Little Havana (Spanish: La Pequeña Habana) is a neighborhood within the City of Miami, Florida, United States. Home to many Cuban immigrant residents, Little Havana is named after Havana, the capital and largest city in Cuba. The approximate boundaries are the Miami River (north), SW 11th Street (south), SW 22nd Avenue (west) and I-95 (east). The term “Cuban exile” refers to the many Cubans who have sought alternative political or economic conditions outside the island, dating back to the Ten Years’ War and the struggle for Cuban independence during the 19th century. In modern times, the term refers to the large exodus of Cubans to the United States since the 1959 Cuban Revolution and in particular the wave of Cuban American refugees to the U.S. during the years 1960 and 1980.
More than one million Cubans of all social classes have left the island to the United States, and to Spain, Mexico, Canada, Sweden, and other countries; however, until 1980 most exiles from Cuba were of the Upper or Middle classes, predominantly white. Because leaving requires exit permit and substantial amount of money relative to low incomes, most Cubans can never leave Cuban soil.
Little Havana is noted as a center of social, cultural, and political activity in Miami. Its festivals, including Carnival Miami, Cultural Fridays, the Three Kings Parade and others, are televised to millions of people every year on different continents. It is also known for its landmarks, including Calle Ocho (S.W. 8th Street), and its Walkway of the Stars (for famous artists and Latin personalities, including Celia Cruz, Willy Chirino, and Gloria Estefan), the Cuban Memorial Boulevard, Plaza de la Cubanidad, Domino Park, the Tower Theater, Jose Marti Park, the Firestone/Walgreens Building, St. John Bosco Catholic Church, Municipio de Santiago de Cuba and others. It is undoubtedly the best known neighborhood for Cuban exiles in the world. The name “Little Havana” emerged in the 1960s as the concentration of Cubans in the area grew sharply. Little Havana is the name affixed to a sprawling neighborhood lying immediately west of downtown Miami. It stretches west from the Miami River for several miles. This sobriquet was applied to the Shenandoah and Riverside neighborhoods in the 1960s, following the beginnings of a vast influx of Cuban refugees there. Little Havana is famous as the cultural and political capital of Cuban Americans, and the neighborhood is a center of the Cuban exile community. Little Havana is characterized by a robust street life, excellent restaurants, cultural activities, mom and pop enterprises, political passion, and great warmth amongst its residents.
The Little Havana Merchants Association is an organization of local businesses that promotes responsible growth in the neighborhood. The group provides an online guide to local dining, shops, galleries, nightlife, and cultural events.
Melissa Schilling
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