Fort Lauderdale, FL
| U.S. News Ratings | |
| Population: | 164,946 |
| Crime: | High |
| Cost of Living: | Average |
| Health Care: | Comprehensive |
| Housing Price: | High |
| Income: | Low |
Fort Lauderdale exudes the warmth and beauty one would expect from a Florida city. But it's no sleepy beach community. With a population of 164,946, Fort Lauderdale is the third-largest city in South Florida and part of the seventh-largest metropolitan area in the country. It's also the principal city of Broward County, just north of Miami-Dade County on the Atlantic. Sun worshipers, rejoice: High temperatures in Fort Lauderdale range from the low 70s in the winter to the low 90s in the summer.
Fort Lauderdale has been dubbed the "Venice of America" because it has some 300 miles of navigable waterways. The city's name stems from the Second Seminole War, fought from 1835 to 1842. A series of forts were built there. The first, built by Maj. William Lauderdale of Tennessee in 1838, was destroyed by Seminole Indians a few months after it was constructed. The city wasn't incorporated until 1911. The population jumped from about 83,000 inhabitants in 1960 to 139,590 in 1970.
Although it has a much higher percentage of foreign-born residents than the country as a whole, Fort Lauderdale has a lower number of Cuban-Americans (1.69 percent of the population) than many other cities in South Florida. English is the first language of about 75 percent of the city's residents, followed by Spanish at 9.42 percent.
As is expected of a South Florida city on the ocean, snorkeling, scuba diving, and other marine activities are a big part of recreational life. The city is a boater's paradise, with m 100 marinas. It hosts the annual Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, the world's largest. The many canals allow easy access to the Atlantic, and the Bahamas and other Caribbean Islands are in close proximity. The area also features more than 60 golf courses and a large arts and entertainment district that runs through downtown just a few minutes from the beach.
Fort Lauderdale has a reputation of being a rowdy spring-break destination for college students, but the party has died down in recent years. City crackdowns on disorderly behavior have led to declines in the number of spring-break visitors.
Although it has no professional sports teams of its own, Fort Lauderdale hosts the Baltimore Orioles at Fort Lauderdale Stadium during spring training. Four professional sports teams are within about 30 miles of Fort Lauderdale: the Florida Panthers of the NHL, the Florida Marlins of Major League Baseball, the Miami Heat of the NBA, and the Miami Dolphins of the NFL. The International Swimming Hall of Fame is in Fort Lauderdale.
Fort Lauderdale has many activities ideal for sparking romance between single seniors, such as scuba diving, sailing, or golfing almost any time of year.
City College and the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale are in the city. There also are satellite campuses of Nova Southeastern University, Florida International University, and Florida Atlantic University.
The city is home to Broward Health, one of the five largest public health-care consortiums in the country. There are 71 hospitals within Broward County.
The major employers in Fort Lauderdale are Tenet Healthcare, American Express, Motorola, and the Continental Group.
Home prices have fallen significantly in Fort Lauderdale; the median dropped from $360,000 in 2007 to $275,900 in 2008.
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