DADE COUNTY DEMOGRAPHICS
1968
[REFERENCE:
THE DADE COUNTY PUBLIC
SAFETY DEPARTMENT
CIVIL DISORDER 1968
AFTER ACTION REPORT
PART I
PROLOGUE
THE COMMUNITY
METROPOLITAN DADE COUNTY,
FLORIDA]
Dade County covers a land area of approximately 2,090 square
miles, and
is located about 25 degrees north of the equator at the
southeastern
corner of the State of Florida. It is the largest
county in the
southeastern United States in terms of both land area and
population. In 1962 census showed one million, however
there are,
now, closer to over two million in the metropolitan area,
with an
annual influx of tourists in the neighborhood of seven
million.
Dade County is a flat porous limestone plain, almost devoid
of rivers
and streams and with a shallow soil cover. The average
elevation
is five to ten feet above sea level, the highest point not
exceeding 25
feet. Geologically, south Florida is one of the most
stable areas
in the nation and has little chance of experiencing
earthquakes.
This Greater Miami Area, as it is sometimes called, had a
subtropical
marine climate and enjoys one of the most pleasant climates
in the
continental United States. This explains the fast
growing
population and huge tourist industry.
Dade County receives money from basic economic sources, thus
enabling
it to buy the goods and services it cannot produce locally,
from the
rest of the nation. These sources are basic economic
activity and
external funds.
Money is brought into the area from the export of goods
produced
locally, sales and services to other local basic activities
and
services performed for non-residents.
THE ECONOMIC BASE
External Funds
1. External investment
2. Property income
3. Transfer payments
TOTAL approximately 36%
Basic Economic Activities
1. Tourism 20%
*2. Manufacturing of all kinds, approx. 10%
3. Aircraft maintenance &
overhaul 5%
4.
Wholesaling
4%
5.
Agriculture
2%
6. Air
freight
1%
7. Other transportation and
Other basic
activities
22%
*There are 3300 manufacturing plants of all types and sizes
in Dade County
Although Dade County, in past years, was almost solely
dependent upon
the tourist industry, Metropolitan Dade County has, and
continues to
refute the belief that no other industry can develop in the
area.
The climate seems to also be an asset to industrial
growth. Dade
County led the country in industrial growth in recent years,
and
according to the United States Department of Labor's
reports, from 1960
through 1965 the manufacturing force grew 28.3% ahead of
second place
Dallas and third place Atlanta. Annually, up to 300
new business
firms locate or relocate in the Greater Miami area.
The social composition of the people of Dade County is
cosmopolitan. They came from all over the United
States and
Canada, as well as South America, and Puerto Rico, and
especially is
recent years, Cuba.
There have been integrated in the "melting pot" of this
urban area
large numbers of farm people from other areas of Florida,
Alabama,
Georgia, and urban dwellers from New York, New Jersey,
Illinois,
Pennsylvania and Michigan.
These areas supplied the bulk of the initial influx of
population into
the area, however, people from every state in the Union are
to be found
in Dade County.
After Castro seized power in Cuba, this area became the
refuge for
thousands of Cubans who came as political refugees.
The Cubans,
who because of their difference in language, their initial
economic
state and the fact that they were strangers in a new, and to
them,
foreign country tended to settle in the same areas of the
county.
They have consequently populated a large portion of the
southwest
section of the City of Miami and formed what is being
popularly called
"Little Cuba." This is perhaps comparable to the Ybor
City area
in our sister city of Tampa. The approximate total
population of
Cubans in Dade County now equals at least 100,000.
We have in Dade County approximately 1,000 Seminole Indians,
mostly in
Indian villages. Other groups consist of Japanese,
Chinese and
Filipinos. These people, along with those of German,
Hungarian,
Russian, Italian, Polish, Greek and other descent are
usually second
and third generation Americans who are integrated
economically and
socially into the county's population.
There is in addition to these population segments already
mentioned
another significant social group, the county's Jewish
people.
Many of them, like the earlier Cuban residents, are
scattered
throughout the area and have partly intermarried with the
Anglo-Saxon
majority of the population. However, a large
concentration of
elderly retired persons of the Jewish faith is found on the
southern
half of Miami Beach.
The 1960 Census showed 137,299 Negroes in Dade County,
approximately
15% of the county's population. The Negro represents
the largest
of the "visible" minority groups. They are widely
spread
throughout all of the county, however, they have not been
absorbed or
integrated as have most other ethnic groups but have formed
"Negro"
communities such as in Miami, the "Central Negro District",
in the
unincorporated areas, "Liberty City", Bunche Park, Goulds
with its
Dixie Pine and Sugar Hill areas, Richmond Heights, plus
several
others. The present estimate, using the 15% figure, is
that the
Negro today comprises approximately 183,750 persons of the
total
population of Dade County.
All things considered, the Dade County area is a large
sprawling giant
with many diverse types of endeavors available for its
cosmopolitan
population to engage itself.
This sprawling giant is growing in every direction and in
every way;
business and industry, cultural, recreational and
educational
activities are available. With this growth often comes
growing
pains as its people seek the level of existence and the type
of
community they wish.
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