Miami Shores
Miami shores was meant to be- and remains –a place for adults and children living quietly in well-trimmed beauty, with a sense of place and order, a sense of themselves and of their own future in a Florida that seems too often to have been forgotten.
Miami Shores boasts beautifully maintained and historic homes. A charming main street, proactive municipal services, and design features such as rear alleys and sidewalks provide a quality of life that leads many to liken the community to Coral Gables at a smaller scale.
January 2, 1932, was an auspicious date. It marked the incorporation of the Miami Shores Village. Today, Miami Shores is practically everything its founders hoped it would be. With a population of about 10,000, the Village is a community of well maintained homes, parks, excellent recreational facilities, fine golf course, excellent public, private and charter schools, varied businesses, and a government and police department responsive to the needs of its residents. The community is also notable as the home to Barry University and the Archdiocese of Miami
Miami Shores was meant to be- and remains –a place for adults and children living quietly in well-trimmed beauty, with a sense of place and order, a sense of themselves and of their own future in a Florida that seems too often to have been forgotten.
Its story began in the years after the devastation of the Civil War. In the postwar era, William Gleason served as Florida’s lieutenant governor, and in the early 1870s, he settled in the area that would become Miami Shores.
Gleason named the community Biscayne, and in those days the new community temporarily served as the home of the Dade County Court and County Commission. Development in Dade County moved at a slow pace until Henry Flagler extended his railroad to Miami in 1896. As the 20th century rolled in, Ohio businessman Lee T. Cooper bought more than 1,300 acres of land in the areas that would become Miami Shores and El Portal.
In the early 1920s, Cooper sold 2,500 acres of land to Hugh Anderson of the Miami Shores and Shoreland companies. The Shoreland Co. was soon advertising the area as ``America’s Mediterranean.’’.
The company’s advertising campaign was modeled after Miami’s ’’Magic City’’ campaign.
Part of the Shoreland Co.’s plan for Miami Shores was raising nine islands from the bottom of Biscayne Bay, including one to be named Miami Shores Island, at an estimated cost of $200 million.
The company also planned to build four luxury hotels and a yacht club along the bay. Shoreland generated record profits for several years, but in 1926 it experienced a reversal of fortune.
The end of the Miami land boom, combined with a devastating hurricane, put an end to the Shoreland Co. and its grand plans. By 1927, the company filed for bankruptcy. The company’s plans were never fully realized, but they had already made an impact on the development of Miami Shores.
Although the Shoreland Co. was gone, development was continued by the Phipps family through Bessemer Properties. As the city of Miami edged near bankruptcy in the late 1920s, residents of Miami Shores wanted to break away from the struggling city.
Miami Shores Village was incorporated on Jan. 2, 1932, covering an area of 1,500 acres.
The 1930s also saw the creation of the Miami Shores Country Club, which offered a pool, golf course and tennis and basketball courts.
In 1940, then women-only Barry College opened; now it is the coeducational Barry University.
In the 1950s, the village was clogged with traffic in the era before Interstate 95. Before the construction of the interstate, drivers utilized Biscayne Boulevard, Northeast Second Avenue and Northeast Sixth Avenue.
In the decades that have passed since those early, formative years, the village has not visibly changed much. Bramson credits that to the policies of the Village Council. ’’By refusing to allow zoning variations, [the council] has refused to allow the village to decline,’’ he said. Miami Shores has had its problems and controversies.
In 1986, residents voted to barricade 67 streets, including those sharing borders with El Portal and unincorporated Miami-Dade County. The barriers were designed to decrease crime and rush-hour traffic. The barricades were criticized by some residents of Miami Shores and neighboring El Portal.
The temporary drum barriers were eventually replaced with permanent ones comprised of landscaping and signs.
Now the village is continuing to grow and improve. Recently, a new aquatic center, which includes Shipwreck Cove, an activity pool designed specifically for children, opened its doors.
The village’s streets have also received a face-lift. A yearlong renovation of several blocks of 103rd Street was recently completed and the street now features new drainage, lighting and landscaping.
The village also has a long-term plan to renovate Northeast Second Avenue downtown. A new retail shopping center has been completed on Northeast 96th Street featuring a Starbucks coffee shop for Miami Shores.
Downtown Miami Shores isn’t just getting a face-lift—it’s more of an extreme makeover. Residents, business owners and village officials say the area along Northeast Second Avenue has long been ready for one.
Over the next five or six years, the downtown area will be transformed from a stretch of vacant and under-utilized offices to a revamped mix of new shops and restaurants, with wider sidewalks, new landscaping, lighting and gathering places.
The transformation is taking place between 94th and 103rd streets. The sidewalks along Second Avenue will be widened to make the area more pedestrian-friendly.
During non-peak hours, the driving lanes closest to the wider sidewalks will eventually be closed for parking, similar to what is done on Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale.
Restaurants and retail stores will be on the ground level, while residential units and offices will take up the upper floors. There will also be parking behind the buildings.
Miami Shores, Florida remains a village at heart with a charming main street and private homes on tree-lined streets. Miami Shores Country Club offers golf, tennis and a new water park