Bay Harbour Islands
Bay Harbor Islands was known as a retirement retreat where senior citizens could relax and reflect, but it doesn't seem to be growing older or grayer. In recent years, the town has managed to attract younger families as well as their issues.
Bay Harbor Islands was known as a retirement retreat where senior citizens could relax and reflect, but it doesn’t seem to be growing older or grayer. In recent years, the town has managed to attract younger families as well as their issues.
Bay Harbor Islands, Florida is a community of fine homes, waterfront mansion, vintage and new condominiums and apartment houses, schools, retail shops, restaurants, municipal facilities and professional businesses. Rollerbladers and mothers with baby joggers are common sights on the side streets of Bay Harbor Islands. While providing residents with all the services of larger municipalities, Bay Harbor Islands, Florida manages to maintain the small-town touch.
A current concern is overcrowding at its lone public elementary school, Ruth K. Broad Elementary School, where about 300 Bay Harbor Island children attend.
“I am fighting to make sure that our children can attend our school,” Mayor Linda Zilber, who has lived in Bay Harbor Islands since she was teen, told residents in the town’s July newsletter. “This school is ranked as one of the best in the county, and I intend to keep it that way.”
Originally a sandbar in Biscayne Bay, Bay Harbor Islands is bordered by the cities of North Miami and North Bay Village. It is made up of two separate islands, the East and West islands. Following the original zoning that founder Shepard Broad designated to the islands in 1947, the West Island houses only single-family homes while the East Island houses multiple-family homes and the business district, which includes small shops, salons, banks, cafes, and several health professional offices.
Connecting the town to the mainland is the Broad Causeway. Constructed in 1951, this toll roadway runs over the Intracoastal Waterway and connects Bay Harbor Islands to North Miami. The Causeway includes a drawbridge allowing boats to pass during designated hours, and it charges a toll of 50 cents per car.
The causeway has spurred many disputes between the two cities, including a recent debate about the new weight limit. Structural damages on the causeway’s westernmost bridge led to the new weight limit of 6 tons for land vehicles crossing the Broad Causeway. As a result, trucks have had to reroute, which has increased traffic in the area. Plans to fix the bridge are in process.