Understanding Miami's geography
Why Miami's drive times defy radius math.
The South Florida coastal corridor (Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach) is essentially a 100-mile-long urbanized strip with limited width, which means isochrones here behave more like ribbons than circles. I-95, the Florida Turnpike, and US-1 carry most north-south traffic, while east-west connectors (the Dolphin, the Palmetto, the Don Shula) tie the coast to the inland sprawl in Doral, Kendall, and Pembroke Pines. Coastal sites in Brickell, Miami Beach, and Coconut Grove have half-moon trade areas constrained by the Atlantic.
Franchise developers should model Miami trade areas with explicit consideration of seasonal population swings — Brickell, Miami Beach, and Aventura see 20-30% population increases during winter months that materially change effective trade-area size. Bilingual and Latin American consumer preferences shape category demand in ways that differ meaningfully between Doral, Kendall, Hialeah, and Coral Gables despite their drive-time adjacency. Hurricane-season disruption risk also affects site-selection diligence, especially for coastal and low-lying inland submarkets.