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You open your front door on your way out to glorious sunshine. It is usually warm all year round except a few weeks out of the year. You get in your car, put on your air conditioner while picking your favorite genre of music with some of the best radio DJ’s in the country. As you drive along the banyan-adorned streets of Coral Gables past the palm trees and ornate fountains and Spanish entrances to all of the acoordingly names streets. You often times forget you are in the center of a large city of internationally known as Miami. The founder of “The City Beautiful”, George Merrick, intentionally designed and developed it that way for its residents and all to feel like you are in a European. He named it Coral Gables after the native rock where Merrick was raised in Massachusetts. He was a trailblazer and pioneer of sorts when he incorporated Coral Gables in 1925 as a planned city. There are designated areas for beautiful homes, many on waterways that lead directly to Biscayne Bay and the ocean, There is a main business area in the North end of the Gables which is downtown named Miracle Mile, which is full of restaurants, shopping and leisure activities. The most amazing beauty of the area lies in the preservation of its history, the magnificent Mediterranean Revival architecture, known for its arches and Roman loggias in the terra-cotta and stone-like facad of Europe.
Photo by Armando Ching San on Unsplash
Photo by Dreamstime
Photo by Dreamstime
Lifestyle
Coral Gables sits between West Flagler Avenue and the Deering Bay to the north and south encompassing 37 miles. There are dedicated green spaces all over the city, including two public golf courses,parks inside residential areas and several waterways leading to the ocean for a yachting lifestyle.
The Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden has exotic flora and fauna for visitors year round and offers art exhibitions by the likes of Dale Chihuly and David Botero whose pieces are integrated into the lush foliage. The homes in the area are mostly single family residences in family oriented neighborhoods.The homes here are not your typical suburban homes. They have character and you cannot beat the central location. Residents seek Coral Gables for the quality of life, internationally recognized schools, its surrounding beauty and planned infrastructure. The property values remain high even due to the desirability of Miami as a metropolis.
Coral Gables is a great place to raise a family. The traffic circles make it nearly impossible to speed through residential neighborhoods, and the city even has one of the lowest crime rates in Miami-Dade County. It also has its own police & fire departments.
My Town Coral Gables
The City is close to downtown Miami, attracting professionals to its downtown business district daily. Coral Gables is recognized as the business epicenter for Latin America and the Caribbean, because it is home to national and regional headquarters for over 200 major American, European, Latin American and Caribbean companies. With beautiful commercial offIce space in buildings as the Alhambra Towers and Columbus Circle, the city has the highest concentration of multinational companies in the state, with industries ranging from communications and IT to banking, manufacturing and international trade.
Miracle Mile runs east-west as the main street that divides the business district. On a normal day there are business people in suits, the local resident moms running errands, local college students and professors and people having lunch/dinner in more than 200 retailers and 70 restaurants daily. The area has long been known for bridal salons, high end retail boutiques and art galleries.
Downtown Coral Gables has it’s own free, air-conditioned, hybrid trolley that travels along the main streets. People are able to hop on and hop off all day and night along the corridor streets. In addition to restaurants and shops, downtown has also experienced a proliferation of condos in the past few years which continues with the addition of the Loews Hotel project and other developments.There are several annual events, such as Coral Gables Restaurant Week, Carnival on the Mile and the Coral Gables Wine & Food Festival. The City is home to the historic Miracle theatre which brings top notch plays to the community. Stepping into the theater is like stepping back in time, and the city’s history shines through its 1948 architecture, especially the marquee — visible from nearly anywhere on Miracle Mile. The world renoun Biltmore Hotel Resort with its timeless appeal and style, is Miami’s most elegant National Historic Landmark. Spanning over 150 acres of tropical landscape, and 271 rooms, includes 174 suites and features spectacular Mediterranean architecture with Italian, Moorish and Spanish influences. The City is also home to the historic Venetian Pool, built in 1923 from a coral rock quarry fed by an underground aquifer, is a family-friendly spot to cool off on hot days.
The historic resort is located in the city of Coral Gables, Florida near Miami. the Biltmore Hotel became the hallmark of coral Gables.
The City of Coral Gables is home to the University of Miami established by Merrick on 600 acres of land in 1926. UM was part of Merrick’s great vision. He believed every great city deserved a great university and truly recognized the value it held for a local community. Today it has grown as a world class research University with international recognition. UM offers the Lowe Art Museum, the Gusman Concert Hall and the Cosford Cinema. Though on UM’s campus, these facilities are quite frequently visited by many locals who come for the high-caliber art exhibitions, concerts, live theater and even independent films. George Merrick may be long gone, but his dream continues to live in his “City Beautiful “.
