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 Superb
climate year-round
South Dade is warmer in the winter (average
winter temperature is 68°) and cooler in the
summer (average is 82°) than most of Florida.
Days spent golfing, boating and tanning are just
as common in January as they are in June.
For more information on
South Dade monthly average temperatures, click
here.
 Two
national parks
South Dade hosts the entrances to both
Everglades National Park, with over a million
acres of primordial Florida ecology; and
Biscayne National Park, the only national park
who's area is 95% water. Everglades offers a
surprising variety of ecological systems, and
unmatched opportunities for camping, fishing,
boating and bird watching. Biscayne is a giant
live coral reef paradise for divers and
fishermen, and is dotted with deserted islands
with beaches and camping areas.
 Our
small town heritage
South Dade
exudes genuine small town charm with community
events like rodeos, pie-baking and beard-growing
contests, hoe-downs, Main Street parades,
farmers markets, 4-H events, and many more
activities to bring the community together.
For more information on all the exciting
activities our community has to offer, please
visit Main Street's website at
www.mainstreet.org
and the Homestead/Florida City Chamber of
Commerce at
www.chamberinaction.com.
 Gateway
to the Florida Keys
The tropical
playgrounds of the Upper Keys and Key West are
just minutes away by car or boat.
You'll find the Keys are
far richer in
cultural
opportunities than
most tropical getaways. If the outdoors are your
thing, you can explore through guided
eco-tours, walking
trails and environmental centers. Numerous
dive-snorkel charter
captains are ready to show you North America's
only living, coral barrier reef. Anglers have a
full-range of world-famous
fishing opportunities.
From Key Biscayne to the Keys that border South
Dade, the
fishing, diving and water sports available here
superb!
 Year-round
motor sports action
The Homestead
Motorsports Complex is one of the newest and
finest facilities in the country for NASCAR,
SCCA, Indy Car, motorcycle and Grand Prix
racing. Frequent events attract drivers and fans
from around the world, providing a major
economic influx to the area. Racing schools
offer programs to make race car fantasies a
reality. The Homestead Sports Complex is a
six-diamond, 9,000-seat, 140-acre facility for
spring training, Olympic and international
competition, and collegiate and exhibition
games. Each year, the complex is used over 100
days by college teams and international squads.
Major YMCA complex
One of the
country's newest and largest YMCA facilities
offers fitness programs, swimming, basketball,
day care, and activities for people of all ages
and interests.
 Sports
from the tame to the exotic
There are
several excellent 18-hole courses and numerous
tennis courts in the area. Aerial sports
(skydiving, ballooning, and gliding) and little
league (seven fields) are active year round..
Unique to the area are air boating,
lobster-tickling and swamp buggy rides.
Horseback riding, jet skiing, windsurfing,
canoe-trailing and camping are also enjoyed. In
short, South Dade offers an inexhaustible range
of recreational activities.
A lifestyle that
encompasses much more than recreation
Fine dining,
multicultural festivals, antique shopping, civic
and service clubs, music and the arts, and more.
South Dade has more to do - and a great
probability of sunshine to do it in!
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South Dade's commitment to
quality education is evident everywhere. As a
community in transition from a rural to a
technological economy, South Dade understands
that it will reap what it sows in education. And
it has invested much more in education per
capita than most large cities, having doubled
its expenditure per student in a decade.
Higher Education
With about
100,000 college students, Dade is a magnet for
university students from all over the world.
South Dade itself hosts campuses and research
facilities from Florida State University,
University of Florida, Florida International
University, and other institutions, offering
graduate and undergraduate courses and degrees.
 Miami-Dade
College
Downtown
Homestead has a $35 million campus capable of
serving over 5,000 students. The college's
educational focus is on administrative and
management skills, technology, agriculture, and
international trade. The campus also hosts the
graduate and undergraduate programs of Florida
International University. This former community
college now offers 4 year degrees. Miami-Dade
is also developing a new $25 million aviation
training campus at the realigned air base in
Homestead. As a community college, Miami-Dade
was ranked by its peers as the number one
community college in the nation.
Adult Technical
Training
Curriculum at
Homestead's South Dade Adult Education Center is
specifically tailored to meet the needs of
industrial employers in South Dade. Willing
students, many with a background in family
farming, are gaining the technical skills that
are required by South Dade's most innovative
enterprises. Technical schools throughout the
county certify tens of thousands of
highly-qualified students annually. Technical
training of service personnel, civilians and
reservists at the Homestead Air Reserve Base
adds to South Dade's pool of technically-adept
employees. The state's "Quick Response" labor
productivity program utilizes the facilities of
Homestead's Miami-Dade Community College to
tailor on-site or off-site employer-driven
personnel training through a grant-funded
process.
K-12 Education
The South Dade
community is highly-involved with its high
quality public and private schools. Among our
local schools are several magnet facilities with
Montessori and gifted programs, as well as
special career preparatory programs in
professional leadership, aviation science, the
humanities, visual and performing arts, and
zoological science. Our teachers are the
highest-paid in the state, with a
student/teacher ratio of 18-to-1. Nearly 60% of
our high-school graduates pursue higher
education.
Museums and Libraries
Excellent
public libraries serve South Dade, and in the
immediate neighborhood are an aviation museum, a
railroad museum, a Florida history museum, and a
number of agricultural, marine, cultural and
ecological facilities with youth-oriented
programs.
Things They Don't Teach
in School
In South Dade,
growing up means a special awareness of the
rhythms of nature, the patience of the
fisherman, the faith of the farmer, the common
sense of the shopkeeper. Here, we're quiet
enough to hear the lessons of life, and small
enough to see how big the universe really is. |
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The community that bridges Miami to the Keys is Deep South Dade: a warm, friendly place where industry takes root alongside rows of strawberries, palm tree farms, and a remarkable new infrastructure for business and recreation.