Miramar is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 122,041. It is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to an estimated 6,012,331 people at the 2015 census.
Video Miramar, Florida
History
Miramar was founded by A.L. Mailman to serve as a "bedroom community" for nearby Miami and Fort Lauderdale. Mr. Mailman bought the original property he was to develop from H.D. Perry, Sr. in 1953. He built 56 homes on the property that were inexpensive homes of concrete and flat roofs. These homes sold quickly because of the low cost of both the homes and the land, and the city of Miramar came into being.
The city was incorporated on May 26, 1955 and named for the Cuban city outside of Havana where Mailman had a summer home (Miramar translates to "Look at the Sea" in Spanish). At the time of incorporation, the city had a population of less than two hundred people. With approximately 2.9 square miles land area, Miramar's original city boundaries were Southwest 64 Avenue on the east, University Drive on the west, the Dade County line on the south, and Pembroke Road on the north. On June 20, 1955, the city's first mayor (Robert Gordon) and city council were sworn in, all of which were appointed by the governor and served until January 1959, at which time the first municipal election was held. The city seal is inscribed with the motto "Beauty and Progress".
Mr. H.D. Perry Sr.'s part in Miramar did not cease with selling of the land to Mr. Mailman for development. He is recognized as one of the foremost pioneers in the history of Miramar. His character and civic-activities influenced not only the lives of early residents, but continues to the present day, as evidenced by the schools and parks in the city which bear his family's name. Many long-time residents fondly recall the community barbecues hosted by Mr. and Mrs. Perry during those early years. Others are grateful to Mr. Perry for the lessons in animal husbandry, which he conducted for the benefit of Miramar's youth so that they could learn something of farm life.
The only major roads when Miramar was developed were U.S. 441 which was a two-lane road at that time, Hallandale Beach Boulevard to Southwest 66 Terrace and Pembroke Road which was a dirt road to University Drive. There were no other transportation routes of any kind supplying access to the new community. Miramar's early city fathers advocated the philosophy of planned and controlled growth. The city adopted a Comprehensive Land Use Plan in 1972 before cities and counties were mandated to do so. This provided the framework for the orderly development of future growth. A fact not widely known is that the residential City of Miramar is one of the largest cities in size in the State of Florida. With 2/3 of land not yet developed, the decision to guide and control the city's growth remains a wise one.
Maps Miramar, Florida
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 31.3 square miles (81.0 km2), of which 29.5 square miles (76.5 km2) is land and 1.8 square miles (4.6 km2) (5.66%) is water.
The city is bordered by the following municipalities:
To the north:
- Pembroke Pines
To the northeast:
- Hollywood
To the east:
- West Park
To the south:
- Miami-Dade County
Demographics
As of 2010, there were 40,294 households, with 7.1% being vacant. As of 2000, 48.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.0% were married couples living together, 19.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.1% were non-families. 14.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.15 and the average family size was 3.48.
In 2000, the city's population was spread out with 31.0% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 35.4% from 25 to 44, 18.7% from 45 to 64, and 6.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 90.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.0 males.
In 2000, the median income for a household in the city was $50,289, and the median income for a family was $52,952. Males had a median income of $34,145 versus $28,283 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,462. About 7.0% of families and 8.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.8% of those under age 18 and 8.5% of those age 65 or over.
As of 2000, speakers of English as their first language accounted for 60.09% of the population, while Spanish made up 29.99%, French Creole 4.37%, French 2.13%, and Tagalog as a mother tongue was 0.50% of all residents.
As of 2000, Miramar had the fifth highest percentage of Jamaican residents in the US, with 15.4% of the populace, the fifty-eighth highest percentage of Colombian residents in the US, at 2.51% of the city's population, and the forty-eighth highest percentage of Cuban residents in the US, at 8.77% of the city's population. It also had the seventy-eighth most Dominicans in the US, at 1.98%, while it had the thirty-first highest percentage of Haitians (tied with West Little River,) at 6% of all residents. Miramar's Trinidadian community had the twelfth highest percentage of residents, which was at 1.2% (tying with Wheatley Heights, New York and Neptune City, New Jersey.)
Economy
Spirit Airlines moved to Miramar from Eastpointe, Michigan in November 1999. JL Audio and Arise Virtual Solutions are also headquartered in Miramar.
The Leadership in Energy & Environment Design in Miramar houses the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Miami field office and a General Services Administration (GSA) office; named after two FBI agents who died in the 1986 FBI Miami Shootout, it is a 330,000 square feet (31,000 m2) Leadership in Energy & Environment Design (LEED) facility located on a 20-acre (8.1 ha) site. The FBI field office, previously in North Miami Beach, moved to Miramar on December 8, 2014. The building was dedicated on April 10, 2015.
Top employers
According to Miramar's 2010 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city were:
Education
Miramar is served by Broward County Public Schools.
Elementary schools
- Annabel C. Perry Elementary School
- Coconut Palm Elementary School
- Coral Cove Elementary School
- Dolphin Bay Elementary School
- Fairway Elementary School
- Miramar Elementary School
- Sea Castle Elementary School
- Silver Lakes Elementary School
- Silver Shores Elementary School
- Somerset Academy Miramar Elementary Charter School
- Somerset Academy Central Miramar Elementary Charter School
- Sunset Lakes Elementary School
- Sunshine Elementary School
- St. Stephen Catholic School
- Snapper Creek Elementary School
Public middle schools
- New Renaissance Middle School
- Glades Middle School
- Somerset Academy Miramar Middle Charter School
- Somerset Academy Central Miramar Middle Charter School
Public high schools
- Everglades High School
- Miramar High School
- Somerset Academy Central Miramar High Charter School
Private schools
- Saint Stephen Catholic School
- Saint Bartholomew Catholic School
- Shakeria Catholic School
Trade schools
- DeVry University
- Chamberlain College of Nursing
- University of Phoenix
- Strayer University
- Le Cordon Bleu
Higher education
- Broward College (Miramar Town Center)
- Broward College (Miramar West Center)
- Florida International University (FIU) (Miramar West Center)
- Nova Southeastern University (Miramar Campus)
Media
Miramar is a part of the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood media market, which is the twelfth largest radio market and the seventeenth largest television market in the United States. Its primary daily newspapers are the South Florida-Sun Sentinel and The Miami Herald, and their Spanish-language counterparts El Sentinel and El Nuevo Herald. WTVJ, the Miami area's NBC owned and operated station and WSCV, the Telemundo station also owned by NBC shares their studios and administrative offices in Miramar.
Notable residents
- Jon Beason, NFL football player
- Daniel Braverman, NFL football player
- David E. Canter, sports agent
- Larry Gordon, NFL football player
- Tracy Howard, NFL football player
- Michael Mizrachi, professional poker player
- Elvis Trujillo, jockey
- Johnny Depp, actor
References
External links
- City of Miramar official website
Source of article : Wikipedia