Top 5 Things You May Not Know About Coral Gate

The Blueprint Before Miami Had a Blueprint

Coral Gate is not just one of Miami's first planned subdivisions — it holds the top spot, established in 1948. 

Built just after World War II, the neighborhood began with modest two-bedroom, one-bath starter homes selling for around $10,000 in 1950, drawing in young baby-boomer families looking to settle down. 

With air-conditioning still a luxury, neighbors often left their doors open behind screened porches to let the breeze through—a daily setup that naturally encouraged connection. 

Decades later, the citizens of Coral Gate formally protected the original vision, becoming Miami's first Neighborhood Conservation District (NCD-1) in 2002 to safeguard its single-family character. 

And in 2025, the City of Miami approved a Florida Historical Marker at SW 37th Avenue and SW 20th Street to officially recognize Coral Gate's planning "firsts."

No need to be popular to be at the top, are we right?

Community Spirit, Stamped and Delivered

Coral Gate has always taken community seriously—right down to printing and mailing its own neighborhood newsletter. 

In 1951, residents launched The Coral Gater, a locally written paper delivered to homes for just one penny. 

That same sense of collective pride showed up decades later, in 2000, when Coral Gate celebrated its 50th anniversary with a full-scale block party featuring a marching band, fire trucks, and mounted police parading through the streets.

Eighteen original homeowners from 1950 were honored as guests of distinction, turning the celebration into a reunion and neighborhood milestone. 

Small neighborhood, unmistakably big community energy — a perfect combination that no other place but Cora Gate can offer!

The Street That Launched a Mayor

Before becoming the Mayor of Miami in 2017, Francis X. Suarez was a Coral Gate kid. 

He grew up in the neighborhood, later serving on the local homeowners' association board as a young attorney. 

Then, in January 2013, Suarez formally launched his mayoral campaign from outside his Coral Gate home, standing beside his father, former Miami mayor Xavier Suarez. 

For one afternoon, a quiet residential street doubled as a political stage—an oddly fitting moment for a neighborhood known for civic involvement and long-term residents who show up.

The Air Conditioned Home of Betty Boop 

Long before Coral Gate became a residential enclave, it hosted a major moment in animation history — well, sort of.

In 1938, legendary animator Max Fleischer—the mind behind Betty Boop, Popeye, and early Superman cartoons—opened Fleischer Studios at 2929 SW 17th Street, where Coral Gate now stands. 

The facility was one of the first fully air-conditioned buildings in Florida, designed to keep more than 750 artists and staff comfortable while producing works like Gulliver's Travels. 

The studio operated until 1942, and in October 2025, the city unveiled a Florida Heritage Marker at the site, with Fleischer's grandson present, officially recognizing Coral Gate's unlikely role in pop-culture history.

Movie Nights, Larry King, and a Brief Hollywood Moment

In 1970, Coral Gate flirted with Hollywood glamour when the Twin Gables Theater opened at Coral Way and SW 33rd Avenue. 

Its March 13 grand opening was hosted by a young Larry King, then a local radio personality, as the plush, air-conditioned cinema premiered Marlo Thomas' film Jenny. 

Despite being in Miami, the theater borrowed prestige from next door by naming itself after Coral Gables, scrapping its original "University Twin" name once promoters realized the University of Miami wasn't nearby. 

Though the theater closed in the 1980s—replaced by a Winn-Dixie—Coral Gate still snagged another screen credit years later. 

The 1995 film Miami Rhapsody, starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Antonio Banderas, filmed scenes on Coral Gate Drive, using two homes (1600 and 1601) as family backdrops. 

One house is gone now, hidden by later barriers, but for a brief moment, Coral Gate made it to the movies, and it definitely deserves a place on this list.