Miami Lakes, Florida


Miami Lakes is a suburb of Miami, an incorporated town and former census-designated place in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. US Census, 29,361 people live in Miami Lakes.

History

The development was constructed by Sengra beginning in 1962, on land formerly owned by Florida State Senator Ernest "Cap" Graham. The Grahams stated for many years that it would be a 30-year development, but they are still developing to this day.
The original Miami Lakes development, east of the Palmetto Expressway, was master planned by Lester Collins with curving tree-shaded roadways and numerous curving lakes, which are unusual compared to most surrounding areas with their treeless streets on a square grid and rectangular lakes. This original development, which is on the east side of the more recently designated Town of Miami Lakes, has neighborhood shopping centers, tot-lot parks, and a town center named Main Street. A significant portion of Miami Lakes is still owned by the Grahams, mostly apartment buildings, shopping centers, office buildings, and still undeveloped land. The town is an early model of the New Urbanism movement with shopping and services located in walking distance of residences as well as narrow walkable streets and plenty of neighborhood parks.
When it incorporated in December 2000, the Town of Miami Lakes became the 31st municipality in Miami-Dade County. Known as one of the youngest cities in the County, Miami Lakes is home to approximately 30,000 residents and more than 1,100 businesses.
The Master Plan began over 50 years ago, when the Graham family began development of what was their dairy farm. Unlike many cities and towns created during the early 1960s, the Grahams decided to create a master plan for the city that would allow for decades of growth, construction, and changing market conditions. Lester Collins, former Dean of the Harvard School of Architecture, was enlisted to create a Master Plan for the area that would become the center of Miami Lakes. Collins laid the foundation for an integrated community, including residential, commercial, industrial and mixed uses.
Former U.S. Senator Bob Graham, younger half brother of family patriarch William "Bill" Graham, is one of the owners, and the late publisher of the Washington Post, Katharine Graham, had a share by marriage. On December 5, 2000, Miami Lakes voted to become an incorporated town.

Geography

Miami Lakes is located at.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of. of it is land and of it is water.

Demographics

, there were 8,248 households out of which 4.2% were vacant. In 2000, 37.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.6% were married couples living together, 12.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.9% were non-families. 20.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.75 and the average family size was 3.21.
In 2000, the population was spread out with 25.1% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 34.9% from 25 to 44, 22.7% from 45 to 64, and 10.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.4 males.
-2013, the median income for a household in the town was $63,754 and the median income for a family was $68,431. Males had a median income of $45,759 versus $31,656 for females. The per capita income for the town was $28,867. About 3.8% of families and 4.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.1% of those under age 18 and 5.2% of those age 65 or over.
As of 2000, speakers of Spanish as a first language accounted for 72.41%, while English made up 24.65%, Portuguese was at 0.67%, and Urdu consisted of 0.64% of residents.
As of 2000, Miami Lakes had the twenty-second highest percentage of Arab residents in the US, with 1.10% of the US populace It had the twenty-seventh highest percentage of Colombian residents in the US, at 4.43% of the town's population, and the twelfth highest percentage of Cuban residents in the US, at 42.28% of its population. It also had the ninety-sixth most Dominicans in the US, at 1.65%, while it had the thirty-ninth highest percentage of Nicaraguans, at 1.07% of all residents. Miami Lake's Venezuelan community had the eighteenth highest percentage of residents, which was at 1.06%

Government

Since its incorporation in 2000, the Town of Miami Lakes operates under a Council-Manager form of government. The Council-manager system combines the strong leadership of elected officials with the strong managerial experience of an appointed Town Manager.
The Mayor's seat is elected at-large for a four-year term. As defined in the Town's Charter, the Mayor shall preside at meetings of the Council and be a voting member of the Council.
The Town Council is vested with all legislative powers of the Town. The Council consists of the Mayor and six members.
Current council members:
Mayor Manny Cid
Vice Mayor Nelson Rodriguez -Seat 1
Councilmember Seat 2-Jeffrey Rodriguez
Councilmember Seat 3-Marilyn Ruano
Council member Seat 4-Josh Dieguez
Councilmember Seat 5-Luis Collazo
Councilmember Seat 6-Carlos O. Alvarez
The Town of Miami Lakes held a grand opening and ribbon-cutting for their new Town Hall on April 23, 2013, located at the east end of Main Street.
On October 5, 2010, Nelson Hernandez became the youngest council member elected to the Miami Lakes Town Council at the age of 24 since the town incorporated in 2000.
The Miami-Dade Police Department operates the Northwest District Station in Miami Lakes. The station provides law enforcement services to Miami Lakes.
The Miami-Dade Fire Rescue operates Station 1 Miami Lakes & Station 64 Miami Lakes West.

Veteran's Memorial

The Town of Miami Lakes has a unique indoor Veteran's Memorial located at the Royal Oaks Park Community Center. The memorial is a 50-foot-long mural that features a combination of the following media: two digitized paintings of military scenes throughout U.S. history, wood carvings, stained glass, and hand-made glass mosaics molded from leaves of Miami Lakes' trees. The centerpiece of the artwork consists of the seals from each of the US military service branches and the POW/MIA seal. The memorial was inaugurated on Memorial Day of 2011. The artists are Alfred Darmanin and Michelle Stecco.
The Veterans Memorial entitled "V is for Veterans" was unveiled in front of Miami Lakes Town Hall on Sept. 4, 2014.
The artwork was created by Artist Stephanie Jaffe Werner to honor all five of the United States Military Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.

Education

Public Schools

serves Miami Lakes.

Catholic