Pinecrest is a
suburban village in
Miami-Dade County, Florida
Miami-Dade County () is a County (United States), county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the most populous coun ...
, United States. The village is part of the
Miami metropolitan area
The Miami metropolitan area is a coastal metropolitan area in southeastern Florida. It is the sixth-largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States, the fifth-largest metropolitan area in the Southern United States, and the lar ...
of
South Florida
South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...
. As of the
2020 census, the population was 18,388.
Pinecrest is governed by a five-member village council and operates under the council-manager form of
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
. 33156, the ZIP code that encompasses most of the village, has been consistently ranked as one of the wealthiest in the United States by income. Based on the median home listing price in recent years at $4,300,000, Pinecrest has been ranked as one of the most expensive cities in
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
to purchase a home in.
History
During the 1900s, Miami pioneer and railroad tycoon
Henry Flagler
Henry Morrison Flagler (January 2, 1830 – May 20, 1913) was an American industrialist and a founder of Standard Oil, which was first based in Ohio. He was also a key figure in the development of the Atlantic coast of Florida and founder ...
used the property at
U.S. 1 and Southwest 102 Street as a staging area during the construction of the
Overseas Railroad to the
Florida Keys
The Florida Keys are a coral island, coral cay archipelago off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami a ...
.
In the 1930s, the area's growth continued and the community began to evolve around one of the first
tourist attraction
A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement.
Types
Places of natural beaut ...
s 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 has become a tourist attraction whose visitors included
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
. The idea for Parrot Jungle began after Scherr, who owned and operated a
feed and supply store in
Homestead, and became intrigued with the idea of building an attraction where birds would "fly free". To bring his vision to life, he rented of
hammock
A hammock, from Spanish , borrowed from Taíno language, Taíno and Arawak language, Arawak , is a sling made of fabric, rope, or netting, suspended between two or more points, used for swing (seat), swinging, sleeping, or Human relaxation, res ...
land for an annual fee of $25 (equivalent to $476.92 in 2021). 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. 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 attraction moved to a new waterfront location on
Watson Island between
downtown Miami
Downtown Miami is the urban city center of Miami, Florida, United States. The city's greater downtown region consists of the Central Business District, Brickell, the Historic District, Government Center, the Arts & Entertainment District, and ...
and
Miami Beach
Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean an ...
. It was relaunched as
Parrot Jungle Island.
The
Miami Serpentarium, a tourist attraction that featured snakes, lizards and other
reptile
Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...
s and
amphibian
Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...
s, was located on
US 1
U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway System, United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort ...
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 lots which laid the foundation for the community's rural and lushly landscaped residential character.
While still an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County, what is now Pinecrest was the site of the
1986 FBI Miami shootout. The shootout took place near 12201 Southwest 82nd Avenue.

In August 1992, Pinecrest and the surrounding South Miami-Dade area were devastated by the effects of
Hurricane Andrew
Hurricane Andrew was a compact, but very powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that struck the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana in August 1992. It was the most destructive hurricane to ever hit Florida in terms of structures dama ...
. Many of the homes and businesses in the area were destroyed. In the subsequent years, the area was slowly rebuilt.
Rapid growth and local issues during the 1990s inspired a movement led by residents Evelyn Greer Langlieb and Gary C. Matzner to incorporate the area. The Village of Pinecrest was officially incorporated on March 12, 1996. Evelyn 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,
park
A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...
s and recreation, building and planning services, and
public works
Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and procured by a government body for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, ...
.
Geography
Pinecrest is located southwest of
downtown Miami
Downtown Miami is the urban city center of Miami, Florida, United States. The city's greater downtown region consists of the Central Business District, Brickell, the Historic District, Government Center, the Arts & Entertainment District, and ...
at (25.6619, −80.3076).
U.S. Route 1 (Pinecrest Parkway) forms the western border of the village. Neighboring communities are
Coral Gables to the east,
South Miami
South Miami is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The population was 12,026 as of the 2020 census.
History
South Florida had been roamed by Native Americans ( ...
to the north,
Glenvar Heights to the northwest,
Kendall to the west, and
Palmetto Bay to the south.
According to the
U.S. Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , of which are land and , or 1.15%, are water.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the
2020 United States census, there were 18,388 people, 5,986 households, and 4,824 families residing in the village.
The population was split by age, with 4.8% under 5 years old, 27.5% under 18, and 17.8% were 65 years and older. 46.3% were female persons.
The median household income was $166,801. 7.7% of the population lived below the
poverty threshold
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
. 97.9% of households had a computer, and 95.6% of households had a broadband internet subscription.
29.7% of the population were foreign-born persons. There were 425 veterans living in the CDP.
Government and infrastructure
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue operates Station 49 Pinecrest.
Community projects
Pinecrest's projects since 1996 include the addition of several new parks, development of
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for Wireless LAN, local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by ...
technology and beautification projects which included thousands of trees being planted, unique street signs being posted village-wide, and roads being repaved. By planting over 10,000 street trees since 1997, Pinecrest was named a
Tree City USA community by the
Arbor Day Foundation.
In 2008, the village council dedicated the new Flagler Grove Park and the long-awaited community center at Pinecrest Gardens. The Pinecrest branch of the Miami-Dade County Library System opened adjacent to the community center in October 2008.
Parks
There are five public parks managed by the Pinecrest Parks and Recreation Department:
* Coral Pine Park — A park with a recreation center, six lighted tennis courts, a natural area, an all-purpose field and a tot lot. Coral Pine Park was a former Miami-Dade County park before being transferred to Pinecrest in 1998.
* Flagler Grove Park — A facility with lighted youth soccer fields, a playground, parking and restrooms. As mentioned above, the park was dedicated in 2008.
* Evelyn Greer Park — A park with multipurpose athletic fields, batting cages, a tot lot, and a recreation center and community gazebo with a Wi-Fi spot. Formerly known as Pinecrest Park, it was re-designated on November 9, 2004, in recognition of Pinecrest's first mayor.
* Suniland Park — A park with baseball and football fields, batting cages, a recreation center, basketball courts, a tot lot and a gazebo with a Wi-Fi spot.
* Veterans Wayside Park — A park with a freshwater lake and open recreation areas.
Pinecrest Gardens
Pinecrest Gardens has been described as the "crown jewel" of the village's park system. Known as South Florida's Cultural Arts Park, it is a large park featuring over 1,000 varieties of exotic tropical plants and trees. The park landscape features natural streams, sinkholes, caves and fissures. The park also offers various programs including summer camps, and is located on the former site of the
Parrot Jungle.
Transportation
Pinecrest is served by
Metrobus throughout the area and by
Miami Metrorail at the following stations:
*
Dadeland North (SW 70th Avenue and U.S. 1)
*
Dadeland South (Dadeland Boulevard and U.S. 1)
Education

Pinecrest is served by the
Miami-Dade County Public Schools
Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) is the public school district serving Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in the U.S. state of Florida. Founded in 1885, it is the largest school district in Florida, the largest in the South ...
system.
Public elementary schools
* Pinecrest Elementary School – Opened in 1954
* Palmetto Elementary School
* Howard Drive Elementary School (
Palmetto Bay)
Public middle schools
* Palmetto Middle School
Public high schools
*
Miami Palmetto High School
Private schools:
*
Bet Shira Congregation
*
Gulliver Preparatory
* Kendall United Methodist
* Pinecrest Presbyterian
* St. Louis Covenant School
* Temple Beth Am
The
Miami-Dade Public Library System operates the Pinecrest Branch.
Miami Hoshuko
is a hoshuko, supplementary Japanese school in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It holds classes in the First Baptist Church of Coral Park () in Westchester, Florida, Westchester, and it has its office in Doral, Florida, Doral. , a
weekend school for Japanese citizens, previously held classes at the Kendall United Methodist Church,
[ ]
Clipping of first
an
of second and third pages
from Newspapers.com. now in Pinecrest but formerly in the
Kendall census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...
as of 1990.
Media
The Village of Pinecrest has its own newspaper, ''The Pinecrest Tribune'', which is published bi-weekly and is part of Miami Community Newspapers.
The village of Pinecrest is also served by the Miami market for local radio and television.
References
External links
*
Palmetto Middle School
{{authority control
Villages in Miami-Dade County, Florida
Villages in Florida
1996 establishments in Florida
Populated places established in 1996