these actions, the Police Chief resigned. Civil rights lawsuits have been filed against the Miami Gardens Police Department by the store owner and others who were illegally detained and/or arrested.

Education

Public schools

# Miami Garden's elementary schools 2012 school grade[41]
1 Brentwood Elementary School C
2 Bunche Park Elementary School A
3 Norwood Elementary School B
4 North County Elementary School C
5 Skyway Elementary School C
# Miami Garden's middle schools 2012 school grade[41]
1 North Dade Middle School A
2 Parkway Middle School D
3 Carol City Middle School D

Norland Middle School, in the Miami Gardens area, has a magnet program in dance, music and art, which began in 1985.[42]

# Miami Garden's high schools 2012 school grade and graduation rates[41]
1 Miami Carol City Senior High School F with a 62% graduation rate
2 Miami Norland Senior High School B with 89% graduation rate

Colleges and universities

Public libraries

Miami-Dade Public Library System operates the North Dade Regional Library, which opened in September 1979.[43]

Notable residents

Surrounding areas

References

  1. ↑ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  2. ↑ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  3. ↑ Miami Gardens: Demographics
  4. 1 2 2011 census: Demographics
  5. ↑ Miami Gardens: Demographics
  6. ↑ Garcia-Roberts, Gus. "The Curse." Miami New Times. February 10, 2009. 2. Retrieved on February 11, 2009.
  7. 1 2 "Oliver Gilbert's Issues." Retrieved on November 15, 2012.
  8. ↑ "Oliver Gilbert is Read to Work." Retrieved on November 15, 2012.
  9. ↑ Friedersdorf, Conor. "Asking America's Police Officers to Explain Abusive Cops." The Atlantic. February 2, 2015. Retrieved on February 21, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2015". Retrieved July 2, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  12. ↑ 2010 Hispanic Population in Miami Gardens
  13. ↑ http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/DPDP1/1600000US1245060 Quickfact: Census
  14. ↑ "Ancestry Map of African-American Communities". Epodunk.com. Retrieved 2015-01-03.
  15. ↑ "Ancestry Map of Bahamian Communities". Epodunk.com. Retrieved 2015-01-03.
  16. 1 2 "Ancestry Map of British West Indian Communities". Epodunk.com. Retrieved 2015-01-03.
  17. ↑ "Ancestry Map of Cuban Communities". Epodunk.com. Retrieved 2015-01-03.
  18. ↑ "Ancestry Map of Jamaican Communities". Epodunk.com. Retrieved 2015-01-03.
  19. ↑ "Ancestry Map of Dominican Communities". Epodunk.com. Retrieved 2015-01-03.
  20. ↑ "Ancestry Map of Haitian Communities". Epodunk.com. Retrieved 2015-01-03.
  21. ↑ "Ancestry Map of Nicaraguan Communities". Epodunk.com. Retrieved 2015-01-03.
  22. ↑ "Ancestry Map of Colombian Communities". Epodunk.com. Retrieved 2015-01-03.
  23. ↑ "MLA Data Center Results for Andover, Florida". Modern Language Association. Retrieved 2015-01-03.
  24. ↑ "MLA Data Center Results of Bunche Park, Florida". Modern Language Association. Retrieved 2015-01-03.
  25. ↑ "MLA Data Center Results of Carol City, Florida". Modern Language Association. Retrieved 2015-01-03.
  26. ↑ "MLA Data Center Results for Lake Lucerne, Florida". Modern Language Association. Retrieved 2015-01-03.
  27. ↑ "MLA Data Center Results for Norland, Florida". Modern Language Association. Retrieved 2015-01-03.
  28. ↑ "MLA Data Center Results for Opa-locka North, Florida". Modern Language Association. Retrieved 2015-01-03.
  29. ↑ "MLA Data Center Results for Scott Lake, Florida". Modern Language Association. Retrieved 2015-01-03.
  30. 1 2 3 "Miami gardens Crime Statistics." Retrieved on November 18, 2012
  31. ↑ "Miami gardens Crime Statistics." Retrieved on November 18, 2012.
  32. ↑ "Our History". Antioch Mission Baptist Church of Carol City. Retrieved 2010-08-12.
  33. ↑ "http://olivergilbert.com/issues.htm Commercial Problem pt. 2." Retrieved on November 15, 2012.
  34. ↑ "Miami Garden's Health System." Retrieved on November 15, 2012.
  35. ↑ "Miami Gardens' Budget." Retrieved on November 18, 2012.
  36. ↑ "Miami Gardens Police." Retrieved on November 18, 2012
  37. ↑ Julie K. Brown (22 November 2013). "In Miami Gardens, store video catches cops in the act.". The Miami Herald.
  38. ↑ "Black man arrested 62 times for 'trespassing' at his workplace.". MSNBC. 22 November 2013.
  39. ↑ Eyder Peralta (23 November 2013). "Miami-Area Police Force Accused Of Rampant Racial Profiling.". NPR.
  40. ↑ Alice Brennan and Dan Lieberman (9 May 2014). "Florida city's 'stop and frisk' nabs thousands of kids, finds 5-year-olds 'suspicious'". Fusion.
  41. 1 2 3 "Florida's public Schools Grading." Retrieved on November 15, 2012.
  42. ↑ Dixon, Lance. "Norland Middle will celebrate magnet program's 30th anniversary " (Archive). Miami Herald. December 15, 2013. Retrieved on January 11, 2016.
  43. ↑ "North Dade Regional." Miami-Dade Public Library System. Retrieved on September 28, 2009.
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