Kylie Escobales (Hialeah)

 Hialeah City Of Progress

     Hialeah is a lovely city in South Florida with a population of 223,109 and is the sixth largest city in Florida. Group 1 starts us off with speaking about the mayors of Hialeah over the years. In the past years the mayors have been Raul Martinez, Julio Robaina, and Esteban Bovo. Esteban Bovo is the current mayor of Hialeah. Hialeah was founded in 1920 and only had 2,000 citizens at this time. In 1940, Hialeah’s number of citizens doubled, and there were now 4,000 citizens. In 1960 there were now almost 67,000 citizens. The reason for this dramatic increase was because from 1940 to 1962 there were major events that occurred which then influences the population and demographic. When World War 2 ended in 1945 people started to move down south to Hialeah. Another historical event that took place was the Cuban Revolution of 1959. This sparked a large migration that was called the Golden Exile. With this, Hialeah was 24% White, 74% Latino or Hispanic, and 2% were other races. Hialeah is the only American industrial city that is continuously growing. Many industries have moved and relocated to Hialeah for this reason. There was more space, the land was cheaper, taxes were lower, and more availability from the working-class population. Hialeah is one of the largest employers in Miami Dade County. Hialeah residents have assimilated their culture, heritage and tradition into a hard working and diverse community. When it comes down to Hialeah’s architectural style, we mainly see mediterranean revival style building with art deco influences. 

     Group 2 spoke about the profound impact the Cuban immigration had on Hialeah. The highest number of people migrating to Hialeah occurred in the years 1960 to 1980. Although Hialeah was very progressed in these years, challenges started arising. One of the first challenges was unemployment. Finding employment was difficult due to language barriers and lack of skills and qualifications. Many workers who were skilled had to work low-wage jobs and entry level jobs that did not meet up to their level of education and skill. This not only hurt immigrants’ economic wellbeing but also Hialeah from benefiting from these different skills and expertise that the immigrants were bringing. Due to the influx of immigrants, this led to an increase demand for housing. Which then benefited the real estate market. This led to an increase in property values and more dynamic housing markets. There were many business developments, and many Cuban immigrants were able to establish their own restaurants, retail shops, and professional services. This also helped with the availability of goods and services in Hialeah, further boosting the economic growth and development of the progressive city. Once new residents started settling in, they needed more things like groceries, household items, healthcare and entertainment. This leads us to the topic of consumer spending. This consumer spending helps support local and small businesses in the area. The Mariel Boatlift was a massive movement of about 125,000 Cubans who had sailed from the port of Mariel to South Florida. This was initially controversial as many Americans were not happy about the boatlift. Polls conducted that 71% of Americans disapproved of the new number of Cubans coming into the United States. This changed over time as immigrants began sharing their stories of hardships and culture. 

     In Group 3 we talked about population. Hialeah’s population currently sits at 218,916. 69.9% of this population is U.S. citizens. The population has decreased since 2024 as 2020 reported a population of 222,390. However, with this decrease in population, Hialeah remains the 6th largest city in Florida. The average income of the city is $67,710. Hialeah struggles with a poverty rate of 17.81%. This highlights some of Hialeah’s socio-economic issues. Hialeah has one of the largest Spanish speaking communities in the nation. Despite this it is still recognized as the least diverse city in the United States due to its large Hispanic population and influx of Cuban Americans. Cuban Americans make up about 73.37% of Hialeah population, along with Hispanics being 94.7%. When it comes to housing in Hialeah, median home listing prices sit at $460,000. The average median sales price is $510,000. The average rent per month is $1,749. One of the most important neighborhoods in Hialeah is Seminola. It was established in 1924 by African medical workers. It is home to many Cuban Americans because of its family friendly atmosphere and environment. It has many housing options, businesses, arts, community centers, and schools. There are many factories in Hialeah that provide employment and help with the overall prosperity of the city. 

     In Group 4, they spoke about the future of Hialeah. There are many plans to further develop this ever-progressing city for future migrants. There are plans to help the housing situation in Hialeah and make it more affordable for middle-class residents. There are also plans to provide housing for people in the workforce. They want to implement more modernized homes as well. The Project Pipeline in Hialeah are 9 developers got together and invested over $250 million dollars into projects across Hialeah. Most of these projects will be potential warehouses, apartments, townhomes, and offices. This will drastically help with the number of unemployment and open more job opportunities for those who need them. The city is also planning a new policy that will address the mobility and connectivity within the city to create what is called Transit-Oriented Development otherwise known as TOD. This will be helpful to decrease the amount of traffic as well as better air quality. The use of technology will be very beneficial to the future of Hialeah schools. 83% of teachers reported that they believe that technology plays a very important role in aiding the education of students. As well as these future projects, there are also plans for renovations such as urban renewal projects aimed at revitalizing key areas. This includes creating Metrorail stations for more accessible traveling. The 2050 Hialeah master plan talks about the vision to enhance the city’s infrastructure and livability and increase quality of life to city residents. Its goal is to analyze the current conditions of the city and highlight what requires development.

     Overall, Hialeah is a lovely city in Florida that highlights different Hispanic cultures, backgrounds and traditions. This city is ever-growing and constantly progressing. It is very exciting to see how this city will change and progress.