Doral, Florida

Doral is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. One of 34 municipalities in the county, it is located west of Miami International Airport and west of Downtown Miami. Doral occupies bordered on the west by the Ronald Reagan Turnpike and the Florida Everglades, on the north by the town of Medley, on the east by the Palmetto Expressway and on the south by the Dolphin Expressway and the city of Sweetwater. As of the 2020 census, Doral had a population of 75,874, up from 45,704 in 2010.

Doral has operated under the mayor-council-manager form of government since incorporation. Policymaking and legislative authority are vested in a governing council consisting of the mayor and four other councilmembers. The council, which is elected at large, is responsible for passing ordinances and resolutions, adopting the annual budget, and appointing the city manager, city clerk and city attorney. The city manager is responsible for carrying out the council's policies and ordinances, overseeing the government's daily operations, and appointing the heads of various departments.

For a city of its size, Doral has many shops, financial institutions and businesses, especially importers and exporters, primarily because of its proximity to the airport. In 2008, Fortune Small Business and CNN Money ranked Doral 51st on a list of 100 cities with the best mix of business advantages and lifestyle appeal. Other recent accolades that attest to the City of Doral's flourishing and success include being named a 2019 All-America City Award finalist and one of the Best Places to Live in 2018 by ''Money'' magazine.

History

In the late 1950s, real estate pioneers Alfred and Doris Kaskel purchased of swampland between Northwest 36 Street and Northwest 74 Street and from Northwest 79 Avenue to Northwest 117 Avenue for about $49,000, intending to build a golf course and hotel. In 1962, the Doral Country Club opened in western Dade County, featuring the blue, red, and par-3 golf courses, along with a hotel on Miami Beach. The "Doral" name combined Doris and Alfred. As Doral's first structure, the Doral Hotel, and Country Club became the area's hot spot: guests were transported from the beach to the country club for a day on the golf course.

In the second year of operations, the Kaskels hosted the first Doral Open Invitational, Florida's major PGA event. Alfred offered $50,000 in prize money to attract well-known golfers. According to the South Florida Golf Foundation, at the time, only three other tournaments were held in Florida, offering a combined total of $65,000 prize money.

By the early 1980s, Doral experienced its first residential growth spurt, when Alfred's and Doris' grandson Bill developed Doral Estates, followed by a joint venture with Lennar to build Doral Park. Both communities were named after the hotel, a trend that was to be repeated many more times. Although younger families started flooding the area, there were no stores, schools, or parks. Initially, most new homes were investment properties or second homes, but early full-time residents started coming together as a community.

From 1983 to 1985, Miami-Dade County imposed a building moratorium to protect the area's water wells. Once the ban was lifted, Doral experienced tremendous growth. In 1989, Morgan Levy helped organize the West Dade Federation of Homeowner Associations to stand strong against proposals that threatened the community's welfare. Thus, they secured a police station instead of a jail and convinced county officials to implement higher development standards and more lighting, roads, and landscaping.

In 1995, residents began lobbying for incorporation in earnest, dissatisfied with the high tax rate relative to the services they received, as well as unchecked growth. The county met the first attempt at incorporation with a year's deferral. Some classified Doral as a "donor community," meaning that the taxes paid were more than the cost of operations. With the deferral, incorporation efforts intensified even more. In 1996, the community elected its first community council: Jose "Pepe" Cancio Sr., Mario Pita, and Barbara B. Thomas were elected, and three other members were appointed. The council initially met once every month.

In 2002, Governor Jeb Bush appointed Cancio to fill the remainder of Miami-Dade Commissioner Miriam Alonso's term of office. Doral residents hoped that his appointment would bring the community closer to incorporation, and their hopes were realized. Although Cancio endorsed Juan Carlos Bermudez, the City of Doral's first elected Mayor, as his replacement on the Community Council, Bermudez declined the offer, ran for the seat, and was elected. At the time, Bermudez was president of One Doral, a civic organization formed to counteract the perceived influence of the West Dade Federation on the new Council. However, both One Doral and the West Dade Federation proved essential to the incorporation process.

In January 2003, following a seven-year battle, 85% of Doral's voters voted in favor of incorporation. In June of the same year, 92% voted to accept the City Charter and elected their first Mayor and City Council.

The new City of Doral was named as an attractive location for entrepreneurs with an interest in the Latin America market. Mayor Luigi Boria, elected in November 2012, became the second Venezuelan-American mayor in the United States. He was replaced by Juan Carlos Bermudez who won a reelection bid in 2016. Mayor Bermudez was again reelected in November 2020 with 69.85% of votes for four more years to lead the community.

On December 13, 2022, during a run-off election, Doral voters made history by electing Doral’s first female Mayor, Christi Fraga, with 54.5% of the votes.

Media

''Doral Community Newspapers'', which is published bi-weekly and is part of Miami Community Newspapers, is one of the local publications in Doral. Another long-standing publication is ''Doral Family Journal'', also publishing bi-weekly.

Two big media outlets have their headquarters in Doral: Univision Network/ Fusion and CBS-owned & operated affiliate WFOR-TV, Channel 4. Several studios and other TV operations work out of Doral. The Telemundo chain has a presence in the city, with one of its main office and production units located there.

Geography

Doral is located at .

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of . of it are land and of it (8.14%) are water.

Surrounding areas

: Town of Medley
: Unincorporated Miami-Dade County Hialeah
: Unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Tamiami Miami Springs
: Tamiami West Miami
: Fontainebleau

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification, Doral has a tropical monsoon climate (Am) bordering a tropical savanna climate (Aw).

Doral has hot-humid summers with the heat index regularly surpassing 100 ºF (37ºC) and higher. The rainy season in Doral runs from May through October when the majority of the city's rainfall occurs. Winters are short, dry, and warm with occasional dips in temperatures during the passage of cold fronts.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 75,874 people, 19,722 households, and 16,099 families residing in the city.

2010 census

As of the 2010, there were 17,785 households, out of which 14.3% were vacant. As of 2000, 38.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.0% were married couples living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.6% were non-families. 22.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 1.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.12.

2000 census

In 2000, the city population was spread out, with 25.1% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 43.6% from 25 to 44, 18.7% from 45 to 64, and 4.8% who were 65 years of age or older. As of 2000, the median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.0 males.

In 2000, the median income for a household in the CDP was $53,060, and the median income for a family was $57,193. Males had a median income of $46,324 versus $32,827 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $27,705. About 9.5% of families and 11.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.8% of those under age 18 and 10.6% of those age 65 or over.

As of 2000, speakers of Spanish as a first language accounted for 74.5%, while English accounted for 16.2%, Portuguese was spoken by 5.0%, Chinese made up 1.0%, Tamil at 0.6%, Japanese at 0.5%, and Arabic was the mother tongue for 0.5% of the population.

As of 2010, Doral had the second-highest percentage of Venezuelans residents in the US, with 8.2% of the population, which is how Doral earned its nickname:”Doralzuela”. It had the thirty-third highest percentage of Cuban residents in the US, at 15.2% of the city's population, and the sixth-highest percentage of Colombian residents in the US, at 8.7% of its population. It also had the tenth-most Peruvians in the US, at 3.0%, while it had the forty-eighth-highest percentage of Dominicans, at 2.6% of all residents. It had the thirteenth-highest concentration of Brazilians, with 2.5% of the city (tied with Newark, N.J.

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