North: 96^th Street

South:  88^th Terrace

East: Collins Avenue

West:  Bay Drive

            The Town of Surfside was incorporated on May 18^th, 1935, when 35 members of the Surf Club signed a petition to create the town.  During World War II Surfside, like many of its coastal neighbors, played host to thousands of American soldiers.  After the end of World War II many of these soldiers, having fond memories of their time in Surfside, moved back to usher in an era of growth in the town.  By 1957, the Town of Surfside had grown tremendously, and had to increase its service abilities to meet the town’s growing needs.

            Surfside has continued to see development to this day, with many condominiums and apartments built along Collins Avenue and the town’s beach.

            Surfside is one of several beach front municipalities in Miami-Dade County that attracts a wide variety of people, from vacationers and temporary residents, to retirees and young families.  The median age in the Town of Surfside is 44.9 years, which is considerably older than the county median age of 35.6 years.  The average household and family size in Surfside is 2.18 and 2.75 persons respectively, which makes it smaller than the county average of 2.84 and 3.35 persons.  Surfside’s population is well educated, with 87 percent of the residents having received a high school education or greater, and 40.9 percent of residents having received a bachelor’s degree of greater.  This is higher then the county average of 67.9 and 27.1 percents respectively.

            Surfside’s median household income of 50,927 dollars is higher then the county median of 35,966 dollars.  Surfside also has a higher median family income of 56,327 dollars, compared to the county’s median family income of 40,260 dollars.  The Town of Surfside and Miami-Dade County have comparable percentages of their population in the labor force, with 53.5 percent of Surfside’s population and 57.5 percent of Miami-Dade’s population currently working.

            Surfside has been able to manage growth well, by maintaining height limits of twelve stories.  Due to most of Surfside’s beach front property having already been developed, developers are now building low rise apartments on the other side of Collins Avenue to further accommodate Surfside’s continued growth.  Surfside, much like its coastal neighbors, looks set to continue its growth for years to come.

            The Town of Surfside is has two transportation improvement projects either planned, in progress, or completed for its two largest arteries Harding and Collins Avenues.

http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en (2000) United States Census Bureau

Town of Surfside. 2004. 16 July 2005. http://www.townofsurfsidefl.gov/

http://gisims2.co.miami-dade.fl.us/MyNeighborhood/mpomap.asp (2005) Miami-Dade County ITD