Ft. Lauderdale

Home Sweet Home       Find a home       Find a Realtor       Find a company       Vital Stats       Rain & Shine       Job Market       Class Notes

Getting Around    Great Outdoors    Good Sports    Hot Times in the City    Shop 'til you Drop    Nightlife    College Scene    Just for Seniors

Three thousand hours of sunshine still reign down over the region every year, but Fort Lauderdale's image has changed. Residents and tourists deny any resemblance to the place portrayed in Where the Boys Are, a 1960 film starring Connie Francis. After a 26 million renovation, the famous beach is family friendly. Fort Lauderdale's boys of the '90s include yachtsmen and waiters, toddlers and octogenarians--and every age, stage and occupation in between. Locals are delighted that most Spring Breakers now vacation elsewhere, leaving Fort Lauderdale to citizens, to newcomers lured by its laid-back lifestyle and to well-behaved visitors.

Fort Lauderdale may be the largest city in Broward County, but it's only one of 28 municipalities from Deerfield Beach and Lighthouse Point on the north to Sunrise and Plantation on the west to Hollywood and Hallandale on the south. Natives and transplants brag about their 288 parks, the beauty of 23 miles of beaches, the enjoyment of some 300 miles of navigable waterways. With its prime location on the Atlantic Ocean, the New River, the Intracoastal Waterway, numerous creeks, bays, inlets and canals, Greater Fort Lauderdale deserves its impressive nicknames: the Venice of America and the Yachting Capital of the World.

Home Sweet Home

It's a great place to live. Just ask the 1.4 million people who call Fort Lauderdale home. The median sales price in 1999 was $136,700 for existing, single-family homes. For this amount you can purchase a newer three-bedroom, two-bath house of 1,800 square feet in one of the region's western communities like West Fort Lauderdale, Lauderhill, Coral Springs or Margate. If you want to be close to the ocean and buy a condominium on the east side of Fort Lauderdale, yet stay in the median price range, consider a condominium in an older building. It probably won't be on the water, but an ocean view or dockage on the Intracoastal could be yours.

Choice abound and prices vary, according to the Realtor Association of Greater Fort Lauderdale. Waterfront homes on the area's east side start about $200,000 for a 1,800-square-foot house on sites that are deep-water restricted; they climb upward in price for locations with no fixed bridges between adjacent water and the ocean. Property on the Atlantic Ocean is something else again: prices start at $750,000. In the east side's higher-end neighborhoods lots escalate in value. Massive expansion or remodeling occurs frequently. In many pricey enclaves, a raze-and-build mentality triumphs. It's not uncommon for buyers to pay $300,000 for an older home in an established eastern community, then raze the house and build from scratch on their newly vacant lot, which might be worth $285,000 or more--if they were willing to part with it.

The Mizner look enjoys enduring popularity in Fort Lauderdale. The elegant Spanish architectural style featuring barrel-tile roofs originally established in the '20s by Addison Mizner was popularized by his many imitators and is still appreciated by Gold Coast home buyers who can afford it. Numerous variations on the simple Florida one-story concrete-block house also exist and continue to please homeowners looking for energy efficiency and a no-nonsense style.

Vital Stats

Fort Lauderdale Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes all of Broward County

Population: 1.5 million
Median age: 40
New citizens: 22,240 yearly
New job creation: 2.4 percent
Unemployment rate: 4.0 percent in August, 1999
Cost of living: 103.42 percent (U.S. average: 100 percent)
Per capita income: $27,129 (1998)
Median household income: $33,895

Rain & Shine

Fort Lauderdale's balmy climate pleases nearly everyone. The barefoot mailmen disappeared long ago, but the golden beaches they traveled and the warm sunny days remain. Temperatures are tropical. No wonder the weather continues to charm: average annual temperature is 77 degrees Fahrenheit (or 68 degrees in winter and 82 degrees in summer). Most of the annual average of 60 inches of rain falls between June and October. Winters are warm, dry and occasionally brisk. Once in a while you might even put on a light sweater or jacket, but not often.

Job Market

Eighty Fortune 500 companies do business in the area, and several major corporations, such as Alamo Rent A Car, make the Fort Lauderdale area their home. Unemployment generally runs at or below the national average, and major employers include the School Board of Broward County and local government. The largest private employers include American Express Company (5,000), Nova Southeastern University (2,529), Holy Cross Hospital (1.785), the Sun-Sentinel (1,767) and Ed Morse Automotive Group (1,564).

Class Notes

Extensive information about the schools in this area is online at the state's Department of Education (http://www.firn.edu/doe/doehome.htm). There you'll discover everything you'll need to know about Florida schools -- in general and in particular. All you need is the name of your county and the names of the schools students from your neighborhood attend.

Use links from the DOE home page for general information about entrance requirements, immunizations and so forth.

For the nitty-gritty details that really matter, click on the logo for the "Florida School Indicators Report."

Getting Around

It's easy to get to Hollywood, but a bit time-consuming to get around once you're there. The area is served by the Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport, which handles over 500 flights daily and almost 14 million passengers annually. Private and executive planes fly in and out of Broward County's three regional airports, and the North Perry Airport is in South Broward County.

Hollywood Interstates 95, 595 and 75 and the Florida Turnpike, a toll road, carry thousands and thousands of cars in and out of the region. The roads are excellent but busy. For residents who prefer an alternative to the automobile, Tri-Rail provides local service to neighboring counties. Buses in the mass transit system give another transportation option by connecting all the Broward communities and interconnecting with Palm Beach and Dade counties. Greyhound buses come to Fort Lauderdale, and Amtrak provides a national rail connection.

Freight arrives by truck, by Florida East Coast Railroad and CSX, and by ship. Port Everglades, besides being the world's second largest cruise port serving 2.4 million passengers annually, handles 23 million tons of cargo each year. Newcomers and visitors enjoy the Jungle Queen sightseeing cruise. When you're downtown, ride the trolley free or stroll scenic Riverwalk. For fun and ease getting around metro Fort Lauderdale, you can travel by private boat or call a water taxi.

Great Outdoors

Nature enthusiasts and folks who simply enjoy being outdoors appreciate Broward County's many scenic and natural assets, including the western two-thirds of the county, which is more than half a million acres of Everglades. Residents and tourists can check out the Everglades via airboat at Sawgrass Recreation Park and elsewhere. Exploring the beaches, the waterways or the reefs keeps lots of locals happy. Birch State Park is a 180-acre oasis between the ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway. Butterfly World is a Coconut Grove attraction that shelters both birds and butterflies. Delightful Deerfield Island Park's 55 acres are accessible only by water. Pompano Beach's Fern Forest Nature Center is a 254-acre bonus complete with boardwalk, nature trails and butterfly garden. World-class environmental education and more than 1,400 acres of protected coastal mangrove wetlands comprise the 1,500 acre West Lake Park/Anne Kolb Nature Center site, one of Florida's largest urban parks. The curious learn about three different types of vegetative systems that grow along the New River at the 38-acre Secret Woods Nature Center.

Good Sports

Whether you're a sports fan or a sports participant, Fort Lauderdale is for you. Boating, fishing, swimming, snorkeling and scuba diving rank high with residents. Cable waterskiing--with bodies not boats--keeps things exciting but peaceful at Quiet Waters Park. C.B. Smith Park promotes participatory water fun, including a 700-foot waterslide and a 400-foot tube ride. Over 50 golf courses grace the local scene -- 28 of them public. At least 550 tennis courts dot the landscape, along with soccer, rugby and softball fields. Hiking and biking trails wind through the area. If cycling's your sport, try the velodrome's sloped tracks in Brian Piccolo Park. Pro rodeo series headline in Davie, but the western-looking town caters to amateur equestrians as well.

Prefer to watch from the bleachers? No problem. Neighboring Miami is home to the Florida Marlins big-league baseball team, the NBA's Miami Heat and the NFL's Miami Dolphins. The nearly new and quite phenomenal Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League-exceeding almost all expectations-almost took the Stanley Cup one recent hockey season. The hard-skating team will soon entertain the tricounty area from Sunrise. A $212 million arena complex , the National Car Rental Center, was completed in 1998. Pro soccer played by the Fort Lauderdale Strikers exhausts the athletes but not their fans. The region also hosts horse racing, harness racing, greyhound racing and jai alai.

Hot Times in the City

Jam-packed describes the event calendar. Fall's top draw is the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, a massive in-water display of 500 vessels. November happenings include a jazz festival and the county fair. December brings Winterfest, a 10-day extravaganza culminating in a famous boat parade that is even televised. On New Year's Eve the whole town throws a big party. Late February and early March bring the mammoth Las Olas Arts Festival. Culturally rich, the region supports a symphony and a pops orchestra, an opera season and countless dramatic presentations from amateur to professional. The place provides plenty of culture for kids. Sample the offerings at Stage Door Children's Theater, at the participatory children's art museum called Young at Art and at the Museum of Discovery and Science, particularly popular with kids because of its seven awesome interactive exhibit areas and giant IMAX theater. In fact, all ages soak up the cultural offerings of 15 museums, especially the Museum of Art.

Shop 'til You Drop

From Dania's extensive Antique Row to the discount outlets at Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise and the elegant stores of the Galleria, local shopping appeals to both kings and peasants. Don't pass up downtown Fort Lauderdale's elegant Las Olas Boulevard -- it's Broward County's answer to Rodeo Drive and Worth Avenue. Beach Place, a new complex with intimate shops and restaurants, recently opened across from the ocean on Highway A1A, part of a major municipal facelift for the beach area. Designer duds at reduced prices draw bargain hunters to Fashion Avenue in Hallandale, a.k.a. Schmatta Row. Plantation, renowned for super shopping, beckons with Fashion Mall, Broward Mall and the Fountains. The Festival Flea Market in Pompano Beach features 800 booths and stores, and the Fort Lauderdale Swap Shop fills its 88 acres with indoor shops, outdoor farmers' markets and circus entertainment.

Nightlife

Top spots to dine and dance are abundant. Fort Lauderdale is reputed to possess more places per capita to eat and drink than any other region in the country. Money magazine ranks it numero uno in the four-and five-star restaurant category. Cafe Max on Atlantic Boulevard in Pompano Beach recently made the front page of Investor's Business Daily. Nightclubs for the night owls? At least 100. Watch the yachts from Shooter's Waterfront Grill or Bahia Cabana, both casual, or from the more upscale Yesterdays or Charley's Crab. Las Olas Riverfront, a 250,000-square-foot retail/entertainment complex in downtown Fort Lauderdale, now under construction, will add a 24-screen movie complex and a 50,000-square-foot Funscape entertainment center. NorthPort MarketPlace, a 100,000-square-foot retail/entertainment complex next door to the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center, hosts shops and restaurants-including Planet Hollywood.

College Scene

Nine or ten institutions of higher education serve the region, though not all of them are actually in Broward County. Florida Atlantic University in nearby Boca Raton enrolls 20,000, mostly undergraduates. Also a part of the state university system, Miami's Florida International University enrolls 26,000 and has a Broward Center. The independent University of Miami attracts 16,000 students (8,000 undergrads) to Coral Gables, just south of Miami, and also maintains a branch location in Fort Lauderdale. Broward itself contains numerous campuses, including Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale College, the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale and the four locations of Broward Community College. Palm Beach Community College's Boca Raton branch isn't far from Broward and appeals to several local learners.

Just for Seniors

The elderly tend to stay young at heart in Greater Fort Lauderdale. Gardening, boating, cultural activities and volunteering appeal to active seniors, and the weather cooperates. Retired seniors can vacation every day; working seniors can find jobs. For those who need a little help, more than a little is available. Scattered throughout the county, 18 senior centers open their doors to anyone of any economic level who wishes to come for day care and congregate meals. Additionally, Broward County's Elderly Services Division and Community Care for the Elderly provides information or assistance with case management, emergency response, homemaker services, personal and respite care, and related mental and physical problems of the low-income elderly. Countless services are available if cost is not a consideration--everything from transportation to home health care. Call Senior Connection at 954/484-4357 for information and referral.