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Urban Sprawl in Miami-Dade CountyAmanda Cillo, Angelica Rodriguez, Latifah McMullen

+Beginnings of Miami-Dade County

After the US gained possession of Florida, area where Dade County is today was an area inhabited by people living off of items from shipwrecks

In the 1920s after Henry Flagler built railroads through the area, the land was settled and tourist resorts started springing up.

After WWII, men from the war who trained in Miami returned to live their with their families.

Immigration in later years played a large role in the county’s government

+Geography of Miami-Dade County

North, Central and Eastern portions are highly urbanized. High rises South Florida’s central business district

South: agricultural economy Redland makes up 1/3 of land area and is not as densely

populated as the North

The Unincorporated Municipal Services Area (USMA) refers to all areas in Miami-Dade County that are not a part of a muncipality

Maps

+Miami-Dade County Demographics

Immigration: Thousands of Cuban refugees

started coming to the area in the 1960s. In 1962, this helped the county’s population surpass 1 million.

In the 1990s, Haitians fled to Dade County to find a better life, causing to grow even more.

+Impact on population

Population of Dade County in 1950 was 495,000 before a lot of the immigrants living in the County now came

In 1972, the county’s population went over 1 million

2010 census recorded a population in Dade County of 2,496,435 Most populous county in Florida 8th most populous county in the United States

Dade County is Florida’s third largest

+Miami vs. Miami-Dade County Government

Two-Tier system of government: Cities are on the “lower tier” Counties are on the “upper tier”

City of Miami’s powers: Fire, police, zoning, code enforcement

Dade County’s powers: Emergency management, airport and seaport

operations, public housing and health care services, transportation, environmental services, solid waste disposal

+Switching Municipal Powers from City of Miami to Dade County Technical and political reasons:

Expansion on the metropolitan area proved to be too much to handle for the City of Miami or other municipalities

USMA has almost 50% of population in the county, but is not under the jurisdiction of any municipality

Consolidating governmental powers also reduced the Cubans impact on politics in Miami

Legislation first introduced in 1945, but no action was taken until 1953

Metropolitan Miami Municipal Board (3M board) set out to draft new government plan

Used newspapers to promote their new plan

+Miami-Dade County Government Structure

Governed by a Board of Commissioners with 13 members, one for each district of the county.

Board is overseen by mayor of Miami-Dade County

Mayor has the right to veto any of the board’s actions within 10 days of the action

+Dade County Government

Mayor: Carlos A. Gimenez

Currently has over 26,0000 employees and a budget of over $6 billion

His mission includes reducing taxes and shrinking the size of government

Focused on stimulating job creation, expanding international trade, and attracting businesses and industries to the diversity of Miami-Dade County’s economic base.

+Commissioners

The County is comprised of 13 districts and are represented by 13 commissioners.

Office of the ChairDistrict 1 - Barbara J. JordanDistrict 2 - Jean Monestime  District 3 - Audrey EdmonsonDistrict 4 - Sally A. HeymanDistrict 5 - Bruno A. Barreiro  District 6 - Rebeca Sosa  District 7 - Xavier L. SuarezDistrict 8 - Lynda BellDistrict 9 - Dennis C. Moss  District 10 - Javier D. Souto  District 11 - Joe A. MartinezDistrict 12 - José "Pepe" Diaz  District 13 - Esteban Bovo, Jr.

+Discussion Questions

How can metropolitan areas handle urban sprawls in a different manner?

What do you think would happen if the city kept all of its powers to itself?

What other cities do you think could benefit from giving municipal powers to its county government and why?