Overview
Description of the Community
History
Having emerged in 1915, the Miami Beach community showed a strong tendency toward urbanization and soon became a major U.S. city (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2015). Miami Beach has been receiving most of its economic resources from the tourism business due to its geographic location.
Type of Community
The Miami Beach community can be described as urban (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2015). Being a part of a larger metropolitan area, it has a detailed infrastructure.
Physical Environmental Considerations: The Community as a Place
Description: General Identifying Data
Location
Miami Beach is located in the southeastern part of Florida. The island location of the community implies certain weather issues, such as storms and highly probable hail.
Topographical features
The flat topography of the community and the Miami area, in general, is often viewed as a source of problems (NASA, 2019).
Climate
The climate of Miami Beach has been hot and humid, falling under the category of tropical monsoons (NASA, 2019). However, recently, concerns have been raised regarding the sea levels rise and the related negative implications (Davidson, 2019).
Boundaries, Area in Square Miles
The community under analysis is not quite large, its total area making 15.22 sq. miles (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2015). Due to its location, Miami Beach is quite isolated, separated from the rest of Florida by the Biscayne Bay, and is connected to the rest of the state with bridges (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2015).
Environment
Sanitation: water supply, sewage, garbage, trash.
Pollutants, toxic substances, animal reservoirs or vectors, flora, and fauna.
Air quality: color, odor, particulates
The current air quality in Miami Bach is quite good, with its color approximating the natural transparent one, and no specific odors in it (NASA, 2019). However, the presence of CO2 is slightly noticeable in the air.
Food supply: sources, preparation. Miami Beach has a range of restaurants and other sources of food supply in the area. The city also has multiple food distributors, who contribute to the multicultural environment with ethnic dishes and cuisines (Urban Land Institute, 2016).
Potential disaster in the population. The problem of sea levels rising has recently been brought to public attention as the young enthusiasts of the community started raising awareness concerning the problem.
The extent of disaster preparation in the population. Although the concern about the problem of sea levels rising has been increased, most community members seem to be disinterested in pursuing a more environmentally safe future (“Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Florida,” 2015). Therefore, further activism will be needed.
Housing
Types of housing (public and private)
Miami Beach’s housing market is mostly represented by apartments and single-family houses, although other options such as a studio are also available on the housing market (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2015).
Condition of housing
Most of the houses are in moderately good shape, with the pricing set for an apartment being rather high. Most of the facilities are well-kept, yet quite expensive, which is defined by the high popularity of the community among tourists.
Percent owned, rented
The number of owned apartments currently exceeds the number of rented ones in Miami Beach. While the latter makes only 42% of the market, the former constitutes 58% of it (“Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Florida,” 2015).
Housing for special populations
Miami Beach also provides housing for people that have special needs. Specifically, homeless people are provided with shelters by the program run in the community (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2015).
Near homeless
The community also strives to address the needs of the people that live beyond the poverty threshold by offering them affordable living options. The specified opportunity was made possible due to multiple programs aimed at eliminating the problem of homelessness.
Homeless
Currently, around 15% of Miami Beach city is homeless (Gurney, 2019). The specified percentage is rather large, which is why several programs aimed at reducing homelessness rates have been designed by local authorities.
Frail elders
Elder home care services and facilities have been established across the Miami Beach community to meet the needs of the elderly (Community Action and Human Services, 2019).
Leading Industries and Occupations
In the Miami Beach community, the leading industry is represented by Accommodation and Food Services. However, the key occupations do not belong to the specified field and include family therapists and internists (U.S. Department of Labor, 2019).
References
Community Action and Human Services. (2019). Home assistance. Web.
Davidson, J. (2019). Miami Beach declares climate emergency inspired by youth action.
Gurney, K. (2019). Miami Beach rejects restaurant tax to fund homeless and domestic violence programs. Miami Herald. Web.
Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Florida. (2015).
NASA. (2019). Elevation of Southern Florida.
Urban Land Institute. (2016). Arch Creek Basin Miami-Dade County, Florida. Web.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. (2015). City of North Miami community planning & development. Web.
U. S. Department of Labor. (2019). Occupational employment statistics. Web.