Miramar, Florida

Miramar is a city in southern Broward County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 134,721. It is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area, which is home to approximately six million people.

Miramar, Florida
City
City of Miramar
Seal
Motto(s): 
Beauty and Progress
Coordinates: 25°58′44″N 80°16′57″W
Country United States
State Florida
County Broward
IncorporatedMay 26, 1955
Government
 • TypeCommission-Manager
 • MayorWayne Messam
 • Vice-MayorYvette Colbourne,
 • CommissionersWinston F. Barnes, Maxwell B. Chambers and Alexandra P. Davis
 • City ManagerInterim City Manager, Dr. Roy Virgin
 • City ClerkDenise A. Gibbs
Area
[1]
 • City31.08 sq mi (80.50 km2)
 • Land28.85 sq mi (74.73 km2)
 • Water2.23 sq mi (5.77 km2)  5.66%
Elevation
9 ft (2 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • City134,721
 • Rank190th
 • Density4,669.22/sq mi (1,802.77/km2)
 • Metro
5,762,717 (8th)
 • Metro density4,134.1/sq mi (1,596.2/km2)
Time zoneUTC−5 (EST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP codes
33023, 33025, 33027, 33029
Area code(s)754, 954
FIPS code12-45975[2]
GNIS feature ID0286974[3]
Websitewww.miramarfl.gov

History

Miramar was founded by A.L. Mailman to serve as a "bedroom community" for nearby Miami and Fort Lauderdale. 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 was named for the Miramar area of Havana, Cuba where Mailman had a summer home (Miramar translates to "look at the sea" in Spanish).[4] At the time of incorporation, the city had a population of less than two hundred people. With approximately 2.9 square miles of 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 whom were appointed by the governor and served until January 1959, at which time the first municipal election was held.[5] Mayor Robert Gordon is the individual who is attributed to have given the city its name.[5] The city seal is inscribed with the motto "Beauty and Progress".[5]

H.D. Perry Sr.'s part in Miramar did not cease with selling the land to 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. Two-thirds of the land within city limits is currently undeveloped.

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.[6]

A 2017 study put the city in fifth place for US cities most vulnerable to coastal flooding, with 93,000 residents living within FEMA's coastal floodplain.[7]

The city is bordered by the following municipalities:

To the north:

To the northeast:

To the east:

  • West Park

To the south:

Demographics
Historical population
CensusPop.%±
19605,485—
197023,997337.5%
198032,81336.7%
199040,66323.9%
200072,73978.9%
2010122,04167.8%
2020134,72110.4%
U.S. Decennial Census[8]

2020 census
Miramar racial composition
(Hispanics excluded from racial categories)
(NH = Non-Hispanic)[9]
Race Number Percentage
White (NH) 10,816 8.03%
Black or African American (NH) 55,386 41.11%
Native American or Alaska Native (NH) 135 0.1%
Asian (NH) 7,708 5.72%
Pacific Islander (NH) 25 0.02%
Some Other Race (NH) 1,381 1.03%
Mixed/Multi-Racial (NH) 3,933 2.92%
Hispanic or Latino 55,337 41.08%
Total 134,721

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 134,721 people, 39,853 households, and 31,042 families residing in the city.

2010 census
Miramar Demographics
2010 CensusMiramarBroward CountyFlorida
Total population122,0411,748,06618,801,310
Population, percent change, 2000 to 2020+67.8%+7.7%+17.6%
Population density4,134.1/sq mi1,444.9/sq mi350.6/sq mi
White or Caucasian (including White Hispanic)41.0%63.1%75.0%
(Non-Hispanic White or Caucasian)11.6%43.5%57.9%
Black or African-American45.7%26.7%16.0%
Hispanic or Latino (of any race)36.9%25.1%22.5%
Asian5.2%3.2%2.4%
Native American or Native Alaskan0.2%0.3%0.4%
Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian0.0%0.1%0.1%
Two or more races (Multiracial)3.7%2.9%2.5%
Some Other Race4.2%3.7%3.6%

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.[10]

As of 2000, Miramar had the fifth highest percentage of Jamaican residents in the United States, with 15.4% of the populace,[11] the 58th highest percentage of Colombian residents in the US, at 2.51% of the city's population,[12] and the 48th highest percentage of Cuban residents in the US, at 8.77% of the city's population.[13] It also had the 78th most Dominicans in the US, at 1.98%,[14] while it had the 31st highest percentage of Haitians (tied with West Little River), at 6% of all residents.[15] Miramar's Trinidadian community had the 12th highest percentage of residents, which was at 1.2% (tied with Wheatley Heights, New York, and Neptune City, New Jersey).[16]

Economy

Spirit Airlines moved to Miramar from Eastpointe, Michigan, in November 1999.[17] 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,[18] 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.[19] The building was dedicated on April 10, 2015.[18]

Top employers

According to Miramar's 2016 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,[20] the top employers in the city were:

# Employer # of Employees Percentage of Total City Employment
1 Comcast of South Florida 1530 4.30%
2 Strayer University 1401 3.94%
3 Royal Caribbean Cruises 1174 3.31%
4 Memorial Hospital Miramar 1147 3.23%
5 City of Miramar 1059 2.98%
6 Humana Medical Plans 887 2.49%
7 Interactive Response Technologies/iQor 707 1.99%
8 Spirit Airlines 622 1.75%
9 Carnival 583 1.64%
10 Quest Diagnostics 472 1.33%

Landmarks

The Miramar Cultural Center and ArtsPark was created to celebrate creativity and diversity within the city. Located in the heart of the Miramar Town Center, situated adjacent to City Hall and centrally located, the center is visible and accessible from Red Road, Miramar Boulevard and Hiatus Road and features ample free parking on-site.

The Miramar Branch Library Education Center's collection consists of over 80,000 items in all media and genres. The library also offers video games in several PlayStation, Xbox and Wii formats. Other features include a 100-seat multi-purpose room, conference room, group study room, several tutoring rooms and over 50 public computers and printed with instruction and special software available in its Computer Center.

The Miramar Regional Park Amphitheater provides an opportunity for live concert performances and outdoor entertainment to be housed and produced in a uniquely developed venue in South Florida. An open-air venue that will seat 5,000 people (3,000 covered canopy; 2,000 grass area), it is also used for film and television production. Amenities includes a ticket booth, electronic signage, lakes, and fountains.

Education

Miramar is served by Broward County Public Schools.[21]

Public schools
Elementary schools
  • Coconut Palm Elementary School[22]
  • Coral Cove Elementary School[23]
  • Dolphin Bay Elementary School[24]
  • Fairway Elementary School[25]
  • Miramar Elementary School[26]
  • Sea Castle Elementary School[27]
  • Silver Lakes Elementary School[28]
  • Silver Shores Elementary School[29]
  • Sunset Lakes Elementary School[30]
  • Sunshine Elementary School[31]
Middle schools
K–8 schools
  • Annabel C. Perry K–8[35]
High schools
  • Everglades High School[36]
  • Miramar High School[37]
Alternative schools
  • Henry D. Perry Education Center

Charter schools
  • Somerset Academy Miramar Elementary Charter School
  • Somerset Academy Central Miramar Elementary Charter School
  • Somerset Academy Miramar Middle Charter School
  • Somerset Academy Central Miramar Middle Charter School
  • Somerset Academy Central Miramar High Charter School

Private schools

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami operates Catholic schools. Saint Bartholomew Catholic School is in Miramar.

Saint Stephen Catholic School opened in 1956.[38] It opened in the 1950s and closed in 2009,[39] with the building rented to a charter school.[40]

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)
  • University of Florida MBA (South Florida Campus)

Government

Municipal government

On June 20, 1955, the city's inaugural mayor and city council were sworn in, all having been appointed by the Governor of Florida.[5] They all served until the city's first municipal elections were held in 1959.[5]

The city's current mayor is Wayne Messam.

Miramar currently operates under a council–manager government.[41]

Up until March 13, 1991, the city had previously operated under the "strong mayor" form of the mayor–city council form of government.[41] In 1989, by unanimous accord of the mayor and the Miramar City Commission, work was laid to study changing to a council–manager form of government.[41] On March 14, 1990, Miramar voters approved a referendum to change to this form of government.[41]

List of mayors
List of mayors of Miramar, Florida[5]
Name Period served
Robert GordonJune 1955–January 1959
Charles KnappJanuary 1959–February 1959
Samuel WinfieldApril 1959–January 1960
Richard CalhounJanuary 1960–March 1975
Harry RosenMarch 1975–March 1979
Joe VeinsMarch 1979–March 1983
Frank BrancaMarch 1983–April 1989
Viciki CoceanoJune 1989–March 1999
Lori Cohen MoseleyMarch 1999–March 2015
Wayne MessamMarch 2015–Present

Media

Miramar is a part of the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood media market, which is the twelfth largest radio market[42] and the seventeenth largest television market[43] 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 people
  • Jon Beason, NFL football player
  • Daniel Braverman, NFL football player
  • Lionel Brown, professional soccer player and U.S. Virgin Islands national team player
  • David E. Canter, sports agent
  • Wayne Cochran, American soul singer
  • Johnny Depp, actor
  • Jason Derulo, singer
  • Larry Gordon, NFL football player
  • Alcee Hastings, U.S. Representative
  • Tracy Howard, NFL football player
  • Wayne Messam, former presidential candidate
  • Michael Mizrachi, professional poker player
  • Elvis Trujillo, jockey

See also
  • 2019 Miramar shootout

References
  1. "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
  2. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  3. "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  4. "R. Gordon, Ex-Miramar Mayor".
  5. "MIRAMAR'S HISTORY". Miramar, Florida. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  6. "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Miramar city, Florida". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
  7. "These U.S. Cities Are Most Vulnerable to Major Coastal Flooding and Sea Level Rise". www.climatecentral.org. October 25, 2017. Retrieved 2019-12-19.
  8. "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  9. "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved 2022-02-11.
  10. "MLA Data Center results for Miramar, FL". Modern Language Association. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  11. "Ancestry Map of Jamaican Communities". Epodunk.com. Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2007-10-25.
  12. "Ancestry Map of Colombian Communities". Epodunk.com. Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2007-10-25.
  13. "Ancestry Map of Cuban Communities". Epodunk.com. Archived from the original on 2012-11-22. Retrieved 2007-10-25.
  14. "Ancestry Map of Dominican Communities". Epodunk.com. Archived from the original on 2010-10-17. Retrieved 2007-10-25.
  15. "Ancestry Map of Haitian Communities". Epodunk.com. Archived from the original on 2012-09-23. Retrieved 2007-10-25.
  16. "Ancestry Map of Trinidadian & Tobagonian Communities". Epodunk.com. Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2007-10-25.
  17. "Spirit Airlines Honored as Good Corporate Citizen of the Year; Miramar Business Appreciation 2003." Business Wire. February 13, 2003. Retrieved on December 17, 2009.
  18. "FBI and GSA Dedicate the New Benjamin P. Grogan and Jerry L. Dove Federal Building." Federal Bureau of Investigation. April 10, 2015. Retrieved on June 9, 2015. "the Federal building at 2030 Southwest 145th Avenue in Miramar, Florida, as the 'Benjamin P. Grogan and Jerry L. Dove Federal Building'"
  19. "FBI Miami Division Moves to New Location." Federal Bureau of Investigation. December 8, 2014. Retrieved on June 9, 2015.
  20. City of Miramar CAFR Archived 2018-02-09 at the Wayback Machine
  21. "Zoning Map". Miramar, Florida. Retrieved 2020-05-09. - Compare this map to school attendance boundary maps. Alternate map.
  22. "Coconut Palm Elementary School" (PDF). Broward County Public Schools. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  23. "Coral Cove Elementary School" (PDF). Broward County Public Schools. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  24. "Dolphin Bay Elementary School" (PDF). Broward County Public Schools. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  25. "Fairway Elementary School" (PDF). Broward County Public Schools. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  26. "Miramar Elementary School" (PDF). Broward County Public Schools. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  27. "Sea Castle Elementary School" (PDF). Broward County Public Schools. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  28. "Silver Lakes Elementary School" (PDF). Broward County Public Schools. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  29. "Silver Shores Elementary School" (PDF). Broward County Public Schools. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  30. "Sunset Lakes Elementary School" (PDF). Broward County Public Schools. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  31. "Sunshine Elementary School" (PDF). Broward County Public Schools. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  32. "New Renaissance Middle School" (PDF). Broward County Public Schools. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  33. "Glades Middle School" (PDF). Broward County Public Schools. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  34. "Silver Trail Middle School" (PDF). Broward County Public Schools. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  35. "Perry, Annabel C. K-8" (PDF). Broward County Public Schools. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  36. "Miramar High School" (PDF). Broward County Public Schools. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  37. "Everglades High School" (PDF). Broward County Public Schools. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  38. "50th Anniversary of St. Stephen Church - Our Story". St. Stephen Catholic Church. 2007-05-19. Archived from the original on 2007-05-19. Retrieved 2020-05-09. - Page confirming URL of Saint Stephen Church
  39. Johnson, Akilah (2009-01-23). "Six schools to close as Archdiocese retrenches". South Florida Sun Sentinel. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
  40. "History". Saint Stephen Catholic Church. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  41. "GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE". Miramar, Florida. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  42. "Top 50 Radio Markets Ranked By Metro 12+ Population, Spring 2005". Northwestern University Media Management Center. Archived from the original on 2007-08-07. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  43. "Top 50 TV markets ranked by households". Northwestern University Media Management Center. Archived from the original on 2007-08-07. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
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