Kendall NEIGHBORHOOD GUIDE

Located about 10 miles southwest of Downtown Miami, directly east of Pinecrest, is Kendall: a sprawling suburban oasis largely defined by its leisure-focused environment and lifestyle. One of the area’s central quirks is its rather ambiguous identity—it’s not a city, nor is it a neighborhood. Instead, Kendall is known as a census-designated place, with a border loosely bound by Snapper Creek to the north, the Florida Everglades to the west, Old Cutler road to the east, and the former community of Rockdale to the south.

The undisputed centerpiece of the area is Dadeland Mall: a 1.4 million square-feet shopping mall home to more than 185 stores and restaurants, anchored by the largest Macy’s in all of Florida. That same family-focused, fun-loving spirit extends beyond the mall’s borders to signature points of interest like the Gold Coast Railroad Museum and Zoo Miami – the only tropical zoo in the continental U.S. – along with more generalized attractions like affordable golf courses and state parks.

In comparison to the rest of Miami, Kendall’s living arrangements are far more understated, with only a handful of high rises in the area. In a more general sense, Kendall offers a mix of single-family homes and mid-rise apartments. And yet, Kendall is not immune to the trappings of its more metropolitan counterparts, most notably in its traffic—one of the major pain points for residents. That said, the city does its best to alleviate those concerns with a number of alternative transportation options, including the City of Miami Metrobus and the Miami Metrorail, which provides service at two stations: Dadeland North and Dadeland South. But ultimately, prospective residents will undoubtedly need a car, with areas as close as Coral Gables to as far as Miami Beach all a healthy drive away.

Massive in size and relaxed in feel, Kendall represents the heart of Miami’s suburban identity, sporting a far more planned, consumer-driven sense of community than its more popular neighbors.