Miami Shores, Florida

History

The present Miami Shores roughly corresponds with the original "Biscayne" neighborhood of the City of Miami. With the arrival of the Great Depression, the City of Miami gave up its jurisdiction and the area incorporated under the name Miami Shores Village in 1932. Previously, part of the area that now comprises the City of North Miami had been known as Miami Shores.

Today, Miami Shores is primarily a bedroom community for those working in Greater Miami, and also has a sizeable retired population. The village is mostly single family residential, with very few multi-family units and only two small commercial areas along Northeast 2nd Avenue and Biscayne Boulevard.

While it is frequently referred to as "Miami Shores" or the "Village of Miami Shores," the municipality's official name under its charter is "Miami Shores Village."

Geography

Miami Shores is located at 25°51′55″N 80°11′18″W.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 9.7 km² (3.75 sq mi). 6.4 square kilometres (2.47 sq mi) of it is land and 3.3 square kilometres (1.3 sq mi) of it (34.05%) is water.

Demographics

As of 2010, there were 3,935 households out of which 7.8% were vacant. In 2000, 32.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.0% were married couples living together, 12.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.0% were non-families. 23.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.24. The village also has one of the highest percentages of homosexual couples in the United States.

In 2000, the village population was spread out with 22.5% under the age of 18, 12.1% from 18 to 24, 28.9% from 25 to 44, 24.0% from 45 to 64, and 12.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 95.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.7 males.

In 2000, the median income for a household in the village was $56,306, and the median income for a family was $64,963. Males had a median income of $42,373 versus $35,530 for females. The per capita income for the village was $26,134. About 6.9% of families and 8.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.2% of those under age 18 and 7.6% of those age 65 or over.

As of 2000, Miami Shores had the 102nd highest percentage of Colombian residents in the US, with 1.64% of the US populace. It had the fifty-ninth highest percentage of Cuban residents in the US, at 6.27% of the village's population, and the 121st highest percentage of Dominican residents in the US, at 1.28% of its population. It also had the twentieth most Haitians in the US, at 8.30% of all residents.

Based on 2010 data, the ancestries of only the Hispanic and Latino population from highest to lowest were as follows: Cubans made up the 33.41%, South Americans were at 25.97%, Puerto Ricans accounted for 11.48%, Central Americans totaled 10.70%, and Mexicans were 2.95% of all residents.

Form of government

The village operates under a council-manager system. It has a Village Council of five members, who are elected at-large. The Village Charter provides that the two individuals receiving the highest number of votes are elected to four year terms. The individual(s) receiving the next highest number of votes is elected to a two-year term. The position of Mayor is selected by the Council at its inaugural meeting. Historically, the individual receiving the highest number of votes is selected to serve as the Mayor, and holds this position for two years of the four-year term. At the conclusion of their term as Mayor, the individual retains a seat on the Council as a "regular" Council member for the next two years. Elections are held every two years, with either two or three seats being open at each election in the ordinary course.

Each Council Member is a voting member of the Council, with the Mayor serving as the Chair. The council is responsible for enacting most village laws, approving capital expenditures, and hiring the Village Manager. There are also a number of administrative boards, such as Planning & Zoning, Code Enforcement, and Personnel Appeals, that manage various aspects of the Village government. Members

The Village Manager is the Village's chief executive officer, in charge of managing the day-to-day functions of the village. The village maintains its own police department, but fire services are supplied by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department Station 38.

Policy on vegetable gardens

In 2013, two residents, married couple Hermine Ricketts and Tom Carroll, were cited by the village under a code provision that prohibited vegetable gardens in front yards. The couple's entire front yard, along with the adjacent village-owned right of way, was planted with a large crop of various vegetables. They claimed that the garden had been in place for 17 years and supplied about 80% of their meals, eliminating their need to buy produce. The Miami Shores Code Enforcement Board ordered the couple to remove the garden or face a fine of $50 a day.

The Institute for Justice filed a suit on their behalf, claiming that the "backyard only" rule was arbitrary and violated the couple's property rights under the Florida Constitution. The story garnered national attention. On August 25, 2016, Judge Monica Gordo granted the Village's summary judgment motion, finding that, "the prohibition of vegetable gardens except in backyards is rationally related to Miami Shores' legitimate interest in promoting and maintaining aesthetics," and that the rule therefore, "passes constitutional scrutiny."

Alleged racial discrimination in seatbelt ticketing

Following the January 2016 report, "Racial Disparities in Florida Safety Belt Law Enforcement," published by the ACLU (which did not mention Miami Shores), local CBS-affiliate station WFOR-TV gathered additional statistics from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. A single sentence in WFOR's report noted that Miami Shores Police wrote 261 seat belt citations in 2014, with 186 (or 71%) of those citations going to African American drivers.

However, the report failed to note the higher than average African American population of the area. Miami Shores itself is 23.8% African American as compared to 18.9% for Miami-Dade County and 16.31% for the State of Florida as a whole. More significantly, there are several large, majority-African American communities to the north, south, and west of Miami Shores, namely North Miami (58.9% African American), Little Haiti (64.9% African American), West Little River (57.2% African American), Gladeview (76.98% African American) and Westview (75.6% African American). Each of these communities has a population equal to or greater than that of Miami Shores. Major thoroughfares such as Biscayne Boulevard and Miami Avenue run through these communities and through Miami Shores, with the result that a large portion of those transiting Miami Shores by car are African American.

Educational institutions

Miami-Dade County Public Schools operates district public schools serving Miami Shores:

MDCPS schools

The following public, charter, and private schools are located in Miami Shores:

Colleges and universities

Public library

Brockway Memorial Library was founded in 1949. While over the years the county wide Miami-Dade Public Library System has taken over the libraries of most of the cities in the county, the Miami Shores public library has remained independent. This independent public library first opened in February 1949 due to the generosity of George A. Brockway, an industrialist and part-time South Florida resident, who donated the funds to build the library. The land the library was built on was donated by Bessemer Properties under the management of Roy H. Hawkins. This library is considered the central cultural and educational hub of the Village of Miami Shores. Brockway Memorial Library offers patrons a large and diverse collection of materials that contain, print books, magazines, newspapers, online databases, eBooks, multi- media resources such as computers, DVDs, music and a diversity of social clubs and activities to serve the patrons and the community at large. In 2002 funds were raise to be able to construct and additional 2500 square feet to the library. “This new addition was a multimedia room housing, electronic books, dedicated spaces for videos and audio books, reference materials, a Computer Center and the Miami Shores Archives.” The Miami Shores Archives is a special collection of local area history. The library’s schedule is available online.