Coral Gables, officially the City of Coral Gables, is a city in Miami-Dade County, located southwest of Downtown Miami, with a population of 50,000. Coral Gables is a Mediterranean-themed planned community known for its climate and historical character.
Merrick meticulously designed the downtown commercial district to be only four blocks wide and more than 2 miles (3.2 km) long. The main artery bisected the business district. Merrick could boast that every business in Coral Gables was less than a two-block walk. The city used to have an electric trolley system, which was replaced by the popularity of modern automobiles, but now a new free circulator trolley system, initiated in November 2003, runs down Ponce de León Boulevard. In 1925, roughly simultaneous to the founding of Coral Gables, the University of Miami was constructed on 240 acres (97 ha) of land just west of U.S. Route 1, approximately two miles south of downtown Coral Gables. By the fall of 1926, the first class of 372 students enrolled at the university.
Miracle Mile is a 0.503-mile-long (0.810 km) section of Coral Way between LeJeune Road (SW 42nd Avenue) and Douglas Road (SW 37th Avenue). It is the main east-west road through the city’s downtown central business district, consisting of many shops, financial institutions, restaurants and arts institution. The LeJeune Road end of Miracle Mile is anchored by the Coral Gables City Hall. Miracle Mile and the surrounding Downtown Coral Gables area is served indirectly by the Miami Metrorail by transferring from the Douglas Road station to the Coral Gables Trolley at the station. The trolley runs up and down Ponce de Leon Boulevard from Miracle Mile to the Metro. The boulevard is lined with restaurants, shops, boutiques, art galleries, and today “Downtown Coral Gables, including Miracle Mile, is one of South Florida’s most sought-after shopping destinations.”
