More about Fort Lauderdale
Nicknamed, “The Venice of America”, Fort Lauderdale is a city in the state of Florida along the southeastern coast and is known for its boating canals and beaches. It is the county seat of Broward County with a population of 165,541 (as of the 2010 census) and estimated in 2015 to have a population of 165,521. It is 28 miles north of the Miami metropolitan area and its average year-round temperature of 75.5 °F and 3,000 hours of sunshine per year make it a very popular tourist destination, attracting over 12 million visitors annually since 2012 which includes 2.8 million international visitors.
The Greater Fort Lauderdale area hosts 561 hotels of nearly 35,000 rooms to accommodate tourists and visitors.
Greater Fort Lauderdale also has over 4,000 restaurants, 63 golf courses, 12 shopping malls, 132 nightclubs, 16 museums, 278 campsites, and 100 marinas housing over 45,000
resident yachts.
Demographics
As of 2010, the demographic breakdown of Fort Lauderdale was 13.7% Hispanic/Latino, 31% African/African American, 52.5% European (non-Hispanic white), 1.5% Asian, and 7.1% American (regardless of race or ethnicity), and 0.6% Arab ancestry. There were 74,786 occupied households with 30.4% married couples living together, 12.3% have a female head of household with no husband present, and 52.4% were non-families. 39.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older (4.8% male and 6.3% female.)
The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 3.00.
In the same year, the median income for a household was $48,818, and for a family was $59,238. The median income for males was $46,706 and $37,324 for females. Approximately 18.2% of the population was below the poverty line which included 13.1% of families.
The city is known for its large LGBT community and has many LGBTQIA or LGBTQIA-friendly hotels and guesthouses.
Languages
Fort Lauderdale residents speak many languages other than English including speakers of Spanish 9.43%, French Creole 7.52%, French 2.04%, Portuguese 1.02%, Italian 0.82% and German 0.80%.
Economy
Although the city was a popular spring break destination for college students from the 1940’s throughout the 1980s it is now attracting wealthier tourists with cruise ships and nautical recreation being the primary revenue generator for tourists.
There is a convention center located west of the beach and southeast of downtown of 600,000 square feet, including a 200,000-square-foot main exhibit hall. Approximately 30% of the city’s 10 million visitors attend conventions at the center ever year. Fort Lauderdale is a major manufacturing and maintenance hub for yachts as the boating industry is responsible for over 109,000 jobs in Broward County. Its canals and proximity to the Caribbean makes it a popular yachting stop and home port for over 42,000 boats.
The annual Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, the world’s largest[68] boat show, brings over 125,000 people to Fort Lauderdale annually.
Redevelopment
The downtown area began redevelopment in 2002 and now features many new high-rise condominiums and hotels. Notable developments include Las Olas River House, Las Olas Grand, 110 Tower (formerly AutoNation Tower), Bank of America Plaza, One Financial Plaza, Broward Financial Center, One East Broward Boulevard, Barnett Bank Plaza, PNC Center, New River Center, One Corporate Center, SunTrust Centre, 101 Tower, and SouthTrust Tower.
Sites of Interest
Las Olas Boulevard is a popular commercial strip in downtown Fort Lauderdale that runs from Andrews Avenue in the Central Business District to A1A and Fort Lauderdale Beach.
The boulevard is a popular attraction for locals and visitors, being ideally situated close to Fort Lauderdale beach, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Port Everglades. It is considered to be South Florida’s most architecturally unique, authentic, and eclectic shopping and dining district.
The Florida Everglades is one of the most popular sites of interest among visitors to Fort Lauderdale with many services that will bring visitors from Fort Lauderdale Beach to the Everglades.
Transportation
The Broward County Transit (BCT) provides the county bus system. Metrobus in Dade County and Palm Tran in Palm Beach County. Tri-Rail, a commuter rail system, connects the major cities and airports of South Florida.
The Wave (streetcar), a new 2.7-mile (4.3 km) electric streetcar system costing $125 million, is being planned for the downtown.
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is the fastest-growing major airport in the country and it is partially due to service by many low-cost airlines such as JetBlue Airways, Spirit Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Virgin America.
Government
Fort Lauderdale has a Commission-Manager form of government. City policy is set by a city commission of five elected members: the mayor and four district commission members. In 1998, the municipal code was amended to limit the mayoral term. The mayor of Fort Lauderdale now serves a three-year term and cannot serve more than three consecutive terms.
Education
79% of the city’s population at the age of 25 or older graduated high school and 27.8% held a baccalaureate degree or higher. Broward County Public schools operates 23 public schools in Fort Lauderdale. Nine higher learning institutions have a main or satellite campus in Fort Lauderdale which includes Broward College BC, City College, Florida Atlantic University FAU, Keiser University, Nova Southeastern University NSU, The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, University of Phoenix and Jersey College.
Culture
As holds true with many other areas of Florida there is a strong seasonal variation in the city’s population due to snowbirds from the northern states in the U.S., Canada and Europe. Snowbirds spend the winter and early spring in Florida to escape the colder months in their respective states. The city earned a reputation and associated title “Fort Liquordale” from its history as a spring break destination from the 1960s through the 1980s. Beaches, bars and nightclubs were a popular place for students to party but in recent years the numbers have dwindled dramatically due to the passing of strict laws aimed at preventing the associated mayhem.
Fort Lauderdale’s arts and entertainment district, otherwise known as the Riverwalk Arts & Entertainment District, runs east-west along Las Olas Boulevard, from the beach to the heart of downtown. The district is anchored in the West by the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, and runs through the city to the intersection of Las Olas and A1A. This intersection is the “ground zero” of Fort Lauderdale Beach, and is the site of the Elbo Room bar featured in the 1960 film Where the Boys Are, which led in large measure to the city’s former reputation as a spring break mecca.
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