Comparisons between Palm Beach, Broward, and Dade cities

[Tungsten_Udder]

Originally Posted by Banx

And yeah it's true, you can be in one of the wealthiest areas in the county and turn a corner, or cross a street, and be in one of the worst areas of the city. It's weird, I never could figure out why it's like that.

This is hard to keep short, but I think it's very interesting, so it's worth relaying again (I've summarized this here before):

You have to remember that most of Florida south of Lake Okeechobee (90-something percent of ALL of that "land") was swamp--the Everglades. Basically, because of the topography, most of South Florida was flood plains for the lake, with the water very slowly flowing from the lake to the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.

This meant that aside from a handful of interior farms and ranches, everyone initially had to be right on the coasts--the "beaches", the barrier islands, and right on the Intracoastal. South Florida was difficult to get to--prior to Flagler building his railroad, it was much more practical to get there and travel around via boats. So on the coasts, it was primarily rich folks, including developers like Flagler, and their support staffs.

The coastal property remained the most desirable for obvious reasons. When towns and cities began developing, they had to develop more or less immediately adjacent to the coastal properties, because of the Everglades.

In the 1920s, a couple major hurricanes hit South Florida and caused massive flooding in areas that had been developed and that didn't usually get water. This killed a couple thousand people.

The Army Corps of Engineers was called in to figure out how to prevent this from happening again. They built a huge levee surrounding all of Lake Okeechobee and built a system of canals from the lake to the ocean and gulf. This drained some areas of the Everglades and made those areas open for development, so development creeped further inland. However, the centers and towns and cities were still right next to the coasts, and they continued to develop, too, and become more urban.

After World War II, because of a number of factors including the now widespread availability and affordability of automobiles and the roads system that was built as a support structure for the war effort, the phenomenon of "white flight" from urban areas occurred across the country and suburbs blossomed. It was much more practical than it had been to live far away from urban centers and commute to them for work, and the folks who could afford it wanted bigger homes, more property, etc.

In South Florida, this was met with a push to gradually drain more swampland for development--people still didn't realize what a bad idea it was to just drain the Everglades, and so development gradually creeped further inland. In most places, this left the minorities in the urban centers--because of sociological factors, they didn't have jobs that allowed them to move to the suburbs.

Gradually, jobs also left the urban centers, leading to the nationwide phenomenon of urban decay. That affected South Florida just as much as anywhere else. Because of the historical development of the state, this resulted in the urban decay areas being adjacent to the most expensive real estate.

Over time, as suburbs continued taking over areas that were formerly swampland, the suburbs also developed so that the new ones had bigger houses, initially more property (a more recent phenomenon is big houses taking up most of a lot), and were more desirable to the folks who could afford them. The result is that the suburbs from the initial periods of "white flight" were also abandoned by the upper middle class, and that real estate became less desirable. At the same time, employment equality for minorities was improving a bit, and minorities were becoming far less of a minority in terms of numbers, so that population continued to expand westward too.

There are areas of South Florida where this pattern didn't occur exactly for various reasons, and the influx of political refugee Cubans and Haitians, followed by the huge immigration influx of people from all over the world during the latter decades of the 20th Century complicate all of this (it's much more complicated in terms of demographics now than it was in the 1970s and early 1980s, say), but the history above at least gives a simplified answer as to why the "socio-geography" of South Florida is what it is.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by JProg305

Compelled to reply, what's the corridor between US 1 and I-95 like in Southeast Broward? I'm specifically interested in the neighborhood in East Hollywood.

Best described as "sleazy", with a lot of worn out concrete block 1950s built homes and duplexes occasionally mixed in with some 1920s Spanish Mission apartments and homes that could be restored.

[Banx]

Originally Posted by Tungsten_Udder

This is hard to keep short, but I think it's very interesting, so it's worth relaying again (I've summarized this here before):

You have to remember that most of Florida south of Lake Okeechobee (90-something percent of ALL of that "land") was swamp--the Everglades. Basically, because of the topography, most of South Florida was flood plains for the lake, with the water very slowly flowing from the lake to the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.

This meant that aside from a handful of interior farms and ranches, everyone initially had to be right on the coasts--the "beaches", the barrier islands, and right on the Intracoastal. South Florida was difficult to get to--prior to Flagler building his railroad, it was much more practical to get there and travel around via boats. So on the coasts, it was primarily rich folks, including developers like Flagler, and their support staffs.

The coastal property remained the most desirable for obvious reasons. When towns and cities began developing, they had to develop more or less immediately adjacent to the coastal properties, because of the Everglades.

In the 1920s, a couple major hurricanes hit South Florida and caused massive flooding in areas that had been developed and that didn't usually get water. This killed a couple thousand people.

The Army Corps of Engineers was called in to figure out how to prevent this from happening again. They built a huge levee surrounding all of Lake Okeechobee and built a system of canals from the lake to the ocean and gulf. This drained some areas of the Everglades and made those areas open for development, so development creeped further inland. However, the centers and towns and cities were still right next to the coasts, and they continued to develop, too, and become more urban.

After World War II, because of a number of factors including the now widespread availability and affordability of automobiles and the roads system that was built as a support structure for the war effort, the phenomenon of "white flight" from urban areas occurred across the country and suburbs blossomed. It was much more practical than it had been to live far away from urban centers and commute to them for work, and the folks who could afford it wanted bigger homes, more property, etc.

In South Florida, this was met with a push to gradually drain more swampland for development--people still didn't realize what a bad idea it was to just drain the Everglades, and so development gradually creeped further inland. In most places, this left the minorities in the urban centers--because of sociological factors, they didn't have jobs that allowed them to move to the suburbs.

Gradually, jobs also left the urban centers, leading to the nationwide phenomenon of urban decay. That affected South Florida just as much as anywhere else. Because of the historical development of the state, this resulted in the urban decay areas being adjacent to the most expensive real estate.

Over time, as suburbs continued taking over areas that were formerly swampland, the suburbs also developed so that the new ones had bigger houses, initially more property (a more recent phenomenon is big houses taking up most of a lot), and were more desirable to the folks who could afford them. The result is that the suburbs from the initial periods of "white flight" were also abandoned by the upper middle class, and that real estate became less desirable. At the same time, employment equality for minorities was improving a bit, and minorities were becoming far less of a minority in terms of numbers, so that population continued to expand westward too.

There are areas of South Florida where this pattern didn't occur exactly for various reasons, and the influx of political refugee Cubans and Haitians, followed by the huge immigration influx of people from all over the world during the latter decades of the 20th Century complicate all of this (it's much more complicated in terms of demographics now than it was in the 1970s and early 1980s, say), but the history above at least gives a simplified answer as to why the "socio-geography" of South Florida is what it is.

That was really interesting, thanks for clearing things up. Makes alot more sense now.

[Momma_bear]

Originally Posted by JProg305

Hey Banx, that lack of a buffer zone between affluent areas and areas with concentrated poverty and crime is a common feature of Broward and Dade too (more so in Dade though). Maybe it's a southeast Florida thing.

Not so much in Broward.

[Sharkey514]

Compelled's posting is right-on. It's like a tour of Broward via Sunrise. The same things apply to Atlantic Blvd (or Ave?) in Pompano. Start out by the beach, it's nice (but there have been some recent problems), there are nice areas along the canals, working class, then some bad areas in a wedge between 95 and the Turnpike. There is a very economically depressed area along Hammondville Road - really sad to see. It looks like new subsidized housing is coming to that area. There are pockets of poverty in any city, but here there seems to be more proximity of areas -- The need is more visible to those of us who drive that East-West route through impoverished neighborhoods to get to work, school, etc.

[maximilian208]

I live in Palm Beach County and work in Broward County and actually want to move to Broward. Palm Beach just doesnt cut it for me, its more for ultra rich retirees and its too suburb and too spread out and working in palm beach sucks becuase you gotta travel even of youre in the county! Its too big and spread out and boring in my opinion and too snobby and stuck up. Broward on the other hand has a lot more going on, plenty of work, somethings always happening, every town has a city feel to it and then ft. lauderdale is happening all the time, that even people from west palm beach go to broward blvd becuase clematis is so lame. After youve been to Miami and Ft. Lauderdale youll laugh when you go to West Palm Beach becuase its supposed to be a "city". However this is all just my opinion, Im pretty sure boca and west palm beach is cool if your ultra rich and can afford the lifestlye to be there but I dont, it sucks seeing lamborghinis all around you while you have to bust your ass working while the rich flaunt their stuff 24 7. Broward is more diverse and i feel the culture more and in miami as well, if you think south florida is boring and has no culture its probably becuase you live in palm beach county.

[john-staten island]

9 yr old thread rolls on but PalmBeach County remains a great choice.