Key Biscayne, Florida
Encyclopedia
Miami-Dade County, Florida
Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the state of Florida. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 2,496,435, making it the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, United States on the island of Key Biscayne
Key Biscayne
Key Biscayne is an island located in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay. It is the southernmost of the barrier islands along the Atlantic coast of Florida, and lies south of Miami Beach and southeast of Miami...
. The population was 10,507 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau is 10,324.
Key Biscayne is located on the island of Key Biscayne and lies south of Miami Beach and east of Miami. The Village is connected to Miami via the Rickenbacker Causeway
Rickenbacker Causeway
The Rickenbacker Causeway connects Miami, Florida, United States to the barrier islands of Virginia Key and Key Biscayne across Biscayne Bay.-Background:...
, originally built in 1947. Because of its low elevation and direct exposure to the Atlantic Ocean, it is usually among the first Miami areas to be evacuate
Emergency evacuation
Emergency evacuation is the immediate and rapid movement of people away from the threat or actual occurrence of a hazard. Examples range from the small scale evacuation of a building due to a bomb threat or fire to the large scale evacuation of a district because of a flood, bombardment or...
d before an oncoming hurricane.
Geography
According to the United States Census BureauUnited States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the village has a total area of 1.4 square miles (3.6 km²). 1.3 square miles (3.4 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square mile (0.258998811 km²) of it (8.63%) is water.
The Village is bordered on the north by Crandon Park
Crandon Park
Crandon Park is a urban park in metropolitan Miami, occupying the northern part of Key Biscayne. It is connected to mainland Miami via the Rickenbacker Causeway.-History:...
, Miami-Dade County park, on the south by Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park
Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park
Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park occupies approximately the southern third of the island of Key Biscayne, at coordinates . The park is home to the Cape Florida Light, the oldest standing structure in Greater Miami...
, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean and on the west by Biscayne Bay
Biscayne Bay
Biscayne Bay is a lagoon that is approximately 35 miles long and up to 8 miles wide located on the Atlantic coast of South Florida, United States. It is usually divided for purposes of discussion and analysis into three parts: North Bay, Central Bay, and South Bay. Its area is...
.
History
While there had been earlier schemes to develop a town on Key Biscayne, it wasn't until the opening of the four-mile (6 km) long Rickenbacker CausewayRickenbacker Causeway
The Rickenbacker Causeway connects Miami, Florida, United States to the barrier islands of Virginia Key and Key Biscayne across Biscayne Bay.-Background:...
from Miami to Virginia Key
Virginia Key
Virginia Key is a barrier island in Miami, Florida, United States in Biscayne Bay, south of Brickell and north of Key Biscayne. It accessible from the mainland via the Rickenbacker Causeway....
and on to Key Biscayne in 1947 that the island was opened up to large scale residential development. The northern two-thirds of the island had been operated as the largest coconut
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
plantation in the continental United States during the first half of the 20th century. In 1940 the Matheson
William John Matheson
William John Matheson was an American industrialist, born in Wisconsin but educated in Scotland. Having learned, while in Scotland, about recent breakthroughs in the development of aniline dyes, Matheson became an early importer and distributor of such dyes from Germany...
family donated over 800 acres (3.2 km²) of their land to Dade County for a public park (Crandon Park) in exchange for a commitment that the county would build a causeway to the island. The remaining Matheson property, stretching across the middle of the island, was then sold off to developers. Starting in 1951, the Mackle Construction Company offered new homes on the island for US$9,540, with just US$500 down. A U.S. Post Office contract branch was opened, the Community Church started holding services in an old coconut-husking shed, and the Key Biscayne Elementary School opened in 1952.
The southern third of Key Biscayne, which included Cape Florida, was owned by James Deering
James Deering
James Deering was an industrialist executive in the family Deering Harvester Company and subsequent International Harvester, a socialite, and an antiquities collector. He is known for his landmark Vizcaya estate, where he was an early 20th century resident on Biscayne Bay in the present day...
and, after his death, by his brother Charles, for 35 years. In 1948 José Manuel Áleman, a Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n politician in exile, bought the Cape Florida property from the Deering estate. After Áleman died in 1951, his widow, Elena Santeiro Garcia, added to her Cape Florida property by buying an ocean-to-bay strip that had been part of the Matheson property. This strip included a canal that had been dug by William Matheson in the 1920s, and which extended from the bay across most of the island. The land north of this canal was developed as part of what is now the Village of Key Biscayne. Garcia sold the Cape Florida property in 1966 to the state of Florida. This land became Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, which opened January 1, 1967.
President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
purchased the first of his three waterfront homes, forming a compound known as the Florida White House
Florida White House
The Florida White House was an informal name for a compound in Key Biscayne, Florida used by U.S. President Richard Nixon.-History:...
, in 1969 to be close to his close friend and confidant, Bebe Rebozo
Charles Rebozo
Charles Gregory "Bebe" Rebozo was a Florida banker who became famous for being a friend and confidant of President Richard Nixon...
and industrialist Robert Abplanalp
Robert Abplanalp
Robert Henry Abplanalp was an American inventor who invented the aerosol valve, the founder of Precision Valve Corporation and a political activist....
(inventor of the modern spray can valve). Bebe Rebozo, owner of the Key Biscayne Bank, was indicted for laundering a $100,000 donation from Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
to the Nixon election campaign. President Kennedy and Nixon met for the first time after the 1960 Election loss by Nixon in an oceanfront villa at the old Key Biscayne Hotel. Plans for the Watergate break-in at Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
headquarters were discussed at the Key Biscayne Nixon compound and, as the Watergate scandal unfolded, Nixon spent more time in seclusion there. Nixon visited Key Biscayne more than 50 times between 1969 and 1973. The U.S. Department of Defense spent $400,000 constructing a helicopter landing pad in Biscayne Bay
Biscayne Bay
Biscayne Bay is a lagoon that is approximately 35 miles long and up to 8 miles wide located on the Atlantic coast of South Florida, United States. It is usually divided for purposes of discussion and analysis into three parts: North Bay, Central Bay, and South Bay. Its area is...
adjacent to the Nixon compound and when Nixon sold his property, including the helicopter pad, there were public accusations that he enriched himself at taxpayer expense.
The area was incorporated as a new municipality in 1991 - the first new city in Miami-Dade County in over fifty years. Rafael Conte was elected the first mayor along with members of the founding Village Council including Clifford Brody, Mortimer Fried, Michael Hill, Luis Lauredo, Joe Rasco, and Raymond Sullivan. The municipality's first manager was C. Samuel Kissinger and the first clerk was Guido Inguanzo. The incorporation of the Village provided local control over taxes and future development.
In 1992, Hurricane Andrew
Hurricane Andrew
Hurricane Andrew was the third Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the United States, after the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 and Hurricane Camille in 1969. Andrew was the first named storm and only major hurricane of the otherwise inactive 1992 Atlantic hurricane season...
flooded some homes and businesses on Key Biscayne but the eye wall passed over uninhabited Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park which received the brunt of the storm. The storm damage was a blessing for the park because it destroyed all the non-native vegetation that the state had been trying to eradicate. Federal and State funding allowed the replanting with native vegetation making the park a showplace natural area. In recent years, the construction of several large resort hotels, condominium complexes and shopping centers on the island has affected the once bucolic island life, as commercialism has continued to accelerate at a frenetic pace. The Village has its own fire, police and a newly expanded public elementary and middle school. The tax rate remains the lowest of any municipality in Miami-Dade County. The Village has just completed a new civic center including fire, police and administration buildings and a well-appointed recreation and community center with indoor multi use courts, outdoor swimming pool and a renowned musical theater program.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 10,507 people, 4,259 households, and 2,900 families residing in the village, but in the past 5 years the population has increased. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 8,225.0 inhabitants per square mile (3,169.4/km²). There were 6,378 housing units at an average density of 4,992.8 per square mile (1,923.9/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 95.46% White (48.1% were Non-Hispanic White,) 0.46% African American, 0.14% Native American, 0.92% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 1.49% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 1.52% from two or more races. 49.79% of the population are Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
or Latino
Latino
The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
of any race.
There were 4,259 households out of which 32.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.0% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 7.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.9% were non-families. 27.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 2.99.
In the village the population was spread out with 24.2% under the age of 18, 4.6% from 18 to 24, 29.6% from 25 to 44, 26.0% from 45 to 64, and 15.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 88.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.8 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $86,599, and the median income for a family was $107,610. Males had a median income of $86,322 versus $46,765 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the village was $54,213.
As of 2000, speakers of Spanish as a first language
First language
A first language is the language a person has learned from birth or within the critical period, or that a person speaks the best and so is often the basis for sociolinguistic identity...
accounted 59.73% of residents, while English made up 30.83%, Portuguese was at 2.83%, French at 2.67%, Italian consisted of 1.66%, and German was the mother tongue of 1.46% of the population.
As of 2000, Key Biscayne had the thirty-first highest percentage of Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n residents in the US, with 15.53% of the populace. It had the eleventh highest percentage of Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n residents in the US, at 7.07% of the village's population, and the fourteenth highest percentage of Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
vian residents in the US, at 2.48% of its population (tied with Glen Cove, New York
Glen Cove, New York
Glen Cove is a city in Nassau County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2010 Census, the city population was 26,964....
.) It also had the fourth most Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
ns in the US, at 2.36%, while it had the twenty-first highest percentage of Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ians, at 1.50% of all residents (tied with Sunny Isles Beach
Sunny Isles Beach, Florida
Sunny Isles Beach is a city located on a barrier island in northeast Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The City is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east and the Intracoastal Waterway on the west...
and five other areas.) Key Biscayne's Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
n community had the forty-second highest percentage of residents, which was at 1.02% of the US population. Key Biscayne is home to 0.7% of the US' Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
an community, making it the 73rd highest concentration of Chileans in the US.
Controversy Over Hotels and Condominiums On Key Biscayne
As noted above, the construction of hotels and several condominium complexes in Key Biscayne caused the population to soar. In 2007, voters approved an amendment to the village charter requiring that future land use changes be approved by voters. In 2008, the village council, saying that requiring community voting on zoning changes infringed on its responsibility, submitted another proposal to revise the charter. But on November 4, 2008, voters overwhelmingly rejected the council's proposed change, defeating the amendment by a more than two-to-one margin.The controversy over density in the village is related to the fate of the Sonesta hotel property on the eastern side of the island.
There are several large condominium and hotel complexes on Key Biscayne, including
- The Ritz-Carlton Hotel
- The Grand Bay
- The Ocean Club
- The Key ColonyKey Colony (condominium)Located adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean, the Key Colony complex is a gated community of four independently-operated condominiums located on Key Biscayne, Florida. The four buildings, Botanica, EmeraldBay, Tidemark, and Oceansound, were constructed in the 1970s and 1980s and are one of the larger...
complex of four buildings, Botanica, EmaraldBay, Oceansound, and Tidemark. The Botanica building has some units that allow short-term rentals - The Towers of Key Biscayne
Media
The Islander News covers news, events and happenings on the island. It is the only newspaper in South Florida catering exclusively to residents of Key Biscayne. They also publish "Island Life" The Official Guide and Directory of the Key Biscayne Chamber of Commerce. Published annually, "Island Life" contains community information and a comprehensive business directory of Chamber members. The Chamber also publishes a bi-weekly e-newsletter with a circulation of over 1,000.Key Biscayne Magazine is a lifestyle magazine based on the island. The magazine's tagline is, "Island Living At Its Finest."
Notable residents
- Mary Joe FernandezMary Joe FernándezMary Joe Fernández Godsick is an American former professional tennis player...
, tennis star - Richard NixonRichard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, Florida home of this former U.S. presidentPresidentA president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
during his stay in office - "Bebe" RebozoCharles RebozoCharles Gregory "Bebe" Rebozo was a Florida banker who became famous for being a friend and confidant of President Richard Nixon...
, banker. - Eddie RickenbackerEddie RickenbackerEdward Vernon Rickenbacker was an American fighter ace in World War I and Medal of Honor recipient. He was also a race car driver and automotive designer, a government consultant in military matters and a pioneer in air transportation, particularly as the longtime head of Eastern Air Lines.-Early...
and his wife Adelaide. - Emerson FittipaldiEmerson FittipaldiEmerson Fittipaldi |São Paulo]], Brazil) is a Brazilian automobile racing driver who throughout a long and successful career won the Indianapolis 500 twice and championships in both Formula One and CART.-Early and personal life:...
Ex F1 and Indianapolis 500 Winner, Indycar Driver.
Other information
- Key Biscayne also hosts the Tennis Center at Crandon ParkTennis Center at Crandon ParkThe 13,300-seat Stadium Court is the centerpiece of the Tennis Center at Crandon Park facility, home of the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida since 1987. The Sony Ericsson Open uses 12 courts in competition courts, plus six practice courts...
, home to the Sony Ericsson OpenMiami MastersThe Miami Masters is an annual tennis tournament for men and women held in Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida. It is an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the men's tour and a Premier Mandatory event on the women's tour and is played on hard courts at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park...
Tennis Tournament, and a golf course, along with many amenities for water sports and fishing. - Key Biscayne has a Visitors Center, open 24/7, 365 days a year, located in the Village Hall, next to the Police Station.
External links
- Village of Key Biscayne website
- Key Biscayne Magazine
- Key-Biscayne.com
- Key Biscayne Chamber of Commerce
- RatRadio.Net - Local Community Website