Cutler Bay, Florida

The town was named after Dr. William Cutler of Massachusetts, who visited the area north of the community, around 1880, and encouraged others to settle in what became the pioneer community of Cutler. The Charles Deering Estate, located in nearby Palmetto Bay, contains the Cutler Fossil Site where mammoths, saber-toothed tigers and California condors are among the many fossil records. The park holds archeological evidence of Native American habitation of the land 10,000 years ago. Tequesta burial mounds are also found there. In the early 1900s, the Florida East Coast Railway was extended south to Cutler, which was located near what is now the Charles Deering Estate. Cutler then served as the place where people settling in the undeveloped Homestead area went to get their supplies. The storm left the area in "almost total destruction". The dense vegetation near the shore and the dense subdivision development of the area are thought to have been factors which mitigated the extent of areas impacted by flood damage caused by Andrew. However, nearly every building suffered major damage from the wind, and the damage in Florida was estimated at $25 billion, the most expensive natural disaster in US history at the time. In May 2002, the Cutler Bay Steering Committee company met to discuss the formation of a municipal advisory committee, where the committee would advise on the incorporation of the Cutler Ridge area into the city of Cutler Ridge. The decision to incorporate was spurred in part by the efforts to recover from Hurricane Andrew. The proposed incorporation boundaries included Southwest 184th Street on the north and Southwest 216th and 224th streets on the south. They reduced the choices to "Cutler Ridge" and "Old Cutler Bay". In the months following the name change, many of those born and raised in the area that had been known as Cutler Ridge since the 1870s, refused to accept the new name. ==Geography==

The Town of Cutler Bay is located just west of Biscayne Bay and southwest of downtown Miami. The town's northern border runs from SW 184th Street (Eureka Drive) east of US 1 to the coast. The southern border is SW 232nd Street, north of Black Point Marina, the largest public marina in the Miami area. The town's boundaries include the northeast section of Biscayne National Park, areas formerly known as Cutler Ridge to the east. The town is bordered to the north by the village of Palmetto Bay, to the west by unincorporated South Miami Heights, and to the southwest by unincorporated Goulds. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town of Cutler Bay has a total area of . of it are land and of it (3.87%) are water. Cutler Ridge has been incorporated into the hurricane emergency plans for the area as lands east of the ridge are subject to storm surge, but areas west of the ridge would generally be protected. Surrounding areas : Palmetto Bay : West Perrine Palmetto Bay : Unincorporated Miami-Dade County, South Miami Heights, Goulds Biscayne Bay : Goulds, Princeton Lakes by the Bay : Unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Lakes by the Bay Climate Cutler Bay has a tropical climate, similar to the climate found in much of the Caribbean. It is part of the only region in the 48 contiguous states that falls under that category. More specifically, it generally has a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen climate classification, Am). ==Demographics==

Racial and ethnic composition 2020 census As of the 2020 census, Cutler Bay had a population of 45,425. The median age was 40.3 years. 22.0% of residents were under the age of 18 and 15.5% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 91.4 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 87.2 males age 18 and over. 100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas. There were 15,361 households in Cutler Bay, of which 39.5% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 50.4% were married-couple households, 13.8% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 27.4% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 19.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. In 2010, the population distribution was: 6.8% under 5 years old, 25.8% under the age of 18, and 10.6% 65 years of age or older. Females were 51.7% of the population. The median income for a household was $61.370. The per capita income for the town was $25,193. About 10.5% of the population were below the poverty line. American Community Survey estimates According to 2020 American Community Survey estimates, there were 10,305 families residing in the town. According to the latest American Community Survey of 2008–2012 conducted by the US Census Bureau, the percentage of people who spoke English as their main language was of 44.1%, while Spanish speakers were at 50.4% of the population, and other languages accounted for 5.5%. 2000 census As of 2000, speakers of English as a first language accounted for 58.89%, while Spanish made up 38.18%, and French Creole comprised 1.31% of the population. ==Government and infrastructure==

Cutler Bay is governed by a five-member Town Council and operates under a Council-Manager form of government. Three Council Members are elected to represent specific residential areas (Seats 1, 2 & 3) and must reside in their respective area. The Mayor and the Vice Mayor may reside anywhere in the Town. Town Council elections are non-partisan. As the legislative body of the Town, the Town Council determines policy, adopts the annual budget and makes laws. The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office operates the South District Station in Cutler Bay. In January 2006, Cutler Bay elected former Florida state legislator John F. Cosgrove as its first mayor. Mayor Cosgrove died on April 19, 2006, while vacationing in Zimbabwe. Vice Mayor Paul Vrooman assumed the position of Mayor. In November 2010, Edward P. MacDougall was elected Mayor from Vice Mayor. Prior to incorporation Edward MacDougall chaired the municipal charter committee which set the Town's charter. In November 2014, Peggy Bell, who was one of the original Council Members when Cutler Bay was incorporated, was elected Mayor and served as Mayor until she reached her term limits in November 2018. Elected in November 2018, the current office of Mayor is held by former Council member Tim Meerbott. The community bought an office building, Cutler Bay Town Center, circa 2010; in 2020 the building was about 33% occupied. The city government planned to make money by leasing space in the building, but buyers did not materialize. In 2020, with the support of many residents, the Town traded the building for of land, with the vision to transform it into a park and municipal complex. ==Education==

Primary and secondary schools Miami-Dade County Public Schools operates public schools. Elementary schools in the town limits include: • Bel-Aire Elementary School • Cutler Ridge Elementary School • Dr. Edward L. Whigham Elementary School • Gulfstream Elementary School • Whispering Pines Elementary School Cutler Ridge Middle School and Cutler Bay Senior High School are in Cutler Bay. Prior to 2012, Cutler Bay had two public middle schools (Centennial and Cutler Ridge), and Miami Southridge High School was the zoned public high school. Centennial Middle School was converted into Cutler Bay High School and Cutler Ridge Middle School became the sole middle school of Cutler Bay. The charter school, Mater Academy Cutler Bay, is in Cutler Bay. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami operates Catholic schools. Our Lady of the Holy Rosary-St. Richard School, a K–8 school, is in Cutler Bay. Colleges and universities • College of Business and Technology (Cutler Bay Campus) ==Media==

The Miami Herald provides news coverage for the town under the Cutler Bay heading of its "Miami-Dade Communities" section. ==References==