Miami-Dade County, Florida Totally Explained

Everything about Miami-dade County totally explained

2000 U.S. Census

As of the census of 2006, there were 2,402,208 people, 776,774 households, and 548,402 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,158 people per square mile (447/km²). There were 852,278 housing units at an average density of 438 per square mile (169/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 16.6% Non-Hispanic White, 17.5% Non-Hispanic Black (with a large part being of Caribbean descent) and African American, 0.19% Native American, 1.3% Asian, 4.58% from other races, and 3.79% from two or more races. 65.6% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
   There were 776,774 households out of which 33.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.7% were married couples living together, 17.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.4% were non-families. 23.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.84 and the average family size was 3.35.
   The age distribution is 24.8% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 31.0% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 13.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 93.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.2 males.
   The median income for a household in the county was $35,966, and the median income for a family was $40,260. Males had a median income of $30,120 versus $24,686 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,497. About 14.5% of families and 18.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.9% of those under age 18 and 18.9% of those age 65 or over.
   51.4% of Miami-Dade County residents are foreign-born, a percentage greater than any other county in the United States.

2006 U.S. Census estimates

U.S. Census Bureau 2006 Ethnic/Race Demographics:

White (non-Hispanic): 18.3%

Black (non-Hispanic): 20.2%

Hispanic or Latino of any race: 61.3%

Asian: 1.5%

Two or more races: 0.9%

Some other race: 5.6%

American Indian and Alaska Native: 0.3%

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander: 0.1% According to the 2006 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, when compared to the 2000 U.S. Census, the Hispanic population dropped 3%, the Black (non-Hispanic) population grew 3%, the White (non-Hispanic) population grew 2.5%, and the Asian population grew 0.2%.

Population	Miami-Dade
2030 Projection	3,196,805
2025 Projection	3,019,785
2010 Projection	2,551,284
2006 Estimate	2,402,208
2000 Census	2,253,485
1990 Census	1,967,000

Language

As of 2000, 59.25% spoke Spanish as their first language, 32.09% English, 4.12% French Creole, and 0.89% spoke French as their mother language. 51.4% of the county residents were born outside the United States, while 67.90% of the population speaks a language other than English at home.

Law and government

Miami-Dade County has operated under a unique metropolitan system of government, a "two-tier federation," since 1957. This was made possible when Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment in 1956 that allowed the people of Dade County (as it was known then) to enact a home rule charter. Prior to this year, home rule didn't exist in Florida, and all counties were limited to the same set of powers by the Florida Constitution and state law.

Federation, not total consolidation

Presidential elections results>

Year	Republican	Democrat
2004	46.6% 361,095	52.9% 409,732
2000	46.3% 289,574	52.6% 328,867
1996	37.9% 209,740	57.3% 317,555
1992	43.2% 235,313	46.7% 254,609
1988	55.3% 270,937	44.3% 216,970
1984	59.2% 144,281	40.8% 223,863
1980	50.7% 265,888	40.2% 210,868
1976	40.5% 211,148	58.1% 303,047
1972	58.9% 256,529	40.8% 177,693
1968	37.0% 135,222	48.4% 176,689
1964	36.0% 117,480	64.0% 208,941
1960	42.3% 134,506	57.7% 183,114

Unlike a consolidated city-county, where the city and county governments merge into a single entity, these two entities remain separate. Instead there are two "tiers", or levels, of government: city and county. There are 35 municipalities in the county, the City of Miami being the largest.

District	Commissioner
1st	Barbara J. Jordan
2nd	Dorrin D. Rolle
3rd	Audrey Edmonson
4th	Sally A. Heyman
5th	Bruno A. Barreiro, Chairman
6th	Rebeca Sosa
7th	Carlos A. Gimenez
8th	Katy Sorenson
9th	Dennis C. Moss
10th	Javier D. Souto
11th	Joe A. Martinez
12th	José Pepe Diaz
13th	Natacha Seijas

Cities are the "lower tier" of local government, providing police and fire protection, zoning and code enforcement, and other typical city services within their jurisdiction. These services are paid for by city taxes. The County is the "upper tier", and it provides services of a metropolitan nature, such as emergency management, airport and seaport operations, public housing and health care services, transportation, environmental services, solid waste disposal etc. These are funded by county taxes, which are assessed on all incorporated and unincorporated areas.
Of the county's 2.2 million total residents (as of 2000), approximately 52% live in unincorporated areas, the majority of which are heavily urbanized. These residents are part of the Unincorporated Municipal Services Area (UMSA). For these residents, the County fills the role of both lower- and upper-tier government, the County Commission acting as their lower-tier municipal representative body. Residents within UMSA pay a UMSA tax, equivalent to a city tax, which is used to provide County residents with equivalent city services (police, fire, zoning, water and sewer, etc.). Residents of incorporated areas don't pay UMSA tax.

Structure of county government

The Executive Mayor of Miami-Dade County is elected countywide to serve a four-year term. The Mayor isn't a member of the County Commission. The Mayor appoints a County Manager, with approval and consent of the Board of County Commissioners, to oversee the operations of the County Departments. The Mayor has veto power over the Commission. The current mayor is Cuban-born Carlos Alvarez.
   The Board of County Commissioners is the legislative body, consisting of 13 members elected from single-member districts. Members are elected to serve four-year terms, and elections of members are staggered. The Board chooses a Chairperson, who presides over the Commission, as well as appoints the members of its legislative committees. The Board has a wide array of powers to enact legislation, create departments, and regulate businesses operating within the County. It also has the power to override the Mayor's veto with a two-thirds vote.
   The election of Commissioners from single member districts came to be in 1992 after a group led by attorney and City of Miami Commissioner Arthur Teele, Jr. with the support of some African American and Hispanic civic leaders, challenged the at large election system in the courts, arguing that the present system didn't allow for the election of minority commissioners, despite the fact that African American Commissioner Barbara Carey-Shuler had been elected several times. The court, under the ruling of Judge Graham, created the single member district election system. Florida's Constitution provides for four elected officials to oversee executive and administrative functions for each county (called "Constitutional Officers"): Sheriff, Property Appraiser, Supervisor of Elections, and Tax Collector. Each of these offices were reorganized and became subordinate County Departments. Today these positions are appointed by and report to the Mayor.
   The most visible distinction between Miami-Dade and other Florida counties is the title of its law enforcement agency. It is the only county in Florida that doesn't have an elected sheriff, or an agency titled "Sheriff's Office." Instead the equivalent agency is known as the Miami-Dade Police Department, and its leader is known as the Metropolitan Sheriff and Director of the Miami-Dade Police Department. The judicial offices of Clerk of the Circuit Court, State Attorney, and Public Defender are still branches of State government and are therefore independently elected and not part of County government.

Public services

Fire Rescue

The Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue Department is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for Miami-Dade County, Florida. The department serves 28 municipalities and all unincorporated areas of Miami-Dade County from 60 fire stations. The Department also provides fire protection services for Miami International Airport, Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport and Opa-Locka Airport.
The communities served are Aventura, Bal Harbour, Bay Harbor Islands, Biscayne Park, Doral, El Portal, Florida City, Golden Beach, Hialeah Gardens, Homestead, Indian Creek, Islandia, Medley, Miami Lakes, Miami Shores, Miami Springs, North Bay Village, North Miami, North Miami Beach, Opa-locka, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, South Miami, Surfside, Sweetwater, Sunny Isles Beach, Virginia Gardens, and West Miami.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue is also the home to Urban Search and Rescue Florida Task Force 1 as well as EMS operations consisting of 57 Advanced Life Support units staffed by 760 state-certified paramedics and 640 state-certified emergency medical technicians.

Police Department

The Miami-Dade Police Department is full service metropolitan police department serving Miami-Dade County's unincorporated areas, although they've lenient mutual aid agreements with other municipalities, most often the City of Miami Police Department. The Miami-Dade Police Department is the largest police department in the state of Florida with over 5,000 employees. The Department is still often referred by its former name, the Metro-Dade Police or simply Metro.
The Miami-Dade Police Department operate out of nine districts throughout Miami-Dade County and have two special bureaus. The current director of the Miami-Dade Police Department is Robert Parker, who succeeded Carlos Alvarez, the current mayor of Miami-Dade County. The Department's headquarters are located in Doral, Florida.

Water and Sewer Department

Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department (MDWASD) is one of the largest public utilities in the United States, employing approximately 2,700 employees as of 2007. It provides service to over 2.4 million customers, operating with an annual budget of almost $400 million. Approximately 330 million gallons of water are drawn everyday from the Biscayne Aquifer for consumer use. MDWASD has over 7,100 miles of water lines, a service area of and 14 pump stations. MDWASD has over 3,600 miles of sewage pipes, a service area of and 954 pump stations

Education

In Florida, each county is also a school district. Miami-Dade County Public Schools, is operated by an independently-elected School Board. A professional Superintendent of Schools manages the day-to-day operations of the district, who is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the School Board. The Miami-Dade County Public School District is currently the fourth-largest public school district in the nation with almost 400,000 students in 2007/2008.
The Miami-Dade Public Library is one of the largest public library systems in the country, comprising 42 branch locations, and 8 branch locations currently being built/not officially opened.

Colleges and Universities

Miami-Dade County is home to many private and public universities and colleges. Total approximate college/university student enrollment in the county in 2006 was about 245,000, one of the largest number for university students in the USA.

Florida International University (public, largest university in South Florida)

University of Miami (private, largest private university in Florida)

Miami Dade College (public)

Barry University (private/Catholic)

Nova Southeastern University (private)

Florida Memorial University (private/historically black)

St. Thomas University (private/Catholic)

Johnson and Wales University (private)

Carlos Albizu University (private)

Miami International University of Art and Design (private)

Talmudic University (private/Jewish)

Keiser University (private)

Transportation

Public transit

Public transit in Miami-Dade County is served by Miami-Dade Transit, and is the largest public transit in Florida. Miami-Dade Transit operates a heavy rail metro system Metrorail, an elevated people mover in Downtown Miami, Metromover and the bus system, Metrobus. Currently, expansion of Metrorail is underway with the construction of two new lines. The northern line to extend from Miami International Airport (MIA) to Dolphin Stadium and the western line from MIA to Florida International University.

Major expressways

In Florida a Tolled State Road is often (but not always) denoted by having the word "TOLL" printed on the top of the State Road shield.
When a driver passes through a toll plaza without paying the proper toll a digital image of the cars license tag is recorded. Under Florida Law, this image can be used by the Authority to issue a [tollviolation](External Link

).
Miami-Dade County has 10 major expressways and 1 minor expressway in Downtown Miami.

Interstate 95

Interstate 75

Florida's Turnpike

Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike

Dolphin Expressway (State Road 836) / Interstate 395

Gratigny Parkway (State Road 924)

Airport Expressway (State Road 112) / Interstate 195

Don Shula Expressway (State Road 874)

Snapper Creek Expressway (State Road 878)

Palmetto Expressway (State Road 826)

Hialeah Expressway (State Road 934)

Downtown Distributor (State Road 970)

Street grid

A street grid stretches from downtown Miami throughout the county. This grid was adopted by the City of Miami following World War I after the United States Post Office threatened to cease mail deliveries in the city because the original system of named streets, with names often changing every few blocks and multiple streets in the city sharing the same name, was too confusing for the mail carriers. The new grid was later extended throughout the county as the population grew west, south, and north of city limits. The grid is laid out with Miami Avenue as the meridian going North-South and Flagler Street the baseline going east-west. The grid is primarily numerical so that, for example, all street addresses north of Flagler and west of Miami Avenue have NW in their address (eg. NW 27th Avenue). Because its point of origin is in downtown Miami which is close to the coast, the NW and SW quadrants are much larger than the SE and NE quadrants. Many roads, especially major ones, are also named, although- with a few notable exceptions, the number is in more common usage among locals. Although this grid is easy to understand once one is oriented to it, it isn't universal in the entire county. Hialeah uses its own grid system which is entirely different in its orientation. Coral Gables and Miami Lakes use named streets almost exclusively, and various smaller municipalities such as Florida City and Homestead use their own grid system along with the Miami-Dade grid system adding to the confusion.

Sites of interest

Museums

American Police Hall of Fame, Miami

Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach

Cuban Museum of Arts and Culture, Coral Gables

Frost Art Museum, (Florida International University, Miami)

Haitian Heritage Museum, Miami

Historical Museum of Southern Florida, Downtown Miami

Holocaust Memorial, Miami Beach

Jewish Museum of Florida, Miami Beach

Lowe Art Museum, (University of Miami, Coral Gables)

Miami Art Museum, Downtown Miami

Miami Children's Museum, Miami

Miami Cultural Center, Downtown Miami

Miami Science Museum, Miami

Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami

Rubell Family Collection, Miami

The Gold Coast Railroad Museum, Miami

United in Elian House, Miami

Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, Miami

Weeks Air Museum, Miami

Wings Over Miami Museum, Miami

Wolfsonian, (Florida International University, Miami Beach)

World Erotic Art Museum, Miami Beach

Culture and wildlife

Miami MetroZoo, Miami

Jungle Island, Miami

Fairchild Tropical Gardens, Coral Gables

Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, Miami

Bayside Marketplace, Downtown Miami

Miami Seaquarium, Miami

Monkey Jungle, Miami

Ancient Spanish Monastery, North Miami

Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Downtown Miami

Wertheim Performing Arts Center, (Florida International University, Miami)

Florida Grand Opera, Miami

Gusman Center for the Performing Arts, Downtown Miami

Bayfront Park Amphitheatre, Downtown Miami

Other areas and attractions

Miccosukee Indian Village

Miami Art Deco District

Miami Design District

City of Miami Cemetery

Española Way

Mary Brickell Village

Parks

Cape Florida State Park

Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve

Oleta River State Park

Everglades National Park

Biscayne National Park

Sports venues

Miami-Dade County holds the majority of sports arenas, stadiums and complexes in South Florida. Some of these sports facilities are:

Dolphin Stadium- Miami Dolphins, Miami Hurricanes (football), and Florida Marlins

American Airlines Arena- Miami Heat

Miami Arena- Miami Tropics

Tennis Center at Crandon Park- Sony Ericcson Open

FIU Stadium- Florida International Golden Panthers (football)

Pharmed Arena- Florida International Golden Panthers (basketball)

University Park Stadium- Florida International Golden Panthers (baseball)

BankUnited Center- Miami Hurricanes (basketball)

Tropical Park Stadium

Homestead-Miami Speedway

Calder Race Course

Homestead Sports Complex Former venues include:

Miami Orange Bowl

Miami Marine Stadium

Sister Cities

Miami-Dade County has 23 sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI)

Veracruz, Mexico

Iquique, Chile

Kingston, Jamaica

Petit Goâve, Haiti

The Bahamas

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Lamentin, Guadeloupe

Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain

Stockholm County, Sweden

Taipei County, Taiwan

Pereira, Colombia

Turks and Caicos Islands

San José, Costa Rica

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Province of Asti, Italy

Mendoza, Argentina

State of Monagas, Venezuela

São Paulo, Brazil

Pucallpa, Peru

Santa Cruz, Bolivia

Asunción, Paraguay

Maldonado, Uruguay

Cayman Islands

Further Information

Get more info on 'Miami-dade County'.

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