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Main article: Miami, Florida in the 20th century

Miami's growth up to United States to the Miami region. The catastrophic Great Miami Hurricane in 1926 caused 373 fatalities and ended a large building boom. Between 25,000 and 50,000 people were left homeless in the Miami area. [7] The Great Depression followed, in which more than sixteen thousand people in Miami became unemployed.[8]

Giuseppe Zangara mugshot after the shooting

Giuseppe Zangara mugshot after the shooting In the mid-1930s, the Chicago, who was shaking hands with Roosevelt, was shot and died two weeks later. Four other people were wounded, but President-elect Roosevelt was not harmed. [9] Zangara was quickly tried for Cermak's murder and was executed by the electric chair on March 20, 1933 in Raiford, Florida.
By the early 1940s Miami was recovering from the Great Depression, but then Key West to the DuPont building in Miami. As the war against the U-boats grew stronger, more military bases sprang up in the Miami area. Eventually, over five hundred thousand enlisted men and fifty thousand officers trained in South Florida.[10] After the end of the war, many servicemen and women returned to Miami, pushing the population up to almost half a million by 1950.

First Cuban wave

Following the 1959 revolution that unseated Fulgencio Batista and brought Fidel Castro to power, most Cubans who were living in Miami went back to Cuba. That soon changed, and many middle class and upper class people Cubans moved to Florida en masse with little possessions after Castro began to remove freedoms and rights. Miami generally welcomed the Cuban exiles.[11] In 1965 alone, 100,000 Cubans packed into the twice-daily "freedom flights" from Havana, Cuba to Miami. Most of the exiles settled into the Riverside neighborhood, which began to take on the new name of "Little Havana." This area emerged as a predominantly Spanish-speaking community, and Spanish speakers elsewhere in the city could conduct most of their daily business in their native tongue. By the end of the 1960s, more than four hundred thousand Cuban refugees were living in Miami-Dade County.

Social unrest

Although Miami was not really considered a major center of the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, it did not escape the change that occurred. Miami was a major city in the southern state of Florida, and had always had a substantial African-American and black (to differentiate individuals of Caribbean origin) population.
In December 1979, police officers pursued motorcyclist Arthur McDuffie in a high-speed chase after McDuffie made a provocative gesture towards a police officer. The officers claimed that the chase ended when McDuffie crashed his motorcycle and died. The coroner's report concluded otherwise. One of the officers testified that McDuffie fell off of his bike on an Interstate 95 on-ramp. When the police reached him he was injured but okay. The officers proceeded to remove his helmet, beat him to death with their batons, put his helmet back on, and called an ambulance claiming there had been a motorcycle accident. An all-white jury acquitted the officers after a brief deliberation.
After learning of the verdict of the McDuffie case, one of the worst riots in the history of the United States, the infamous Liberty City Riots, broke out. By the time the rioting ceased three days later, over 850 people had been arrested, and at least eight white people and ten African Americans had died in the riots. Property damage was estimated around one hundred million dollars.[12]

Later immigration

Cuban refugees arriving in crowded boats during the Mariel Boatlift crisis.

Cuban refugees arriving in crowded boats during the Mariel Boatlift crisis. Later, the Mariel Boatlift of 1980 brought 150,000 Cubans to Miami, the largest in civilian history. Unlike the previous exodus of the 1960s, most of the Cuban refugees arriving were poor. Castro used the boatlift as a way of purging his country of criminals and of the mentally ill. During this time, many of the middle class non-Hispanic whites in the community left the city, often referred to as "white flight." In 1960, Miami was 90 percent non-Hispanic white; by 1990 it was only about 10 percent non-Hispanic white. In the 1980s, Miami started to see an increase in immigrants from other nations such as Haiti. As the Haitian population grew, the area known today as Little Haiti emerged, centered around Northeast Second Avenue and 54th Street. In the 1990s, the presence of Haitians was acknowledged with Haitian Creole language signs in public places and ballots during voting.
Another major Cuban exodus occurred in 1994. To prevent it from becoming another Mariel Boatlift, the Clinton Administration announced a significant change in U.S. policy. In a controversial action, the administration announced that Cubans interdicted at sea would not be brought to the United States but instead would be taken by the Coast Guard to U.S. military installations at Guantanamo Bay or to Panama. During an eight-month period beginning in the summer of 1994, over 30,000 Cubans and more than 20,000 Haitians were interdicted and sent to live in camps outside the United States.

1990s and today

The aftermath of Hurricane Andrew in the Miami area

The aftermath of Hurricane Andrew in the Miami area Hurricane Andrew caused more than $20 billion in damage just south of the Miami-Dade area in 1992.[13] The Elián González uproar was a heated custody and immigration battle in the Miami area in 2000. The contoversy concerned six-year-old Elián González, who was rescued from the waters of the coast of Miami. The U.S. and the Cuban governments, his father Juan Miguel González, his Miami relatives, and the Cuban-American community of Miami were involved. The climactic stage of this prolonged battle was the April 22, 2000 seizure of Elián by federal agents, which drew the criticism of many in the Cuban-American community.
The controversial Free Trade Area of the Americas negotiations occurred in 2003. It was a proposed agreement to reduce trade barriers while increasing intellectual property rights. During the 2003 meeting in Miami, the Free Trade Area of the Americas was met by heavy opposition from anti-corporatization and anti-globalization protests.
On June 27, 2005, the popular ex-city commissioner Arthur Teele walked into the main lobby of the Jim DeFede, and told the security guard to tell his wife Stephanie he "loved her" before pulling out a gun and committing suicide.[14]

People and culture

Demographics

The Miami skyline, as it is seen from the northeast on Biscayne Bay.

The Miami skyline, as it is seen from the northeast on Biscayne Bay. Miami is the 46th most populous city in the U.S., just behind Minneapolis and Omaha. As of the census of 2000, there are 362,470 people, 134,198 households, and 83,336 families residing in the city. The Toronto (43%).
There are 134,198 households out of which 26.3% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.6% are married couples living together, 18.7% have a female head of household with no husband present, and 37.9% are non-families. 30.4% of all households are made up of individuals and 12.5% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.61 and the average family size is 3.25.
In the city the population is spread out with 21.7% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 30.3% from 25 to 44, 22.1% from 45 to 64, and 17.0% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 38 years. For every 100 females there are 98.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 97.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $23,483, and the median income for a family is $27,225. Males have a median income of $24,090 versus $20,115 for females. The per capita income for the city is $15,128. 28.5% of the population and 23.5% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 38.2% of those under the age of 18 and 29.3% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
Based on the Uniform Crime Reports Program, Miami ranks as the second most dangerous metropolitan area in the United States, based number of murders, rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries and motor vehicle thefts that have occurred in the metropolitan area. The city proper ranks 14th.[19]
The city ranks second-to-last in people over 18 with a high school diploma, with 23% of the population not having that degree.
A wide variety of languages are commonly spoken throughout the city. The City of Miami has three official languages - English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole. Other languages that are spoken throughout the city include Afrikaans, Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, and Russian. Miami has one of the largest populations in the U.S. (74%) of people who speak another language other than English at home.
The Latin and Caribbean-friendly atmosphere in Miami has made it a popular destination for tourists and immigrants from all over the world, and the third-biggest immigration port in the country after Los Angeles. In addition, large immigrant communities have settled in Miami from around the globe, including Europe, Africa, and Asia. The majority of Miami's European immigrant communities are recent immigrants, many living in the city seasonally, with a high disposable income. For example, Miami's Italian-born community numbers only around 45,000, but it is the wealthiest Italian American community in the United States.
Today there are sizable legal and illegal populations of Argentinians, Bahamians, Barbadians, Brazilians, Colombians, Cubans, Dominicans, Dutch, Ecuadorians, French, Haitians, Jamaicans, Israelis, Italians, Nicaraguans, Peruvians, Russians, South Africans, Turks, and Venezuelans throughout the metropolitan area. While commonly thought of as mainly a city of Hispanic and Caribbean immigrants, the Miami area is home to the largest Finnish, French, and South African immigrant communities in the United States; as well as one of the largest Israeli, Russian, and Turkish communities.

Media

Miami is served by two English-language newspapers, The Miami Herald and South Florida Sun-Sentinel, and Spanish-language El Nuevo Herald. The Miami Herald is Miami's primary newspaper with over a million subscribers focusing mainly on issues that affect the Miami and Miami-Dade area. However, it also does have news bureaus in Broward, Monroe, and Nassau, Bahamas. It published, in addition to a daily Miami-Dade edition, a daily Monroe County edition, a daily Nassau edition, and a daily International Edition. The newspaper also published The Herald, a daily Fort Lauderdale paper.
Miami is the 12th largest radio market and the 17th largest television market in the U.S. Television stations serving the Miami area include WLTV (WPXM (WSCV (WLRN (also PBS). See also: List of radio stations in Florida

Sports Club

Sport
League
Stadium
Logo Miami Dolphins
Football
National Football League
Dolphins Stadium

Miami Dolphins Logo

Miami FC
Soccer
USL First Division
Tropical Park Stadium

Miami FC Logo

Florida Panthers
Hockey
National Hockey League
BankAtlantic Center

Florida Panthers Logo

Miami Heat
Basketball
National Basketball Association
American Airlines Arena

Miami Heat Logo

Florida Marlins
Baseball
Major League Baseball; NL
Dolphins Stadium

Florida Marlins Logo

The Miami Heat is the only major league team that plays its games in Miami. The Miami Dolphins and the Florida Marlins both play their games in the suburb of Miami Gardens. The Orange Bowl, a member of the Bowl Championship Series, hosts their college football championship games at Dolphins Stadium. The stadium has also hosted the Super Bowl; the city has hosted a total of ten.
The Florida Panthers NHL team plays in neighboring Broward County, Florida at the BankAtlantic Center in the city of Sunrise.
Miami is also the home of the Orange Bowl">Miami Orange Bowl, the home site for all University of Miami Hurricanes football games.
A number of defunct teams were located in Miami, including the Miami Floridians (ABA), Miami Gatos (NASL), Miami Screaming Eagles (WHA), Miami Seahawks (AAFC), Miami Sol (WNBA), Miami Toros (NASL), Miami Tribe (PSFL), and the Miami Tropics (SFL). The Miami Fusion, a defunct Major League Soccer team played at Lockhart Stadium in nearby Broward County. See also: U.S. cities with teams from four major sports

Economy

Because of its proximity to Latin America, Miami serves as the headquarters of Latin American operations for many multinational corporations, including Autonation Burger King, Citrix Systems, DHL, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Ryder System. Miami International Airport and the Port of Miami are among the nation's busiest ports of entry, especially for cargo from South America and the Caribbean. Additionally, downtown Miami has the largest concentration of international banks in the country. Miami was also the host city of the 2003 Free Trade Area of the Americas negotiations, and is one of the leading candidates to become the trading bloc's headquarters.
Tourism is also an important industry: the beaches of Greater Miami draw visitors from across the country and around the world, and the Art Deco nightclub district in South Beach (located in Miami Beach) is widely regarded as one of the most glamourous in the world. However, it is important to note that Miami Beach is not a part of the city of Miami. Even major TV networks sometimes forget this, as when Good Morning America visited Miami Beach and Charles Gibson thanked the mayor of Miami (but he was standing next to the mayor of Miami Beach).
In addition to these roles, Miami is also an industrial center, especially for stone quarrying and warehousing.
Miami has also served as host venue for legendary legal proceedings, most notably the astounding $145 Billion verdict leveled against the nation's 5 largest cigarette manufacturers. This case was a class action on behalf of all afflicted Florida smokers and their families, represented by a prominent and successful Miami-raised husband and wife legal team, Stanley and Susan Rosenblatt.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau 2002 American Community Survey, Miami was the poorest city in the United States, with 31% of the residents having incomes below the federal poverty line. In 2004, Miami fell to #3 in the rankings behind Detroit, Michigan and El Paso, Texas.
Miami is also one of the least affordable places to live, with 69% of its residents spending at least 30% of their household income on home ownership. Miami ranks first among least affordable cities for home ownership.
As of 2005, the Miami area is witnessing its largest real estate boom since the 1920s.

Miami in television and film

The Miami International Film Festival is a week-long event held each February.
The video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City takes place in a fictional city inspired by Miami, including some of the same architecture and geography. There were also people and gangsters in the game who speak Haitian Creole and Spanish.
The controversial Emmy winning show Nip/Tuck takes place in Miami.
The sitcom The Golden Girls took place in Miami. The Jackie Gleason Show was taped in Miami Beach from 1964 to 1970, and the detective series Surfside 6 was also based in Miami Beach. Miami Vice was another hit television show that helped place Miami on the 'Hollywood' map.
Miami is a center for Latin television and film production. As a result, many Spanish-language programs are filmed in the many television production studios, predominantly in Hialeah and South Miami. This includes gameshows, variety shows, news programs, and Cristina.
The hit CBS television series, CSI Miami, follows a team of top criminalists as they investigate crimes in the city.
Various movies have been filmed or take place in Miami. See also Movies made in Miami.

Notes and references

^ Annual Estimates of the Population for Incorporated Places in Florida, Listed Alphabetically: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2004
^ Parks, Arva Moore. Miami: The Magic City. Miami, Fl: Centennial Press, 1991. ISBN 0962940224 p 12.
^ Parks, p 13
^ Parks, p 14
^ Parks, p 14-16
^ History of Miami-Dade county retrieved January 26, 2006
^ Great Miami Hurricane retrieved January 27, 2006
^ Parks, p 131-132
^ Miami archives retrieved January 21, 2006
^ Quick history of South Florida retrieved January 28, 2006
^ Parks, p 153-155
^ "Reliving the nightmare of the McDuffie riots" Miami Herald, dtd September 15, 2002, retrieved January 28, 2006
National Disaster Survey Report, retrieved February 1, 2006.
^ "With suicide, Teele tried to take control" Miami Herald, dtd July 30, 2005, retrieved January 28, 2006
^ USGS GROUND WATER ATLAS of the UNITED STATES, retrieved February 19, 2006
^ Weather Almanac for January 2002 - Miami's First Snowfall, retrieved February 19 2006
^ Weather.com Vulnerable cities: Miami, Florida, retrieved February 19 2006
^ Miami,Florida's history with tropical systems. Hurricane City web site, retrieved February 19 2006

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Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami (GFDL)

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