PINECREST, FLORIDA

'Pinecrest' is a village in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The population was 19,055 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 19,432.^[1]
Pinecrest is governed by a five member Village Council and operates under the Council-Manager form of government.

Contents

Geography

Community projects

Pinecrest Gardens

Law Enforcement

History

Media

Demographics

Languages

Education

Public Elementary Schools

Public Middle Schools

Public High Schools

References

External links

Geography

Pinecrest is located at (25.661931, -80.307557).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 19.6 km² (7.6 mi²). 19.5 km² (7.5 mi²) of it is land and 0.13% is water.

Community projects

Pinecrest's projects since 1996 include the addition of several new parks, development of Wi-Fi technology and beautification projects which included thousands of trees being planted, unique street signs being posted Village-wide, and roads being repaved.

Pinecrest Gardens

Pinecrest Gardens is the crown jewel of the village's park system. The park also offers various programs including summer camps. The park is located on the former site of the world famous Parrot Jungle.^[2]

Law Enforcement

The pinecrest police department is one of the strictest in the United States, with more arrests per square mile than anectodal evidence of the former Soviet Union. Speeding is closely regulated throughout the community as well.

History

During the 1900s, Miami pioneer and railroad tycoon Henry Flagler used the property at US 1 and Southwest 102 Street as a staging area during the construction of the Overseas Railroad to the Florida Keys. The community of Kendall soon sprang up on the west side of the railroad tracks near US 1 and S.W. 98 Street. As residents continued to move into the area, the Kendall community expanded to both sides of the tracks. Although the area was not incorporated, officials wanted to delineate town boundaries; thus the naming of S.W. 88 Street as North Kendall Drive and S.W. 104 Street as South Kendall Drive (only S.W. 88 Street has kept its name).
In the 1930s, the area’s growth continued and the community began to evolve around one of the first tourist attractions established in the Miami vicinity – Parrot Jungle and Gardens. Parrot Jungle was founded in 1936 by Franz and Louise Scherr on property located at Red Road and Southwest 111 Street and over the years became a world famous tourist attraction whose visitors included Sir Winston Churchill. The idea for Parrot Jungle began after Scherr, who owned and operated a feed and supply store in Homestead, Florida, became intrigued with the idea of building an attraction where birds would “fly free.” To bring his vision to life, he rented twenty acres of hammock land for an annual fee of $25. Parrot Jungle was built as a winding nature trail dug through the coral rock and hammock land, indigenous to the area. All the natural plants were left undisturbed. The entrance was built on Red Road. The attraction opened on December 20, 1936, to about 100 visitors. Each paid 25 cents admission to see and hear Scherr talk about his birds, trees and flowers. Since 1936, Parrot Jungle has attracted over a million visitors and became a world-famous tourist attraction. On December 17, 2002, the Village of Pinecrest purchased the Parrot Jungle with the aim of developing the site as Pinecrest Gardens. On March 8, 2003 the Pinecrest Village Council dedicated Pinecrest Gardens and officially opened it to the public as the Village’s newest municipal park. The actual attraction moved to a new waterfront location on Watson Island between Downtown Miami and Miami Beach. It was relaunched as Parrot Jungle Island.
The Miami Serpentarium, another popular tourist attraction, was located on US 1 for many decades prior to closing in the mid-1980s.
During the 1950s and 1960s the area flourished with the development and construction of ranch-style houses on 1 acre (4,000 m²) lots which laid the foundation for the community’s rural and lushly landscaped residential character.
Rapid growth and local issues during the 1990s inspired a movement led by residents Evelyn Langlieb Greer and Gary C. Matzner to incorporate the area.
The Village of Pinecrest was officially incorporated on March 12, 1996 and adopted the name "Pinecrest" from the Pinecrest Elementary School. Greer was elected the first mayor and was succeeded, after serving two terms, by Matzner in 2004. The founding Village Council, including Greer, Cindie Blanck, Barry Blaxberg, Leslie Bowe, Robert Hingston, together with Village Manager Peter G. Lombardi and Village Clerk Guido Inguanzo, are credited with establishing well-regarded municipal services including police, parks and recreation, building and planning services, and public works.^[3]

Media

The Village of Pinecrest is served by the Miami market for local radio and television. The Village of Pinecrest
has its own newspaper, The Pinecrest Tribune, which is published twice monthly and is part of Miami's Community Newspapers, the "Voice of the Community".

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 19,055 people, 6,250 households, and 5,062 families residing in the village. The population density was 975.8/km² (2,527.8/mi²). There were 6,403 housing units at an average density of 327.9/km² (849.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the village was 62.8% White, 1.72% African American, 0.12% Native American, 4.53% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 1.31% from other races, and 2.02% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 29.7% of the population.
There were 6,250 households out of which 47.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 70.0% were married couples living together, 8.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.0% were non-families. 15.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.04 and the average family size was 3.39.
In the village the population was spread out with 31.4% under the age of 18, 5.6% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 25.5% from 45 to 64, and 10.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 93.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.4 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $107,507, and the median income for a family was $122,526. Males had a median income of $88,091 versus $35,806 for females. The per capita income for the village was $51,181. About 2.4% of families and 4.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.3% of those under age 18 and 3.5% of those age 65 or over.

Languages

As of 2000, speakers of English as a first language accounted for 58.08%, while Spanish made up 35.07%, French speakers were at 1.90%, Portuguese was at 1.90%, Chinese 1.67%, Arabic at 0.89%, and German as a mother tongue consisted of 0.45% of the population.^[4]

Education

Pinecrest is served by the Miami-Dade County Public Schools system.

Public Elementary Schools

★ Pinecrest Elementary School

★ Palmetto Elementary School

Public Middle Schools

Palmetto Middle School

Public High Schools

Miami Palmetto High School

References

1. http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/tables/SUB-EST2004-04-12.xls
2. http://pinecrest-fl.gov/gardens.htm
3. http://pinecrest-fl.gov/history.html
4. http://www.mla.org/map_data_results&state_id=12&county_id=&mode=place&zip=&place_id=56625&cty_id=&ll=&a=&ea=&order=r

External links

★ Village of Pinecrest official website