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Sunny Isles Beach, Florida facts for kids

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City of Sunny Isles Beach

Sunny Isles Beach
Sunny Isles Beach skyline
Sunny Isles Beach skyline
Official seal of City of Sunny Isles Beach
Seal
Motto(s): 
The City of Sun and Sea
Location in Miami-Dade County and the state of Florida
Location in Miami-Dade County and the state of Florida
U.S. Census Bureau map showing city limits
U.S. Census Bureau map showing city limits
Country  United States of America
State  Florida
County Miami-Dade
Incorporation June 16, 1997
Government
 • Type Council-Manager
Area
 • City 1.81 sq mi (4.69 km2)
 • Land 1.01 sq mi (2.62 km2)
 • Water 0.80 sq mi (2.08 km2)  28.37%
Population
 (2020)
 • City 22,342
 • Density 22,098.91/sq mi (8,536.02/km2)
 • Metro
5,564,635
Time zone UTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST) UTC−04:00 (EDT)
ZIP Code
33160
Area code(s) 305, 786
FIPS code 12-69550
Website http://www.sibfl.net
View of Sunny Isles Beach From The Coast
View of Sunny Isles Beach from the coast

Sunny Isles Beach (SIB, officially the City of Sunny Isles Beach) is a city located on a barrier island in northeast Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The city is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east and the Intracoastal Waterway on the west.

Sunny Isles Beach is an area of cultural diversity with stores lining Collins Avenue, the main thoroughfare through the city. It is renowned for having the 14th tallest skyline in the United States despite its relatively low population.

It is a growing resort area and developers like Michael Dezer have invested heavily in construction of high-rise hotels and condominiums while licensing the Donald Trump name for some of the buildings for promotional purposes. Sunny Isles Beach has a central location, minutes from Bal Harbour to the south, and Aventura to the north and west.

Sunny Isles Beach was also the 2008 site of MTV's annual Spring Break celebration, with headquarters at the local Newport Beachside Resort.

History

In 1920, Harvey Baker Graves, a private investor, purchased a 2.26-square-mile (5.9 km2) tract of land for development as a tourist resort. He named it Sunny Isles -- The Venice of America.

When the Haulover bridge was completed in 1925, the area became accessible from Miami Beach, attracting developers who widened streams, dug canals and inlets and created islands and peninsulas for building waterfront properties on Biscayne Bay.

In the 1920s, Carl G. Fisher built an all-wooden racetrack with stands for 12,000 spectators, known as the Fulford-Miami Speedway. This event, held on February 22, 1926, dubbed "Carl G. Fisher Cup Race," was a forerunner to the auto races at Sebring and Daytona. In September 1926, after just one race, the track was destroyed by the 1926 Miami Hurricane. This event was held in Fulford-By-the-Sea which is today's North Miami Beach. Sunny Isles Beach was known as North Miami Beach until 1931, then known as Sunny Isles until 1997.

In 1936, Milwaukee malt magnate Kurtis Froedtert bought Sunny Isles. The Sunny Isles Pier was built and soon became a popular destination. Sunny Isles developed slowly until the 1950s when the first single-family homes were built in the Golden Shores area. During the 1950s and 1960s more than 30 motels sprang up along Collins Avenue including the Ocean Palm, the first two-story motel in the U.S. Designed by Norman Giller in 1948 it was developed and owned by the Gingold family for the next 45 years and provided the springboard for Sunny Isles economic development. Tourists came from all over to vacation in themed motels of exotic design along "Motel Row". One motel, The Fountainhead, was so named by its owner, Norman Giller, after the novel by Ayn Rand. As of 2013, the Ocean Palm Motel is closed.

In 1982 the half-mile-long Sunny Isles Pier was designated a historic site. In the early-mid 80s, it went through restoration and re-opened to the public in 1986. The pier was severely damaged in October 2005 by Hurricane Wilma. After 8 years, it was remodeled and reopened as Newport Fishing Pier on June 15, 2013.

In 1997, the citizens of the area voted to incorporate as a municipality. Sunny Isles was renamed Sunny Isles Beach. Sunny Isles Beach began major redevelopment during the real estate boom of the early 2000s with mostly luxury high-rise condominiums and some hotels under construction along the beach side of Collins Avenue (A1A) replacing most of the historic one- and two-story motels along Motel Row. In 2011, construction began on two more high-rises, Regalia, located on the northern border of the city along A1A, and The Mansions at Acqualina, located adjacent to the Acqualina Resort & Spa on the Beach.

Geography

Sunny isles beach
Sunny Isles Beach shoreline

Sunny Isles Beach is located at 25°56′30″N 80°7′30″W / 25.94167°N 80.12500°W / 25.94167; -80.12500 (25.941270, -80.125111). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.7 km2 (1.4 sq mi) with 2.6 km2 (1.0 sq mi) of it as land and 1 km2 (0.4 sq mi) of it (28.37%) as water.

Surrounding areas

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop.
2000 15,315
2010 20,832 36.0%
2020 22,342 7.2%
U.S. Decennial Census
Sunny Isles Beach Demographics
2010 Census Sunny Isles Beach Miami-Dade County Florida
Total population 20,832 2,496,435 18,801,310
Population, percent change, 2000 to 2010 +36.0% +10.8% +17.6%
Population density 20,518.9/sq mi 1,315.5/sq mi 350.6/sq mi
White or Caucasian (including White Hispanic) 90.6% 73.8% 75.0%
(Non-Hispanic White or Caucasian) 50.2% 15.4% 57.9%
Black or African-American 3.2% 18.9% 16.0%
Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 44.4% 65.0% 22.5%
Asian 1.4% 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) 2.2% 2.4% 2.5%
Some Other Race 2.4% 3.2% 3.6%

2020 census

Sunny Isles Beach racial composition
(Hispanics excluded from racial categories)
(NH = Non-Hispanic)
Race Number Percentage
White (NH) 11,858 53.07%
Black or African American (NH) 359 1.61%
Native American or Alaska Native (NH) 12 0.05%
Asian (NH) 344 1.54%
Pacific Islander (NH) 2 0.01%
Some Other Race (NH) 249 1.11%
Mixed/Multi-Racial (NH) 1,124 5.03%
Hispanic or Latino 8,394 37.57%
Total 22,342

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 22,342 people, 10,487 households, and 5,713 families residing in the city.

2010 census

As of 2010, there were 18,984 households, out of which 46.1% were vacant. In 2000, 12.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.8% were married couples living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 51.1% were non-families. 43.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 23.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.87 and the average family size was 2.55.

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Sunny Isles Beach, Florida is twinned with:

  • Netanya, Israel
  • Taormina, Italy
  • Hengchun, Taiwan


Education

Sunny Isles Beach is within the Miami-Dade County Public Schools system.

All residents are zoned to Norman S. Edelcup/Sunny Isles Beach K–8 for elementary and K–8.

Prior to August 2008 residents were zoned to an elementary school as follows:

  • Ruth K. Broad/Bay Harbor Elementary School for residents south of 172nd Street
  • Ojus Elementary School for residents north of 172nd Street and south of 183rd Street
  • Highland Oaks Elementary School for residents north of 183rd Street

The Norman S. Edelcup/Sunny Isles Beach K–8, with four stories, is currently educating students from kindergarten through 8th grade from all of Sunny Isles Beach and Golden Beach as well as the Eastern Shores neighborhood of North Miami Beach. The school can hold up to 1,600 students. The school opened in August 2008 as a K–6, with grades 7 and 8 introduced in the subsequent two school years. The school has or is currently participating in: Accelerated Reader, VMath Live, mock elections, book drives, toy drives, etc. The school has state of the art technology that includes Smart Boards and surround sound microphones for both teachers and students. The school has Intracoastal and ocean views from almost every classroom on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th floors. Sunny Isles Beach spent $12.5 million so the school district could buy the land. The anticipated 2008 enrollment of city residents in the school was about 900. It was originally known as Sunny Isles Beach Community School, but in 2011 a proposal came in to rename it after Mayor Norman S. Edelcup.

Sunny Isles Beach K-8 School
Norman S. Edelcup/Sunny Isles Beach K–8 in Sunny Isles Beach.

Residents who want a standard comprehensive middle school instead of a K–8 may choose to enroll at a separate middle school, Highland Oaks Middle School in an unincorporated area. Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Senior High Biscayne Bay Campus is the zoned senior high school. Prior to the opening of Mourning in 2009, Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High School served Sunny Isles Beach. Sunny Isles Beach still lists Krop on its website.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Sunny Isles Beach para niños

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