North: Northwest 41^st Street

South: Northwest 36^th Street

East: Northwest 57^th Avenue

West: Northwest 67^th Avenue

            The Village of Virginian Gardens was founded on July 10, 1947, when Judge Marshall C. Wiseheart swore in J.E. Hardy as mayor.  The village was founded by the operators of horse farms, who broke away from Miami Springs because the city outlawed horses within its borders.  This prompted the residents of what would become the Village of Virginia Gardens, many of them native Virginians, to create their own municipality.  For years the village played host to horse farms.

            In the 1960s, in order to accommodate growing air travel, the Miami-Dade Port Authority took 450 acres of land in Virginia Gardens for use in the airport.  Much like its neighbor, Miami Springs, Virginia Gardens became tied to the airport, and today is home to many airport facilities, including extensive flight training academies. 

            The Village of Virginia Gardens is a relatively small municipality, with a total population of 2,348 residents.  The median age in the village is 37.5 years, which is slightly higher then the county’s median age of 35.6 years.  Virginia Gardens’ average household and family size is 2.63 and 3.22 persons respectively, which is only slightly lower then the county average of 2.84 and 3.35 persons respectively.  Virginia Gardens also has a higher percentage of its population between the ages of 18 and 64, 77 percent, compared to the county 75.2 percent.  Virginia Gardens is a well educated community, with 76.4 percent of the population having completed high school, and 22.1 percent of the population having attained a bachelor’s degree or higher.  The degree of education for Virginia Gardens residents compares favorably to that of the county, where 67.9 percent of the residents of attained a high school diploma or higher, and 21.7 percent have attained a bachelor’s degree or higher.

            Virginia Gardens has a median household income of 40,197 dollars, which is higher than the county’s median household income of 35,966 dollars.  The median family income for Virginia Gardens is 44,800 dollars, compared to the county’s median family income of 40,260 dollars.  Virginia Gardens economy has benefited from Miami-Dade County’s position as air transportation hub, its close proximity to Miami International Airport has served to increase the city’s economy and attract jobs and clients to its businesses.

            Virginia Gardens briefly opposed the two billion dollar expansion of Miami International Airport, citing as a major concern, the increased noise generated by the addition of a fourth runway to the airport.  Residents also had objections to the $11.2 million “noise barrier” built next to the village.  Their major objection to the project was that it did not adequately lessen the noise produced by Miami International Airport.  The Virginia Gardens area has fourteen capital improvement projects, which include resurfacing, dredging and drainage projects, either planned, underway, or completed.

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

Village of Virginia Gardens. 2004. 15 July 2005. http://www.virginiagardens-fl.gov/html/contact.html

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

Dubocq, Tom. “Airport Wall May Not Be Great, But Cost Certainly Was.”  The Miami Herald. July 21, 1996, 1A.

Ousley, Yvette.  “Homeowners, Cities Fight Airport Expansion.”  The Miami Herald . May 23, 1993, page 7.