Key Biscayne, Florida

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Village of Key Biscayne
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settlement_type = Village
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mapsize = 250x200px
map_caption = Location in Miami-Dade County and the state of Florida

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mapsize1 = 250x200px
map_caption1 = U.S. Census Bureau map showing village boundaries
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = flag|United States
subdivision_type1 = State
subdivision_name1 = flag|Florida
subdivision_type2 = County
subdivision_name2 = noflag|Miami-Dade
government_footnotes =
government_type = Council-Manager
leader_title = Mayor
leader_name = Robert Vernon
leader_title1 =
leader_name1 =
established_title = Established
established_date = 1991
established_title2 =
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area_magnitude =
unit_pref = Imperial
area_footnotes =
area_total_km2 = 3.6
area_land_km2 = 3.3
area_water_km2 = 0.3
area_total_sq_mi = 1.4
area_land_sq_mi = 1.3
area_water_sq_mi = 0.1
area_water_percent = 8.63
area_urban_km2 =
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population_as_of = 2000
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population_total = 10507
population_density_km2 = 3175.7
population_density_sq_mi = 4992.8
timezone = Eastern (EST)
utc_offset = -5
timezone_DST = EDT
utc_offset_DST = -4
latd = 25 |latm = 41 |lats = 25 |latNS = N
longd = 80 |longm = 9 |longs = 54 |longEW = W
elevation_footnotes =
elevation_m = 1
elevation_ft = 3
postal_code_type = ZIP code
postal_code = 33149
area_code = 305
blank_name = FIPS code
blank_info = 12-36300GR|2
blank1_name = GNIS feature ID
blank1_info = 0285075GR|3
website = http://www.keybiscayne.fl.gov
footnotes =

Key Biscayne is a village in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States on the island of Key Biscayne. The population was 10,507 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 10,324. [http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/tables/SUB-EST2004-04-12.xls] 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, 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 evacuated before an oncoming hurricane.

Geography

Key Biscayne is located at coor dms|25|41|25|N|80|9|54|W|city (25.690329, -80.165118).GR|1

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 3.6 km² (1.4 mi²). 3.3 km² (1.3 mi²) of it is land and 0.3 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (8.63%) is water.

The Village is bordered on the north by Crandon Park, Miami-Dade County park, on the south by Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean and on the west by Biscayne Bay.

History

"See early history of Key Biscayne".

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 Causeway from Miami to Virginia Key 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 plantation in the continental United States during the first half of the 20th century. In 1940 the Matheson family donated over convert|800|acre|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. [Blank. pp. 159-162.]

The southern third of Key Biscayne, which included Cape Florida, was owned by James Deering and, after his death, by his brother Charles, for 35 years. In 1948 José Manuel Áleman, a Cuban 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. [Blank. pp.166-171.]

President Richard Nixon purchased the first of his three waterfront homes, forming a compound known as the Florida White House, in 1969 to be close to his close friend and confidant, Bebe Rebozo and industrialist Robert Abplanalp (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 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 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 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 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 as the once bucolic island life 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.

Key Biscayne increasingly caters to an elite population of business moguls, high-income professionals, and a significant influx of Latin American tourists and part-time residents fleeing political and economic instability in their home countries.Fact|date=February 2007

Demographics

As of the censusGR|2 of 2000, there were 10,507 people, 4,259 households, and 2,900 families residing in the village. The population density was 3,169.4/km² (8,225.0/mi²). There were 6,378 housing units at an average density of 1,923.9/km² (4,992.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the village was 95.46% White (48.1% were Non-Hispanic White,) [cite web |url=http://www.muninetguide.com/states/florida/municipality/Key_Biscayne.php |title=Demographics of Key Biscayne, FL |publisher=MuniNetGuide.com |accessdate=2007-11-01] 0.46% African American, 0.14% Native American, 0.92% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 1.49% from other races, and 1.52% from two or more races. 49.79% of the population are Hispanic or Latino 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 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 for the village was $54,213.

As of 2000, speakers of Spanish as a first language 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. [cite web |url=http://www.mla.org/map_data_results&state_id=12&county_id=&mode=place&zip=&place_id=36300&cty_id=&ll=&a=&ea=&order=r |title=MLA Data Center Results of Key Biscayne, FL |publisher=Modern Language Association |accessdate=2007-11-01]

As of 2000, Key Biscayne had the thirty-first highest percentage of Cuban residents in the US, with 15.53% of the populace. [cite web |url=http://www.epodunk.com/ancestry/Cuban.html |title=Ancestry Map of Cuban Communities |publisher=Epodunk.com |accessdate=2007-11-01] It had the eleventh highest percentage of Colombian residents in the US, at 7.07% of the village's population, [cite web |url=http://www.epodunk.com/ancestry/Colombian.html |title=Ancestry Map of Colombian Communities |publisher=Epodunk.com |accessdate=2007-11-01] and the fourteenth highest percentage of Peruvian residents in the US, at 2.48% of its population (tied with Glen Cove, New York.) [cite web |url=http://www.epodunk.com/ancestry/Peruvian.html |title=Ancestry Map of Peruvian Communities |publisher=Epodunk.com |accessdate=2007-11-01] It also had the fourth most Venezuelans in the US, at 2.36%, [cite web |url=http://www.epodunk.com/ancestry/Venezuelan.html |title=Ancestry Map of Venezuelan Communities |publisher=Epodunk.com |accessdate=2007-11-01] while it had the twenty-first highest percentage of Brazilians, at 1.50% of all residents (tied with Sunny Isles Beach and five other areas.) [cite web |url=http://www.epodunk.com/ancestry/Brazilian.html |title=Ancestry Map of Brazilian Communities |publisher=Epodunk.com |accessdate=2007-11-01] Key Biscayne's Nicaraguan community had the forty-second highest percentage of residents, which was at 1.02% of the US population. [cite web |url=http://www.epodunk.com/ancestry/Nicaraguan.html |title=Ancestry Map of Nicaraguan Communities |publisher=Epodunk.com |accessdate=2007-11-01]

Education

Miami-Dade County Public Schools serves Key Biscayne.

Other Information

*Key Biscayne was also the Florida home of former U.S. president Richard Nixon during his stay in office.
*There is now an annual Key Biscayne "regatta" similar to the Columbus Day regatta at Elliot Key where several dozen boats meet at the sandbar for a day of drinking.
*Key Biscayne also hosts the Tennis Center at Crandon Park, home to the Sony Ericsson Open Tennis Tournament, and a golf course, along with many amenities for water sports and fishing.

References

External links

* [http://www.keybiscayne.fl.gov/ Village of Key Biscayne website]
* [http://www.key-biscayne.com/ Key-Biscayne.com]
* [http://www.keybiscaynechamber.org/ Key Biscayne Chamber of Commerce]
* [http://www.ratradio.net/ RatRadio.Net] - Local Community Website