Pinecrest, Florida
Encyclopedia
Pinecrest is a suburban village in Miami-Dade County
, Florida
, United States of America. The population was 19,055 as of the census
of 2000. Pinecrest is governed by a five-member Village Council and operates under the Council-Manager form of government
.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the village has a total area of 7.6 square miles (19.7 km²). 7.5 square miles (19.4 km²) of it is land and 0.13% is water.
technology and beautification projects which included thousands of trees being planted, unique street signs being posted Village-wide, and roads being repaved. In 2008, the Village Council dedicated the new Flagler Grove Park and the long-awaited Community Center at Pinecrest Gardens. The Pinecrest branch of the Miami-Dade County Library System opened adjacent to the Community Center in October 2008.
is the crown jewel of the village's park system. The park also offers various programs including summer camps. The park is located on the former site of the world famous Parrot Jungle.
and Southwest 102 Street as a staging area during the construction of the Overseas Railroad
to the Florida Keys
.
In the 1930s, the area’s growth continued and the community began to evolve around one of the first tourist attraction
s established in the Miami vicinity – Parrot Jungle and Gardens. Parrot Jungle was founded in 1936 by Franz and Louise Scherr on property located at Red Road and Southwest 111 Street and over the years became a world famous tourist attraction whose visitors included Sir Winston Churchill
. The idea for Parrot Jungle began after Scherr, who owned and operated a feed and supply store
in Homestead, Florida
, became intrigued with the idea of building an attraction where birds would “fly free.” To bring his vision to life, he rented 20 acres (80,937.2 m²) of hammock
land for an annual fee of $25. Parrot Jungle was built as a winding nature trail dug through the coral rock
and hammock land, indigenous to the area. All the natural plants were left undisturbed. The entrance was built on Red Road. The attraction opened on December 20, 1936, to about 100 visitors. Each paid 25 cents admission to see and hear Scherr talk about his birds, trees and flowers. Since 1936, Parrot Jungle has attracted over a million visitors and became a world-famous tourist attraction. On December 17, 2002, the Village of Pinecrest purchased the Parrot Jungle with the aim of developing the site as Pinecrest Gardens
. On March 8, 2003 the Pinecrest Village Council dedicated Pinecrest Gardens and officially opened it to the public as the Village’s newest municipal park. The attraction moved to a new waterfront location on Watson Island between Downtown Miami
and Miami Beach. It was relaunched as Parrot Jungle Island.
The Miami Serpentarium, another popular tourist attraction which featured serpents (snake
s) lizard
s and other reptile
s and amphibian
s, was located on US 1 for many decades prior to closing in the mid-1980s.
During the 1950s and 1960s the area flourished with the development and construction of ranch-style house
s on 1 acre (4,000 m²) lots which laid the foundation for the community’s rural and lushly landscaped residential character.
Rapid growth and local issues during the 1990s inspired a movement led by residents Evelyn Langlieb Greer and Gary C. Matzner to incorporate the area.
The Village of Pinecrest was officially incorporated on March 12, 1996. Greer was elected the first mayor and was succeeded, after serving two terms, by Matzner in 2004. The founding Village Council, including Greer, Cindie Blanck, Barry Blaxberg, Leslie Bowe, Robert Hingston, together with Village Manager Peter G. Lombardi and Village Clerk Guido Inguanzo, are credited with establishing well-regarded municipal services including police, park
s and recreation, building and planning services, and public works
.
is also served by The Pinecrest Tribune, which is published weekly, and is part of Miami's Community Newspapers.
}} Dadeland North
(SW 70th Avenue and U.S. 1)}} Dadeland South
(Dadeland Boulevard and U.S. 1)
of 2000, there were 19,055 people, 6,250 households, and 5,062 families residing in the village. The population density
was 2,527.8 inhabitants per square mile (975.8/km²). There were 6,403 housing units at an average density of 849.4 per square mile (327.9/km²). The racial makeup of the village is 90.30% White (62.8% were Non-Hispanic White,) 1.72% African American, 0.12% Native American, 4.53% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 1.31% from other races, and 2.02% from two or more races. 29.66% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 6,250 households out of which 47.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 70% were married couples
living together, 8.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19% were non-families. 15.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.04 and the average family size was 3.39.
In the village the population was spread out with 31.4% under the age of 18, 5.6% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 25.5% from 45 to 64, and 10.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 93.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.4 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $107,507, and the median income for a family was $122,526. Males had a median income of $88,091 versus $35,806 for females. The per capita income
for the village was $51,181. About 2.4% of families and 4.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.3% of those under age 18 and 3.5% of those age 65 or over.
As of 2000, speakers of English
as a first language
accounted for 58%, while Spanish
made up 35%, French
speakers were at 1.9%, Portuguese
was at 1.90%, Chinese
1.67%, Arabic
at 0.9%, and German
as a mother tongue consisted of 0.45% of the population.
As of 2000, Pinecrest had the thirty-fourth highest percentage of Cuba
n residents in the US, with 13.7% of the populace (tied with Tavernier, Florida
.) It had the ninety-second highest percentage of Colombia
n residents in the US, at 1.78% of the village's population (tied with Cooper City
and the borough
of South Bound Brook, New Jersey
,) and the thirty-fifth highest percentage of Nicaragua
n residents in the US, at 1.2% of its population.
system.
Public Elementary Schools
Public Middle Schools
Public High Schools
Christ the King Lutheran
Kendall United Methodist
Pinecrest Presbyterian
St. Louis Catholic
Temple Beth Am
Young Israel of Kendall
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
, 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 of America. The population was 19,055 as of the census
Census
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. Pinecrest is governed by a five-member Village Council and operates under the Council-Manager form of government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
.
Geography
Pinecrest is located at 25°40′N 80°18′W (25.6619, −80.3076).According to the United States Census Bureau
United 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 7.6 square miles (19.7 km²). 7.5 square miles (19.4 km²) of it is land and 0.13% is water.
Community projects
Pinecrest's projects since 1996 include the addition of several new parks, development of Wi-FiWi-Fi
Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
technology and beautification projects which included thousands of trees being planted, unique street signs being posted Village-wide, and roads being repaved. In 2008, the Village Council dedicated the new Flagler Grove Park and the long-awaited Community Center at Pinecrest Gardens. The Pinecrest branch of the Miami-Dade County Library System opened adjacent to the Community Center in October 2008.
Pinecrest Gardens
Pinecrest GardensPinecrest Gardens
Pinecrest Gardens is a park in Pinecrest, Florida on the corner of Southwest 111th Street and Southwest 57th Avenue ....
is the crown jewel of the village's park system. The park also offers various programs including summer camps. The park is located on the former site of the world famous Parrot Jungle.
History
During the 1900s, Miami pioneer and railroad tycoon Henry Flagler used the property at U.S. 1U.S. Route 1 in Florida
U.S. Route 1 in Florida runs along the state's east coast from Key West to its crossing of the St. Marys River into Georgia north of Boulogne, and south of Folkston. US 1 was designated through Florida when the U.S. Highway System was established in 1926.US 1 runs in the state of Florida, and...
and Southwest 102 Street as a staging area during the construction of the Overseas Railroad
Overseas Railroad
The Overseas Railroad was an extension of the Florida East Coast Railway to Key West, a city of almost 30,000 inhabitants located 128 miles beyond the end of the Florida peninsula...
to the Florida Keys
Florida Keys
The Florida Keys are a coral archipelago in southeast United States. They begin at the southeastern tip of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, and extend in a gentle arc south-southwest and then westward to Key West, the westernmost of the inhabited islands, and on to the uninhabited Dry...
.
In the 1930s, the area’s growth continued and the community began to evolve around one of the first tourist attraction
Tourist attraction
A tourist attraction is a place of interest where tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, or amusement opportunities....
s established in the Miami vicinity – Parrot Jungle and Gardens. Parrot Jungle was founded in 1936 by Franz and Louise Scherr on property located at Red Road and Southwest 111 Street and over the years became a world famous tourist attraction whose visitors included Sir Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
. The idea for Parrot Jungle began after Scherr, who owned and operated a feed and supply store
General store
A general store, general merchandise store, or village shop is a rural or small town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, sometimes in a small space, where people from the town and surrounding rural areas come to purchase all their general...
in Homestead, Florida
Homestead, Florida
Homestead is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States nestled between Biscayne National Park to the east and Everglades National Park to the west. Homestead is primarily a Miami suburb and a major agricultural area....
, became intrigued with the idea of building an attraction where birds would “fly free.” To bring his vision to life, he rented 20 acres (80,937.2 m²) of hammock
Hammock (ecology)
Hammocks are dense stands of hardwood trees that grow on natural rises of only a few inches higher than surrounding marshland that is otherwise too wet to support them. Hammocks are distinctive in that they are formed gradually over thousands of years rising in a wet area through the deposits of...
land for an annual fee of $25. Parrot Jungle was built as a winding nature trail dug through the coral rock
Coral
Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...
and hammock land, indigenous to the area. All the natural plants were left undisturbed. The entrance was built on Red Road. The attraction opened on December 20, 1936, to about 100 visitors. Each paid 25 cents admission to see and hear Scherr talk about his birds, trees and flowers. Since 1936, Parrot Jungle has attracted over a million visitors and became a world-famous tourist attraction. On December 17, 2002, the Village of Pinecrest purchased the Parrot Jungle with the aim of developing the site as Pinecrest Gardens
Pinecrest Gardens
Pinecrest Gardens is a park in Pinecrest, Florida on the corner of Southwest 111th Street and Southwest 57th Avenue ....
. On March 8, 2003 the Pinecrest Village Council dedicated Pinecrest Gardens and officially opened it to the public as the Village’s newest municipal park. The attraction moved to a new waterfront location on Watson Island between Downtown Miami
Downtown Miami
Downtown Miami is an urban residential neighborhood, and the central business district of Miami, Miami-Dade County, and South Florida in the United States...
and Miami Beach. It was relaunched as Parrot Jungle Island.
The Miami Serpentarium, another popular tourist attraction which featured serpents (snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
s) lizard
Lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 3800 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...
s and other reptile
Reptile
Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...
s and amphibian
Amphibian
Amphibians , are a class of vertebrate animals including animals such as toads, frogs, caecilians, and salamanders. They are characterized as non-amniote ectothermic tetrapods...
s, was located on US 1 for many decades prior to closing in the mid-1980s.
During the 1950s and 1960s the area flourished with the development and construction of ranch-style house
Ranch-style house
Ranch-style houses is a domestic architectural style originating in the United States. First built in the 1920s, the ranch style was extremely popular amongst the booming post-war middle class of the 1940s to 1970s...
s on 1 acre (4,000 m²) lots which laid the foundation for the community’s rural and lushly landscaped residential character.
Rapid growth and local issues during the 1990s inspired a movement led by residents Evelyn Langlieb Greer and Gary C. Matzner to incorporate the area.
The Village of Pinecrest was officially incorporated on March 12, 1996. Greer was elected the first mayor and was succeeded, after serving two terms, by Matzner in 2004. The founding Village Council, including Greer, Cindie Blanck, Barry Blaxberg, Leslie Bowe, Robert Hingston, together with Village Manager Peter G. Lombardi and Village Clerk Guido Inguanzo, are credited with establishing well-regarded municipal services including police, park
Park
A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by...
s and recreation, building and planning services, and public works
Public works
Public works are a broad category of projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community...
.
Media
The Village of Pinecrest is served by the Miami market for local radio and television. The Village of Pinecrestis also served by The Pinecrest Tribune, which is published weekly, and is part of Miami's Community Newspapers.
Transportation
Pinecrest is served by Metrobus throughout the area and by Miami Metrorail at the following stations:}} Dadeland North
Dadeland North (Metrorail station)
Dadeland North is a Metrorail station in Miami, Florida in the suburb of Kendall.This station is located at the intersection of South Dixie Highway and Southwest 83rd Street on the Snapper Creek, near the Snapper Creek Expressway...
(SW 70th Avenue and U.S. 1)}} Dadeland South
Dadeland South (Metrorail station)
Dadeland South is a Metrorail transfer station in the Miami suburb of Kendall, Florida at Dadeland. It is the southern terminus of the metro system....
(Dadeland Boulevard and U.S. 1)
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 19,055 people, 6,250 households, and 5,062 families residing in the village. 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 2,527.8 inhabitants per square mile (975.8/km²). There were 6,403 housing units at an average density of 849.4 per square mile (327.9/km²). The racial makeup of the village is 90.30% White (62.8% were Non-Hispanic White,) 1.72% African American, 0.12% Native American, 4.53% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 1.31% from other races, and 2.02% from two or more races. 29.66% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 6,250 households out of which 47.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 70% 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, 8.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19% were non-families. 15.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.04 and the average family size was 3.39.
In the village the population was spread out with 31.4% under the age of 18, 5.6% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 25.5% from 45 to 64, and 10.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 93.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.4 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $107,507, and the median income for a family was $122,526. Males had a median income of $88,091 versus $35,806 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 $51,181. About 2.4% of families and 4.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.3% of those under age 18 and 3.5% of those age 65 or over.
As of 2000, speakers of English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
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 for 58%, while Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
made up 35%, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
speakers were at 1.9%, Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
was at 1.90%, Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
1.67%, Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
at 0.9%, and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
as a mother tongue consisted of 0.45% of the population.
As of 2000, Pinecrest had the thirty-fourth 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 13.7% of the populace (tied with Tavernier, Florida
Tavernier, Florida
Tavernier is a census-designated place in Monroe County, Florida, on an island named Key Largo in the upper Florida Keys. The population was 2,173 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Tavernier is located at ....
.) It had the ninety-second 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 1.78% of the village's population (tied with Cooper City
Cooper City, Florida
Cooper City is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. The city is named for Morris Cooper, who founded the community in 1959. The city's population was 28,547 at the 2010 census...
and the borough
Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....
of South Bound Brook, New Jersey
South Bound Brook, New Jersey
South Bound Brook is a Borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2010 Census, the borough population was 4,563.What is now South Bound Brook was originally formed as a town within Franklin Township...
,) and the thirty-fifth highest percentage of 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 residents in the US, at 1.2% of its population.
Education
Pinecrest is served by the Miami-Dade County Public SchoolsMiami-Dade County Public Schools
Miami-Dade County Public Schools is a public school district serving Miami-Dade County, Florida. Founded in 1885, it is the largest school district in Florida and the Southeastern United States, and the fourth largest in the United States, with a student enrollment of 380,006 as of July 5, 2010...
system.
Public Elementary Schools
- Howard Drive Elementary School
- Pinecrest Elementary School
- Palmetto Elementary School
Public Middle Schools
- Palmetto Middle School
Public High Schools
- Miami Palmetto High SchoolMiami Palmetto High SchoolMiami Palmetto Senior High School is a secondary school located at 7460 S.W. 118th Street in Pinecrest, Florida, USA, a Miami suburb; its principal is Allison Harley. The school is on 23 acres in southwest Miami-Dade County, Florida, and is part of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools district....
Religion
Bet Shira CongregationBet Shira Congregation
Bet Shira Congregation is a Conservative synagogue located at 7500 SW 120th Street in Miami, Florida. It numbers over 550 member families.-History:...
Christ the King Lutheran
Kendall United Methodist
Pinecrest Presbyterian
St. Louis Catholic
Temple Beth Am
Young Israel of Kendall
External links
- Village of Pinecrest official website