Broward County, Florida

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Broward County, FL
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Broward County
Broward County
County
	Images, from top down, left to right: Fort Lauderdale skyline; Hollywood Beach Boardwalk; Hollywood water tower; Tarpon River neighborhood; Dania Beach pier; life guard station on Las Olas Beach; Sawgrass Mills shopping mall in Sunrise; Amerant Bank Arena; docked boats in Pompano Beach
	Logo
	Broward County Location within the United States
	Coordinates: 26°11′37″N 80°28′36″W / 26.193535°N 80.476683°W
Country	United States
State	Florida
Region	South Florida
Metro area	Miami
Founded	April 30, 1915
Named for	Napoleon B. Broward
County seat	Fort Lauderdale
Largest city	Fort Lauderdale (population, total area); Davie (land area)
Incorporated cities	24
Government
• Type	Council–manager government
• Body	Board of County Commissioners
• Board of County Commissioners	Commissioners Nan H. Rich (D); (District 1); Mark D. Bogen (D); (District 2); Michael Udine (D); (District 3); Lamar P. Fisher (D); (District 4); Steven A. Geller (D); (District 5); Beam Furr (D); (District 6); Tim M. Ryan (D); (District 7); Robert McKinzie (D); (District 8); Hazelle P. Rogers (D); (District 9);
• Mayor	Nan H. Rich (D)
• Vice Mayor	Beam Furr (D)
• County administrator	Monica Cepero
Area
• Total	1,322.817 sq mi (3,426.08 km2)
• Land	1,203.105 sq mi (3,116.03 km2)
• Water	119.712 sq mi (310.05 km2)
Highest elevation Pine Island Ridge in Davie	29 ft (9 m)
Lowest elevation	0 ft (0 m)
Population (2020)
• Total	1,944,375
• Estimate (2022)	1,947,026
• Rank	17th in the United States; 2nd in Florida
• Density	1,618.33/sq mi (624.84/km2)
GDP
• Total	$146.735 billion (2022)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern Time Zone)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (Eastern Daylight Time)
ZIP Codes	33004, 33009, 33019–33021,33023–33029, 33060, 33062–33069, 33071, 33073, 33076, 33301, 33304–33306, 33308–33317, 33319, 33321–33328, 33330–33332, 33334, 33351, 33441–33442
Area codes	754/954
FIPS code	12011
GNIS feature ID	295753
Primary airport	Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport; FLL (major/international)
Secondary airport	Miami International Airport-; MIA (international/neighboring county)-; Palm Beach International Airport-; PBI (international/neighboring county)-; North Perry Airport-; HWO (regional)-; Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport-; FXE (regional)-; Pompano Beach Airpark-; PMP (regional)
Interstates
U.S. Routes
State roads
Commuter rail	Amtrak, Brightline, Tri-Rail
Website	www.broward.org

It is Florida's second-most populous county after Miami-Dade County and the 17th-most populous in the United States, with 1,944,375 residents as of the 2020 census. Its county seat and most populous city is Fort Lauderdale, which had a population of 182,760 as of 2020.

Broward County is one of the three counties that make up the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to 6.14 million people in 2020. It is also one of the most ethnically diverse counties in the entire country.

The county has 31 municipalities (including 24 incorporated cities) and many unincorporated areas. It's also Florida's seventh-largest county in terms of land area, with 1,322.8 square miles (3,426 km²). Broward County's urbanized area occupies 427.8 square miles of land.^{[citation needed]} The largest portion of the county is the Conservation Area that extends to the county's Western border. The conservation area is 796.9 square miles and consists of wetlands. At its widest points, the County stretches approximately 50.3 miles east to west and approximately 27.4 miles from north to south, averaging 5 to 25 feet in elevation.

History

Native people

The earliest evidence of Native American settlement in the Miami region came from about 12,000 years ago. The first inhabitants settled on the banks of the Miami River, with the main villages on the northern banks.

The inhabitants at the time of first European contact were the Tequesta people, who controlled much of southeastern Florida, including what is now Miami-Dade County, Broward County, and the southern part of Palm Beach County. The Tequesta Indians fished, hunted, and gathered the fruit and roots of plants for food, but did not practice any form of agriculture. They buried the small bones of the deceased with the rest of the body, and put the larger bones in a box for the village people to see. The Tequesta are credited with making the Miami Circle.

Founding of Broward

Broward County was founded on April 30, 1915. It was intended to be named Everglades County, but then-Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives Ion Farris amended the bill that established the county to name it in honor of Napoleon Bonaparte Broward, governor of Florida from 1905 to 1909.

Throughout his term as governor, Broward championed Everglades drainage and was remembered for his campaign to turn the Everglades into "useful land". This opened up much of today's urban Broward County for development, first as agricultural land and later as residential. A year before Broward became governor, Dania became the first incorporated community of what is now Broward County, followed by Pompano in 1908, and Fort Lauderdale in 1911.

In 1915, Palm Beach and Dade counties contributed nearly equal portions of land to create Broward County. Dixie Highway was also completed through Broward County in 1915. In 1916, the settlement of "Zona" was renamed Davie in recognition of Robert P. Davie, a land developer who purchased a great deal of reclaimed Everglades land.

Broward County began a huge development boom after its incorporation, with the first "tourist hotel", in Fort Lauderdale, opening in 1919. A year later, developers began dredging wetlands in the county to create island communities.

Land boom and rapid growth

The year 1925 was considered the peak of the Florida land boom with Davie, Deerfield, Floranada, and Hollywood all being incorporated. By 1925, the boom was considered to have reached its peak, but the 1926 Miami hurricane caused economic depression in the county. In 1926, the Hollywood Seminole Indian Reservation (formerly "Dania Reservation") was opened. In 1927, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea was incorporated. In 1928, the Bay Mabel Harbor (now the Port Everglades channel) was opened. In 1929, Merle Fogg Airport (now site of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport) was dedicated. In 1939, Hillsboro Beach was incorporated. Gulfstream Park also opened in Hallandale in 1939.

The county saw another population and development boom post-World War II when the transformation from agricultural to urbanized residential area began. In 1947, Pompano merged with beach area to form the present day City of Pompano Beach.

There was another boom during the 1950s and the late 1960s. In 1953, Plantation, Lazy Lake, and Fern Crest Village were incorporated. In 1955, Margate and Miramar were incorporated. In 1956, Lighthouse Point was incorporated and the Florida Turnpike was completed through Broward County. In 1957, Pembroke Park was incorporated. In 1959, Cooper City, Lauderhill, and Sea Ranch Lakes were incorporated.

In 1946 Dr. Von D. Mizell and black business owners petitioned the County Commission to make a county beach available to African Americans; at the time the beaches in Broward County, as elsewhere in Florida, were for whites only. Eight years later a beach, today Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park, in Dania Beach, was made available, but there was no road to it until 1965. In the meantime, Mizell and Eula Johnson, with supporters, deliberately violated the law on July 4, 1961, by wading into the water on Ft. Lauderdale beach. The legal process set in motion by this incident resulted in the desegregation of Broward County beaches in 1962.

In 1960, the City of Pembroke Pines was incorporated. This same year marked the opening of Broward College (then Broward Community College).

In 1961, Lauderdale Lakes and Sunrise were incorporated. In 1963, the cities of Coral Springs, North Lauderdale, Parkland, and Tamarac were all incorporated. In 1967, Coconut Creek was incorporated.

The effects of a national recession hit the county in 1974 and the population growth finally slowed. This is from a peak growth percentage change of 297.9% which saw the population of Broward grow from 83,933 as of 1950 to 333,946 in 1960. The population subsequently experienced an 85.7% population growth which brought the population to a total of 620,100 in 1970.

Recent history

The structure of the Broward County government was signed into law in 1975 with the passage of the Broward County charter. In the same year, the Seminole Tribe of Florida incorporated as a governing entity and began organizing cigarette sales, bingo and land leases that will bring millions of dollars in annual revenue in later years. In 1976, Interstate 95 was completed through Broward County.

On January 19, 1977, snow fell in South Florida for the first time in recorded history. Snow was seen across all of South Florida as far south as Homestead and even on Miami Beach. Snow was officially reported by weather observers in West Palm Beach, LaBelle, Hollywood, and Royal Palm Ranger Station in southern Miami-Dade County.

In the year 1980, the US census reported over 1 million people living in Broward County.

On August 24, 1992, Hurricane Andrew passed through Miami-Dade County, causing $100 million in damage in Broward County and leaving at least a dozen residents homeless as a result of storm related fires. Broward became a base of operations to shuttle supplies to neighbors in devastated Dade County which suffered the brunt of the storm and caused over $25 billion in damage. Hurricane Andrew caused a massive exodus from South Dade to Broward County, filling Pembroke Pines and other Broward communities with tens of thousands of transplanted families.

In the year 2000, the US census reported a total population of 1,623,018. The town of South West Ranches was incorporated this year.

On March 1, 2005, West Park became Broward County's 31st municipality to be incorporated.

On October 24, 2005, Hurricane Wilma hit South Florida leaving the entire area damaged and causing almost universal power outages. Wilma was the most damaging storm in Broward County since Hurricane King in 1950. Broward experienced wind speeds between 80 and 100 mph (130 and 160 km/h) which endured for about five hours.

On February 14, 2018, the city of Parkland became the scene of a deadly mass shooting perpetrated by a 19-year-old former student of Stoneman Douglas High School. The trial of the perpetrator of the shooting, Nikolas Cruz, was held at the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida in Broward County in 2022 with Judge Elizabeth Scherer presiding. Cruz was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

In June 2020, following the George Floyd protests, some residents called for the county to be renamed due to Governor Broward's support for segregation and the Back-to-Africa movement.

Fort Lauderdale's harbor and skyline

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 1,323 square miles (3,430 km²), of which 1,210 square miles (3,100 km²) is land and 113 square miles (290 km²) (8.5%) is water.

Broward County has an average elevation of six feet (1.8 m) above sea level. It is rather new geologically and at the eastern edge of the Florida Platform, a carbonate plateau created millions of years ago. Broward County is composed of Oolite limestone while western Broward is composed mostly of Bryozoa. Broward is among the last areas of Florida to be created and populated with fauna and flora, mostly in the Pleistocene.

Of developable land in Broward County, approximately 471 square miles (1,219.9 km²), the majority is built upon, as the urban area is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Everglades Wildlife Management Area to the west. Within developable land, Broward County has a population density of 3,740 per square mile (1,444 per square kilometer).

Broward approved the construction of Osborne Reef, an artificial reef made of tires off the Fort Lauderdale beach, but it has proven to be an environmental disaster.

Adjacent counties

Palm Beach County - north
Miami-Dade County - south
Collier County - west
Hendry County - northwest

Aerial view of sunset looking westward in Broward County. The Everglades appear in the background. Beyond that is Collier County.

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1920	5,135	—
1930	20,094	291.3%
1940	39,794	98.0%
1950	83,933	110.9%
1960	333,946	297.9%
1970	620,100	85.7%
1980	1,018,200	64.2%
1990	1,255,488	23.3%
2000	1,623,018	29.3%
2010	1,748,066	7.7%
2020	1,944,375	11.2%
2023 (est.)	1,962,531	0.9%
U.S. Decennial Census 1920–1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2022

Historical racial composition	2020	2010	2000	1990	1980
White (non-Hispanic)	33.1%	43.5%	58.0%	74.9%	84.3%
Hispanic or Latino	31.3%	25.1%	16.7%	8.6%	4.0%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic)	26.6%	25.7%	20.0%	14.9%	10.9%
Asian and Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic)	3.8%	3.2%	2.3%	1.3%	0.8%
Native American (non-Hispanic)	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%
Some other race (non-Hispanic)	1.1%	0.5%	0.4%	0.1%
Two or more races (non-Hispanic)	3.8%	1.7%	2.4%	N/A	N/A
Population	1,944,375	1,748,066	1,623,018	1,255,488	1,018,200

Demographic characteristics	2020	2010	2000	1990	1980
Households	860,329	810,388	741,043	528,442	417,517
Persons per household	2.26	2.16	2.19	2.38	2.44
Sex Ratio	93.4	93.9	93.3	91.9	91.0
Ages 0–17	20.5%	22.4%	23.6%	20.4%	21.0%
Ages 18–64	62.3%	63.3%	60.3%	58.8%	57.0%
Ages 65 +	17.2%	14.3%	16.1%	20.8%	22.0%
Median age	41.4	39.7	37.8	37.6	38.7
Population	1,944,375	1,748,066	1,623,018	1,255,488	1,018,200

Economic indicators
2018–22 American Community Survey	Broward County	Florida
Median income	$39,690	$37,826
Median household income	$70,331	$67,917
Poverty Rate	12.4%	12.9%
High school diploma	90.0%	89.3%
Bachelor's degree	34.9%	32.3%
Advanced degree	13.3%	12.1%

Language spoken at home	2020	2010	2000	1990	1980
English	57.5%	62.5%	71.2%	82.3%	88.3%
Spanish or Spanish Creole	27.6%	22.9%	16.3%	8.0%	3.7%
French or Haitian Creole	7.0%	7.2%	5.4%	3.3%	1.4%
Other Languages	7.8%	7.4%	7.1%	6.4%	6.6%

Nativity	2020	2010	2000	1990	1980
% population native-born	64.6%	68.6%	74.7%	84.2%	88.9%
... born in the United States	61.0%	65.7%	72.2%	82.3%	87.8%
... born in Puerto Rico or Island Areas	2.1%	1.9%	1.7%	1.1%	1.0%
... born to American parents abroad	1.4%	1.1%	0.8%	0.8%	1.0%
% population foreign-born	35.4%	31.4%	25.3%	15.8%	11.1%
... born in Jamaica	4.5%	4.5%	3.7%	1.8%	0.5%
... born in Haiti	4.4%	4.1%	2.9%	1.5%	N/A
... born in Colombia	3.4%	2.8%	2.0%	0.8%	N/A
... born in Cuba	3.2%	2.5%	2.0%	1.3%	0.8%
... born in Venezuela	2.5%	1.2%	0.6%	0.1%	N/A
... born in Brazil	1.5%	1.1%	0.9%	0.2%	N/A
... born in Peru	1.2%	1.2%	0.8%	0.3%	N/A
... born in the Dominican Republic	1.0%	0.9%	0.6%	0.2%	< 0.1%
... born in Mexico	1.0%	0.8%	0.7%	0.2%	0.1%
... born in Canada	0.8%	1.0%	1.3%	1.2%	1.4%
... born in Honduras	0.8%	0.6%	0.3%	0.1%	N/A
... born in Trinidad and Tobago	0.7%	0.7%	0.6%	0.5%	N/A
... born in Argentina	0.6%	0.4%	0.3%	0.2%	N/A
... born in India	0.6%	0.5%	0.3%	0.1%	0.1%
... born in El Salvador	0.5%	0.4%	0.3%	0.1%	N/A
... born in Ecuador	0.5%	0.6%	0.3%	0.2%	N/A
... born in the United Kingdom	0.4%	0.5%	0.6%	0.7%	0.7%
... born in Russia	0.3%	0.2%	0.2%	0.5%	0.9%
... born in Italy	0.2%	0.3%	0.4%	0.5%	0.8%
... born in Germany	0.2%	0.3%	0.5%	0.6%	0.8%
... born in Poland	0.2%	0.2%	0.4%	0.6%	0.7%
... born in other countries	6.9%	6.6%	5.6%	4.1%	4.3%

As of 2005, Broward County led the nation's metropolitan areas in new AIDS diagnoses, with a reported rate 58.4 new AIDS diagnoses per 100,000 people. County officials think the numbers may stem from a new and successful HIV testing campaign that has resulted in many people being diagnosed with AIDS at the same time they've been diagnosed with HIV. Without the implementation of the new testing campaign, the reported numbers of new diagnoses would have probably been lower.

Law, government, and politics

Broward County Mayors


Name	Start of Term	End of Term
Nan H. Rich	Nov. 28, 2023
Lamar P. Fisher	Nov. 29, 2022	Nov. 28, 2023
Michael Udine	Nov. 16, 2021	Nov. 29, 2022
Steven A. Geller	Nov. 17, 2020	Nov. 16, 2021
Dale V.C. Holness	Nov. 19, 2019	Nov. 17, 2020
Mark Bogen	Nov. 2018	Nov. 2019
Beam Furr	Nov. 2017	Nov. 2018
Barbara Sharief	Nov. 17, 2016	Nov. 17, 2017
Marty Kiar	Nov. 17, 2015	Nov. 17, 2016
Tim Ryan	Nov. 18, 2014	Nov. 17, 2015
Barbara Sharief	Nov. 19, 2013	Nov. 18, 2014

The Broward County Charter provides for a separation between the legislative and administrative functions of government. The Board of County Commissioners is the legislative branch of Broward County Government. The County Commission is composed of nine members elected by district. Commissioners must be a resident of the district where they seek election. Each year the Commission elects a mayor and vice mayor. The mayor's functions include serving as presiding officer, and as the county's official representative. The Commission appoints the County Administrator, County Attorney and County Auditor. The commission also appoints numerous advisory and regulatory boards.

The County Commission meets in formal session the first four Tuesdays of each month at 10:00 a.m. in Room 422 of the Broward County Governmental Center. Over 507,000 cable subscribers in Broward County have access to Government-access television (GATV) coverage of Commission meetings, which are broadcast live beginning at 10:00 a.m. each Tuesday, and rebroadcast at 5:30 p.m. the following Friday. Meetings can also be viewed via webcasting at www.broward.org.

The Broward County Sheriff's Office (BSO) has 5,400 employees, and is the largest sheriff's department in Florida. The BSO was founded in 1915. Sheriff Gregory Tony has been the Sheriff heading the agency since 2019, when he replaced Sheriff Scott Israel, who had been Sheriff since 2013.

Politics

Overview

Broward County has been a Democratic stronghold since 1992, voting for the Party's presidential nominee in every election since then. It is now considered one of the most reliably Democratic counties in the state, giving greater than 60% support to the party nominee in every election since 1996. From 1948 to 1988, the county leaned Republican, voting for the Republican nominee in every election except 1976, even supporting Republican Barry Goldwater by a 56-44 margin while he lost the national election in a landslide. This change in voting tendencies can be attributed to the large migrations of middle and upper-class snowbirds and transplants from more liberal northern states, suburban flight from liberal voters leaving Miami-Dade County (many of whom themselves had roots in the North), a growing LGBT community, the increased salience of social issues such as abortion and gun control among educated voters, and immigration from places such as Latin America, the Caribbean, Canada, Europe, and Asia. Unlike Miami-Dade County to the south, where many of the immigrants are Republican-leaning Cuban-Americans, Cubans comprise only a small proportion of the immigrant population in Broward County.

**Previous gubernatorial election results**
Year	Republican	Democratic	Third parties
2022	41.97% 251,238 (DeSantis/Incumbent)	57.35% 343,286 (Crist)	0.68% 4,083
2018	31.30% 222,012 (DeSantis)	67.98% 482,152 (Gillum)	0.68% 5,015
2014	29.52% 138,394 (Scott/Incumbent)	68.02% 318,950 (Crist)	2.46% 11,549
2010	33.40% 140,445 (Scott)	64.59% 271,606 (Sink)	2.01% 8,480
2006	35.09% 143,043 (Crist)	62.81% 256,072 (Davis)	2.10% 8,558
2002	40.02% 175,756 (Bush/Incumbent)	59.05% 259,370 (McBride)	0.93% 4,076
1998	37.93% 137,494 (Bush)	62.07% 225,010 (McKay)	0.00% 8
1994	34.61% 138,333 (Bush)	65.39% 261,368 (Chiles/Incumbent)	0.00% 11

United States presidential election results for Broward County, Florida
Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party
Year	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	333,409	34.74%	618,752	64.48%	7,479	0.78%
2016	260,951	31.16%	553,320	66.08%	23,117	2.76%
2012	244,101	32.23%	508,312	67.12%	4,941	0.65%
2008	237,729	32.34%	492,640	67.02%	4,722	0.64%
2004	244,674	34.61%	453,873	64.21%	8,325	1.18%
2000	177,939	30.93%	387,760	67.41%	9,540	1.66%
1996	142,870	28.29%	320,779	63.51%	41,449	8.21%
1992	164,832	30.92%	276,361	51.85%	91,857	17.23%
1988	220,316	50.00%	218,274	49.54%	2,015	0.46%
1984	254,608	56.68%	194,584	43.32%	34	0.01%
1980	229,693	55.95%	146,323	35.64%	34,545	8.41%
1976	161,411	47.15%	176,491	51.55%	4,441	1.30%
1972	196,528	72.41%	74,127	27.31%	754	0.28%
1968	106,122	54.50%	56,613	29.07%	31,992	16.43%
1964	85,264	55.49%	68,406	44.51%	0	0.00%
1960	68,294	58.82%	47,811	41.18%	0	0.00%
1956	43,552	72.45%	16,561	27.55%	0	0.00%
1952	26,506	69.10%	11,854	30.90%	0	0.00%
1948	9,933	50.88%	7,096	36.35%	2,492	12.77%
1944	5,583	47.45%	6,183	52.55%	0	0.00%
1940	3,988	38.31%	6,422	61.69%	0	0.00%
1936	1,906	30.30%	4,385	69.70%	0	0.00%
1932	1,717	34.27%	3,293	65.73%	0	0.00%
1928	2,889	63.63%	1,564	34.45%	87	1.92%
1924	407	41.45%	421	42.87%	154	15.68%
1920	442	44.24%	415	41.54%	142	14.21%
1916	158	22.57%	382	54.57%	160	22.86%

Voter registration

According to the Secretary of State's office, Democrats maintain a plurality among registered voters in Broward County. The county is also one of the few counties in the state where Independents outnumber Republicans.

Population and registered voters as of March 31, 2024:
Total population	1,944,375
Registered voters	1,102,970	~57%
Democratic	506,092	45.88%
Republican	252,162	22.86%
Democratic–Republican spread	+253,930	+23.02%
Minor parties	23,218	2.11%
No party affiliation	321,498	29.15%

Ordinances

Broward's code of ordinances consists of resolutions, administrative rules and regulations passed in order to secure a responsive and efficient form of local government.

The county maintains a distinctive rule regarding communication between the county and bidders for county contracts, known as the Cone of Silence. This rule prevents staff involved in a purchasing process from communicating with bidders from the time when the solicitation is issued, and County Commissioners from the time when bids are opened, until the vote to award the contract or the time when all bids are rejected.

Economy

Silver Airways has its headquarters on the property of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in an unincorporated area. Other companies with headquarters in unincorporated areas include Locair.

Spirit Airlines has its headquarters in Miramar.^{[citation needed]}

When Chalk's International Airlines existed, its headquarters was on the grounds of the airport in an unincorporated area. When Bimini Island Air existed, its headquarters were in an unincorporated area.

By far the largest agricultural sector is nurseries, greenhouses, floricultures, and sod. This supplies ornamental uses in the area.

Education

Primary and secondary schools

Broward County Schools, the sole school district in the county, has the sixth largest school district in the country and the second largest in the state after the Miami-Dade district.

Regionally accredited colleges and universities

Broward College
Florida Atlantic University (Branch campuses)
Nova Southeastern University
Keiser University

Other adult education providers

Public libraries

The Broward County Library is one of the largest public library systems in the country, comprising 38 branch locations. There are also five municipal public libraries in the county that are not part of the Broward County Library system: Ethel M. Gordon Oakland Park Library, Lighthouse Point Library, Helen B. Hoffman Plantation Library, Richard C. Sullivan Public Library of Wilton Manors, and Parkland Public Library.

Library Resources

Broward County libraries provide endless amount of resources to the public. For high-schoolers looking to prepare themselves for college, the library offers college readiness & SAT/ACT prep courses. For adults looking to learn computer skills, adult computer classes are also offered. These resources are free of cost, therefore, all it takes is registering to participate. In addition to the many resources offered at the library, bus passes are also sold at most Broward County libraries. If you want to enjoy some of these resources, you can simply download the app to utilize them on the go. There are nine apps available for download: Broward County Library (BCL WoW), Freegal Music, Hoopla, Overdrive, Libby, Axis 360, RBdigital Magazines, Rosetta Stone, and Brainfuse.

Sites of interest

Museums and historical collections

African-American Research Library and Cultural Center, Fort Lauderdale
Bonnet House Museum & Gardens, Fort Lauderdale
Coral Springs Museum of Art, Coral Springs
Fort Lauderdale Antique Car Museum, Fort Lauderdale
Fort Lauderdale History Center, Fort Lauderdale
Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale Museum, Fort Lauderdale
NSU Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale
Plantation Historical Museum, Plantation
Stranahan House, Fort Lauderdale
The International Game Fish Association, including the Fishing Hall of Fame & Museum, Dania Beach
The International Swimming Hall of Fame, Fort Lauderdale
The Museum of Discovery and Science, Fort Lauderdale
Wiener Museum of Decorative Arts, Dania Beach
Young at Art Museum, Davie

Nature and wildlife areas

Anne Kolb Nature Center, Hollywood
Butterfly World, a botanical sanctuary in Coconut Creek
Everglades Holiday Park, featuring airboat rides and alligator shows
Fern Forest Nature Center, Coconut Creek
Flamingo Gardens, a botanical garden and wildlife sanctuary
Secret Woods Nature Center, Dania Beach
Sawgrass Recreation Park

An airboat tour in Everglades Holiday Park

Other areas and attractions

Beach Place, a strip of stores, restaurants, and bars across the street from the beach along the Atlantic coast, in Fort Lauderdale
Broward Center for the Performing Arts
Hollywood Beach Broadwalk
Florida Grand Opera
Fort Lauderdale Swap Shop (colloquially known to locals as simply the Swap Shop)
Sawgrass Mills, a large outlet shopping mall in Sunrise
Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, where the NHL's Florida Panthers play their games
The Festival Flea Market Mall in Pompano Beach, America's largest indoor flea market
Riverwalk (Fort Lauderdale)

Additionally, with 23 miles of beach, Broward County is a popular destination for scuba diving, snorkeling, and droves of young Spring break tourists from around the world.

Transportation

Airports

Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport serves as the primary airport of the Broward County area. The airport is bounded by the cities Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood and Dania Beach, three miles (4.8 km) southwest of downtown Fort Lauderdale and 21 mi (34 km) north of Miami. The airport is near cruise line terminals at Port Everglades and is popular among tourists bound for the Caribbean. Since the late 1990s, FLL has become an intercontinental gateway, although Miami International Airport still handles most long-haul flights. FLL is ranked as the 19th busiest airport (in terms of passenger traffic) in the United States, as well as the nation's 14th busiest international air gateway and one of the world's 50 busiest airports. FLL is classified by the US Federal Aviation Administration as a "major hub" facility serving commercial air traffic. In 2017 the airport processed 32,511,053 passengers (11.3% more than 2016) including 7,183,275 international passengers (18.6% more than 2016).

Public transportation

Major expressways

Interstate 95
Interstate 75
Interstate 595 (Port Everglades Expressway)
Florida's Turnpike (SR 91)
Homestead Extension (SR 821)
State Road 869 (Sawgrass Expressway)

Railroads

Passenger services: Amtrak, Brightline, and Tri-Rail
Freight services: Florida East Coast Railway and CSX Transportation

Street grid

A street grid stretches throughout Broward County. Most of this grid is loosely based on three primary eastern municipalities, (from South to North) Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale, and Pompano Beach. Deerfield Beach—another primary eastern municipality—has its own street grid, as do two smaller municipalities—Dania Beach and Hallandale Beach.

Greenways System

Construction is underway on a network of recreational trails to connect cities and points of interest in the county.

Communities

Municipalities

Municipality populations are based on the 2020 US Census using their QuickFacts with 5,000 residents and above, while municipalities under 5,000 people are based on their US Decennial Census.

#	Incorporated community	Designation	Date incorporated	Population
1	Parkland	City	July 10, 1963	34,670
2	Coconut Creek	City	February 20, 1967	57,833
3	Deerfield Beach	City	June 11, 1925	86,859
4	Coral Springs	City	July 10, 1963	134,394
5	Margate	City	May 30, 1955	58,712
6	Pompano Beach	City	June 6, 1908	112,046
7	Lighthouse Point	City	June 13, 1956	10,486
8	Hillsboro Beach	Town	June 12, 1939	1,987
9	Tamarac	City	August 15, 1963	71,897
10	North Lauderdale	City	July 10, 1963	44,794
11	Lauderdale-by-the-Sea	Town	November 30, 1927	6,198
12	Sea Ranch Lakes	Village	October 6, 1959	540
13	Oakland Park	City	June 10, 1929	44,229
14	Wilton Manors	City	May 13, 1947	11,426
15	Lazy Lake	Village	June 3, 1953	33
16	Fort Lauderdale	City	March 27, 1911	182,760
17	Lauderdale Lakes	City	June 22, 1961	35,954
18	Lauderhill	City	June 20, 1959	74,482
19	Sunrise	City	June 22, 1961	97,335
20	Plantation	City	April 30, 1953	91,750
21	Weston	City	September 3, 1996	68,107
22	Davie	Town	November 16, 1925	105,691
23	Dania Beach	City	November 30, 1904	31,723
24	Hollywood	City	November 28, 1925	153,067
25	Southwest Ranches	Town	June 6, 2000	7,607
26	Cooper City	City	June 20, 1959	34,401
27	Pembroke Pines	City	March 2, 1959	171,178
28	Miramar	City	May 26, 1955	134,721
29	West Park	City	March 1, 2005	15,130
30	Pembroke Park	Town	October 10, 1957	6,260
31	Hallandale Beach	City	May 11, 1927	41,217

Former unincorporated neighborhoods

In the 1980s the Broward County Commission adopted a policy of having all populated places in the county be part of a municipality. Municipalities were often reluctant to annex neighborhoods which were not projected to yield enough tax revenue to cover the costs of providing services to those neighborhoods. In 2001 the Broward County Legislative Delegation adopted a policy encouraging the annexation of all unincorporated areas in Broward County into municipalities by October 1, 2005. Formerly unincorporated neighborhoods that have been annexed into existing municipalities or combined to form new municipalities as of 2018^[update] include:

Bonnie Loch-Woodsetter North in Deerfield Beach.
Broadview-Pompano Park in North Lauderdale.
Broward Estates in Lauderhill.
Carver Ranches in West Park.
Chambers Estates in Dania Beach.
Chula Vista Isles in Fort Lauderdale.
Collier Manor-Cresthaven in Pompano Beach.
Country Estates in Southwest Ranches.
Crystal Lake in Deerfield Beach.
Edgewater in Dania Beach.
Estates of Fort Lauderdale in Dania Beach, and partially in Hollywood.
Godfrey Road in Parkland.

Golden Heights in Fort Lauderdale.
Green Meadow in Southwest Ranches.
Hacienda Village in Davie.
Ivanhoe Estates in Southwest Ranches.
Kendall Green in Pompano Beach.
Lake Forest in West Park.
Leisureville in Pompano Beach.
Loch Lomond in Pompano Beach.

Melrose Park in Fort Lauderdale.
Miami Gardens in West Park.
North Andrews Gardens in Oakland Park.
Oak Point in Hollywood.
Palm Aire in Fort Lauderdale.
Pine Island Ridge in Davie.
Pompano Beach Highlands in Pompano Beach.
Pompano Estates in Pompano Beach.
Ramblewood East in Coral Springs.

Ravenswood Estates in Dania Beach.
Riverland Village in Fort Lauderdale.
Rock Island in Fort Lauderdale.
Rolling Oaks in Southwest Ranches.
Royal Palm Ranches in Cooper City.
St. George in Lauderhill.
Sunshine Acres in Davie.
Sunshine Ranches in Southwest Ranches.
Tedder in Deerfield Beach.
Terra Mar in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, and partially in Pompano Beach.
Twin Lakes North of Prospect Road, in Fort Lauderdale. South of Prospect Road, in Oakland Park.
Utopia in West Park.
Village Park in North Lauderdale.
West Ken-Lark in Lauderhill.

Remaining unincorporated neighborhoods

By late in the first decade of the 21st century, annexation of remaining neighborhoods had stalled. As of 2018^[update] the Broward County Municipal Services District serves seven unincorporated neighborhoods, including six census designated places (Boulevard Gardens, Broadview Park, Franklin Park, Hillsboro Pines, Roosevelt Gardens and Washington Park) and a parcel with a population of 72 in 2018, Hillsboro Ranches. Other areas in the developed part of the county that are not in municipalities include the Hollywood Seminole Indian Reservation, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, several landfills and resource recovery facilities, and other scattered small parcels with few or no residents.

Notes