Miami Gardens, Florida

City of Miami Gardens, Florida
City of Miami Gardens, Florida
	— City —
	; Seal
	; 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°WCoordinates: 25°56′31.64″N 80°16′11.71″W / 25.9421222°N 80.2699194°W
Country	United States
State	Florida
County	Miami-Dade
Incorporated	May 13, 2003
	Government
• Mayor	Shirley Gibson
	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 (2,057.25/km2)
• Metro	5,564,635
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
Area code(s)	305
FIPS code	12-45050
GNIS feature ID	0286754
Website	http://www.miamigardens-fl.gov/

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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 is a Miami suburban city located in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city name comes from one of the major roadways through the area, Miami Gardens Drive. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 107,167, and it is the largest city in Florida that has a majority of black American population.

[edit] 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 such as Liberty City to what became Miami Gardens (then called "Norland" or "Norwood") as restrictive covenants fell into disuse and mostly lower income blacks moved to the inner city neighborhoods surrounding Liberty Square and Edison Courts.

Miami Gardens was incorporated on May 13, 2003.^[4] 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.^[5]

[edit] Demographics

The city was incorporated in 2003 but many of the CDPs comprising the current city of Miami Gardens were only partially incorporated. They now make up the neighborhoods of Andover, Bunche Park, Carol City, Lake Lucerne, Norwood, Opa-Locka North, and Scott Lake. For more in-depth demographic data on these neighborhoods, their U.S. Census 2000 is available.

As of the 2010, the population was 107,167 and there were 34,284 households, 6.0% of which were vacant. As of 2003, there were 23,661 families residing in the city.

Miami Gardens Demographics
2010 Census	Miami Gardens	Miami-Dade County	Florida
Total population	107,167	2,496,435	18,801,310
Population, percent change, 2000 to 2010	N/A	+10.8%	+17.6%
Population density	5,878.4/sq mi	1,315.5/sq mi	350.6/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-American	76.3%	18.9%	16.0%
Hispanic or Latino (of any race)	22.0%	65.0%	22.5%
Asian	0.6%	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%

As of 2007, the age distribution was 7.25% under the age of 5, 8.8% from 5 to 9, 9.7% from 10 to 14, 16.9% from 15 to 24, and 13.2% 25 to 34, 14.3% 35 to 44, 12.5% 45 to 54, 8.7% 55 to 64 and 8.7% who are 65 years of age or older. The population is 47% male and 53% female. Family households made up 95.6%, while 4.4% were non-family households. The average household size was 3.39 members, and the city covered 20 square miles.^[6]

Bunche Park and Carol City had high percentages of various ethnic groups, such as African-Americans and black residents, Bahamians, British West Indians, Colombians, Cubans, Dominicans, Haitians, Jamaicans and Nicaraguans.^[7]^[8]

[edit] 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. Sun Life Stadium also hosts the annual Orange Bowl college football game and is the home field for the University of Miami Hurricanes football team. Calder Race Course is also located in the city. The Major League Baseball team Florida Marlins previously shared Sun Life Stadium with the Dolphins for almost 2 decades. Starting in 2012 they will relocate to Miami and change their names to the Miami Marlins. The Antioch Mission Baptist Church of Carol City is a megachurch with over 7,500 members, active in the community.^[9]

[edit] Government

Miami Gardens is governed by a seven member City Council. Members include Shirley Gibson (mayor since 2003), and six Council members, four of whom are elected from districts and two who are elected city wide. The Mayor recommends, and the City Council hires, the City Manager, City Attorney and the City Clerk. The City Manager, Danny O. Crew, is responsible for the day-to-day management of all City employees and the City's $116 million annual budget. The City Manager is assisted in his duties by three Assistant City Managers. Currently the City has 530 FTE employees. On December 16, 2007, the City initiated its own police department fielding 156 sworn officers and 40 civilian staff. Previously, the City had contracted with Miami-Dade County for patrol services.