Miami Beach, Florida facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Miami Beach
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City of Miami Beach | |||
The southern portion of Miami Beach, known as South Beach (foreground), and Downtown Miami (background) in April 2006
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Location of Miami Beach in Miami-Dade County and of Miami-Dade County in Florida
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U.S. Census Bureau map showing Miami Beach's city limits
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Country | United States | ||
State | Florida | ||
County | Miami-Dade | ||
Incorporated | March 26, 1915 | ||
Named for | Miami River | ||
Government | |||
• Type | Commission-Manager | ||
Area | |||
• Total | 15.22 sq mi (39.42 km2) | ||
• Land | 7.69 sq mi (19.92 km2) | ||
• Water | 7.53 sq mi (19.49 km2) 62.37% | ||
Elevation | 4 ft (1.2 m) | ||
Population
(2020)
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• Total | 82,890 | ||
• Estimate
(2022)
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80,017 | ||
• Rank | 35th in Florida | ||
• Density | 10,405.33/sq mi (4,016.92/km2) | ||
Time zone | UTC−5 (EST) | ||
• Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) | ||
Zip Codes |
33109, 33139, 33140, 33141.
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Area code(s) | 305, 786, 645 | ||
FIPS code | 12-45025 | ||
GNIS feature ID | 286750 |
Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which separates the Beach from the mainland city of Miami. The neighborhood of South Beach, comprising the southernmost 2.5 sq mi (6.5 km2) of Miami Beach, along with Downtown Miami and the PortMiami, collectively form the commercial center of South Florida. Miami Beach's population is 82,890 according to the 2020 census. It has been one of America's preeminent beach resorts since the early 20th century.
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 Baer Capitman, who now has a street in the District named in her honor.
Contents
History
In 1870, a father and son, Henry and Charles Lum, purchased the land for 75 cents an acre. The first structure to be built on this uninhabited oceanfront was the Biscayne House of Refuge, constructed in 1876 by the United States Life-Saving Service at approximately 72nd Street. Its purpose was to provide food, water, and a return to civilization for people who were shipwrecked. The next step in the development of the future Miami Beach was the planting of a coconut plantation along the shore in the 1880s by New Jersey entrepreneurs Ezra Osborn and Elnathan Field, but this was a failed venture. One of the investors in the project was agriculturist John S. Collins, who achieved success by buying out other partners and planting different crops, notably avocados, on the land that would later become Miami Beach. Meanwhile, across Biscayne Bay, the City of Miami was established in 1896 with the arrival of the railroad, and developed further as a port when the shipping channel of Government Cut was created in 1905, cutting off Fisher Island from the south end of the Miami Beach peninsula.
Collins' family members saw the potential in developing the beach as a resort. This effort got underway in the early years of the 20th century by the Collins/Pancoast family, the Lummus brothers (bankers from Miami), and Indianapolis entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher. Until then, the beach here was only the destination for day-trips by ferry from Miami, across the bay. By 1912, Collins and Pancoast were working together to clear the land, plant crops, supervise the construction of canals to get their avocado crop to market, and set up the Miami Beach Improvement Company. There were bath houses and food stands, but no hotel until Brown's Hotel was built in 1915 (still standing, at 112 Ocean Drive). Much of the interior land mass at that time was a tangled jungle of mangroves. Clearing it, deepening the channels and water bodies, and eliminating native growth almost everywhere in favor of landfill for development, was expensive.
With loans from the Lummus brothers, Collins had begun work on a 2½-mile-long wooden bridge, the world's longest wooden bridge at the time, to connect the island to the mainland. When funds ran dry and construction work stalled, Indianapolis millionaire and recent Miami transplant Fisher intervened, providing the financing needed to complete the bridge the following year in return for a land swap deal. That transaction kicked off the island's first real estate boom. Fisher helped by organizing an annual speed boat regatta, and by promoting Miami Beach as an Atlantic City-style playground and winter retreat for the wealthy. By 1915, Lummus, Collins, Pancoast, and Fisher were all living in mansions on the island, three hotels and two bath houses had been erected, an aquarium built, and an 18-hole golf course landscaped.
The Town of Miami Beach was chartered on March 26, 1915; it grew to become a City in 1917. Even after the town was incorporated in 1915 under the name of Miami Beach, many visitors thought of the beach strip as Alton Beach, indicating just how well Fisher had advertised his interests there. The Lummus property was called Ocean Beach, with only the Collins interests previously referred to as Miami Beach.
Carl Fisher was the main promoter of Miami Beach's development in the 1920s as the site for wealthy industrialists from the north and Midwest to and build their winter homes here. Many other Northerners were targeted to vacation on the island. To accommodate the wealthy tourists, several grand hotels were built, among them: The Flamingo Hotel, The Fleetwood Hotel, The Floridian, The Nautilus, and the Roney Plaza Hotel. In the 1920s, Fisher and others created much of Miami Beach as landfill by dredging Biscayne Bay; this man-made territory includes Star, Palm, and Hibiscus Islands, the Sunset Islands, much of Normandy Isle, and all of the Venetian Islands except Belle Isle. The Miami Beach peninsula became an island in April 1925 when Haulover Cut was opened, connecting the ocean to the bay, north of present-day Bal Harbour. The great 1926 Miami hurricane put an end to this prosperous era of the Florida Boom, but in the 1930s Miami Beach still attracted tourists, and investors constructed the mostly small-scale, stucco hotels and rooming houses, for seasonal rental, that comprise much of the present "Art Deco" historic district.
Post–World War II economic expansion brought a wave of immigrants to South Florida from the Northern United States, which significantly increased the population in Miami Beach within a few decades. After Fidel Castro's rise to power in 1959, a wave of Cuban refugees entered South Florida and dramatically changed the demographic make-up of the area. In 2017, one study named zipcode 33109 in Miami Beach as having the 4th most expensive home sales in the United States.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 18.7 sq mi (48.5 km2), of which 7.0 sq mi (18.2 km2) is land and 11.7 sq mi (30.2 km2) (62.37%) is water.
Elevation and tidal flooding
Miami Beach sees sunny day flooding of certain roads during the annual king tides, though some argue this has been the case for decades, as the parts of the western side of South Beach are at virtually 0 feet (0 m) above normal high tide, with the entire city averaging only 4.4 feet (1.3 m) above mean sea level (AMSL). However, a recent study by the University of Miami showed that tidal flooding became much more common from the mid 2000s. The fall 2015 king tides exceeded expectations in longevity and height. Traditional sea level rise and storm mitigation measures including sea walls and dykes, such as those in the Netherlands and New Orleans, may not work in South Florida due to the porous nature of the ground and limestone beneath the surface.
In addition to present difficulty with below-grade development, some areas of southern Florida, especially Miami Beach, are beginning to engineer specifically for sea level rise and other potential effects of climate change. This includes a five-year, US$500 million project for the installation of 60 to 80 pumps, building of taller sea walls, and the physical raising of road tarmac levels, as well as possible zoning and building code changes, which could eventually lead to retrofitting of existing and historic properties. Some streets and sidewalks were raised about 2.5 feet (0.76 m) over previous levels; the four initial pumps installed in 2014 are capable of pumping 4,000 US gallons per minute. However, this plan is not without criticism. Some residents worry that the efforts will not be sufficient to successfully adapt to rising sea levels and wish the city had pursued a more aggressive plan. On the other hand, some worry that the city is moving too quickly with untested solutions. Others yet have voiced concerns that the plan protects big-money interests in Miami Beach.
Demographics
Historical population | |||
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Census | Pop. | %± | |
1920 | 644 | — | |
1930 | 6,494 | 908.4% | |
1940 | 28,012 | 331.4% | |
1950 | 46,282 | 65.2% | |
1960 | 63,145 | 36.4% | |
1970 | 87,072 | 37.9% | |
1980 | 96,298 | 10.6% | |
1990 | 92,639 | −3.8% | |
2000 | 87,933 | −5.1% | |
2010 | 87,779 | −0.2% | |
2020 | 82,890 | −5.6% | |
2023 (est.) | 79,607 | −9.3% | |
U.S. Decennial Census 1920–1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2023 |
Historical demographics | 2020 | 2010 | 2000 | 1990 | 1980 |
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White (non-Hispanic) | 40.1% | 40.5% | 40.9% | 48.3% | 76.2% |
Hispanic or Latino | 50.6% | 53.0% | 53.4% | 46.8% | 22.2% |
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) | 2.7% | 3.1% | 2.8% | 3.6% | 0.7% |
Asian and Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) | 2.0% | 1.8% | 1.3% | 1.0% | 0.9% |
Native American (non-Hispanic) | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% | |
Some other race (non-Hispanic) | 1.0% | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.2% | |
Two or more races (non-Hispanic) | 3.5% | 1.1% | 1.1% | N/A | N/A |
Population | 82,890 | 87,779 | 87,933 | 92,639 | 96,298 |
Demographic characteristics | 2020 | 2010 | 2000 | 1990 | 1980 |
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Households | 63,543 | 67,499 | 59,723 | 49,305 | 55,685 |
Persons per household | 1.30 | 1.30 | 1.47 | 1.88 | 1.73 |
Sex Ratio | 105.9 | 109.9 | 105.0 | 87.3 | 74.7 |
Ages 0–17 | 13.8% | 12.8% | 13.4% | 14.1% | 8.7% |
Ages 18–64 | 67.2% | 71.0% | 67.3% | 55.8% | 39.6% |
Ages 65 + | 19.0% | 16.2% | 19.2% | 30.1% | 51.8% |
Median age | 44.0 | 40.3 | 39.0 | 44.3 | 66.0 |
Population | 82,890 | 87,779 | 87,933 | 92,639 | 96,298 |
Economic indicators | |||
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2017–21 American Community Survey | Miami Beach | Miami-Dade County | Florida |
Median income | $39,456 | $32,513 | $34,367 |
Median household income | $59,162 | $57,815 | $61,777 |
Poverty Rate | 14.0% | 15.7% | 13.1% |
High school diploma | 89.9% | 82.5% | 89.0% |
Bachelor's degree | 49.6% | 31.7% | 31.5% |
Advanced degree | 22.0% | 11.9% | 11.7% |
Language spoken at home | 2015 | 2010 | 2000 | 1990 | 1980 |
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English | 30.8% | 32.3% | 32.5% | 39.6% | 54.6% |
Spanish or Spanish Creole | 55.5% | 54.4% | 54.4% | 46.5% | 23.0% |
French or Haitian Creole | 2.4% | 2.3% | 2.0% | 2.3% | 1.0% |
Portuguese or Portuguese Creole | N/A | 2.0% | 3.4% | 1.2% | N/A |
Yiddish | N/A | 0.1% | 0.8% | 3.1% | N/A |
Other Languages | 11.3% | 8.9% | 6.9% | 7.3% | 21.4% |
Nativity | 2015 | 2010 | 2000 | 1990 | 1980 |
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% population native-born | 45.4% | 48.0% | 44.5% | 48.7% | 51.3% |
... born in the United States | 44.3% | 44.6% | 40.7% | 44.8% | 50.0% |
... born in Puerto Rico or Island Areas | 1.1% | 1.9% | 2.8% | 2.9% | 1.3% |
... born to American parents abroad | 1.5% | 1.5% | 1.0% | 1.0% | |
% population foreign-born | 53.0% | 52.0% | 55.5% | 51.3% | 48.7% |
... born in Cuba | 14.8% | 14.7% | 17.5% | 18.0% | 10.7% |
... born in Russia | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.5% | 1.9% | 9.3% |
... born in Poland | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.7% | 2.1% | 5.9% |
... born in Colombia | 4.1% | 4.0% | 5.9% | 3.4% | N/A |
... born in Argentina | 4.1% | 3.4% | 4.4% | 1.6% | N/A |
... born in Brazil | 2.1% | 1.9% | 3.1% | 1.2% | N/A |
... born in Peru | 1.9% | 2.2% | 2.5% | 1.6% | N/A |
... born in Guatemala | 1.0% | 2.6% | 0.4% | 0.5% | N/A |
... born in Honduras | 1.9% | 2.0% | 1.3% | 1.2% | N/A |
... born in Venezuela | 3.4% | 2.1% | 1.7% | 0.7% | N/A |
... born in other countries | 18.6% | 18.0% | 17.5% | 19.1% | 22.8% |
As of 2010[update], those of Hispanic or Latino ancestry accounted for 53.0% of Miami Beach's population. Out of the 53.0%, 20.0% were Cuban, 4.9% Colombian, 4.6% Argentine, 3.7% Puerto Rican, 2.4% Peruvian, 2.1% Venezuelan, 1.8% Mexican, 1.7% Honduran, 1.6% Guatemalan, 1.4% Dominican, 1.1% Uruguayan, 1.1% Spaniard, 1.0% Nicaraguan, 0.9% Ecuadorian and 0.8% were Chilean.
As of 2010[update], those of African ancestry accounted for 4.4% of Miami Beach's population, which includes African Americans. Out of the 4.4%, 1.3% were Black Hispanics, 0.8% were Subsaharan African, and 0.8% were West Indian or Afro-Caribbean American (0.3% Jamaican, 0.3% Haitian, 0.1% Other or Unspecified West Indian, 0.1% Trinidadian and Tobagonian.)
As of 2010[update], those of (non-Hispanic white) European ancestry accounted for 40.5% of Miami Beach's population. Out of the 40.5%, 9.0% Italian, 6.0% German, 3.8% were Irish, 3.8% Russian, 3.7% French, 3.4% Polish, 3.0% English, 1.2% Hungarian, 0.7% Swedish, 0.6% Scottish, 0.5% Portuguese, 0.5% Dutch, 0.5% Scotch-Irish, and 0.5% were Norwegian.
As of 2010[update], those of Asian ancestry accounted for 1.9% of Miami Beach's population. Out of the 1.9%, 0.6% were Indian, 0.4% Filipino, 0.3% Other Asian, 0.3% Chinese, 0.1% Japanese, 0.1% Korean, and 0.1% were Vietnamese.
In 2010, 2.8% of the population considered themselves to be of only American ancestry (regardless of race or ethnicity), and 1.5% were of Arab ancestry (with the majority of them being of Palestinian and Lebanese descent), as of 2010[update].
As of 2010[update], there were 67,499 households, while 30.1% were vacant. 13.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 26.3% were married couples living together, 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 61.1% were non-families. 49.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older (4.0% male and 8.0% female.) The average household size was 1.84 and the average family size was 2.70.
Economy
Tourism
The City of Miami Beach accounts for more than half of tourism to Miami Dade County. Of the 15.86 million people staying in the county in 2017, 58.5% lodged in Miami Beach. Resort taxes account for over 10% of the city's operating budget, providing $83 million in the fiscal year 2016–2017. On average, the city's resort tax revenue grows by three to five percent annually. Miami Beach hosts 13.3 million visitors each year. In fiscal year 2016/2017, Miami Beach had over 26,600 hotel rooms. Average occupancy in fiscal year 2015/2016 was 76.4% and 78.5% in fiscal year 2016/2017. Mayor Harold Rosen is credited with beginning the revitalization of Miami Beach when he notably abolished rent control in 1976, a move that was highly controversial at the time.
The Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority
The Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority is a seven-member board, appointed by the City of Miami Beach Commission. The authority, established in 1967 by the State of Florida legislature, is the official marketing and public relations organization for the city, to support its tourism industry.
Arts and culture
South Beach (also known as SoBe, or simply the Beach), the area from Biscayne Street (also known as South Pointe Drive) one block south of 1st Street to about 23rd Street, is one of the more popular areas of Miami 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.
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 1996 comedy The Birdcage.
Lincoln Road, running east–west parallel between 16th and 17th Streets, is a nationally known spot for outdoor dining and shopping and features galleries of well known designers, artists and photographers such as Romero Britto, Peter Lik, and Jonathan Adler. In 2015, the Miami Beach residents passed a law forbidding bicycling, rollerblading, skateboarding and other motorized vehicles on Lincoln Road during busy pedestrian hours between 9:00 am and 2:00 am.
Points of interest
- Bass Museum
- Eden Roc Miami Beach Hotel
- The Fillmore Miami Beach (originally the Miami Beach Municipal Auditorium)
- Flagler Monument Island
- Fontainebleau Hotel
- Versace Mansion (Casa Casuarina)
- Holocaust Memorial
- Jewish Museum of Florida
- Lincoln Road
- Miami Beach Architectural District
- Miami Beach Botanical Garden
- North Beach
- Ocean Drive
- South Beach
- South Pointe Park
- Wolfsonian-FIU Museum
- The Setai Hotel
Historic preservation
By the 1970s, jet travel had enabled vacationers from the northern parts of the US to travel to the Caribbean and other warm-weather climates in the winter. Miami Beach's economy suffered. Elderly retirees, many with little money, dominated the population of South Beach.
To help revive the area, city planners and developers sought to bulldoze many of the aging art deco buildings that were built in the 1930s. By one count, the city had over 800 art deco buildings within its borders.
In 1976, Barbara Baer Capitman and a group of fellow activists formed the Miami Design Preservation League (MDPL) to try to halt the destruction of the historic buildings in South Beach. After battling local developers and Washington DC bureaucrats, MDPL prevailed in its quest to have the Miami Beach Art Deco District named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. While the recognition did not offer protection for the buildings from demolition, it succeeded in drawing attention to the plight of the buildings.
Due in part to the newfound awareness of the art deco buildings, vacationers, tourists and TV, and movie crews were drawn to South Beach. Investors began to rehabilitate hotels, restaurants and apartment buildings in the area.
Despite the enthusiasm for the historic buildings by many, there were no real protections for historic buildings. As wrecking crews threatened buildings, MDPL members protested by holding marches and candlelight vigils. In one case, protestors stood in front of a hotel blocking bulldozers as they approached a hotel.
After many years of effort, the Miami Beach city commission created the first two historic preservation districts in 1986. The districts covered Espanola Way and most of Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue in South Beach. The designation of the districts helped protect buildings from demolition and created standards for renovation.
While some developers continued to focus on demolition, several investors like Tony Goldman and Ian Schrager bought art deco hotels and transformed them into world famous hot spots in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Among the celebrities that frequented Miami Beach were Madonna, Sylvester Stallone, Cher, Oprah Winfrey and Gianni Versace.
Additional historic districts were created in 1992. The new districts covered Lincoln Road, Collins Avenue between 16th and 22nd Streets and the area around the Bass Museum. In 2005, the city began the process of protecting the mid-century buildings on Collins Avenue between 43rd to 53rd Streets including the Fontainebleau and Eden Roc Hotels. Several North Beach neighborhoods were designated as historic in 2018. A large collection of MiMo (Miami Modern) buildings can be found in the area.
The arts
Jackie Gleason hosted his Jackie Gleason and His American Scene Magazine (September 29, 1962 – June 4, 1966) television show, after moving it from New York to Miami Beach in 1964, reportedly because he liked year-round access to the golf course at the nearby Inverrary Country Club in Lauderhill (where he built his final home). His closing line became, almost invariably, "As always, the Miami Beach audience is the greatest audience in the world!" In the Fall 1966 television season, he abandoned the American Scene Magazine format and converted the show into a standard variety hour with guest performers. The show was renamed The Jackie Gleason Show, lasting from September 17, 1966 – September 12, 1970. He started the 1966–1967 season with new, color episodes of The Honeymooners, with Sheila MacRae and Jane Kean as Alice Kramden and Trixie Norton, respectively. The regular cast included Art Carney as Ed Norton; Milton Berle was a frequent guest star. The show was shot in color on videotape at the Miami Beach Auditorium (later renamed the Jackie Gleason Theatre of the Performing Arts), now known as Fillmore Miami Beach, and Gleason never tired of promoting the "sun and fun capital of the world" on camera. CBS canceled the series in 1970.
Each December, the City of Miami Beach hosts Art Basel Miami Beach, one of the largest art shows in the United States. Art Basel Miami Beach, the sister event to the Art Basel event held each June in Basel, Switzerland, combines an international selection of top galleries with a program of special exhibitions, parties and crossover events featuring music, film, architecture, and design. Exhibition sites are located in the city's Art Deco District, and ancillary events are scattered throughout the greater Miami metropolitan area.
The first Art Basel Miami Beach was held in 2002. In 2016, about 77,000 people attended the fair. The 2017 show featured about 250 galleries at the Miami Beach Convention Center.
Miami Beach is home to the New World Symphony, established in 1987 under the artistic direction of Michael Tilson Thomas. In January 2011, the New World Symphony made a highly publicized move into the New World Center building designed by Canadian American Pritzker Prize-winning architect Frank Gehry. Gehry is famous for his design of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California. The new Gehry building offers Live Wallcasts™, which allow visitors to experience select events throughout the season at the half-acre, outdoor Miami Beach SoundScape through the use of visual and audio technology on a 7,000 sq ft (650 m2) projection wall.
Miami beach is also home to Miami New Drama, the resident theater company at the historic Colony Theatre on Lincoln Road. The regional theater company was founded in 2016 by Venezuelan playwright and director, Michel Hausmann, and playwright, director, and Medal of the Arts winner, Moises Kaufman. In October 2016, Miami New Drama took over operations of the Colony Theatre, and since then, the 417-seat Art Deco venue hosts Miami New Drama's theatrical season as well as other live events.
The Miami City Ballet, a ballet company founded in 1985, is housed in a 63,000 sq ft (5,900 m2) building near Miami Beach's Bass Museum of Art.
The Miami Beach Festival of the Arts is an annual outdoor art festival that was begun in 1974.
Jewish community
Miami Beach is home to several Orthodox Jewish communities with a network of well-established synagogues and yeshivas, the first of which being the Landow Yeshiva, a Chabad institution in operation for over 30 years. There is also a liberal Jewish community containing such famous synagogues as Temple Emanu-El, Temple Beth Shalom and Cuban Hebrew Congregation. Miami Beach is also a magnet for Jewish families, retirees, and particularly snowbirds when the cold winter sets into the north. These visitors range from the Modern Orthodox to the Haredi and Hasidic – including many rebbes who vacation there during the North American winter. Till his death in 1991, the Nobel laureate writer Isaac Bashevis Singer lived in the northern end of Miami Beach and breakfasted often at Sheldon's drugstore on Harding Avenue.
There are many 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 (19 percent of the population) in 2004, according to Ira Sheskin, a demographer at the University of Miami who conducts surveys once a decade. The Miami Beach Jewish community had decreased in size by 1994 due to migration to wealthier areas and aging of the population.
Miami Beach is home to the Holocaust Memorial of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation.
LGBT community
Miami Beach has been regarded as a gay mecca for decades as well as being one of the most LGBT friendly cities in the United States. Miami Beach is home to numerous gay bars and gay-specific events, and five service and resource organizations. After decades of economic and social decline, an influx of gays and lesbians moving to South Beach in the late-1980s to mid-1990s contributed to Miami Beach's revitalization. The newcomers purchased and restored dilapidated Art Deco hotels and clubs, started numerous businesses and built political power in city and county government.
The passage of progressive civil rights laws, election of outspokenly pro-gay Miami Beach Mayor Matti Bower, and the introduction of Miami Beach's Gay Pride Celebration, have reinvigorated the local LGBT community in recent years, which some argued had experienced a decline in the late 2000s. In January 2010, Miami Beach passed a revised Human Rights Ordinance that strengthens enforcement of already existing human rights laws and adds protections for transgender people, making Miami Beach's human rights laws some of the most progressive in the state.
Miami Beach Pride has gained prominence since it first started in 2009, there has been an increase in attendance every year. In 2013 there were more than 80,000 people who participated to now more than 130,000 people that participate in the festivities every year. It has also attracted many celebrities such as Chaz Bono, Adam Lambert, Gloria Estefan, Mario Lopez, and Elvis Duran who were Grand Marshals for Pride Weekend from 2012 through 2016 respectively. There are over 125 businesses who are LGBT supportive that sponsor Miami Beach Pride.
Education
Miami-Dade County Public Schools serves Miami Beach.
- North Beach Elementary
- Treasure Island Elementary
- South Pointe Elementary
- Mater Beach Academy
- Biscayne Elementary
- Fienberg/Fisher K–8 Center
- Nautilus Middle School
- Miami Beach Senior High School
Private schools include Rabbi Alexander S. Gross Hebrew Academy, St. Patrick Catholic School, Landow Yeshiva – Lubavitch Educational Center (Klurman Mesivta High School for Boys and Beis Chana Middle and High School for Girls), and Mechina High School. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami operates St. Patrick Catholic School in Miami Beach. The archdiocese formerly operated Saint Joseph School in Miami Beach.
In the early history of Miami Beach, there was one elementary school and the Ida M. Fisher junior-senior high school. The building of Miami Beach High was constructed in 1926, and classes began in 1928.
Colleges and universities
The Florida International University School of Architecture has a sister campus at 420 Lincoln Road in South Beach, with classroom spaces for FIU architecture, art, music and theater graduate students.
Other Colleges include:
- Johnson & Wales University (satellite campus closing at the end of the 2020–2021 school year.)
Infrastructure
Transportation
Public Transportation in Miami Beach is operated by Miami-Dade Transit (MDT). Along with neighborhoods such as Downtown and Brickell, public transit is heavily used in Miami Beach and is a vital part of city life. Although Miami Beach has no direct Metrorail stations, numerous Metrobus lines connect to Downtown Miami and Metrorail (i.e., the 'S' bus line). The South Beach Local (SBL) is one of the most heavily used lines in Miami and connects all major points of South Beach to other major bus lines in the city. Metrobus ridership in Miami Beach is high, with some of the routes such as the L and S being the busiest Metrobus routes.
Bicycling
Since the late 20th century, cycling has grown in popularity in Miami Beach. Due to its dense, urban nature, and pedestrian-friendly streets, many Miami Beach residents get around by bicycle.
In March 2011 a public bicycle sharing system named Decobike was launched, one of only a handful of such programs in the United States. The program is operated by a private corporation, Decobike, LLC, but is partnered with the City of Miami Beach in a revenue-sharing model. Once fully implemented, the program hopes to have around 1000 bikes accessible from 100 stations throughout Miami Beach, from around 85th Street on the north side of Miami Beach all the way south to South Pointe Park.
Notable people
- George Abbott, playwright, screenwriter, producer, and director
- George Ade (1866–1944), writer
- Moses Annenberg, newspaper publisher
- William "Billy" Milligan, first multi-personality man to successfully plead not guilty by reason of insanity
- Desi Arnaz (1917–1986), entertainer
- Shmuley Boteach (born 1966), Orthodox rabbi, radio and television host, and author
- Walter Briggs, Sr., entrepreneur, owner of the Detroit Tigers
- Douglas Isaac Busch, photographer and teacher
- Barbara Baer Capitman, historic preservation activist, writer
- Al Capone (1899–1947), mobster
- David Caruso, actor and producer, star of NYPD Blue and CSI: Miami
- John S. Collins, horticulturist
- Kent Cooper, Associated Press
- James M. Cox, Governor of Ohio and presidential candidate
- Ron Dermer (born 1971), Israeli Ambassador to the US
- Harvey Firestone, Firestone Tires
- Carl Graham Fisher, developer of Miami Beach
- Frank Gannett, Gannett Media Corporation
- Barry Gibb, singer, songwriter, musician (Bee Gees)
- Jackie Gleason, comedian, actor. TV host (Jackie Gleason and His American Scene Magazine 1964–1966, The Jackie Gleason Show 1966–1970)
- Tony Goldman, real estate developer
- Ronald Green (1944–2012), American-Israeli basketball player
- Gabriel Heatter, radio commentator
- Jerry Herman, Broadway composer
- John D. Hertz, Hertz Rental Cars
- Nunnally Johnson, film director
- Josignacio, artist
- S.S. Kresge, retailer
- Meyer Lansky (1902–1983), mobster
- Albert Lasker, businessman
- Ring Lardner (1885–1933), writer
- Dan Le Batard, ESPN Radio & TV host
- Bernarr MacFadden, bodybuilder, owner of the Deauville Hotel
- Floyd Mayweather Jr., boxer
- Alex Omes, co-founder of Ultra Music Festival
- Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia, IFBB professional bodybuilder
- James Cash Penney, department store magnate
- Irving Jacob Reuter, General Motors
- Grantland Rice, sportswriter
- Mark B. Rosenberg, political scientist who was the former President of Florida International University and former Chancellor of the State University System of Florida
- Ed Rubinoff (born 1935), tennis player
- Damon Runyon, newspaperman and writer
- Nicholas Schenck, MGM studios
- Dutch Schultz, mobster
- Robin Sherwood, actress
- Sid Tepper, Songwriter
- Gianni Versace (1946–1997), fashion designer
- Betty Viana-Adkins, IFBB professional bodybuilder
- Neal Walk (1948–2015), basketball player
- Albert Warner, Warner Brothers studio founder
- Garfield Wood, inventor
Sister cities
Miami Beach has 13 sister cities
See also
In Spanish: Miami Beach para niños