Florida Real Estate Info - South Florida

The South Florida metropolitan area is an informal name for the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach metropolitan area. It encompasses a three county area of the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida, including Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties. It is commonly referred to as simply South Florida, and is roughly synonymous with the term Gold Coast.

Because the population of South Florida is largely confined to a strip of land between the Atlantic Ocean and the Everglades, the urbanized area (that is, the area of contiguous urban development) is about 110 miles long (north to south), but never more than twenty miles wide, and often only five miles wide (east to west). South Florida is longer than any other urbanized area in the United States except for the New York metropolitan area. It is one of the most densely populated urbanized areas in North America. As of the 2000 census, the urbanized area had a land area of 1,116 square miles (2,900 square kilometres), with a population density of 4,400 per square mile (1,700 per square kilometre). Miami and Hialeah (the second largest city in the metropolitan area) had population densities of more than 10,000 per square mile (more than 3,800 per square kilometre).

Palm Beach County, Florida was added to the official Miami-Fort Lauderdale metropolitan area for the first time in 2000, giving it a considerable boost in population and in ranking among U.S. metropolitan areas. As of July 1, 2005, the region's population is estimated at 5,422,200 by the US Census Bureau; making it the sixth largest metropolitan area in the United States. It is currently the 45th-largest metropolitan area in the world. It is also the largest metropolitan area in the United States that lacks a city with at least 500,000 people (Miami has over 380,000). Each of the three counties of the Metropolitan Statistical Area are their own Metropolitan Divisions.

Counties

* Miami-Dade County
* Broward County
* Palm Beach County

Transportation and Commerce

The South Florida metropolitan area is served by five major interstate highways operated by the Florida Department of Transportation in conjunction with local agencies. The busiest of the five, I-95, is the chief and most heavily-traveled artery during rush hour traffic, and runs north to south along the coast, ending just south of downtown Miami. I-75 runs east to west, turning south in western Broward County; it connects suburban North Miami-Dade to Naples on the west coast via Alligator Alley, which transverses the Florida Everglades before turning north. I-595 connects the Broward coast and downtown Fort Lauderdale to I-75 and Alligator Alley. I-195 and I-395 both connect the main I-95 route to Biscayne Boulevard and Miami Beach, which is located across Biscayne Bay. I-195 and I-395 also connect (at their interchanges with I-95) to the Airport Expressway (State Road 112) and the Dolphin Expressway (State Road 836), respectively, both of which run west to Miami International Airport; the Dolphin Expressway also connects to Florida's Turnpike and the western suburbs of Miami-Dade County.

Locally, the area is served by three county transit authorities: Palm Tran (Palm Beach County), Broward County Transit, and the largest, Miami-Dade Transit. The latter not only operates bus, but metro rapid transit (the Metrorail) and a downtown people mover (Metromover). Additionally, the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority operates Tri-Rail, a commuter rail system that connects the three primary cities of South Florida (Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach), and most intermediate points.
South Florida is served by three major airports:

* Miami International Airport (MIA) is the largest of the three, and ranks among the busiest in the world for international passengers and cargo. It is a major air hub for Latin America and Caribbean flights, and is a large reason why Miami is considered the de facto capital of Latin America. American Airlines operates its main Latin American and Caribbean hub at MIA.
* Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is a large hub for low cost airlines, and is a secondary air hub for the Caribbean. It is the biggest airport for domestic passengers in South Florida.
* Palm Beach International Airport

The metropolis also has four major seaports, the Port of Miami, Port Everglades, both major cruise ship ports (ranking 1st and 2nd in numbers of passengers respectively), and the Port of Palm Beach and the Miami River Port. Furthermore, the Port of Miami imports and exports goods from all over the world, making it one of the busiest and most heavily traveled ports in the country.

Most of South Florida's business is conducted in Miami, of which, the central business district (downtown) has the largest concentration of international banks in the United States. The area serves as the Latin American headquarters to a number of corporations, including American Airlines, Cisco, Exxon, Microsoft, and Sony.

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