Changing Miami: Then and Now

An interesting comparison of 1952 and 2016 aerials illustrating the impact of expressways penetrating through various Miami neighborhoods and districts.

Coconut Grove Dating back to 1825, Coconut Grove is Miami’s oldest continuously inhabited neighborhood. Formerly an independent city, Coconut Grove was annexed by Miami in 1925.

Brickell Platted specifically for mansions and large residences, Brickell’s Brickell Avenue was known as Miami’s “Millionaire’s Row” during the early 20th century. Brickell transformed into a high-rise district as a result of Miami’s rapid growth and the addition of I-95 during the second half of the 20th century. Today, Brickell is one of the largest financial districts in the country and one of the city’s fastest growing neighborhoods.

Miracle Mile (Coral Gables) Established in 1925, Coral Gables was one of South Florida’s first planned communities. Designed by George Merric during the Florida land boom, the city’s downtown district was created to be only four blocks wide and more than two miles long, so that every business would be within a two-block walk of Merrick’s streetcar line. Although the streetcar was eventually replaced with buses, the core of Coral Gables remains one of Miami-Dade’s most pedestrian-friendly districts.

Downtown Dadeland (Kendall) Kendall was still sparsely populated in 1952. Kendall’s fortunes changed with the construction of Palmetto Expressway in 1961, Dadeland Mall in 1962 and the Don Shula Expressway in 1973. In 1984, Kendall became the site of Miami-Dade Transit (MDT) Metrorail’s Dadeland South station. Since that time, Downtown Dadeland has emerged as an edge city situated around the Kendall’s Metrorail station.

Downtown Miami In 1952, Downtown Miami served as the central business district of a metropolitan area with 700,000 residents. Today, South Florida is home to 6,000,000 residents and the downtown skyline has rapidly grown as well.