Urban Development A The Everglades and Miami, Florida, USA story
Agriculture
Cities
Mining
Water
Wetlands
In 1900, southeastern Florida included a few small towns with a population of 3,592 people. Throughout the 20th century, Miami and other nearby towns steadily grew. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the population of the Miami Metropolitan Statistical Area in 2016 was 6,066,387. In 1970, its population was listed as 1,267,792. In four and one-half decades, the population increased by over 378%.
The urban area of Miami and surrounding suburbs stand out sharply against the dark green wetlands in the Landsat series. The urban areas lie on a slightly higher ridge, 2 to 7 meters above sea level, to form a “backbone” of the heavily urbanized coast.
These images show urban development expanding on agricultural land north and west of Homestead. Homestead’s population grew from 13,674 in 1970 to 66,498 in 2015, an increase of 386%.
Location
Oct. 19, 1974, Landsat 1 (path/row 16/42) — Miami and Homestead, Florida, USA
Nov. 2, 1985, Landsat 5 (path/row 15/42) — Miami and Homestead, Florida, USA
Nov. 6, 1998, Landsat 5 (path/row 15/42) — Miami and Homestead, Florida, USA
Sep. 25, 2006, Landsat 5 (path/row 15/42) — Miami and Homestead, Florida, USA
Nov. 10, 2011, Landsat 5 (path/row 15/42) — Miami and Homestead, Florida, USA
Oct. 22, 2016, Landsat 8 (path/row 15/42) — Miami and Homestead, Florida, USA
Oct. 22, 2016, Landsat 8 (path/row 15/42) — Miami and Homestead, Florida, USA
The Everglades and Miami, Florida, USA Additional Imagery & Stories
Agriculture
The fertile muck soils along the south shore of Lake Okeechobee in the Everglades Agricultural Area are intensively farmed. Tomatoes, beans, squash, p...
Canals and Levees
Historically, water flowed slowly southward through the Everglades in a wide swath. Record floods in 1947 and 1948 led to the construction of a massiv...
Limestone Mining
The Everglades sit on top of a bedrock of limestone. Limestone quarries, the dark rectangular shapes just west of the urban areas, provide about half ...
Residential Lakes
A lot of the urban area consists of large planned communities, often for retirees. Many of these communities incorporate artificial residential lakes....
Tree Islands
A unique feature of the Everglades is the dark green teardrop-shaped forms scattered throughout the region. Referred to as hummocks, or “tree islands,...
Turkey Point
There is a notable shape southeast of Homestead on the coast of the Bay of Biscayne. The top right corner of this shape is the location of the Turkey ...