Community Background Report

City of Doral

County

Miami-Dade

Boundaries

See interactive map

Community Type

Municipality

History

Alfred Kaskel, a New York real estate operator, founded the development of Doral in the 1950s. Kaskel purchased 2,400 acres of swampland for $2,000 per acre. The name “Doral” is a combination of Kaskel’s wife’s’ name, Doris, and his first name, Alfred. Kaskel developed the land in Doral into a magnificent golf course that earned nationwide acclaim once it was added to the PGA Golf Tour in 1962, and currently serves as the home of the Ford Championships. Although Doral contains several residential areas, including gated communities, it is also well known for its commercial and industrial areas and the Doral Golf Club & Resort. Prior to incorporation, Miami Dade County remedied several issues including street flooding after heavy rains, lack of traffic lights at busy intersections, and police enforcement. After several postponements and disputes with other municipalities, the City of Doral was incorporated on January 28, 2003. Today, the 15-square mile city is a major draw for international companies and executives and has a large amount of industrial and other companies that boost the area’s economy.

Community Dynamics

Since its inception, Doral has made several changes to strive towards its motto “The Premiere place to Live, Work, Learn, and Play.” Since electing a City Council Board, the Mayor and his board have addressed several of the rooted issues. Schools in Doral are A-rated, thus attracting families with school-aged children. In 2008, Fortune Small Business and CNN Money ranked Doral as 51 on a list of 100 cities with the best mix of business advantages and lifestyle appeal.

The City of Doral has a population of over 53,000. The population grew 123.6% from 2000 to 2010, with 79.5% being Hispanic or Latino. As of 2000, Doral had the highest percentage of Venezuelans residents in the US, with 8.22% of the population (Weston was the second highest, with 4.10% of the population.) The population also has high levels of educational attainment, with 55.8% of the population 25 years or older, holding a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

Business Landscape

The City of Doral is well positioned to continue to attract businesses as it is located conveniently close to Miami International Airport. Currently the area hosts a Financial District with 54 banks and is home to 14 of Miami-Dade County's 30 business parks, 48 hotels, and 12 television stations. Doral also hosts ten universities, trade schools, and several top-rated charter and private schools. Commercial and industrial sectors are growing and an additional 1 million square feet of Class A office space is planned to be developed within the next 10 years. Its top industry are wholesale trade, retail, technical services, and warehousing.

The City of Doral is very progressive in the utilization of technology to communicate and engage its citizens (e.g. social media and SmartCity websites), promotion of carbon-neutral business growth, development of a greener city with walkable streets and spaces, development of energy-efficient, multi-story homes on smaller lots, and recommendations of land use and zoning densities near transit access points, etc. The City clearly aims for a sustainable, environmentally sensible future for its citizens.

Transportation Characteristics

Doral is undergoing an extensive streetscape plan to improve the city's arterial roads and address traffic issues, which include the movement of people and freight. Doral has two functioning transit circulators, which serve both daytime and fulltime residents. Nearly 50 percent of land in Doral is designated for industrial uses.

Doral currently experiences significant levels of congestion along its major arterial roads. The City has taken the initiative, creating a Traffic Relief Management Plan, implementing strategies to help manage and alleviate traffic congestion. These strategies include updating traffic signal timing based on field observers and reviews of traffic data of Doral’s arterial roads, creating management strategies using signal timing updates to respond to different traffic conditions, and installation of CCTV to capture real-time traffic condition. Most importantly, the city is planning for design construction solutions to relieve bottleneck traffic conditions in the long-term improvement plan.