This page will contain discussion groups about Miami, as they become available.Miami, Florida |
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| "The Magic City, The American Riviera, The Sixth Borough" | |
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| Founded | 1896 |
| City Government Style | Mayor-Council |
| Mayor | Manuel “Manny” Diaz (R) |
| Area - Total - Water |
55.27 mi² (143.15km²) 19.59 mi² (50.73 km²) 35.44% |
| Population - City (2005) - Density |
382,894 10,734.34/mi² |
| Time zone | Eastern: UTC-5 |
| Time zone | Central: UTC-6 |
| Latitude Longitude |
25°47' N 80°13' W |
| City of Miami Official Website | |
Miami is a major city located in the southeast corner of the U.S. state of Florida. Miami and the surrounding metropolitan area sits between the Miami River, Biscayne Bay, the Everglades and the Atlantic Ocean. It is the second largest city in Florida and the county seat (and largest city) of Miami-Dade County. It is also the largest city in the South Florida metropolitan area, which is comprised of Miami-Dade County, Broward County, and Palm Beach County making up the largest metropolitan area in the Southeastern United States.
Miami was officially incorporated as a city on July 28, 1896 with a population of just over 300. In 1940, 172,172 people lived in Miami, Florida. According to the 2000 census the city of Miami had a population of 362,470 while the larger metropolitan area had a population over 5 million. The U.S. Census Bureau estimate of the population of Miami in 2004 was 379,724 1.
Miami's explosive population growth in recent years has been driven by internal migration from other parts of the country as well as by immigration. Greater Miami is regarded as a cultural melting pot, heavily influenced both by its very large population of ethnic Latin Americans and Caribbean islanders (many of them Spanish- or Haitian Creole-speaking).
The region's importance as an international financial and cultural center has elevated Miami to the status of world city; because of its cultural and linguistic ties to North, South, Central America, and the Caribbean it is sometimes called "The Gateway of the Americas." Miami, along with Atlanta, ranks as one of the most important business centers in the Southeastern United States.
Two vessels of the U.S. Navy have been named USS Miami in honor of the city.
The origin of the name Miami is unknown. One possibility is that it comes from a Native American word for "sweet water." The area was a concentration of water because the Miami River is essentially a funnel for water from the Everglades to the Atlantic Ocean. Another theory is that the name comes from the original name of Lake Okeechobee, Mayaimi, which meant "big water" by the natives that lived there. After contact with Europeans they were named after their name for the lake, becoming known as the Mayaimi tribe, while the lake's name was eventually replaced with the Miccosukee tribe's words oka (water) and chobi (big), "big water." There is no evidence that there was any connection between the Miami Indian tribes and the southeastern United States, let alone in south Florida.
Native Americans are known to have settled in the Miami region for about 10,000 years. Its inhabitants at the time of first European contact were the Tequesta people, who controlled an area covering much of Southeastern Florida including what is now Miami-Dade County, Broward County, and the southern parts of Palm Beach County. The Tequesta are credited with making the Miami Circle.
See also: Spanish contacts with the Tequesta
Pedro Menendez de Avilés and his men visited the Tequesta settlement in 1566. Spanish settlers built a mission at the mouth of the Miami River by 1567. They built a fort in 1743. Many Spanish colonists, along with residents of other lands, established homes and farms along the Miami River and Biscayne Bay.
People came from the Bahamas to South Florida and the Keys to hunt for treasure from the ships that crashed onto the treacherous Great Florida reef. Some accepted Spanish land offers along the Miami River. At about the same time, the Seminole Indians arrived, along with a group of runaway slaves.
In the 1830s, Richard Fitzpatrick bought land on the Miami River from the Bahamians. Fort Dallas was located on Fitzpatrick’s Plantation on the north bank of the river.
The area became a war zone during the Second Seminole War. Most non-Indian residents were soldiers stationed at Fort Dallas. It was the most devastating Indian war in American history. It caused almost a total loss of population in the Miami area.
After the Second Seminole War ended in 1842, Fitzpatrick’s nephew, William English, reestablished the plantation in Miami. He charted the “Village of Miami” on the south bank of the Miami River and sold several plots of land.
The Third Seminole War (1855-1858) was not as destructive as the second one. Even so, it slowed down the settlement of southeast Florida. At the end of the war, a few of the soldiers stayed. Some of the Seminole remained in the Everglades. However as late as the 1890s, only a handful of families made their homes in Miami.
In 1891, a wealthy Cleveland, Ohio woman named Julia Tuttle purchased an enormous citrus plantation in the area. She initially pressured railroad magnate Henry Flagler to expand his rail line, the Florida East Coast Railroad southward to the area, but he initially declined the offer.
Miami Avenue in 1896In 1894, however, Florida was struck by a terrible winter that destroyed virtually all of the citrus crop in the northern half of the state. Fortunately, unlike the rest of the state, Miami was unaffected, and Tuttle's citrus became the only citrus on the market that year. She wrote to Flagler again, persuading him to visit the area and see it for himself: he did so, and concluded at the end of his first day that the area was ripe for expansion.
Initially, most residents wanted to name the city "Flagler". Henry Flagler was adamant that new city would not be named after himself. So on July 28, 1896, the City of Miami was incorporated with 444 citizens (243 of which were identified as white and 181 as black). In 1900, 1,681 people lived in Miami, Florida; in 1910, 5,471; and in 1920, 29,549.
Miami's growth up to World War II was astronomical:
During the early 1920s, the authorities in Miami allowed gambling and were very lax in regulating Prohibition, and so thousands of people migrated from the northern United States to the Miami region, creating a construction boom and building a skyline of high-rise buildings where none had existed before. Some early developments were razed ten years after their initial construction to make way for even larger buildings.
This speculation boom started to waver because of building construction delays caused by bulk of building materials overloading the transport system into the area. Sometimes a ship bringing these supplies in ran aground, blocking the port. These delays gave investors a chance to think again. Finally this transport choke-up got so bad that Miami's mayor declared an embargo on all incoming goods except food. This economic bubble was already collapsing when the catastrophic Great Miami Hurricane in 1926 ended what was left of this boom. The Great Depression followed.
On February 15, 1933, an assassination attempt was made on President-elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Miami's Bayfront Park. Mayor Anton Cermak of Chicago, who was shaking hands with Roosevelt, was shot and died a few days later. Four other people were wounded, but President-elect Roosevelt was not harmed.[1].
During World War II, the U.S. government constructed many training, supply, and communications facilities around Miami, taking advantage of its strategic location at the southeastern corner of the country. Many servicemen and women returned to Miami after the war, pushing the population up to half a million by 1950.
Downtown Miami, as seen from the Intercontinental Hotel.Following the 1959 revolution that unseated Fulgencio Batista and brought Fidel Castro to power, Cuban exiles began traveling to Florida en masse. In 1965 alone, 100,000 Cubans packed into the twice-daily "freedom flights" between Havana and Miami. Many of the exiles who escaped were middle class to upper class people who had all of their possessions taken from them, and they arrived in the U.S. with very little. The city, for the most part, welcomed the Cuban exiles. Most of the exiles settled into the Riverside neighborhood, which began to take on the new name of "Little Havana." This area emerged as a predominantly Spanish-speaking community, and Spanish speakers elsewhere in the city could conduct most of their daily business in their native tongue.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the Attorney General’s authority was used to grant special permission (called “parole”) to allow Cubans to enter the country. However, parole only allows an individual permission to enter the country, not to stay permanently. In the case of Cubans, this dilemma was resolved by the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966.
Later, the Mariel Boatlift of 1980 brought 150,000 Cubans to Miami in a single flotilla, the largest in civilian history. Unlike the previous exodus of the 1960's, most of the Cuban refugees arriving were poor. Castro used the boatlift as a way of purging his country of many criminals and the mentally ill. During this time, many of the middle class non-Hispanic whites in the community emigrated out of the city, often referred to as "white flight." In 1960, Miami was 90% non-Hispanic white; by 1990 it was only about 10% non-Hispanic white. [citation needed]
In the 1980s, Miami started to see an increase in immigrants from other nations such as Haiti. As the Haitian population grew, the area known today as Little Haiti emerged, centered around Northeast Second Avenue and 54th Street. In the 1990s, the presence of Haitians was acknowledged with Haitian Creole language signs in public places and ballots during voting.
Another major Cuban exodus occurred in 1994. To prevent it from becoming another Mariel Boatlift, the Clinton Administration announced a significant change in U.S. policy. In a controversial action, the administration announced that Cubans interdicted at sea would not be brought to the United States but instead would be taken by the Coast Guard to U.S. military installations at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (or to Panama). During an eight-month period beginning in the summer of 1994, over 30,000 Cubans and more than 20,000 Haitians were interdicted and sent to live in camps outside the United States.
Downtown Miami, as seen from the Intercontinental Hotel at night.On September 9, 1994, the United States and Cuba agreed to “normalize” migration between the two countries. The agreement codified the new U.S. policy of placing Cuban refugees in safe havens outside the United States, while obtaining a commitment from Cuba to discourage Cubans from sailing to America. In addition, the United States committed to admitting a minimum of 20,000 Cuban immigrants per year. That number is in addition to the admission of immediate relatives of U.S. citizens.
On May 2, 1995, a second agreement with the Castro government paved the way for the admission to the United States of the Cubans housed at Guantanamo, who were counted primarily against the first year of the 20,000 annual admissions committed to by the Clinton Administration. It also established a new policy of directly repatriating Cubans interdicted at sea to Cuba. In the agreement, the Cuban government pledged not to retaliate against those who are repatriated.
These agreements with the Cuban government led to what has been called the Wet Foot-Dry Foot Policy, whereby Cubans who make it to shore can stay in the United States – likely becoming eligible to adjust to permanent residence under the Cuban Adjustment Act. However, those who do not make it to dry land ultimately are repatriated unless they can demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution if returned to Cuba. However, because it was stated that Cubans were escaping for political reasons, this policy did not apply to Haitians, who the government claimed were seeking asylum for economic reasons.
Since then, the Latin and Caribbean-friendly atmosphere in Miami has made it a popular destination for tourists and immigrants from all over the world, and the third-biggest immigration port in the country after New York City and Los Angeles. In addition, large immigrant communities have settled in Miami from around the globe, including Europe, Africa, and Asia. The majority of Miami's European immigrant communities are recent immigrants, many living in the city seasonally, with a high disposable income. For example, Miami's Italian-born community numbers only around 45,000, but it is the wealthiest Italian American community in the United States.
Today there are sizable legal and illegal populations of Argentinians, Bahamians, Barbadians, Brazilians, Colombians, Cubans, Dominicans, Dutch, Ecuadorians, French, Haitians, Jamaicans, Israelis, Italians, Nicaraguans, Peruvians, Russians, South Africans, Turks, and Venezuelans throughout the metropolitan area. While commonly thought of as mainly a city of Hispanic and Caribbean immigrants, the Miami area is home to the largest Finnish, French, and South African immigrant communities in the United States; as well as one of the largest Israeli, Russian, and Turkish communities.
In the 1980s, Miami became the United States' largest transshipment point for cocaine from Colombia, Bolivia, and Peru. The drug industry brought billions of dollars into Miami, which were quickly funneled through dummy businesses and into the local economy. Luxury car dealerships, five-star hotels, condominium developments, swanky nightclubs, and other signs of prosperity began rising all over the city. As the money arrived, so did a violent crime wave that lasted through the early 1990s and that has only begun to die down in the 21st century. A classic fictional example of this is the 1983 gangster film, Scarface.
The popular television program Miami Vice, which dealt with counter-narcotics agents in an idyllic upper-class rendition of Miami, spread the city's image as America's most glamorous tropical paradise. This image began to draw the entertainment industry to Miami, and the city remains a hub of fashion, filmmaking, and music.
In the 1990s, various crises struck South Florida: drug wars, tourist shootings, Hurricane Andrew, the Elián González uproar, and, most recently, the controversial 2003 FTAA negotiations.
The City of Miami and its suburbs are located on a broad plain between the Florida Everglades and Biscayne Bay that also extends from Florida Bay north to Lake Okeechobee. The elevation of the area never rises above 15ft (4.5m) and averages at around 3ft (0.91m) above sea level in most neighborhoods especially near the coast. The main portion of the city lies on the shores of Biscayne Bay which contains several hundred natural and artificially created barrier islands, the largest of which contains the city of Miami Beach and its famous South Beach district. The Gulf Stream, a warm ocean current, runs northward just 15 miles (24.1km) off the coast, allowing the city's climate to stay warm and mild all year.
The surface bedrock under the Miami area is called Miami oolite or Miami limestone. This bedrock is covered by a thin layer of soil, and is no more than 15 m (50 feet) thick. Miami limestone formed as the result of the drastic changes in sea level associated with recent glaciations or ice ages. Beginning some 130,000 years ago the Sangamon interglacial raised sea levels to approximately 25 feet (7.5 m.) above the current level. All of southern Florida was covered by a shallow sea. Several parallel lines of reef formed along the edge of the submerged Florida plateau, stretching from the present Miami area to what is now the Dry Tortugas. The area behind this reef line was in effect a large lagoon, and the Miami limestone formed throughout the area from the deposition of oolites and the shells of bryozoans. Starting about 100,000 years ago the Wisconsin glaciation began lowering sea levels, exposing the floor of the lagoon. By 15,000 years ago the sea level had dropped to 300 to 350 feet below the contemporary level. The sea level rose quickly after that, stabilizing at the current level about 4000 years ago, leaving the mainland of South Florida just above sea level.
Beneath the plain lies the Biscayne Aquifer [2], a natural underground river that extends from southern Palm Beach County to Florida Bay, with its highest point peaking around the cities of Miami Springs and Hialeah. Most of the South Florida metropolitan area obtains its drinking water from this aquifer. As a result of the aquifer, it is not possible to dig more than 15 to 20ft (4.57 to 6.1m) beneath the city without hitting water, impeding underground construction.
Most of the western fringes of the city extend into the Everglades, a subtropical marshland located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida. This causes occasional problems with local wildlife such as Alligators and Crocodiles venturing onto suburban communities and major highways.
In terms of land area, the city of Miami is one of the smallest major cities in the United States. According to the US Census Bureau, the city encompasses a total area of 55.27 mi² (143.15 sq. km). Of that area, 35.67 sq. miles (92.68 sq. km) are land and 19.59 sq. miles (50.73 sq. km) are water. Miami is slightly smaller in land area than San Francisco and Boston.
The city is located at 25°47′16″N, 80°13′27″WGR1.
The City of Miami, as well as the rest of Southern Florida has a warm, humid subtropical climate year round, with occasional cold fronts during the winter. The area does not experience temperate seasons and the year is instead divided into a wet and dry season which alternates every six months with the dry season taking place during the winter months and the wet season coinciding with the summer's hurricane season.
The area owes its warm, humid climate to the Gulf Stream, which moderates climate year-round. A typical summer day does not see temperatures below 70ºF (21º C). As the morning progresses, humidity builds as water evaporates culminating in near-daily afternoon showers settling into a humid evening and cool night. During winter, humidity is significantly lower allowing for cooler conditions to prosper. Temperatures are generally moderated by cold fronts which dip down from the northern states; average temperatures are around 60ºF (15ºC) and lower depending on whether there is a cold front and rarely dip below 40ºF (4ºC). During the dry season, the Gulf Stream keeps the cold fronts from adversely affecting Miami as they do in more northern areas of the state of Florida.
Officially, Miami's warmest recorded temperature was 103ºF (39.4ºC) on July 17, 2004, though summer humidity often places the heat index in the 110s (43 to 48ºC). The coldest recorded temperature in the city of Miami was 27 °F (-2.8 °C) on February 3, 1917, though the coldest temperature ever recorded in the metropolitan area was 20 °F (-6.6 °C) near Homestead, Florida, on January 19, 1977. That same day, Miami experienced its first and only recorded snowfall since weather records began in the 1830s. [3]
The South Florida metropolitan area, which includes the cities of Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach, is the second largest metropolitan area in the world after Tokyo that receives regular cyclonic activity. Hurricane season officially runs from June 1 through November 30 but has been known to start and end outside of these dates. The most likely time for Miami to be hit is during the peak of the Cape Verde season which is late August through the end of September [4]. Due to its location between two major bodies of water known for tropical activity, Miami is also statistically the most likely major city to be struck by a hurricane in the world, trailed closely by Nassau, Bahamas, and Havana, Cuba. Despite this, the city has been fortunate in not having a direct hit by a hurricane since 1950's Hurricane King, although many other hurricanes have affected the city, including Hurricane Cleo in 1964, Betsy in 1965, Andrew in 1992, Irene in 1999, and Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma in 2005. In addition, a tropical depression in October of 2000 passed over the city creating record rainfall and flooding. Locally, the storm is credited as the No Name Storm of 2000, though the depression went on to become Tropical Storm Leslie upon entering the Atlantic Ocean.
Miami is the 46th most populous city in the U.S., just behind Minneapolis and Omaha. As of the census of 2000, there are 362,470 people, 134,198 households, and 83,336 families residing in the city. The population density is 3,923.5/km² (10,160.9/mi²), making Miami one of the most densely populated cities in the country. There are 148,388 housing units at an average density of 1,606.2/km² (4,159.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 66.62% White, 22.31% African American, 0.22% Native American, 0.66% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 5.42% from other races, and 4.74% from two or more races. 65.76% of the population are Latino of any race. 11.83% of the population are non-Hispanic whites. The ethnic makeup of the city is 34.1% Cuban, 22.3% African American, 5.6% Nicaraguan, 5.0% Haitian, and 3.3% Honduran. In 2004, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) ranked Miami first in terms of percentage of residents born outside of the country it is located in (59%), followed by Toronto (43%).
There are 134,198 households out of which 26.3% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.6% are married couples living together, 18.7% have a female head of household with no husband present, and 37.9% are non-families. 30.4% of all households are made up of individuals and 12.5% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.61 and the average family size is 3.25.
In the city the population is spread out with 21.7% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 30.3% from 25 to 44, 22.1% from 45 to 64, and 17.0% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 38 years. For every 100 females there are 98.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 97.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $23,483, and the median income for a family is $27,225. Males have a median income of $24,090 versus $20,115 for females. The per capita income for the city is $15,128. 28.5% of the population and 23.5% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 38.2% of those under the age of 18 and 29.3% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
Based on the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports Program, Miami ranks as the second most dangerous metropolitan area in the United States, based number of murders, rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries and motor vehicle thefts that have occurred in the metropolitan area. The city proper ranks 14th.[5]
The city ranks second-to-last in people over 18 with a high school diploma, with 23% of the population not having that degree.
A wide variety of languages are commonly spoken throughout the city. The City of Miami has three official languages - English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole. Other languages that are spoken throughout the city include Afrikaans, Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, and Russian. Miami has one of the largest populations in the U.S. (74%) of people who speak another language other than English at home.
Miami is served by two English-language newspapers, The Miami Herald and South Florida Sun-Sentinel, and Spanish-language El Nuevo Herald. The Miami Herald is Miami's primary newspaper with over a million subscribers focusing mainly on issues that affect the Miami and Miami-Dade area. However, it also does have news bureaus in Broward, Monroe, and Nassau, Bahamas. It published, in addition to a daily Miami-Dade edition, a daily Monroe County edition, a daily Nassau edition, and a daily International Edition. The newspaper also published The Herald, a daily Fort Lauderdale paper.
Miami is the 12th largest radio market and the 17th largest television market in the U.S. Television stations serving the Miami area include WAMI (Telefutura), WBFS (UPN), WBZL (The WB), WFOR (CBS), WHFT (TBN), WLTV (Univision), WPLG (ABC), WPXM (i), WSCV (Telemundo), WSVN (FOX), WTVJ (NBC), WPBT (PBS), and WLRN (also PBS).
The Miami Heat is the only major league team that plays its games in Miami. The Miami Dolphins and the Florida Marlins both play their games in the suburb of Miami Gardens. The Orange Bowl, a member of the Bowl Championship Series, hosts their college football championship games at Dolphins Stadium. The stadium has also hosted the Super Bowl; the city has hosted a total of ten.
The Florida Panthers NHL team plays in neighboring Broward County, Florida at the BankAtlantic Center in the city of Sunrise.
Miami is also the home of the Miami Orange Bowl, the home site for all University of Miami Hurricanes football games.
A number of defunct teams were located in Miami, including the Miami Floridians (ABA), Miami Gatos (NASL), Miami Screaming Eagles (WHA), Miami Seahawks (AAFC), Miami Sol (WNBA), Miami Toros (NASL), Miami Tribe (PSFL), and the Miami Tropics (SFL). The Miami Fusion, a defunct Major League Soccer team played at Lockhart Stadium in nearby Broward County.
Miami is home to the University of Miami Hurricanes and FIU Golden Panthers. Both are Divsion One NCAA Schools.
Miami is served by Miami-Dade County Public Schools.
Because of its proximity to Latin America, Miami serves as the headquarters of Latin American operations for many multinational corporations, including American Airlines, Cisco, Disney, Exxon, FedEx, Microsoft, Oracle, SBC Communications and Sony. Several large companies are headquartered in or around Miami, including Alienware, Autonation Burger King, Citrix Systems, DHL, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Ryder System. Miami International Airport and the Port of Miami are among the nation's busiest ports of entry, especially for cargo from South America and the Caribbean. Additionally, downtown Miami has the largest concentration of international banks in the country. Miami was also the host city of the 2003 Free Trade Area of the Americas negotiations, and is one of the leading candidates to become the trading bloc's headquarters.
Tourism is also an important industry: the beaches of Greater Miami draw visitors from across the country and around the world, and the Art Deco nightclub district in South Beach (located in Miami Beach) is widely regarded as one of the most glamourous in the world. However, it is important to note that Miami Beach is not a part of the city of Miami. Even major TV networks sometimes forget this, as when Good Morning America visited Miami Beach and Charles Gibson thanked the mayor of Miami (but he was standing next to the mayor of Miami Beach).
In addition to these roles, Miami is also an industrial center, especially for stone quarrying and warehousing.
Miami has also served as host venue for legendary legal proceedings, most notably the astounding $145 Billion verdict leveled against the nation's 5 largest cigarette manufacturers. This case was a class action on behalf of all afflicted Florida smokers and their families, represented by a prominent and successful Miami-raised husband and wife legal team, Stanley and Susan Rosenblatt.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau 2002 American Community Survey, Miami was the poorest city in the United States, with 31% of the residents having incomes below the federal poverty line. In 2004, Miami fell to #3 in the rankings behind Detroit, Michigan and El Paso, Texas.
Miami is also one of the least affordable places to live, with 69% of its residents spending at least 30% of their household income on home ownership. Miami ranks first among least affordable cities for home ownership.
As of 2005, the Miami area is witnessing its largest real estate boom since the 1920s.
Miami's main international hub is Miami International Airport, which is one of the busiest international airports in the world, serving over 35 million passengers every year. Identified as MIA or KMIA by various world aviation authorities, it is a major hub and the single largest international gateway for American Airlines, the world's largest passenger air carrier; and is also served by many foreign airlines. MIA is the USA's third largest international port of entry for foreign air passengers (behind New York's JFK and Los Angeles' LAX), and the seventh largest such gateway in the world (bested only by those two airports; combined with London's Heathrow, Paris' Charles de Gaulle, Amsterdam's Schiphol, and Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok international airports). Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL/KFLL) also serves the metropolitan area, and actually handles more total passengers who are originating or ending their trip in south Florida than does MIA.
The main seaport, The Port of Miami, is the largest cruise ship port in the world, serving over 18 million passengers per year. Additionally, the port is one of the nation's busiest cargo ports, importing nearly ten million tons of cargo annually.
Miami is connected to Amtrak's Atlantic Coast services.
Local public transportation includes Metrobus and Metrorail, a metro rapid transit system (both operated by Miami-Dade Transit). Furthermore, Tri-Rail, a commuter rail system, connects the major cities and airports of the South Florida metropolitan area. Several transit expansion projects are being funded by a transit development sales tax surcharge throughout Miami-Dade County.
Miami-Dade County is served by four Major Interstates (I-75, I-95, I-195, I-395) and several U.S. Highways including US 1, US 27, US 41, and US 441. Some of the major Florida State Roads (and their common names) serving the county are:
For information on the street grid, see Miami-Dade County, Florida#Streete grid.
The Miami International Film Festival is a week-long event held each February.
The video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City takes place in a fictional city inspired by Miami, including some of the same architecture and geography. There were also people and gangsters in the game who speak Haitian Creole and Spanish.
The sitcom The Golden Girls took place in Miami.
Miami is a center for Latin television and film production. As a result, many Spanish-language programs are filmed in the many television production studios, predominantly in Hialeah and South Miami. This includes gameshows, variety shows, news programs, and telenovelas like Morelia, Guadalupe, La Mujer de Mi Vida etc . The most famous are the Saturday night variety show Sábado Gigante and the daytime talk show Cristina.
Various movies have been filmed or take place in Miami. See also Movies made in Miami.
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See also Movies made in Miami. Films provide them in an accessible and powerful way. Various movies have been filmed or take place in Miami. Civilization develops and changes, at least in surface features, and so calls for a constant renewal of artistic means to channel these desires. The most famous are the Saturday night variety show Sábado Gigante and the daytime talk show Cristina. The reason motion pictures endure is because people still want escapism, adventure, inspiration, humor and to be moved emotionally. This includes gameshows, variety shows, news programs, and telenovelas like Morelia, Guadalupe, La Mujer de Mi Vida etc . all involve plots with common threads that existed in books, plays and other venues. As a result, many Spanish-language programs are filmed in the many television production studios, predominantly in Hialeah and South Miami. Romantic motion pictures about a girl loving a guy but not being able to be together for some reason, movies about a hero who fights against all odds a more powerful fiendish enemy, comedies about everyday life, etc. Miami is a center for Latin television and film production. Apart from societal norms and cultural changes, there are still close resemblances between theatrical plays throughout the ages and films of today. The sitcom The Golden Girls took place in Miami. Many believe that film will be a long enduring art form because motion pictures appeal to diverse human emotions. There were also people and gangsters in the game who speak Haitian Creole and Spanish. Films have been around for more than a century, however this is not long when you consider it in relation to other arts like painting and sculpture. The video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City takes place in a fictional city inspired by Miami, including some of the same architecture and geography. Yet the migration is gradual, and as of 2005 most major motion pictures are still recorded on film. The Miami International Film Festival is a week-long event held each February. These approaches are extremely beneficial to moviemakers, especially because footage can be evaluated and edited without waiting for the film stock to be processed. For information on the street grid, see Miami-Dade County, Florida#Streete grid. Modern digital video cameras and digital projectors are gaining ground as well. Some of the major Florida State Roads (and their common names) serving the county are:. Some films in recent decades have been recorded using analog video technology similar to that used in television production. Highways including US 1, US 27, US 41, and US 441. Film preservation of decaying film stock is a matter of concern to both film historians and archivists, and to companies interested in preserving their existing products in order to make them available to future generations (and thereby increase revenue). Miami-Dade County is served by four Major Interstates (I-75, I-95, I-195, I-395) and several U.S. Digital methods have also been used to restore and preserve films. Several transit expansion projects are being funded by a transit development sales tax surcharge throughout Miami-Dade County. Some studios save three B&W negatives exposed through red, green, and blue filters. Furthermore, Tri-Rail, a commuter rail system, connects the major cities and airports of the South Florida metropolitan area. Most movies on cellulose nitrate base have been copied onto modern safety films. Local public transportation includes Metrobus and Metrorail, a metro rapid transit system (both operated by Miami-Dade Transit). However, historic films have problems in terms of preservation and storage, and the motion picture industry is exploring many alternatives. Miami is connected to Amtrak's Atlantic Coast services. Film has also been incorporated into multimedia presentations, and often has importance as primary historical documentation. Additionally, the port is one of the nation's busiest cargo ports, importing nearly ten million tons of cargo annually. It can be used to present a progressive sequence of still images in the form of a slideshow. The main seaport, The Port of Miami, is the largest cruise ship port in the world, serving over 18 million passengers per year. As a medium, film is not limited to motion pictures, since the technology developed as the basis for photography. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL/KFLL) also serves the metropolitan area, and actually handles more total passengers who are originating or ending their trip in south Florida than does MIA. The soundtrack can be recorded separately from shooting the film, but for live-action pictures many parts of the soundtrack are usually recorded simultaneously. MIA is the USA's third largest international port of entry for foreign air passengers (behind New York's JFK and Los Angeles' LAX), and the seventh largest such gateway in the world (bested only by those two airports; combined with London's Heathrow, Paris' Charles de Gaulle, Amsterdam's Schiphol, and Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok international airports). Improvements since the late 19th century include the mechanization of cameras, allowing them to record at a consistent speed, the invention of more sophisticated filmstocks and lenses, allowing directors to film in increasingly dim conditions, and the development of synchronized sound, allowing sound to be recorded at exactly the same speed as its corresponding action. Identified as MIA or KMIA by various world aviation authorities, it is a major hub and the single largest international gateway for American Airlines, the world's largest passenger air carrier; and is also served by many foreign airlines. A new standard speed, 24 frames per second, came with the introduction of sound. Miami's main international hub is Miami International Airport, which is one of the busiest international airports in the world, serving over 35 million passengers every year. Originally moving picture film was shot at various speeds using hand-cranked cameras; then the speed for mechanized cameras and projectors was standardized at 16 frames per second, which was faster than much existing hand-cranked footage. As of 2005, the Miami area is witnessing its largest real estate boom since the 1920s. Stock widths and the film format for images on the reel have had a rich history, though most large commercial films are still shot on (and distributed to theaters) as 35 mm prints. Miami ranks first among least affordable cities for home ownership. Cellulose nitrate was the first type of film base used to record motion pictures, but due to its flammability was eventually replaced by safer materials. Miami is also one of the least affordable places to live, with 69% of its residents spending at least 30% of their household income on home ownership. Filmstock consists of a transparent celluloid, polyester, or other plastic base coated with an emulsion containing light-sensitive chemicals. In 2004, Miami fell to #3 in the rankings behind Detroit, Michigan and El Paso, Texas. According to a 2000 study by ABN AMRO, about 26% of Hollywood movie studios' worldwide income came from box office ticket sales; 46% came from VHS and DVD sales to consumers; and 28% came from television (broadcast, cable, and pay-per-view). Census Bureau 2002 American Community Survey, Miami was the poorest city in the United States, with 31% of the residents having incomes below the federal poverty line. There are a few movies every year that defy this rule, often limited-release movies that start in only a few theaters and actually grow their theater count through good word-of-mouth and reviews. According to the U.S. However, today's barrage of highly marketed movies ensures that most movies are shown in first-run theaters for less than 8 weeks. This case was a class action on behalf of all afflicted Florida smokers and their families, represented by a prominent and successful Miami-raised husband and wife legal team, Stanley and Susan Rosenblatt. The actual percentage starts with a number higher than that, and decreases as the duration of a film's showing continues, as an incentive to theaters to keep movies in the theater longer. Miami has also served as host venue for legendary legal proceedings, most notably the astounding $145 Billion verdict leveled against the nation's 5 largest cigarette manufacturers. The movie theater pays an average of about 55% of its ticket sales to the movie studio, as film rental fees. In addition to these roles, Miami is also an industrial center, especially for stone quarrying and warehousing. And indeed, some films that are rejected by their own studios upon completion are dumped into these markets. Even major TV networks sometimes forget this, as when Good Morning America visited Miami Beach and Charles Gibson thanked the mayor of Miami (but he was standing next to the mayor of Miami Beach). These are often considered to be of inferior quality compared to theatrical releases. However, it is important to note that Miami Beach is not a part of the city of Miami. Some films are now made specifically for these other venues, being released as made-for-TV movies or direct-to-video movies. Tourism is also an important industry: the beaches of Greater Miami draw visitors from across the country and around the world, and the Art Deco nightclub district in South Beach (located in Miami Beach) is widely regarded as one of the most glamourous in the world. Recording technology has also enabled consumers to rent or buy copies of films on video tape or DVD (and the older formats of laserdisc, VCD and SelectaVision—see also videodisc), and Internet downloads may be available and have started to become revenue sources for the film companies. Miami was also the host city of the 2003 Free Trade Area of the Americas negotiations, and is one of the leading candidates to become the trading bloc's headquarters. The development of television has allowed films to be broadcast to larger audiences, usually after the film is no longer being shown in theaters. Additionally, downtown Miami has the largest concentration of international banks in the country. Originally, all films were made to be shown in movie theaters. Miami International Airport and the Port of Miami are among the nation's busiest ports of entry, especially for cargo from South America and the Caribbean. Today, the bulk of the material shown before the feature film (those in theaters) consists of previews for upcoming movies and paid advertisements (also known as trailers or "The Twenty"). Several large companies are headquartered in or around Miami, including Alienware, Autonation Burger King, Citrix Systems, DHL, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Ryder System. There were "double features"; typically, a high quality "A picture" rented by an independent theater for a lump sum, and a "B picture" of lower quality rented for a percentage of the gross receipts. Because of its proximity to Latin America, Miami serves as the headquarters of Latin American operations for many multinational corporations, including American Airlines, Cisco, Disney, Exxon, FedEx, Microsoft, Oracle, SBC Communications and Sony. Typically, one film is the featured presentation (or feature film). Miami is served by Miami-Dade County Public Schools. In the United States, these theaters came to be known as nickelodeons, because admission typically cost a nickel (five cents). Both are Divsion One NCAA Schools. Thousands of such theaters were built or converted from existing facilities within a few years. Miami is home to the University of Miami Hurricanes and FIU Golden Panthers. The first theater designed exclusively for cinema opened in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1905. The Miami Fusion, a defunct Major League Soccer team played at Lockhart Stadium in nearby Broward County. When it is initially produced, a film is normally shown to audiences in a movie theater. A number of defunct teams were located in Miami, including the Miami Floridians (ABA), Miami Gatos (NASL), Miami Screaming Eagles (WHA), Miami Seahawks (AAFC), Miami Sol (WNBA), Miami Toros (NASL), Miami Tribe (PSFL), and the Miami Tropics (SFL). This method was pioneered by UPA and popularized (some say exploited) by Hanna-Barbera, and adapted by other studios as cartoons moved from movie theaters to television. Miami is also the home of the Miami Orange Bowl, the home site for all University of Miami Hurricanes football games. Limited animation is a way of increasing production and decreasing costs of animation by using "short cuts" in the animation process. The Florida Panthers NHL team plays in neighboring Broward County, Florida at the BankAtlantic Center in the city of Sunrise. Several independent animation producers have gone on to enter the professional animation industry. The stadium has also hosted the Super Bowl; the city has hosted a total of ten. However, the field of independent animation has existed at least since the 1950s, with animation being produced by independent studios (and sometimes by a single person). The Orange Bowl, a member of the Bowl Championship Series, hosts their college football championship games at Dolphins Stadium. Because animation is very time-consuming and often very expensive to produce, the majority of animation for TV and movies comes from professional animation studios. The Miami Dolphins and the Florida Marlins both play their games in the suburb of Miami Gardens. Graphics file formats like GIF, MNG, SVG and Flash allow animation to be viewed on a computer or over the Internet. The Miami Heat is the only major league team that plays its games in Miami. Generating such a film is very labour intensive and tedious, though the development of computer animation has greatly sped up the process. Television stations serving the Miami area include WAMI (Telefutura), WBFS (UPN), WBZL (The WB), WFOR (CBS), WHFT (TBN), WLTV (Univision), WPLG (ABC), WPXM (i), WSCV (Telemundo), WSVN (FOX), WTVJ (NBC), WPBT (PBS), and WLRN (also PBS). When the frames are strung together and the resulting film is viewed at a speed of 16 or more frames per second, there is an illusion of continuous movement (due to the persistence of vision). Miami is the 12th largest radio market and the 17th largest television market in the U.S. Animation is the technique in which each frame of a film is produced individually, whether generated as a computer graphic, or by photographing a drawn image, or by repeatedly making small changes to a model unit (see claymation and stop motion), and then photographing the result with a special animation camera. The newspaper also published The Herald, a daily Fort Lauderdale paper. Most independent filmmakers rely on film festivals to get their films noticed and sold for distribution. It published, in addition to a daily Miami-Dade edition, a daily Monroe County edition, a daily Nassau edition, and a daily International Edition. However, while the means of production may be democratized, financing, distribution, and marketing remain difficult to accomplish outside the traditional system. However, it also does have news bureaus in Broward, Monroe, and Nassau, Bahamas. Filmmakers can conceivably shoot and edit a movie, create and edit the sound and music, and mix the final cut on a home computer. The Miami Herald is Miami's primary newspaper with over a million subscribers focusing mainly on issues that affect the Miami and Miami-Dade area. Since the introduction of DV technology, the means of production have become more democratized. Miami is served by two English-language newspapers, The Miami Herald and South Florida Sun-Sentinel, and Spanish-language El Nuevo Herald. Technologies such as DVDs, IEEE 1394 connections and non-linear editing system pro-level software like Adobe Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro, and consumer level software such as Final Cut Express and iMovie make movie-making relatively inexpensive. (74%) of people who speak another language other than English at home. Both production and post-production costs have been significantly lowered; today, the hardware and software for post-production can be installed in a commodity-based personal computer. Miami has one of the largest populations in the U.S. But the advent of consumer camcorders in 1985, and more importantly, the arrival of high-resolution digital video in the early 1990s, have lowered the technology barrier to movie production significantly. Other languages that are spoken throughout the city include Afrikaans, Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, and Russian. Film requires expensive lighting and post-production facilities. The City of Miami has three official languages - English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole. The cost of 35mm film is outpacing inflation: in 2002 alone, film negative costs were up 23%, according to Variety. A wide variety of languages are commonly spoken throughout the city. Until the advent of digital alternatives, the cost of professional film equipment and stock was also a hurdle to being able to produce, direct, or star in a traditional studio film. The city ranks second-to-last in people over 18 with a high school diploma, with 23% of the population not having that degree. Films with unknowns, particularly in lead roles, are also rarely produced. The city proper ranks 14th.[5]. An unproven director is almost never given the opportunity to get his or her big break with the studios unless he or she has significant industry experience in film or television. Based on the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports Program, Miami ranks as the second most dangerous metropolitan area in the United States, based number of murders, rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries and motor vehicle thefts that have occurred in the metropolitan area. in 2000 were joint ventures, up from 10% in 1987). Out of the total population, 38.2% of those under the age of 18 and 29.3% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line. The problem is exacerbated by the trend towards co-financing (over two-thirds of the films put out by Warner Bros. 28.5% of the population and 23.5% of families are below the poverty line. On the business side, the costs of big-budget studio films also leads to conservative choices in cast and crew. The per capita income for the city is $15,128. Experimental elements in theme and style are inhibitors for the big studios. Males have a median income of $24,090 versus $20,115 for females. Creatively, it was becoming increasingly difficult to get studio backing for experimental films. The median income for a household in the city is $23,483, and the median income for a family is $27,225. Creative, business, and technological reasons have all contributed to the growth of the indie film scene in the late 20th and early 21st century. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 97.3 males. An independent film (or indie film) is a film initially produced without financing or distribution from a major movie studio. For every 100 females there are 98.9 males. Filmmaking also takes place outside of the Hollywood studio system, and is commonly called independent filmmaking. The median age is 38 years. Crew are distinguished from cast, the actors who appear in front of the camera or provide voices for characters in the film. In the city the population is spread out with 21.7% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 30.3% from 25 to 44, 22.1% from 45 to 64, and 17.0% who are 65 years of age or older. A film crew is a group of people hired by a film company for the purpose of producing a film or motion picture. The average household size is 2.61 and the average family size is 3.25. The third year, post-production and distribution. 30.4% of all households are made up of individuals and 12.5% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The second year comprises preproduction and production. There are 134,198 households out of which 26.3% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.6% are married couples living together, 18.7% have a female head of household with no husband present, and 37.9% are non-families. The first year is taken up with development. In 2004, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) ranked Miami first in terms of percentage of residents born outside of the country it is located in (59%), followed by Toronto (43%). This production cycle typically takes three years. The ethnic makeup of the city is 34.1% Cuban, 22.3% African American, 5.6% Nicaraguan, 5.0% Haitian, and 3.3% Honduran. A typical Hollywood-style filmmaking Production cycle comprises five main stages:. 11.83% of the population are non-Hispanic whites. Filmmaking takes place all over the world using different technologies, styles of acting and genre, and is produced in a variety of economic contexts that range from state-sponsored documentary in China to profit-oriented movie making within the American studio system. 65.76% of the population are Latino of any race. However, a low-budget, independent film may be made with a skeleton crew, often paid very little. The racial makeup of the city is 66.62% White, 22.31% African American, 0.22% Native American, 0.66% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 5.42% from other races, and 4.74% from two or more races. Many Hollywood adventure films need computer generated imagery (CGI), created by dozens of 3D modellers, animators, rotoscopers and compositors. There are 148,388 housing units at an average density of 1,606.2/km² (4,159.7/mi²). The nature of the film determines the size and type of crew required during filmmaking. The population density is 3,923.5/km² (10,160.9/mi²), making Miami one of the most densely populated cities in the country. Also, film quickly came to be used in education, in lieu of or in addition to lectures and texts. As of the census of 2000, there are 362,470 people, 134,198 households, and 83,336 families residing in the city. The Academy Awards (also known as The Oscars) are the most prominent film awards in the United States, providing recognition each year to films, ostensibly based on their artistic merits. Miami is the 46th most populous city in the U.S., just behind Minneapolis and Omaha. Profit is a key force in the industry, due to the costly nature of filmmaking; yet many filmmakers strive to create works of lasting social significance. Locally, the storm is credited as the No Name Storm of 2000, though the depression went on to become Tropical Storm Leslie upon entering the Atlantic Ocean. Though the expense involved in making movies has led cinema production to concentrate under the auspices of movie studios, recent advances in affordable film making equipment have allowed independent film productions to flourish. In addition, a tropical depression in October of 2000 passed over the city creating record rainfall and flooding. Whether the ten thousand plus features a year produced by the Valley porn industry should qualify for this title is the source of some debate. Despite this, the city has been fortunate in not having a direct hit by a hurricane since 1950's Hurricane King, although many other hurricanes have affected the city, including Hurricane Cleo in 1964, Betsy in 1965, Andrew in 1992, Irene in 1999, and Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma in 2005. Other regional centers exist in many parts of the world, and the Indian film industry (primarily centered around "Bollywood") annually produces the largest number of films in the world. Due to its location between two major bodies of water known for tropical activity, Miami is also statistically the most likely major city to be struck by a hurricane in the world, trailed closely by Nassau, Bahamas, and Havana, Cuba. In the United States today, much of the film industry is centered around Hollywood. The most likely time for Miami to be hit is during the peak of the Cape Verde season which is late August through the end of September [4]. Already by 1917, Charlie Chaplin had a contract that called for an annual salary of one million dollars. Hurricane season officially runs from June 1 through November 30 but has been known to start and end outside of these dates. Dedicated theaters and companies formed specifically to produce and distribute films, while motion picture actors became major celebrities and commanded huge fees for their performances. The South Florida metropolitan area, which includes the cities of Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach, is the second largest metropolitan area in the world after Tokyo that receives regular cyclonic activity. Other pictures soon followed, and motion pictures became a separate industry that overshadowed the vaudeville world. [3]. The Oberammergau Passion play of 1898 was the first commercial motion picture ever produced. That same day, Miami experienced its first and only recorded snowfall since weather records began in the 1830s. In each country, they would normally add new, local scenes to their catalogue and, quickly enough, found local entrepreneurs in the various countries of Europe to buy their equipment and photograph, export, import and screen additional product commercially. The coldest recorded temperature in the city of Miami was 27 °F (-2.8 °C) on February 3, 1917, though the coldest temperature ever recorded in the metropolitan area was 20 °F (-6.6 °C) near Homestead, Florida, on January 19, 1977. Upon seeing how successful their new invention, and its product, was in their native France, the Lumieres quickly set about touring the Continent to exhibit the first films privately to royalty and publicly to the masses. Officially, Miami's warmest recorded temperature was 103ºF (39.4ºC) on July 17, 2004, though summer humidity often places the heat index in the 110s (43 to 48ºC). The making and showing of motion pictures became a source of profit almost as soon the process was invented. During the dry season, the Gulf Stream keeps the cold fronts from adversely affecting Miami as they do in more northern areas of the state of Florida. They also tend to be affiliated with colleges or universities. Temperatures are generally moderated by cold fronts which dip down from the northern states; average temperatures are around 60ºF (15ºC) and lower depending on whether there is a cold front and rarely dip below 40ºF (4ºC). Rather than write for newspaper or appear on television their articles are published in scholarly journals, or sometimes in up-market magazines. During winter, humidity is significantly lower allowing for cooler conditions to prosper. These film critics try to come to understand why film works, how it works, and what effects it has on people. As the morning progresses, humidity builds as water evaporates culminating in near-daily afternoon showers settling into a humid evening and cool night. This work is more often known as film theory or film studies. A typical summer day does not see temperatures below 70ºF (21º C). It is argued that journalist film critics should only be known as film reviewers, and true film critics are those who take a more academic approach to films. The area owes its warm, humid climate to the Gulf Stream, which moderates climate year-round. However, this usually backfires as reviewers are wise to the tactic and warn the public that the film may not be worth seeing and the films often do poorly as a result. The area does not experience temperate seasons and the year is instead divided into a wet and dry season which alternates every six months with the dry season taking place during the winter months and the wet season coinciding with the summer's hurricane season. Conversely, there have been several films in which film companies have so little confidence that they refuse to give reviewers an advanced viewing to avoid widespread panning of the film. The City of Miami, as well as the rest of Southern Florida has a warm, humid subtropical climate year round, with occasional cold fronts during the winter. Others note that positive film reviews have been shown to spark interest in little-known films. The city is located at 25°47′16″N, 80°13′27″WGR1. However, the cataclysmic failure of some heavily-promoted movies that were harshly reviewed, as well as the unexpected success of critically praised independent movies indicates that extreme critical reactions can have considerable influence. Miami is slightly smaller in land area than San Francisco and Boston. Some claim that movie marketing is now so intense and well financed that reviewers cannot make an impact against it. km) are water. The impact of reviewer on a film's box office performance is a matter of debate. miles (50.73 sq. Poor reviews will often deign a film to obscurity and financial loss. km) are land and 19.59 sq. For prestige films such as most dramas, the influence of reviews is extremely important. miles (92.68 sq. The plot summary and description of a film that makes up the majority of any film review can still have an important impact on whether people decide to see a film. Of that area, 35.67 sq. Mass marketed action, horror, and comedy films tend not to be greatly affected by a critic's overall judgement of a film. km). Despite this, critics have an important impact of films, especially those of certain genres. According to the US Census Bureau, the city encompasses a total area of 55.27 mi² (143.15 sq. Normally they only see any given film once and have only a day or two to formulate opinions. In terms of land area, the city of Miami is one of the smallest major cities in the United States. Film critics working for newspapers, magazines, and broadcast media mainly review new releases. This causes occasional problems with local wildlife such as Alligators and Crocodiles venturing onto suburban communities and major highways. In general this can be divided into academic criticism by film scholars and journalistic film criticism that appears regularly in newspapers and other media. state of Florida. Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films. Most of the western fringes of the city extend into the Everglades, a subtropical marshland located in the southern portion of the U.S. More recent analysis has given rise to psychoanalytical film theory, structuralist film theory, feminist film theory and others. As a result of the aquifer, it is not possible to dig more than 15 to 20ft (4.57 to 6.1m) beneath the city without hitting water, impeding underground construction. Classical film theory provides a structural framework to address classical issues of techniques, narrativity, diegesis, cinematic codes, "the image", genre, subjectivity, and authorship. Most of the South Florida metropolitan area obtains its drinking water from this aquifer. Film theory seeks to develop concise, systematic concepts that apply to the study of film/cinema as art. Beneath the plain lies the Biscayne Aquifer [2], a natural underground river that extends from southern Palm Beach County to Florida Bay, with its highest point peaking around the cities of Miami Springs and Hialeah. Digital technology has been the driving force in change throughout the 1990s and into the 21st Century. The sea level rose quickly after that, stabilizing at the current level about 4000 years ago, leaving the mainland of South Florida just above sea level. New Hollywood, French New Wave and the rise of film school educated, independent filmmakers were all part of the changes the medium experienced in the latter half of the 20th Century. By 15,000 years ago the sea level had dropped to 300 to 350 feet below the contemporary level. The 1950s, 60s and 70s saw changes in the production and style of film. Starting about 100,000 years ago the Wisconsin glaciation began lowering sea levels, exposing the floor of the lagoon. By the end of the 1960s, color had become the norm for film makers. The area behind this reef line was in effect a large lagoon, and the Miami limestone formed throughout the area from the deposition of oolites and the shells of bryozoans. But as color processes improved and became as affordable as black-and-white film, more and more movies were filmed in color after the end of World War II, as the industry in America came to view color an essential to attracting audiences in its competition with television, which remained a black-and-white medium until the mid-60s. Several parallel lines of reef formed along the edge of the submerged Florida plateau, stretching from the present Miami area to what is now the Dry Tortugas. The public was relatively indifferent to color photography as opposed to black-and-white. All of southern Florida was covered by a shallow sea. While the addition of sound quickly eclipsed silent film and theater musicians, color was adopted more gradually. Beginning some 130,000 years ago the Sangamon interglacial raised sea levels to approximately 25 feet (7.5 m.) above the current level. The next major step in the development of cinema was the introduction of color. Miami limestone formed as the result of the drastic changes in sea level associated with recent glaciations or ice ages. These sound films were initially distinguished by calling them "talking pictures", or talkies. This bedrock is covered by a thin layer of soil, and is no more than 15 m (50 feet) thick. In the 1920s, new technology allowed filmmakers to attach to each film a soundtrack of speech, music and sound effects synchronized with the action on the screen. The surface bedrock under the Miami area is called Miami oolite or Miami limestone. Murnau continued to advance the medium. The Gulf Stream, a warm ocean current, runs northward just 15 miles (24.1km) off the coast, allowing the city's climate to stay warm and mild all year. W. The main portion of the city lies on the shores of Biscayne Bay which contains several hundred natural and artificially created barrier islands, the largest of which contains the city of Miami Beach and its famous South Beach district. However in the 1920s, European filmmaker’s such as Sergei Eisenstein and F. The elevation of the area never rises above 15ft (4.5m) and averages at around 3ft (0.91m) above sea level in most neighborhoods especially near the coast. The rise of European cinema was interrupted by the breakout of World War I while the film industry in United States flourished with the rise of Hollywood. The City of Miami and its suburbs are located on a broad plain between the Florida Everglades and Biscayne Bay that also extends from Florida Bay north to Lake Okeechobee. By the early 1920s, most films came with a prepared list of sheet music for this purposes, with complete film scores being composed for major productions. In the 1990s, various crises struck South Florida: drug wars, tourist shootings, Hurricane Andrew, the Elián González uproar, and, most recently, the controversial 2003 FTAA negotiations. Rather than leave the audience in silence, theater owners would hire a pianist or organist or a full orchestra to play music fitting the mood of the film at any given moment. This image began to draw the entertainment industry to Miami, and the city remains a hub of fashion, filmmaking, and music. Other techniques such as camera movement were realized as effective ways to portray a story on film. The popular television program Miami Vice, which dealt with counter-narcotics agents in an idyllic upper-class rendition of Miami, spread the city's image as America's most glamorous tropical paradise. The scenes were later broken up into multiple shots of varying sizes and angles. A classic fictional example of this is the 1983 gangster film, Scarface. Films began stringing scenes together to tell narratives. As the money arrived, so did a violent crime wave that lasted through the early 1990s and that has only begun to die down in the 21st century. Around the turn of the 20th Century, films began developing a narrative structure. Luxury car dealerships, five-star hotels, condominium developments, swanky nightclubs, and other signs of prosperity began rising all over the city. Motion pictures were purely visual art up to the late 1920s, but these innovative silent films had gained a hold on the public imagination. The drug industry brought billions of dollars into Miami, which were quickly funneled through dummy businesses and into the local economy. Early motion pictures were static shots that showed an event or action with no editing or other cinematic techniques. In the 1980s, Miami became the United States' largest transshipment point for cocaine from Colombia, Bolivia, and Peru. These reels, so exhibited, came to be known as "motion pictures". While commonly thought of as mainly a city of Hispanic and Caribbean immigrants, the Miami area is home to the largest Finnish, French, and South African immigrant communities in the United States; as well as one of the largest Israeli, Russian, and Turkish communities. By the 1880s, the development of the motion picture camera allowed the individual component images to be captured and stored on a single reel, and led quickly to the development of a motion picture projector to shine light through the processed and printed film and magnify these "moving picture shows" onto a screen for an entire audience. Today there are sizable legal and illegal populations of Argentinians, Bahamians, Barbadians, Brazilians, Colombians, Cubans, Dominicans, Dutch, Ecuadorians, French, Haitians, Jamaicans, Israelis, Italians, Nicaraguans, Peruvians, Russians, South Africans, Turks, and Venezuelans throughout the metropolitan area. Early versions of the technology sometimes required the viewer to look into a special device to see the pictures. For example, Miami's Italian-born community numbers only around 45,000, but it is the wealthiest Italian American community in the United States. With the development of celluloid film for still photography, it became possible to directly capture objects in motion in real time. The majority of Miami's European immigrant communities are recent immigrants, many living in the city seasonally, with a high disposable income. Naturally, the images needed to be carefully designed to achieve the desired effect — and the underlying principle became the basis for the development of film animation. In addition, large immigrant communities have settled in Miami from around the globe, including Europe, Africa, and Asia. These machines were outgrowths of simple optical devices (such as magic lanterns), and would display sequences of still pictures at sufficient speed for the images on the pictures to appear to be moving, a phenomenon called persistence of vision. Since then, the Latin and Caribbean-friendly atmosphere in Miami has made it a popular destination for tourists and immigrants from all over the world, and the third-biggest immigration port in the country after New York City and Los Angeles. Mechanisms for producing artificially created, two-dimensional images in motion were demonstrated as early as the 1860s, with devices such as the zoetrope and the praxinoscope. However, because it was stated that Cubans were escaping for political reasons, this policy did not apply to Haitians, who the government claimed were seeking asylum for economic reasons. . However, those who do not make it to dry land ultimately are repatriated unless they can demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution if returned to Cuba. Films are also artifacts created by specific cultures, which reflect those cultures, and, in turn, affect them. These agreements with the Cuban government led to what has been called the Wet Foot-Dry Foot Policy, whereby Cubans who make it to shore can stay in the United States – likely becoming eligible to adjust to permanent residence under the Cuban Adjustment Act. Any film can become a worldwide attraction, especially with the addition of dubbing or subtitles that translate the dialogue. In the agreement, the Cuban government pledged not to retaliate against those who are repatriated. The visual elements of cinema need no translation, giving the motion picture a universal power of communication. It also established a new policy of directly repatriating Cubans interdicted at sea to Cuba. Film is considered by many to be an important art form; films entertain, educate, enlighten and inspire audiences. On May 2, 1995, a second agreement with the Castro government paved the way for the admission to the United States of the Cubans housed at Guantanamo, who were counted primarily against the first year of the 20,000 annual admissions committed to by the Clinton Administration. Also of relevance is what causes the perception of motion — a psychological effect identified as beta movement. citizens. Flickering between frames is not seen due to an effect known as persistence of vision — whereby the eye retains a visual image for a fraction of a second after the source has been removed. That number is in addition to the admission of immediate relatives of U.S. They comprise a series of individual frames, but when these images are shown rapidly in succession, the illusion of motion is given to the viewer. In addition, the United States committed to admitting a minimum of 20,000 Cuban immigrants per year. Films are produced by recording actual people and objects with cameras, or by creating them using animation techniques and/or special effects. policy of placing Cuban refugees in safe havens outside the United States, while obtaining a commitment from Cuba to discourage Cubans from sailing to America. Many other terms exist — motion pictures (or just pictures or "picture"), the silver screen, photoplays, the cinema, picture shows, flicks — and most commonly movies. The agreement codified the new U.S. The origin of the name comes from the fact that photographic film (also called filmstock) has historically been the primary medium for recording and displaying motion pictures. On September 9, 1994, the United States and Cuba agreed to “normalize” migration between the two countries. Film is a term that encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well as the field in general. During an eight-month period beginning in the summer of 1994, over 30,000 Cubans and more than 20,000 Haitians were interdicted and sent to live in camps outside the United States. Distribution. military installations at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (or to Panama). Post-production. In a controversial action, the administration announced that Cubans interdicted at sea would not be brought to the United States but instead would be taken by the Coast Guard to U.S. Production. policy. Preproduction. To prevent it from becoming another Mariel Boatlift, the Clinton Administration announced a significant change in U.S. Development. Another major Cuban exodus occurred in 1994. In the 1990s, the presence of Haitians was acknowledged with Haitian Creole language signs in public places and ballots during voting. As the Haitian population grew, the area known today as Little Haiti emerged, centered around Northeast Second Avenue and 54th Street. In the 1980s, Miami started to see an increase in immigrants from other nations such as Haiti. [citation needed]. During this time, many of the middle class non-Hispanic whites in the community emigrated out of the city, often referred to as "white flight." In 1960, Miami was 90% non-Hispanic white; by 1990 it was only about 10% non-Hispanic white. Castro used the boatlift as a way of purging his country of many criminals and the mentally ill. Unlike the previous exodus of the 1960's, most of the Cuban refugees arriving were poor. Later, the Mariel Boatlift of 1980 brought 150,000 Cubans to Miami in a single flotilla, the largest in civilian history. In the case of Cubans, this dilemma was resolved by the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966. However, parole only allows an individual permission to enter the country, not to stay permanently. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Attorney General’s authority was used to grant special permission (called “parole”) to allow Cubans to enter the country. Most of the exiles settled into the Riverside neighborhood, which began to take on the new name of "Little Havana." This area emerged as a predominantly Spanish-speaking community, and Spanish speakers elsewhere in the city could conduct most of their daily business in their native tongue. The city, for the most part, welcomed the Cuban exiles. with very little. Many of the exiles who escaped were middle class to upper class people who had all of their possessions taken from them, and they arrived in the U.S. In 1965 alone, 100,000 Cubans packed into the twice-daily "freedom flights" between Havana and Miami. Following the 1959 revolution that unseated Fulgencio Batista and brought Fidel Castro to power, Cuban exiles began traveling to Florida en masse. Many servicemen and women returned to Miami after the war, pushing the population up to half a million by 1950. government constructed many training, supply, and communications facilities around Miami, taking advantage of its strategic location at the southeastern corner of the country. During World War II, the U.S. Four other people were wounded, but President-elect Roosevelt was not harmed.[1]. Mayor Anton Cermak of Chicago, who was shaking hands with Roosevelt, was shot and died a few days later. On February 15, 1933, an assassination attempt was made on President-elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Miami's Bayfront Park. The Great Depression followed. This economic bubble was already collapsing when the catastrophic Great Miami Hurricane in 1926 ended what was left of this boom. Finally this transport choke-up got so bad that Miami's mayor declared an embargo on all incoming goods except food. These delays gave investors a chance to think again. Sometimes a ship bringing these supplies in ran aground, blocking the port. This speculation boom started to waver because of building construction delays caused by bulk of building materials overloading the transport system into the area. Some early developments were razed ten years after their initial construction to make way for even larger buildings. During the early 1920s, the authorities in Miami allowed gambling and were very lax in regulating Prohibition, and so thousands of people migrated from the northern United States to the Miami region, creating a construction boom and building a skyline of high-rise buildings where none had existed before. Miami's growth up to World War II was astronomical:. In 1900, 1,681 people lived in Miami, Florida; in 1910, 5,471; and in 1920, 29,549. So on July 28, 1896, the City of Miami was incorporated with 444 citizens (243 of which were identified as white and 181 as black). Henry Flagler was adamant that new city would not be named after himself. Initially, most residents wanted to name the city "Flagler". She wrote to Flagler again, persuading him to visit the area and see it for himself: he did so, and concluded at the end of his first day that the area was ripe for expansion. Fortunately, unlike the rest of the state, Miami was unaffected, and Tuttle's citrus became the only citrus on the market that year. In 1894, however, Florida was struck by a terrible winter that destroyed virtually all of the citrus crop in the northern half of the state. She initially pressured railroad magnate Henry Flagler to expand his rail line, the Florida East Coast Railroad southward to the area, but he initially declined the offer. In 1891, a wealthy Cleveland, Ohio woman named Julia Tuttle purchased an enormous citrus plantation in the area. However as late as the 1890s, only a handful of families made their homes in Miami. Some of the Seminole remained in the Everglades. At the end of the war, a few of the soldiers stayed. Even so, it slowed down the settlement of southeast Florida. The Third Seminole War (1855-1858) was not as destructive as the second one. He charted the “Village of Miami” on the south bank of the Miami River and sold several plots of land. After the Second Seminole War ended in 1842, Fitzpatrick’s nephew, William English, reestablished the plantation in Miami. It caused almost a total loss of population in the Miami area. It was the most devastating Indian war in American history. Most non-Indian residents were soldiers stationed at Fort Dallas. The area became a war zone during the Second Seminole War. Fort Dallas was located on Fitzpatrick’s Plantation on the north bank of the river. In the 1830s, Richard Fitzpatrick bought land on the Miami River from the Bahamians. At about the same time, the Seminole Indians arrived, along with a group of runaway slaves. Some accepted Spanish land offers along the Miami River. People came from the Bahamas to South Florida and the Keys to hunt for treasure from the ships that crashed onto the treacherous Great Florida reef. Many Spanish colonists, along with residents of other lands, established homes and farms along the Miami River and Biscayne Bay. They built a fort in 1743. Spanish settlers built a mission at the mouth of the Miami River by 1567. Pedro Menendez de Avilés and his men visited the Tequesta settlement in 1566. See also: Spanish contacts with the Tequesta. The Tequesta are credited with making the Miami Circle. Its inhabitants at the time of first European contact were the Tequesta people, who controlled an area covering much of Southeastern Florida including what is now Miami-Dade County, Broward County, and the southern parts of Palm Beach County. Native Americans are known to have settled in the Miami region for about 10,000 years. After contact with Europeans they were named after their name for the lake, becoming known as the Mayaimi tribe, while the lake's name was eventually replaced with the Miccosukee tribe's words oka (water) and chobi (big), "big water." There is no evidence that there was any connection between the Miami Indian tribes and the southeastern United States, let alone in south Florida. Another theory is that the name comes from the original name of Lake Okeechobee, Mayaimi, which meant "big water" by the natives that lived there. One possibility is that it comes from a Native American word for "sweet water." The area was a concentration of water because the Miami River is essentially a funnel for water from the Everglades to the Atlantic Ocean. The origin of the name Miami is unknown. . Navy have been named USS Miami in honor of the city. Two vessels of the U.S. The region's importance as an international financial and cultural center has elevated Miami to the status of world city; because of its cultural and linguistic ties to North, South, Central America, and the Caribbean it is sometimes called "The Gateway of the Americas." Miami, along with Atlanta, ranks as one of the most important business centers in the Southeastern United States. Greater Miami is regarded as a cultural melting pot, heavily influenced both by its very large population of ethnic Latin Americans and Caribbean islanders (many of them Spanish- or Haitian Creole-speaking). Miami's explosive population growth in recent years has been driven by internal migration from other parts of the country as well as by immigration. Census Bureau estimate of the population of Miami in 2004 was 379,724 1. The U.S. According to the 2000 census the city of Miami had a population of 362,470 while the larger metropolitan area had a population over 5 million. In 1940, 172,172 people lived in Miami, Florida. Miami was officially incorporated as a city on July 28, 1896 with a population of just over 300. It is also the largest city in the South Florida metropolitan area, which is comprised of Miami-Dade County, Broward County, and Palm Beach County making up the largest metropolitan area in the Southeastern United States. It is the second largest city in Florida and the county seat (and largest city) of Miami-Dade County. Miami and the surrounding metropolitan area sits between the Miami River, Biscayne Bay, the Everglades and the Atlantic Ocean. state of Florida. Miami is a major city located in the southeast corner of the U.S. SR 878 (Snapper Creek Expressway) Kendall to Turnpike/Homestead. SR 874 (Don Shula Expressway) 826/Bird Road to 878. SR 836 (Dolphin Expressway) Downtown to Turnpike via MIA. SR 826 (Palmetto Expressway) Golden Glades Interchange to US-1/Kendall. 821 (The HEFT or Homestead Extension of the Florida Turnpike: SR 91/Miami Gardens to US-1/Florida City). SR 112 (Airport Expressway) Downtown to MIA. William Turner Technical High School - Technical School. Ransom Everglades Middle School - Magnet and Gifted School. New World School of the Arts - Magnet School. Miami Palmetto Senior High School - Nationally Recognized Top Rated Public High School. Miami High School - Oldest Still Functioning School. Miami Country Day School- Prep School. MAST Academy High School - Magnet School. LaSalle High School - Prep School. Gulliver Preparatory School - Prep School. Krop High School - Magnet School. Michael M. Dr. Design and Architecture Senior High School - Magnet School. Coral Reef High School - Magnet School. Christopher Columbus High School - Prep School. Belen Jesuit Preparatory School - Prep School. University of Miami [17]. Thomas University. St. Devry University [16]. Nova Southeastern University [15]. Miami-Dade College [14]. Miami International University of Art and Design. Johnson and Wales University. Florida Memorial University. Florida International University. Barry University [13]. Vizcaya Museum & Gardens [12]. Vizcaya-Miami Art Museum. Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCa) [11]. Miami Art Museum [10]. Historical Museum of South Florida. Parrot Jungle Island. Monkey Jungle [9]. Miami Seaquarium [8]. Miami Museum of Science and Planetarium. Miami Metro Zoo [7]. Little Havana. Jerry Herman Ring Theatre. Fruit & Spice Park. Fairchild Tropical Gardens. Everglades National Park [6]. Deering Estate. Coral Castle. Coconut Grove. Biscayne National Park. Bayside Marketplace. Barnacle Historic State Park. Wynwood. Overtown. Omni Performing Arts District. Little Haiti. Little Havana. Government Center. Design District. Coconut Grove. Buena Vista. Brickell Avenue. Bay Point Estates. Allapattah. |