Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a
city in the U.S.
state of
Florida
, along the Atlantic Ocean
. It is the county seat of Broward
County
. According to 2007
U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the
city had a population of 183,606.
It is a principal city of the South Florida
metropolitan area
, which is home to over 5,413,212
people.
The city is a popular tourist destination, with 10.35 million
visitors in 2006. Fort Lauderdale is sometimes known as the "Venice
of America" because of its expansive and intricate
canal system. The city is a major yachting center,
with 42,000 resident yachts and 100 marinas and boatyards.
The city
sits 23 miles north of Miami, Florida
. Fort Lauderdale and the surrounding area
host over 4100 restaurants and 120 nightclubs.
Fort
Lauderdale is named after a series of forts built by the United States
during the Second
Seminole War. The forts took their name from Major
William Lauderdale, who was the commander of the detachment of
soldiers who built the first fort. However, development of the city
did not begin until 50 years after the forts were abandoned at the
end of the conflict. Three forts named "Fort Lauderdale" were
constructed; the first was at the fork of the
New River, the second at
Tarpon Bend, in what is now known as the Sailboat Bend
neighborhood, and the third near the site of the Bahia Mar
Marina.
History
The area in which the city of Fort Lauderdale would later be
founded was inhabited for more than a thousand years by the
Tequesta Indians. Contact with Spanish
explorers in the 16th century proved disastrous for the Tequesta,
as the Europeans unwittingly brought with them diseases to which
the native populations possessed no resistance, such as smallpox.
For the Tequesta, disease, coupled with continuing conflict with
their
Calusa neighbors, contributed greatly
to their decline over the next two centuries. By 1763, there were
only a few Tequesta left in Florida, and most of them were
evacuated to Cuba when the Spanish ceded Florida to the British in
1763, under the terms of the
Treaty of Paris , which ended the
Seven Years' War.
Although control of
the area changed between Spain
, United Kingdom
, the United States, and the Confederate States of America,
it remained largely undeveloped until the 20th
century.
The Fort Lauderdale area was known as the "New River Settlement"
before the 20th century. In the 1830s there were approximately 70
settlers living along the New River.
William Cooley, the local
Justice of the Peace, was a farmer and
wrecker, who traded with the
Seminole Indians. On January 6,
1836, while Cooley was leading an attempt to salvage a wrecked
ship, a band of Seminoles attacked his farm, killing his wife and
children, and the children's
tutor.
The other
farms in the settlement were not attacked, but all the white
residents in the area abandoned the settlement, fleeing first to
the Cape Florida
Lighthouse
on Key
Biscayne
, and then to
Key
West
. The first United States stockade named Fort
Lauderdale was built in 1838, and subsequently was a site of
fighting during the Second Seminole War. The fort was abandoned in
1842, after the end of the war, and the area remained virtually
unpopulated until the 1890s. It was not until Frank Stranahan
arrived in the area in 1893 to operate a ferry across the New
River, and the
Florida East
Coast Railroad's completion of a route through the area in
1896, that any organized development began.
The city was incorporated in 1911, and in 1915 was
designated the county seat of newly formed Broward
County.
Fort Lauderdale's first major development began in the 1920s,
during the
Florida land
boom of the 1920s. The
1926
Miami Hurricane and the
Great
Depression of the 1930s caused a great deal of economic
dislocation.
When World War II
began, Fort Lauderdale became a major US base, with a Naval Air
Station to train pilots, radar operators, and fire control
operators, and a Coast Guard base at Port Everglades
was also established.
After the war ended, service members returned to the area, spurring
an enormous population explosion which dwarfed the 1920s boom. The
1960 Census counted 83,648 people in the city, about 230% of the
1950 figure. A 1967 report estimated that the city was
approximately 85% developed, and the 1970 population figure was
139,590.After 1970, as Fort Lauderdale became essentially built
out, growth in the area shifted to suburbs to the west.
As cities
such as Coral
Springs
, Miramar
, and Pembroke Pines
experienced explosive growth, Fort Lauderdale's
population stagnated, and the city actually shrank by almost 4,000
people between 1980, when the city had 153,279 people, and 1990,
when the population was 149,377. A slight rebound brought
the population back up to 152,397 at the 2000 census. Since 2000,
Fort Lauderdale has gained slightly over 18,000 residents through
annexation of seven neighborhoods in unincorporated Broward County.
Today, Fort Lauderdale is a major
yachting
center, one of the nation's largest tourist destinations, and the
center of a metropolitan division with 1.8 million people.
Geography and climate
Location
A1A, north of Sunrise Blvd
Fort Lauderdale is located at (26.135763, -80.141810).
According to the
United
States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which
is land and of which is water (11.91%). Fort Lauderdale is known
for its extensive network of canals; there are of waterways within
the city limits.
The city of Fort Lauderdale is adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean,
includes of beaches, and borders the following
municipalities:
| On its
east:
|
On its
south:
|
On its
southwest:
|
| On its
west:
|
On its
northwest:
|
On its
north:
|
Fort Lauderdale Beach
The northwestern section of Fort Lauderdale is separate from the
remainder of the city, connected only by the Cypress Creek Canal as
it flows under I-95. This section of Fort Lauderdale borders the
cities of Tamarac and Oakland Park on its south side. Oakland Park
also borders Fort Lauderdale on the west side of its northeastern
portion. The greater portion of Fort Lauderdale in the south is
bordered, along its north side by Wilton Manors.
Off the
coast of Fort Lauderdale is the Osborne Reef
, an artificial reef
made of discarded tires that has proven to be an ecological
disaster. The dumping began in the 1960s, with the intent to
provide habitat for fish while disposing of trash from the land.
However, in the rugged and corrosive environment of the ocean,
nylon straps used to secure the tires wore out, cables rusted, and
tires broke free. The tires posed a particular threat after
breaking free from their restraints. The tires then migrated
shoreward and ran into a living reef tract, washed up on its slope
and killed many things in their path. In recent years, thousands of
tires have also washed up on nearby beaches, especially during
hurricanes. Local authorities are now working to remove the 700,000
tires, in cooperation with the U.S. Army, Navy and Coast
Guard.
Neighborhoods
Fort Lauderdale, unlike many cities, has an official program for
designating and recognizing neighborhoods. Under the Neighborhood
Organization Recognition Program, more than 60 distinct
neighborhoods have received official recognition from the city. An
additional 25–30 neighborhoods exist without official recognition,
although the city's neighborhood map displays them as well.
Climate
Sunrise at Fort Lauderdale Beach
Fort Lauderdale features a transitional
tropical climate, specifically the
Tropical monsoon climate (
Köppen climate
classification Am) with characteristics of the
humid subtropical climate
(
Cfa) to the north with little seasonal variation in
temperature. While significant rain does fall in winter, the
majority of precipitation is received during the summer months (see
climate chart below). Average monthly temperatures are always above
64.4°F (18°C) and average monthly precipitation above
60 mm.
Summers (wet season) from May through October are hot, humid, and
wet with average high temperatures of 86 - 90°F (30 - 32°C) and
lows of 71 - 76°F (22 - 24°C). During this period, more than half
of summer days may bring afternoon thunderstorms.
Winter (dry season) from November through April are comfortably
warm and mostly dry with average high temperatures of 75 - 82°F (24
- 28°C) and lows of 59 - 66°F (15 - 19°C). However, the city
experiences occasional cold fronts during this period, bringing
high temperatures in the 50s and 60s (10 - 16°C) and lows in the
40s and 50s (4 - 10°C) lasting only for a few days.
Annual average precipitation is 64.2 in (1630 mm), with most
of it occurring during the wet season from May through October.
However, rainfall occurs in all months, mainly as short-lived heavy
afternoon thunderstorms. Fort Lauderdale has an average of 94 wet
days and 250 sunshine days annually. The
hurricane season is between June 1 and
November 30, with major hurricanes most likely to affect Florida in
September and October. The most recent storms to directly affect
the city were
Hurricane Katrina
and
Hurricane Wilma, both of which
struck the city in 2005. Other direct hits were
Hurricane Cleo in 1964,
Hurricane King in 1950, and the
1947 Fort Lauderdale
Hurricane.
Demographics
| Fort Lauderdale Compared |
| 2000
Census |
Fort Lauderdale |
FL |
U.S. |
| Total population |
152,397 |
15,982,378 |
281,421,906 |
| Population, percent change, 1990 to 2000 |
+2.0% |
+23.5% |
+13.1% |
| Population density |
4,803.1/sq mi |
309/sq mi |
80/sq mi |
| Median household income (1999) |
$37,887 |
$38,819 |
$41,994 |
| Bachelor's degree or higher |
27.9% |
22.3% |
24.4% |
| Foreign born |
21.7% |
16.7% |
11.1% |
| White (non-Hispanic) |
57.5% |
65.4% |
75.1% |
| Black |
28.9% |
14.6% |
12.3% |
| Hispanic (any race) |
9.5% |
16.8% |
12.5% |
| Asian |
1.0% |
2.1% |
4.2% |
As of the
census of 2000, there were 152,397
people, 68,468 households, and 33,001 families residing in the
city. There were 68,468 households out of which 19.6% had children
under the age of 18 living with them, 32.2% were married couples
living together, 11.5% had a female householder with no husband
present, and 51.8% were non-families. 40.3% of all households were
made up of individuals and 11.7% had someone living alone who was
65 years of age or older.
The median income for a household in the city was $37,887, and the
median income for a family was $46,175. Males had a median income
of $34,478 versus $27,230 for females. The
per capita income for the city was
$27,798. About 13.8% of families and 17.7% of the population were
below the
poverty line, including 29.0%
of those under age 18 and 11.1% of those aged 65 or over.
Fort Lauderdale has a significantly higher percentage of
foreign-born residents than the United States as a whole; the 2000
census data indicated that 21.7% of the city's population was
foreign-born. Of foreign-born residents, 69.2% were born in Latin
America and 17.3% were born in Europe, with smaller percentages
from North America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania.
In 2000, Fort
Lauderdale had the twenty-sixth highest percentage of Haitian
residents in the US, at 6.9% of the city's
population, and the 127th highest percentage of Cuban
residents,
at 1.69% of the city's residents.
Like many
cities in South
Florida
, Fort Lauderdale has a large population of people
who do not speak English as their first
language at home, although not as high as the county
average. As of 2000, 75.63% of the population spoke English
as their first language, followed by
Spanish at 9.42%,
Haitian Creole 7.52%,
French 2.04%, and
Portuguese at 1.02%.
As of
February 2007, the Fort Lauderdale metropolitan area has the second
highest HIV rate in the nation at 45.8 (per
100,000 population), just ahead of the New York City
metropolitan area at 45.4 (per 100,000
population). Of the reported Fort Lauderdale
HIV cases among
men, 74% are cases
due to men having unprotected sex with other men.
Economy
Luxury yacht
Man of Steel in
Fort Lauderdale´s harbor
Fort Lauderdale's economy is heavily reliant on tourism. From the
1940s through the 1980s, the city was known as a
spring break destination for college students.
Cruise ships and nautical recreation
provide the basis for much of the revenue raised by tourism. Fort
Lauderdale now attracts a more sophisticated and affluent tourist,
while largely ignoring the dwindling college crowd. There is a
convention center located west of the beach and southeast of
downtown, with of space, including a main exhibit hall.
Approximately 30% of the city's 10 million annual visitors attend
conventions at the center.
The
downtown area, especially around Las Olas
Boulevard
, has seen development in the past decade, and now
hosts many new hotels and high-rise condominium developments. The downtown
area is the largest in Broward County, although there are other
cities in the county with commercial centers.
Office buildings and
highrises include Las Olas River House, Las Olas Grand, 110 Tower (formerly AutoNation Tower), Bank of America Plaza, One
Financial Plaza
, Broward Financial Center, Wachovia Center, New River Center, One Corporate
Center, 101 Tower, and SouthTrust
Tower.
The Fort Lauderdale metropolitan area foreclosures increased 127.4%
from 2006 to 2007, or one filing per 48 households in the quarter.
Fort Lauderdale ranks fourth in the list of top 10 metropolitan
areas ranked by foreclosure filings per household for the third
quarter of 2007.
Fort Lauderdale is a major manufacturing and maintenance center for
yachts. The boating industry is responsible for over 109,000 jobs
in the county.
With its many canals, and proximity to the
Bahamas
and Caribbean
, it is also a popular yachting vacation stop, and
home port for 42,000 boats, and approximately 100 marinas and
boatyards. Additionally, the annual Fort Lauderdale
International Boat Show, the world's largest boat show, brings over
125,000 people to the city each year.
Companies based in the Fort Lauderdale area include
AutoNation,
Citrix
Systems,
DHL Express,
Spirit Airlines, and
National Beverage Corporation. The
largest employers in the county are
Tenet Healthcare, which employs 5,000
people;
American Express, which
employs 4,200; The Continental Group, which employs 3,900;
Motorola, which employs 3,000, and
Maxim Integrated Products, which
employs 2,000.
Gulfstream International
Airlines, a commuter airline, is headquartered in nearby
Dania
Beach
.
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. The current mayor
is John P. "Jack" Seiler. He succeeds the longest serving mayor,
Jim Naugle, 1991-2009. Administrative
functions are performed by a
city
manager, who is appointed by the city commission.
Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue
Department provides Fire and
Emergency Medical Services.
Federal representation
The
United States Postal
Service operates post offices in Fort Lauderdale.
The Fort Lauderdale
Main Post Office is located at 1900 West Oakland Park Boulevard in
the City of
Oakland Park
. Post offices within the city limits include
Alridge, Colee, Coral Ridge, Gateway Station, Melrose Vista, and
Southside Station.
Education
According to 2000 census data, 79.0% of the city's population aged
25 or older were high school graduates, slightly below the national
figure of 80.4%. 27.9% held at least a baccalaureate, slightly
higher than the national figure of 24.4%.
Broward County Public Schools
operates 23 public schools in Fort Lauderdale. 2007
Florida Comprehensive
Assessment Test (FCAT) results for Fort Lauderdale's public
schools were mixed; while ten (of sixteen) elementary schools and
one (of four) middle schools received "A" or "B" grades, Sunland
Park Elementary School and Arthur Ashe Middle School received
failing grades.
Boyd
Anderson High School, which is located in Lauderdale
Lakes
but whose attendance zone includes part of Fort
Lauderdale, also received a failing grade. None of the three
failing schools have failed twice in a four-year period, thus
triggering the "Opportunity Scholarship Program" school choice
provisions of the Florida's education plan.
Seven institutions of higher learning have main or satellite
campuses in the city:
Additionally, the Davenport, Iowa
-based Kaplan University
's Corporate headquarters and an academic support
center are located in the city.
Transportation
Local bus transportation is provided by
Broward County Transit (BCT), the
county bus system.
BCT provides for connections with the bus
systems in other parts of the metropolitan area: Metrobus in Miami-Dade
County
and Palm Tran in Palm Beach
County
. Tri-Rail, a
commuter rail system, connects the
major cities and airports of South Florida. In November 2006,
Broward County voters rejected a one-cent-per-hundred sales tax
increase intended to fund transportation projects such as
light rail and expansion of the bus system.
Four railroads serve Fort Lauderdale. Florida East Coast Railroad
(FEC) and
CSX Transportation are freight lines,
Amtrak provides passenger service to other
cities on the Atlantic coast, and Tri-Rail provides commuter
service between Palm Beach County, Broward County (including two
stations in Fort Lauderdale), and Miami-Dade County.
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International
Airport
, in neighboring Dania Beach, Florida, is the city's main airport and is the
fastest-growing major airport in the
country. This is, in part, attributable to service by
low-cost carriers such as Spirit Airlines, JetBlue and Southwest Airlines
, resulting in lower airfares than nearby Miami
International Airport
. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood is an emerging
international gateway for the Caribbean and Latin America.
Miami
International Airport and Palm Beach International
Airport
also serve the city.
Fort
Lauderdale is home to Port Everglades, the nation's third busiest cruise port. It
is Florida's deepest port, and is an integral petroleum receiving
point. Broward County is served by three major Interstate Highways
(
I-75,
I-95,
I-595) and U.S. Highways such as
U.S. 1,
US
27 and
US 441. The interchange
between I-95 and I-595/SR 862 is known as the
Rainbow Interchange.
It is also served by
Florida's
Turnpike
and State Highway 869, also known as the Sawgrass Expressway.
Healthcare
Fort Lauderdale is served by Broward General Medical Center and
Imperial Point Medical Center, which are operated by
Broward Health, the third largest
hospital consortium in the United States. Broward
General is a 716-bed acute care facility which is designated as a
Level I trauma center. It is
also home to Chris Evert Children's Hospital and a Heart Center of
Excellence. The hospital serves as a major training site for
medical students from
Nova
Southeastern University's
College
of Osteopathic Medicine, as well as
nursing and
paramedic
programs from throughout the area. Imperial Point Medical Center is
a 204-bed facility with a
hyperbaric medicine program. Holy
Cross Hospital, a 571-bed hospital operated by the
Sisters of Mercy, was named by
HealthGrades, Inc. as one of the 50 best hospitals in the country
for 2007.
Lifestyle, media, and culture
Lifestyle
Intersection of Las Olas Boulevard and
A1A, Fort Lauderdale beach.
According to the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors
Bureau, Fort Lauderdale is "America's top gay resort area." In
2006, members of gay-interest site,
PlanetOut, named the city as the "best gay
resort town"; the city actively pursues gay and lesbian tourists.
The city is also home to a large year-round population of gay
residents.
The city's Stonewall
Library & Archives
is the largest-circulation LGBT library in the
southeastern United States. Neighboring Wilton
Manors
was the second city in the country (after West
Hollywood, California
) to elect a gay-majority city council.
As is true of many parts of Florida, the city's population has a
strong seasonal variation, as
snowbirds from the north spend the winter
and early spring in Florida. The city is also sometimes referred to
as "Fort Liquordale" because of its beaches, bars, nightclubs, and
history as a spring break location for tens of thousands of college
students. However, the city has actively discouraged college
students from visiting the area since the mid-1980s, passing strict
laws aimed at preventing the mayhem that regularly occurred each
year. The city had an estimated 350,000 college visitors for spring
break 1985; by 2006, that number had declined to about
10,000.
Media
Fort Lauderdale is served by English-language newspapers
South Florida-Sun Sentinel and
The Miami Herald, as well
as
Spanish-language newspapers
El
Sentinel and
El Nuevo
Herald. The city is also home to alternative newspapers
City Link and
New Times Broward-Palm
Beach, monthly magazine
HOME Fort Lauderdale and
gay-interest publications
Express Gay News,
The 411
Magazine, and
HOTspots! magazine.
Culture
Fort
Lauderdale's arts and 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. The city and its suburbs
host over 4,100 restaurants and over 120 nightclubs, many of them
in the arts and entertainment district. The city is also the
setting for the 1986 movie
Flight of the Navigator, and
host of
Langerado, an annual music
festival.
Sports
Fort
Lauderdale does not host any professional sports teams, but the
Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League play at
BankAtlantic
Center
in suburban Sunrise
. Major
League Baseball's Florida
Marlins, the National
Football League's Miami Dolphins
and the Miami Heat of the National Basketball
Association all play in neighboring Miami-Dade
County.
Lockhart
Stadium
in Fort Lauderdale was the home of the defunct
Fort Lauderdale Strikers of
the North American Soccer
League from 1977 to 1983, and the Miami
Fusion of Major League
Soccer from 1998 to 2001. Lockhart Stadium is the
current home of the
Florida Atlantic University
Owls football team.
The
Baltimore Orioles conduct spring training in the city at Fort
Lauderdale Stadium
, and NCAA Division I
college sports teams of Florida International
University
and University of Miami
play in Miami-Dade County. Florida
Atlantic University
's athletic programs (other than football) are
played in neighboring Palm Beach County.
Fort Lauderdale is also home to the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic
Complex, which is located at the
International Swimming Hall
of Fame. It contains two by 50-meter competition pools, as well
as one 20 by diving well. The complex is open to Fort Lauderdale
residents, and has also been used in many different national and
international competitions since its opening in 1965. 10
world records have been
set there, from
Catie Ball's 100 m
breaststroke in 1966 to
Michael
Phelps' 400 m individual medley in 2002.
Sites of interest
Stranahan house, the oldest building
in Fort Lauderdale, originally built as a trade post
addition to its museums, beaches, and nightlife, Fort Lauderdale is
home to the
Fort Lauderdale
Swap Shop, a large indoor/outdoor flea market and the site of
the world's largest drive-in movie theater, with 13 screens. The
International
Swimming Hall of Fame is located on Fort Lauderdale beach, and
houses a large aquatic complex as well as a museum, theater, and
research library.
Hugh Taylor Birch State Park
is a park along the beach, with nature trails,
camping and picnicking areas, canoeing, and features the Terramar
Visitor Center, with exhibits about the ecosystem of the
park. The
Henry E. Kinney Tunnel on US Route 1 is the only
tunnel on public land in the state of Florida. It was constructed
in 1960, and its length travels underneath the New River and Las
Olas Boulevard.
The James Randi
Educational Foundation
is also located in Fort Lauderdale.
See also
References
- Monthly Averages for Fort Lauderdale, FL
- World Map of Köppen-Geiger Climate
Classification
-
http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=030227&refer=
- [1]
Other improvements include a wide array of new boutiques, art
galleries, and restaurants.
- " Dania Beach city, Florida." U.S. Census
Bureau. Retrieved on May 21, 2009.
- " Contact Us." Gulfstream International
Airlines. Retrieved on May 21, 2009.
- Pasztor, Andy and Susan Carey. " Gulfstream Faces Penalty on Pilot Hours,
Maintenance." The Wall Street Journal. May
21, 2009. Retrieved on May 21, 2009.
- " Post Office Location - FORT LAUDERDALE."
United States Postal
Service. Retrieved on May 6, 2009.
- " Post Office Location - ALRIDGE."
United States Postal
Service. Retrieved on May 6, 2009.
- " Post Office Location - COLEE."
United States Postal
Service. Retrieved on May 6, 2009.
- " Post Office Location - CORAL RIDGE."
United States Postal
Service. Retrieved on May 6, 2009.
- " Post Office Location - GATEWAY STATION."
United States Postal
Service. Retrieved on May 6, 2009.
- " Post Office Location - MELROSE VISTA."
United States Postal
Service. Retrieved on May 6, 2009.
- " Post Office Location - SOUTHSIDE STATION."
United States Postal
Service. Retrieved on May 6, 2009.
-
http://www.kaplan.com/aboutkaplan/pressreleases/archive/2007/july+11+-+Cypress+2.htm
External links
BCC (Willis Holcombe Downtown Center)
Top topics
Wikis
Quiz
Facts
Map
Search
