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<br />Greater Miami has the largest concentration of domestic and international banks south of New York <br />City, With more than 90 percent of the state's foreign banks operating offices in Miami, this market <br />dominates international banking in Florida, <br /> <br />There are 31 international banking agencies and eight Edge Act corporations operating in Greater <br />Miami. Many oftheir banking customers are located in Latin America, <br /> <br />OveralL about 100 domestic banks, savings and loans, foreign banks and Edge Act banks operate <br />in Greater Miami. The greatest concentration is located along Brickell A venue in downtown Miami. <br /> <br />Transportation <br /> <br />Miami-Dade County has an extensive expressway system with access to all points in the County. <br />However, due to the rapidly increasing population, some of the expressways, especially Interstate <br />95, are becoming overburdened, In 1985 Miami-Dade County completed a 20,5 mile elevated rapid <br />transit system. This system originally extended southward from downtown Miami to Oadeland, <br />paralleling U,S, Highway I and northwesterly from downtown Miami to Hialeah. Recently, the <br />system was extended about a mile from Hialeah to the Palmetto Expressway at NW 741h Street. In <br />conjunction with this system, there is a Downtown People Mover Automated Transit system which <br />encircles the central business district of Miami and extends south to the Brickell area and north to <br />the Omni area. <br /> <br />Miami-Dade County is served by the CSX and Florida East Coast Railroads for freight and Amtrak <br />Rail, Greyhound and Trailways Interstate bus lines for passenger service, <br /> <br />Miami International Airport, one of the nation's largest and busiest, had approximately 31 million <br />arrivals and departures in 2005. Moody's Investor Service, a major bond-rating company, recently <br />ranked the airport Aa (the second highest rating an airport can enjoy). Only Los Angeles <br />International Airport shares this ranking; no U.S. airport has ever attained the highest ranking of <br />Aa I. According to Moody's, a key factor in the ranking is the airport's "market value as an <br />international gateway with its own strong organization-and-destination base", The airport is <br />currently undergoing a $5.4 billion expansion, New South and North terminals and a fourth runway <br />are planned. <br /> <br />Miami has become a port of embarkation for airlines and ships bound for Central and South <br />American Countries, The Port of Miami, besides being the largest passenger port in the nation, is <br />also important as a cargo center with a 2003 annual tonnage of approximately 9,0 million up from <br />8.7 million in 2002 and 8.25 million in 2003. The port's traditional customer base has been Europe, <br />Latin America and the Caribbean, accounting for 64% of the port's total volume, <br /> <br />Miami's comprehensive transportation system and its strategic location have enabled it to become <br />an important international transportation center, providing commercial access to Latin America and <br />the Cari bbean, <br /> <br />QUINLIVAN APPRAISAL <br /> <br />14 <br />