Community Background Report

City of North Miami Beach

County

Miami-Dade

Boundaries

See interactive map

Unincorporated pockets:

1. irregular area between East Drive, North Miami Avenue and N.E. 171st Terrace
2. area between N.E. 1st Avenue and 175th Street to N.E. 2nd Avenue and 171st Street
3. irregular area between N.E. 177th Street and 5th Avenue to N.E. 175th Street and 3rd Avenue
4. irregular area between N.E. 6th Avenue and 181st Street to N.E. 15th Avenue and 163rd Street including 163rd Street Mall sub-division

Community Type

Municipality

History

When Carl Fisher (the builder of the Indianapolis Speedway) began developing the area of Miami Beach in 1925, he envisioned a winter auto racing capital. Fisher and Associates built a speedway in what is now the Sky Lake neighborhood of North Miami Beach. In 1926, the Fulford-Miami Speedway held its first and only racing event, which attracted a crowd of over 20,000 spectators. The hurricane of 1926 destroyed the Speedway and caused extensive damage to residential and commercial structures. At the time of the hurricane, the surrounding area was unincorporated. In order to receive federal and state funding, local residents banded together and incorporated as the Town of Fulford in 1927. In 1931, the State legislature authorized a new city charter for the Town of Fulford, which annexed beach property and changed its name to the City of North Miami Beach. In 1951, the opening of North Miami Beach Boulevard spawned residential and commercial growth throughout the City. During the 1950s and 1960s, businesses and professionals began moving into the area. This growth encouraged governmental changes, and in 1958 the City adopted its existing council/manager governmental structure.

North Miami Beach has an authentic medieval Spanish monastery, the St. Bernard de Clairvaux Church. This stone building around a patio, the cloisters of the Monastery of St. Bernard de Clairvaux, was built in Sacramenia, Segovia, Spain in the 12th century. It was purchased by William Randolph Hearst in the 1920s, dismantled and shipped to the United States, and reassembled after Hearst's death in North Miami Beach in the 1950s.

Community Dynamics

A series of charrettes held between 2005 and 2007 show that residents are politically and socially active, embracing their parks, community centers, civic and cultural facilities, and supporting local business districts. The citizenry is over 43,000 strong and of many different ethnicities, including 42.1% Black, 37% Hispanic, 18% non-Hispanic White, and 3.4% Asian. The median household income is $38,387, which is below the Miami-Dade County median of $43,099.

Community leaders claim that prospective residents can find everything from small starter homes to luxury waterfront condominiums in the community. There are five community centers, three aquatic facilities, a community daycare, and six parks in North Miami Beach. At the aquatic facilities, free water safety clinics are offered for the residents and their children. The City operates its own cable access channel that informs residents about community information and upcoming events.

The community largely consists of older homes and buildings. In some neighborhoods, the newest homes were constructed in the 1970s. In 2000, the City passed a $17.5 million bond issue called the ‘Proud Neighborhoods Plan’. The plan consists of 46 different projects aimed at upgrading streets, sidewalks, drainage facilities, lighting, and landscaping in neighborhoods throughout the City.

Business Landscape

Nearly 200 businesses are started annually within the City of North Miami Beach. In addition, numerous individual professionals, such as lawyers, accountants, real estate agents, and mortgage brokers obtain an occupational license to practice at an existing business in the City. The City has a long-standing policy of supporting business growth, striving to make the process of opening a business and obtaining an occupational license as easy as possible. The City’s Community Redevelopment Agency is interested in revitalizing business districts and neighborhoods by providing needed financial support for projects and programs aimed at increasing economic activity. Currently, major employers in the City include Parkway Hospital, Aventura Hospital, and FMS restaurant management systems.

The area along 163rd Street, and also heavily concentrated along 167th Street in North Miami Beach, is known as the business center of Miami-Dade County's Asian-American community, especially among Chinese-Americans. According to Miami.com, many varieties of Asian food can be found along this route, including Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino and others. The Biscayne Times refers to this area as “Chinatown”.

Transportation Characteristics

“Chinatown” and the 163rd Street Mall, which are both located along the State Road 836 East extension to the beaches, have contributed greatly to the heavy traffic along this corridor. The annual average daily traffic counts are between 50,000 and 70,000. Aging infrastructure, poor signage, and unsynchronized traffic lights also contribute to the traffic bottleneck phenomena along 167th and 163rd Streets. There are a few projects to improve landscaping, digital signage, drainage, curbing and lighting being carried out mainly along the eastern part of the corridor.