Community Background Report

Brownsville

County

Miami-Dade

Boundaries

North: N.W. 62nd Street
South: SR 112 (Airport Expressway)
West: N.W. 21st Avenue
East: N.W. 37th Avenue

Community Type

Neighborhood

History

Brownsville was originally a settlement for white families in the 1920s. Blacks began moving into the neighborhood between the late 1940s and early 1960s as the population surrounding nearby Liberty Square expanded and many inner-city whites moved to newly built suburban subdivisions surrounding Miami city proper in the wake of World War II.

By the mid-1960s, Brownsville was a thriving community for black professionals. However, the wake of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 that outlawed the restrictive covenants and riots in 1968 and 1980 brought the black flight of middle and upper-class families from the community.

The mainland neighborhood takes its name from the famed Miami Beach resort. In 1970, Ben Novack, the Fontainebleau's original owner, grew jealous of Doris and Alfred Kaskel's plans in Doral and wanted to create his own planned golf course, resort, and community. It was to be known as Fontainebleau Park. Novack, however, soon fell into financial problems (and the Fontainebleau Park would play a part in the hotel's foreclosure in 1977). The company Trafalgar Developers would go on to develop the community under the "Fontainebleau" name, but no link to the famed hotel would ever be mentioned in or promotional materials when the community opened in the '70s.[14]

The community of Fontainebleau Park itself was a collection of sub-divided villages around 2-18 holes golf courses. (East and West course now closed and built upon).[15] The original sales office for Trafalgar Development was located at what is now the Fontainebleau Office Park located at the main Fontainebleau Park entrance and West Flagler Street. Fontainebleau Park West's sales office (West of N.W. 97th Ave) at what is now "Soleil Condominiums". While the Eastern half of the community was heavily designed for condominiums and apartments, the Western portion of the community included "Village Homes", Single-Family Homes, "Garden Homes", and Townhomes.

Community Dynamics

Brownsville, (also known as Brown Sub), is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in metropolitan Miami, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 15,313, up from 14,393 in 2000. After three decades of population loss, Brownsville gained population for the first time in over 40 years in the 2010 US Census.

Brownsville currently has a population of 15,860, with a median age of 36.2 and a median household income of $19,796. Between 2015 and 2016, the population of Brownsville declined from 16,410 to 15,860, a 3.35% decrease, and its median household income declined from $19,968 to $19,796, a 0.86% decrease.

The population of Brownsville is 67.2% Black, 29.5% Hispanic, and 1.4% White. A non-English language is spoken by 32.6% of Brownsville residents, and 86.8% are US citizens. Compared to other places, Brownsville has a relatively high number of Hebrew speakers (170), Spanish speakers (4,401), and French Creole speakers (32).

The median property value in Brownsville is $108,400, and the homeownership rate is 31%. In 2016, the percentage of residents with incomes below the poverty level was 49.7%, compared to 20% at the state level.

Business Landscape

As early as the 1980s, Brownville had acquired a reputation as a breeding ground for crime. Conditions in Brownsville have improved since the 1980's, though there are still weedy lots and abandoned buildings. Thanks to the efforts of the community's neighborhood civic association, major improvements are on the way for Brownsville. The plans include the mixed-use transit development of the Brownsville Metrorail Station at 5200 NW 27th Ave., by Community Service, a nonprofit arm of the Transport Workers Union Local 291. The property has 8.79 acres of land and the company has obtained a 99-year lease on the property.

Construction began on a transit-oriented development known as "Brownsville Transit Village" in 2010, on the 5.8acre site of the Brownsville Metrorail station parking lot. The project cost $100 million to build, and is composed of 467 units in five high-rise, residential towers with ground-floor retail, centered around the Brownsville Metrorail Station. The project was partially funded by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009, and is one of the largest transit-oriented development and affordable housing projects in Miami.

The economy of Brownsville employs 5,009 people, mostly in construction, retail, transportation and warehousing.

Transportation

Brownsville is served by Miami-Dade Transit along major thoroughfares via Metrobus, and by the Miami Metrorail, Tri-Rail, and Amtrak. Major roadways include NW 62nd, NW 54th, and NW 46th Streets, as well as NW 22nd, NW 27th, NW 32nd, and NW 37th Avenues, and I 95. Car ownership in Brownsville is lower than the national average, with an average of one car per household.