Coral Springs, Florida
Encyclopedia
Coral Springs, officially chartered July 10, 1963, is a city in Broward County
, Florida
, United States, approximately 20 miles (32 km) northwest of Fort Lauderdale
. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a population of 121,096. It is part of the Miami–Fort Lauderdale–Pompano Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area
, which was home to 5,564,635 people in 2010.
The city was master-planned and primarily developed by WCI Communities
, then known as Coral Ridge Properties, a division of Westinghouse
. The city's name is derived from the company's name, and was selected after several earlier proposals had been considered and rejected. Despite the name, there are no springs in the city; Florida's springs are found in the central and northern portions of the state.
During the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s the young city grew rapidly, adding over 35,000 residents each decade. Coral Springs has a distinctive atmosphere among South Florida cities, due in part to its stringent codes designed to maintain the city's aesthetic appeal. The city government's effective fiscal management has maintained high bond ratings, and the city has won accolades for its overall livability, its low crime rate, and its family-friendly orientation.
. Prior to its incorporation as a city in July 1963, the area which is now Coral Springs was part of 20000 acres (8,093.7 ha) of marshy lands bought by Henry Lyons between 1911 and 1939. After several floods
in 1947, Florida created the Central and Southern Florida Flood Control District (now the South Florida Water Management District
). Canals and levees drained much of the area upon which Coral Springs was built. After the land was drained and cleared, most of the area was used as a bean farm. After Lyons' death in 1952, his heirs changed the focus to cattle.
A post-World War II
real estate boom in South Florida attracted the interest of developers. Coral Ridge Properties, which already had several developments in Broward County, bought 3869 acres (16 km²) of land from the Lyons family on December 14, 1961 for $1 million. The City of Coral Springs was chartered on July 10, 1963. Other names that were considered for the new city included "Curran Village", "Pompano Springs" and "Quartermore". By 1964, the company had developed a master plan for a city of 50,000 residents. On July 22, 1964, the first sale of 536 building lots netted $1.6 million. The landmark covered bridge
was built that same year to promote the town. In 1965, Coral Ridge Properties bought an additional 6000 acres (2,428.1 ha) from the Lyons family; the total land area of Coral Springs increased to 16 square miles (41 km²). The first city government elections were held in 1967.
The city added nineteen public schools, a regional mall, shopping centers and parks during the last three decades of the twentieth century in response to rapid population growth. The construction of the Sawgrass Expressway
in 1986 brought even more growth. A museum and a theater opened in the 1990s. The city reached residential build-out
in 2003 and is very close to a commercial build-out.
The city's historically low crime rate was marred in the early 1990s, when teen gang violence made headlines, with fights and murders reported. The violence subsided and the city returned to its previously peaceful state in 1995.
Coral Springs was ranked as the 27th best city in the United States in which to live by Money Magazine
in 2006; was named the 10th safest city in the US by Morgan Quitno
in 2007; and was a multiple recipient of America's Promise
"100 Best Cities for Young People" award, identified by the group as a three-time winner in 2008. In 2007, Coral Springs became the first state or local government in the nation to receive the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
.
In 2010, CNNMoney.com
listed Coral Springs as the 44th best place to live in the United States.
, the city has a total area of 23.93 square miles (61.98 km²), 22.2 square miles (57.5 km²) of which is land and 1.91 square miles (4.95 km²) of which is water (8.0%). Coral Springs is bordered by the cities of Parkland
to the north, Coconut Creek
to the east, Margate
and North Lauderdale
to the southeast and Tamarac
to the south. To the west lies The Everglades.
Coral Ridge Properties established strict landscaping and sign laws for the city—a question in the original version of Trivial Pursuit
noted that the city hosted the first McDonald's
without the distinctive Golden Arches
sign. Restrictions on commercial signs, exterior paint colors, roofing materials, recreational vehicle and boat storage, and landscaping specifications are all strictly enforced; consequently, real estate values in the city are significantly higher than the county as a whole. In 2006, the median price of a single family home in Coral Springs was US$415,000, while the median price county-wide was US$323,000.
The city’s downtown is the focus of an extensive redevelopment plan, estimated to cost close to US$700 million. The plan to revitalize the city's core started with an open-air shopping and entertainment center—"The Walk"—and progressed with the construction of "One Charter Place", opened April 2007. When completed, the redeveloped downtown area will offer office, retail, and a new government center, encompassing approximately three million square feet of floor space, in addition to approximately 1,000 residential units and a new hotel.
The City of Coral Springs' Parks and Recreation Department operates over 50 municipal parks, including a water park
and a skate park, encompassing over 675 acres (2.7 km²). Coral Springs' largest park is Mullins Park (70 acres). Of the four conservation areas in the city, Sandy Ridge Sanctuary is the biggest, at 38 acres (153,780.7 m²).
in 2005; the eye of the hurricane passed directly over the city. The city estimated that "as a result of the numerous hurricanes and storms that hit Coral Springs in 2004/2005, and especially as a result of Hurricane Wilma, the tree canopy coverage throughout the city has been reduced by about one third".
As of 2010, there were 45,433 households, with 8.1% being vacant. As of 2000, 19,151 (43.2%) households had children under the age of 18 living with them, 26,875 (60.6%) were married couples living together, 7,663 (17.3%) had a female householder with no husband present, and 8,387 (18.9%) were non-families. 5,922 of all households (13.4%) were made up of individuals and 1,408 (3.2%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.11 and the average family size was 3.45.
In the city the population was spread out with 38,335 residents (27.8%) under the age of 18, 14,560 (10.5%) from 18 to 24, 35,927 (26.0%) from 25 to 44, 39,821 (28.8%) from 45 to 64, and 9,358 (6.8%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35.7 years. For every 100 females there were 93.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.7 males.
In 2000, the median income for a household in the city was US$69,808, and the median income for a family was $76,106. Males had a median income of $47,427 versus $34,920 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $29,285. About 5.8% of families and 7.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.1% of those under age 18 and 2.1% of those age 65 or over.
As of 2000, speakers of English as a first language
accounted for 74.64% of residents. Other languages spoken as first languages included Spanish (15.01%), French Creole (2.16%), Portuguese (1.41%), French (1.09%), and Italian (0.84%.)
As of 2000, 2.1% of the city's population was from Haiti
, 2.05% of the population was from Colombia
, and 1.72% of the population was from Cuba
.
form of municipal government, with all governmental powers resting in a legislative body called a commission. Coral Springs' commission is composed of five elected commissioners, one of whom is the mayor of the city and another of whom is the vice-mayor. The mayor and vice-mayor serve a two-year term; the commissioners serve four year terms. The offices are non-partisan; no candidate is allowed to declare a party affiliation. The role of the commission is to pass ordinances and resolutions, adopt regulations, and appoint city officials, including the city manager
. While the mayor serves as a presiding officer of the commission, the city manager is the administrative head of the municipal government, and is responsible for the administration of all departments. The city commission holds its regular meetings biweekly. As of 2010, the Mayor is Roy Gold. The Vice-Mayor is Claudette Bruck; the other commissioners are Vince Boccard, Tom Powers and Larry Vignola. The City Manager is Erdal Donmez.
In-city buses are provided free of charge by the local government. Regional transportation is provided by Broward County Transit
. The closest passenger airport to Coral Springs is Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport
, located 27 miles (43 km) southeast. The only limited-access highway in Coral Springs is the Sawgrass Expressway
(State Road 869), which borders the city on its northern and western edges. Major roads in the city include Atlantic Boulevard, University Drive, and Sample Road.
Coral Springs is served by Broward Health
, and is home to the 200-bed Coral Springs Medical Center. The hospital received a 99 (out of 100) from the Joint Commission, ranking in the top 2% of over 9,000 surveyed hospitals.
Coral Springs' water supply comes from the Biscayne Aquifer
, South Florida
's primary source of drinking water. There are four different water districts within the city; the providers are the City of Coral Springs Water District, Coral Springs Improvement District, North Springs Improvement District and Royal Utilities. The South Florida Water Management District provides flood control protection and water supply protection to local residents, controls all water shortage management efforts and assigns water restrictions when necessary. Collection and disposal of city's trash or garbage is provided by Waste Management
. Electric power service is distributed by Florida Power & Light
.
Fitch
, Moody's
, and Standard & Poor's
rate Coral Springs bonds as "AAA
". Standard & Poor's, in a 2004 report, noted that Coral Springs had a "vibrant regional economy with above-average wealth levels and consistently low unemployment" and praised the city administration. In 2004, the city's industrial and commercial base represented 24% of the city valuation—50% higher than the previous decade. The city's tax rate of 3.8715 mils
is the lowest in Broward County of cities with more than 70,000 people. The city has twice received the Florida Sterling Award for excellence in administration. First Data
and Alliance Entertainment are the largest companies that have offices in the Corporate Park of Coral Springs. ABB Asea Brown Boveri and Royal Plastics Group have subsidiaries headquartered in the city as well. The biggest shopping mall
in the city is Coral Square, which opened in October 1984 with 945000 square feet (87,793.4 m²) of retail space and more than 120 stores. Preferred Exchange Tower is the tallest and largest office building in the city—it has 10 floors and 203000 sq ft (18,859.3 m²).
, as compared to a national average of 27.2% of adults over 25, and 91.7% of Coral Springs residents over the age of 25 have earned a high school
diploma, as compared to the national average of 84.2%.
Coral Springs had approximately 29,900 students in 2006. Three charter school
s offer both primary
and secondary education
. Higher education is offered by Barry University
, Nova Southeastern University
and Broward Community College
through a partnership with Coral Springs Charter School
.
Public primary and secondary education is handled by the Broward County Public Schools
District (BCPSD). The BCPSD operates 3 high schools, 4 middle school
s and 12 elementary school
s within the city limits. Ramblewood Elementary School received a Florida Sterling Award for its efforts in 2006. In 2008 the Florida Department of Education awarded all public schools in the city except Coral Springs High School
"A" grades based on their performance on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test
; Coral Springs High received a "B" grade, until 2010 when the Coral Springs High received its first "A" grade. All public elementary, middle, and charter schools in the city received "A" grades in 2009 except Broward Community Charter School West, which received a "B".
golf
tournament was played at the TPC at Eagle Trace from 1984 to 1991 and 1996 and then at the TPC at Heron Bay from 1997 to 2002. The short-lived professional soccer team Coral Springs Kicks
(USISL) was based in the city.
The regional Sportsplex has a jogging path, an aquatic center, tennis courts, ice rinks and a dog park. The NHL's Florida Panthers
call the Saveology.com Iceplex, part of the Sportsplex, their official home and conduct much of their training there. The International Tennis Championships
—an ATP
International Series men's tennis
tournament was held at the Sportsplex from 1993 to 1998.
Seven professional athletes are from Coral Springs: MLS
soccer player Stephen Herdsman
, Latvian Higher League soccer player Nate Weiss
, and NFL football
players Dan Morgan
, Todd Weiner
, Darius Butler
, Steve Hutchinson, and Cody Brown
. and Three NCAA athletes hail from the city: sprinter Walter Dix
, Florida Atlantic University
baseball
player Robbie Widlansky, and University of Notre Dame
football player Sam Young.
Several athletes participating in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China are from or currently living in Coral Springs, including Beach Volleyball
gold medalist Misty May-Treanor
, swimming silver medal
ist Dara Torres
(who resides in neighboring Parkland, Florida
but trains in Coral Springs), and sprinting bronze medal
ist Walter Dix.
-Fort Lauderdale
-Hollywood
media market, which is the twelfth largest radio market and the seventeenth largest television market in the United States. Its primary daily newspapers are the South Florida-Sun Sentinel
and The Miami Herald
, and their Spanish-language counterparts El Sentinel
and El Nuevo Herald
.
The city is home to two local weekly newspapers, the Coral Springs Forum and Our Town News. Both publications focus on local issues and human interest stories. The Coral Springs Forum was founded in 1971 by local high school students, the publication was sold after their graduation to local residents. Later the company became a subsidiary of the Tribune Company
, the South Florida-Sun Sentinel
publisher.
The Coral Springs Center for the Arts
opened in 1990. Originally planned to be a gymnasium, a US$4 million renovation in 1996 added a 1,471 seat theater. The theater presents a program of popular shows and a yearly Broadway series. The 8000 square feet (743.2 m²) Coral Springs Museum of Art has a small number of exhibits and focuses on art classes and programs for the local community. There is currently one public library in the city, the Northwest Regional Library, affiliated with the county-wide Broward County Library
system. The band New Found Glory
hails from Coral Springs and was formed in the city.
The "Our Town" Festival has been continuously held since 1979, first sponsored by the Coral Springs Chamber of Commerce, and promoted by a non-profit organization since 1997. The event has a car show, a beauty pageant
and carnival rides
. The festival attracted more than 100,000 attendees in 1984, and the city estimated 200,000 visitors at the 1990 event. A parade
was added to the event in 1985; since 1994, the parade has been run as a separate event during the Christmas season. Several other festivals are held throughout the year, such as "Fiesta Coral Springs", a Hispanic culture celebration, and the Festival of the Arts. At Coral Springs' 25th Anniversary Party, the Guinness World Record
for "Largest Hamburger and Milkshake" was broken on July 10, 1988. The hamburger measured 26 feet (8 m) in diameter and weighed 5063 pounds. The record stood for just over a year.
Coral Springs has two designated Florida Heritage sites. The Coral Springs Covered Bridge
was the first structure built in the city, in 1964. The steel bridge, 40 feet (12 m) in length, is the only covered bridge in Florida in the public right-of-way
. The American Snuff Company
provided two historical designs for the bridge sides, to make the structure appear aged. The Covered Bridge is depicted in Coral Springs' seal. The Museum of Coral Springs History started as a real estate office. Built outside the city limits, the single-room wooden structure was moved to Coral Springs and became its first administration building. Later it was used as the first police station, and as a Jaycees clubhouse; it was moved to the city dump in 1976, where it was used as a fire department training site for smoke drills. After it was inadvertently set on fire, public outcry prompted the building's relocation to Mullins Park for restoration. Since 1978, it has housed the city's history museum. The exhibits in the museum are historic items and city models.
Coral Springs is a sister city
of Paraíso, Costa Rica
.
Broward County, Florida
-2000 Census:As of the census of 2000, there were 1,623,018 people, 654,445 households, and 411,645 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,346 people per square mile . There were 741,043 housing units at an average density of 615 per square mile...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, United States, approximately 20 miles (32 km) northwest of Fort Lauderdale
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, on the Atlantic coast. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the South Florida metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010...
. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a population of 121,096. It is part of the Miami–Fort Lauderdale–Pompano Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area
South Florida metropolitan area
The South Florida metropolitan area, also known as the Miami metropolitan area, and designated the Miami–Fort Lauderdale–Pompano Beach, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area by the U.S...
, which was home to 5,564,635 people in 2010.
The city was master-planned and primarily developed by WCI Communities
WCI Communities
WCI Communities, Inc. is an American home builder. The company offers single family and condominium homes. WCI also provides design, construction, financing, land purchases, marketing, and community management services. The company operates realty, mortgage, and title businesses. WCI is based in...
, then known as Coral Ridge Properties, a division of Westinghouse
Westinghouse Electric (1886)
Westinghouse Electric was an American manufacturing company. It was founded in 1886 as Westinghouse Electric Company and later renamed Westinghouse Electric Corporation by George Westinghouse. The company purchased CBS in 1995 and became CBS Corporation in 1997...
. The city's name is derived from the company's name, and was selected after several earlier proposals had been considered and rejected. Despite the name, there are no springs in the city; Florida's springs are found in the central and northern portions of the state.
During the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s the young city grew rapidly, adding over 35,000 residents each decade. Coral Springs has a distinctive atmosphere among South Florida cities, due in part to its stringent codes designed to maintain the city's aesthetic appeal. The city government's effective fiscal management has maintained high bond ratings, and the city has won accolades for its overall livability, its low crime rate, and its family-friendly orientation.
History
Coral Springs is a planned communityPlanned community
A planned community, or planned city, is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed in a previously undeveloped area. This contrasts with settlements that evolve in a more ad hoc fashion. Land use conflicts are less frequent in planned communities since...
. Prior to its incorporation as a city in July 1963, the area which is now Coral Springs was part of 20000 acres (8,093.7 ha) of marshy lands bought by Henry Lyons between 1911 and 1939. After several floods
1947 Atlantic hurricane season
The 1947 Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 16, 1947, and lasted until November 1, 1947. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin....
in 1947, Florida created the Central and Southern Florida Flood Control District (now the South Florida Water Management District
South Florida Water Management District
The South Florida Water Management District is a regional governmental agency supervised by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection , and is responsible for water quality, flood control, water supply and restoration of the environment in 16 counties in Central and Southern Florida...
). Canals and levees drained much of the area upon which Coral Springs was built. After the land was drained and cleared, most of the area was used as a bean farm. After Lyons' death in 1952, his heirs changed the focus to cattle.
A post-World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
real estate boom in South Florida attracted the interest of developers. Coral Ridge Properties, which already had several developments in Broward County, bought 3869 acres (16 km²) of land from the Lyons family on December 14, 1961 for $1 million. The City of Coral Springs was chartered on July 10, 1963. Other names that were considered for the new city included "Curran Village", "Pompano Springs" and "Quartermore". By 1964, the company had developed a master plan for a city of 50,000 residents. On July 22, 1964, the first sale of 536 building lots netted $1.6 million. The landmark covered bridge
Coral Springs Covered Bridge
The Coral Springs Covered Bridge is a 40 ft covered bridge located in Coral Springs, Florida and was the first permanent structure built in the city. It has also been honored with a Florida Heritage Site Marker.-Structure and design:...
was built that same year to promote the town. In 1965, Coral Ridge Properties bought an additional 6000 acres (2,428.1 ha) from the Lyons family; the total land area of Coral Springs increased to 16 square miles (41 km²). The first city government elections were held in 1967.
The city added nineteen public schools, a regional mall, shopping centers and parks during the last three decades of the twentieth century in response to rapid population growth. The construction of the Sawgrass Expressway
Sawgrass Expressway
State Road 869 is a long state road located in Broward County, Florida. The road acts as a de-facto bypass of Fort Lauderdale and northern coastal Broward County, Florida, extending north from a junction of Interstate 75 , Interstate 595 , and SR 84 in Sunrise, to Coral Springs before heading...
in 1986 brought even more growth. A museum and a theater opened in the 1990s. The city reached residential build-out
Build-out
Build-out is an urban planner’s estimate of the amount and location of potential development for an area. Sometimes called a "lot-yield analysis", build-out is one step of the land use planning process. Evaluation of potential development impacts begins with a build-out...
in 2003 and is very close to a commercial build-out.
The city's historically low crime rate was marred in the early 1990s, when teen gang violence made headlines, with fights and murders reported. The violence subsided and the city returned to its previously peaceful state in 1995.
Coral Springs was ranked as the 27th best city in the United States in which to live by Money Magazine
Money Magazine
Money Magazine is a business news and financial programme that is broadcast on Sundays at 7:00pm in Hong Kong by television channel TVB Pearl.-Producers and reporters:...
in 2006; was named the 10th safest city in the US by Morgan Quitno
Morgan Quitno
Morgan Quitno Press is a research and publishing company based in Lawrence, Kansas, which compiles books with statistics of crime rates, health care, education, and other categories, ranking cities and states in the United States...
in 2007; and was a multiple recipient of America's Promise
America's Promise
America's Promise — The Alliance for Youth is a foundation founded by Colin Powell in 1997 to help children and youth from all socioeconomic sectors in the United States.In late April 1997 Presidents Bill Clinton, George H. W...
"100 Best Cities for Young People" award, identified by the group as a three-time winner in 2008. In 2007, Coral Springs became the first state or local government in the nation to receive the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recognizes U.S. organizations in the business, health care, education, and nonprofit sectors for performance excellence. The Baldrige Award is the only formal recognition of the performance excellence of both public and private U.S. organizations given by...
.
In 2010, CNNMoney.com
CNNMoney.com
CNNMoney.com is the world's largest business website. The site is the online home of Fortune and Money, and serves as CNN.com's exclusive business site. The site, edited by Chris Peacock, together with the three titles, is part of the Fortune|Money Group, and attracts more than 10.8 million unique...
listed Coral Springs as the 44th best place to live in the United States.
Geography and climate
Coral Springs is located at 26.270658°N 80.259163°W. According to the United States Census BureauUnited States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 23.93 square miles (61.98 km²), 22.2 square miles (57.5 km²) of which is land and 1.91 square miles (4.95 km²) of which is water (8.0%). Coral Springs is bordered by the cities of Parkland
Parkland, Florida
Parkland is an city in Broward County, Florida, where zoning laws are designed to protect the "parklike" character of the city. Initially, there were no stores or traffic lights in Parkland, though this changed in the early 2000s. As of the 2010 census, the population of Parkland was 23,962...
to the north, Coconut Creek
Coconut Creek, Florida
Coconut Creek is a city in Broward County, Florida , nestled between Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties. It had a population of 52,909 at the 2010 census...
to the east, Margate
Margate, Florida
Margate is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 53,284. It is part of the Miami–Fort Lauderdale–Pompano Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is home to 5,564,635 people.-Geography:...
and North Lauderdale
North Lauderdale, Florida
North Lauderdale is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 41,023. It is part of the Miami–Fort Lauderdale–Pompano Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010 census.-History:North Lauderdale was...
to the southeast and Tamarac
Tamarac, Florida
Tamarac is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 60,427. It is part of the Miami–Fort Lauderdale–Pompano Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010 census....
to the south. To the west lies The Everglades.
Cityscape
Coral Springs is a sprawling city, with few tall or prominent structures. The tallest building in the city is a 12 story condominium (Country Club Tower), with five more buildings topping out at 10 stories, including three office buildings lining University Drive, one of the city's main roads. Buildings include Preferred Exchange Tower (originally the Bank of Coral Springs Building), 210 Tower, Bank of America Center and the Briarwood Towers.Coral Ridge Properties established strict landscaping and sign laws for the city—a question in the original version of Trivial Pursuit
Trivial Pursuit
Trivial Pursuit is a board game in which progress is determined by a player's ability to answer general knowledge and popular culture questions. The game was created in 1979 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, by Canadian Chris Haney, a photo editor for Montreal's The Gazette and Scott Abbott, a sports...
noted that the city hosted the first McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
without the distinctive Golden Arches
Golden Arches
The Golden Arches are the symbol of McDonald's, the global fast-food hamburger chain. Originally, real arches were part of the restaurant design...
sign. Restrictions on commercial signs, exterior paint colors, roofing materials, recreational vehicle and boat storage, and landscaping specifications are all strictly enforced; consequently, real estate values in the city are significantly higher than the county as a whole. In 2006, the median price of a single family home in Coral Springs was US$415,000, while the median price county-wide was US$323,000.
The city’s downtown is the focus of an extensive redevelopment plan, estimated to cost close to US$700 million. The plan to revitalize the city's core started with an open-air shopping and entertainment center—"The Walk"—and progressed with the construction of "One Charter Place", opened April 2007. When completed, the redeveloped downtown area will offer office, retail, and a new government center, encompassing approximately three million square feet of floor space, in addition to approximately 1,000 residential units and a new hotel.
The City of Coral Springs' Parks and Recreation Department operates over 50 municipal parks, including a water park
Water park
A waterpark is an amusement park that features waterplay areas, such as water slides, splash pads, spraygrounds , lazy rivers, or other recreational bathing, swimming, and barefooting environments...
and a skate park, encompassing over 675 acres (2.7 km²). Coral Springs' largest park is Mullins Park (70 acres). Of the four conservation areas in the city, Sandy Ridge Sanctuary is the biggest, at 38 acres (153,780.7 m²).
Climate
Average monthly rainfall is higher from April to September, with January and February as the driest months. The average monthly rainfall ranges from 2.8 inches (7 cm) in January and February to 7.3 inches (19 cm) in June. The hurricane season is from June to November, with September as the month during which hurricanes are most likely to occur. The most powerful hurricane to strike Coral Springs since its incorporation was WilmaHurricane Wilma
Hurricane Wilma was the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Atlantic basin. Wilma was the twenty-second storm , thirteenth hurricane, sixth major hurricane, and fourth Category 5 hurricane of the record-breaking 2005 season...
in 2005; the eye of the hurricane passed directly over the city. The city estimated that "as a result of the numerous hurricanes and storms that hit Coral Springs in 2004/2005, and especially as a result of Hurricane Wilma, the tree canopy coverage throughout the city has been reduced by about one third".
Demographics
| Coral Springs Demographics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 Census United States Census, 2010 The Twenty-third United States Census, known as Census 2010 or the 2010 Census, is the current national census of the United States. National Census Day was April 1, 2010 and is the reference date used in enumerating individuals... |
Coral Springs | Broward County | Florida |
| Total population | 121,096 | 1,748,066 | 18,801,310 |
| Population, percent change, 2000 to 2010 | |||
| Population density | 5,089.8/sq mi | 1,444.9/sq mi | 350.6/sq mi |
| White or Caucasian (including White Hispanic) | 69.2% | 63.1% | 75.0% |
| (Non-Hispanic White or Caucasian Non-Hispanic Whites Non-Hispanic Whites or White, Not Hispanic or Latino are people in the United States, as defined by the Census Bureau, who are of the White race and are not of Hispanic or Latino origin/ethnicity. Hence the designation is exclusive in the sense that it defines who is not included as opposed to who is... ) |
51.6% | 43.5% | 57.9% |
| Black or African-American | 17.9% | 26.7% | 16.0% |
| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) | 23.5% | 25.1% | 22.5% |
| Asian | 5.1% | 3.2% | 2.4% |
| Native American or Native Alaskan | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.4% |
| Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| Two or more races (Multiracial) Multiracial American Multiracial Americans, US residents who identify themselves as of "two or more races", were numbered at around 9 million, or 2.9% of the population, in the census of 2010. However there is considerable evidence that the real number is far higher. Prior to the mid-20th century many people hid their... |
3.3% | 2.9% | 2.5% |
| Some Other Race | 4.2% | 3.7% | 3.6% |
As of 2010, there were 45,433 households, with 8.1% being vacant. As of 2000, 19,151 (43.2%) households had children under the age of 18 living with them, 26,875 (60.6%) were married couples living together, 7,663 (17.3%) had a female householder with no husband present, and 8,387 (18.9%) were non-families. 5,922 of all households (13.4%) were made up of individuals and 1,408 (3.2%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.11 and the average family size was 3.45.
In the city the population was spread out with 38,335 residents (27.8%) under the age of 18, 14,560 (10.5%) from 18 to 24, 35,927 (26.0%) from 25 to 44, 39,821 (28.8%) from 45 to 64, and 9,358 (6.8%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35.7 years. For every 100 females there were 93.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.7 males.
In 2000, the median income for a household in the city was US$69,808, and the median income for a family was $76,106. Males had a median income of $47,427 versus $34,920 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $29,285. About 5.8% of families and 7.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.1% of those under age 18 and 2.1% of those age 65 or over.
As of 2000, speakers of English as a first language
First language
A first language is the language a person has learned from birth or within the critical period, or that a person speaks the best and so is often the basis for sociolinguistic identity...
accounted for 74.64% of residents. Other languages spoken as first languages included Spanish (15.01%), French Creole (2.16%), Portuguese (1.41%), French (1.09%), and Italian (0.84%.)
As of 2000, 2.1% of the city's population was from Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
, 2.05% of the population was from Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, and 1.72% of the population was from Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
.
Government and infrastructure
Coral Springs uses the commission-managerCouncil-manager government
The council–manager government form is one of two predominant forms of municipal government in the United States; the other common form of local government is the mayor-council government form, which characteristically occurs in large cities...
form of municipal government, with all governmental powers resting in a legislative body called a commission. Coral Springs' commission is composed of five elected commissioners, one of whom is the mayor of the city and another of whom is the vice-mayor. The mayor and vice-mayor serve a two-year term; the commissioners serve four year terms. The offices are non-partisan; no candidate is allowed to declare a party affiliation. The role of the commission is to pass ordinances and resolutions, adopt regulations, and appoint city officials, including the city manager
City manager
A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a council-manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief executive officer or chief administrative officer in some municipalities...
. While the mayor serves as a presiding officer of the commission, the city manager is the administrative head of the municipal government, and is responsible for the administration of all departments. The city commission holds its regular meetings biweekly. As of 2010, the Mayor is Roy Gold. The Vice-Mayor is Claudette Bruck; the other commissioners are Vince Boccard, Tom Powers and Larry Vignola. The City Manager is Erdal Donmez.
In-city buses are provided free of charge by the local government. Regional transportation is provided by Broward County Transit
Broward County Transit
Broward County Transit is the public transit authority in Broward County, Florida. It is the second largest transit system in Florida. It currently operates the only public bus system in Broward County...
. The closest passenger airport to Coral Springs is Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport
Fort Lauderdale – Hollywood International Airport is an international commercial airport located in unincorporated Broward County, Florida, three miles southwest of the central business district of Fort Lauderdale...
, located 27 miles (43 km) southeast. The only limited-access highway in Coral Springs is the Sawgrass Expressway
Sawgrass Expressway
State Road 869 is a long state road located in Broward County, Florida. The road acts as a de-facto bypass of Fort Lauderdale and northern coastal Broward County, Florida, extending north from a junction of Interstate 75 , Interstate 595 , and SR 84 in Sunrise, to Coral Springs before heading...
(State Road 869), which borders the city on its northern and western edges. Major roads in the city include Atlantic Boulevard, University Drive, and Sample Road.
Coral Springs is served by Broward Health
Broward Health
Broward Health, formerly the North Broward Hospital District, is one of the 10 largest health systems in the U.S. Located in Broward County, Florida, Broward Health has the county’s first certified stroke center and only liver transplant program...
, and is home to the 200-bed Coral Springs Medical Center. The hospital received a 99 (out of 100) from the Joint Commission, ranking in the top 2% of over 9,000 surveyed hospitals.
Coral Springs' water supply comes from the Biscayne Aquifer
Biscayne Aquifer
The Biscayne Aquifer, named after Biscayne Bay, is a surficial aquifer. It is a shallow layer of highly permeable limestone under a portion of South Florida...
, South Florida
South Florida metropolitan area
The South Florida metropolitan area, also known as the Miami metropolitan area, and designated the Miami–Fort Lauderdale–Pompano Beach, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area by the U.S...
's primary source of drinking water. There are four different water districts within the city; the providers are the City of Coral Springs Water District, Coral Springs Improvement District, North Springs Improvement District and Royal Utilities. The South Florida Water Management District provides flood control protection and water supply protection to local residents, controls all water shortage management efforts and assigns water restrictions when necessary. Collection and disposal of city's trash or garbage is provided by Waste Management
Waste Management, Inc
Waste Management, Inc. is a waste management, comprehensive waste, and environmental services company in North America. Founded in 1894, the company is headquartered in Suite 4000 at the First City Tower in Downtown Houston, Texas, in the United States....
. Electric power service is distributed by Florida Power & Light
Florida Power & Light
Florida Power & Light Company, the principal subsidiary of NextEra Energy Inc. , commonly referred to by its initials, FPL, is a Juno Beach, Florida-based power utility which serves roughly 4.4 million customers in Florida. FPL Group holds power generation assets in more than 20 U.S...
.
Economy
Of residents aged 16 years and over, 72.6% were in the labor force; 95% were employed and 5% unemployed. 39.5% of the population worked in management, professional, and related occupations; 32.9% in sales and office occupations; 12.8% in service occupations; 7.6% in construction, extraction, and maintenance occupations; 7% in production, transportation, and material moving occupations; and 0.1% in farming, fishing, and forestry occupations. The industries for which Coral Springs inhabitants worked were 17.6% educational, health and social services; 16.1% retail trade; 12.9% professional, scientific, management, administrative, and waste management services; 10.1% finance, insurance, real estate, and rental and leasing; 8.2% arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation and food services; 7.0% manufacturing; 6.6% construction; 5.0% wholesale trade; 4% transportation, warehousing, and utilities;, 4.9% other services (except public administration); 3.7% information; 3.6% public administration; and 0.2% agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, and mining. 85.2% of workers worked in the private sector, 9.6% in government, 5% self-employed in unincorporated businesses, and 0.3% as unpaid family workers. The predominant method of commuting was driving alone in own car, accounting for 81.5% of commuting trips, followed by 11.2% who were carpoolers and 7.4% who used other methods or worked from home.Fitch
Fitch Ratings
The Fitch Group is a majority-owned subsidiary of FIMALAC, headquartered in Paris. Fitch Ratings, Fitch Solutions and Algorithmics, are part of the Fitch Group....
, Moody's
Moody's
Moody's Corporation is the holding company for Moody's Analytics and Moody's Investors Service, a credit rating agency which performs international financial research and analysis on commercial and government entities. The company also ranks the credit-worthiness of borrowers using a standardized...
, and Standard & Poor's
Standard & Poor's
Standard & Poor's is a United States-based financial services company. It is a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks and bonds. It is well known for its stock-market indices, the US-based S&P 500, the Australian S&P/ASX 200, the Canadian...
rate Coral Springs bonds as "AAA
Bond credit rating
In investment, the bond credit rating assesses the credit worthiness of a corporation's or government debt issues. It is analogous to credit ratings for individuals.-Table:...
". Standard & Poor's, in a 2004 report, noted that Coral Springs had a "vibrant regional economy with above-average wealth levels and consistently low unemployment" and praised the city administration. In 2004, the city's industrial and commercial base represented 24% of the city valuation—50% higher than the previous decade. The city's tax rate of 3.8715 mils
Mill (currency)
The mill or mille is a now-abstract unit of currency used sometimes in accounting. In the United States, it is a notional unit equivalent to of a United States dollar...
is the lowest in Broward County of cities with more than 70,000 people. The city has twice received the Florida Sterling Award for excellence in administration. First Data
First Data
First Data Corporation is an American payment processing company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. First Data is a provider of electronic commerce and payment solutions...
and Alliance Entertainment are the largest companies that have offices in the Corporate Park of Coral Springs. ABB Asea Brown Boveri and Royal Plastics Group have subsidiaries headquartered in the city as well. The biggest shopping mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
in the city is Coral Square, which opened in October 1984 with 945000 square feet (87,793.4 m²) of retail space and more than 120 stores. Preferred Exchange Tower is the tallest and largest office building in the city—it has 10 floors and 203000 sq ft (18,859.3 m²).
Education
According to the 2005 American Community Survey (conducted by the US Census Bureau), 39.2% of all adults over the age of 25 in Coral Springs have obtained a bachelor's degreeBachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
, as compared to a national average of 27.2% of adults over 25, and 91.7% of Coral Springs residents over the age of 25 have earned a high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
diploma, as compared to the national average of 84.2%.
Coral Springs had approximately 29,900 students in 2006. Three charter school
Charter school
Charter schools are primary or secondary schools that receive public money but are not subject to some of the rules, regulations, and statutes that apply to other public schools in exchange for some type of accountability for producing certain results, which are set forth in each school's charter...
s offer both primary
Primary education
A primary school is an institution in which children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational,...
and secondary education
Secondary education
Secondary education is the stage of education following primary education. Secondary education includes the final stage of compulsory education and in many countries it is entirely compulsory. The next stage of education is usually college or university...
. Higher education is offered by Barry University
Barry University
Barry University is a private, Catholic university, which was founded in 1940 in Miami Shores, Florida, a suburb north of Downtown Miami. It is part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami....
, Nova Southeastern University
Nova Southeastern University
Nova Southeastern University, commonly referred to as NSU or Nova, is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian, research university located in Broward County, Florida, with its main campus in the town of Davie...
and Broward Community College
Broward Community College
Broward College, previously known as "Broward Community College", is a state college in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S., and part of the Florida College System. It was established in 1959 as part of a move to broaden Florida's two-year community college system...
through a partnership with Coral Springs Charter School
Coral Springs Charter School
Coral Springs Charter School was established in 1999 in Coral Springs, Florida. The school was originally constructed in 1977 as an enclosed mall. When the mall failed, the nearly vacant structure was purchased by Charter Schools USA and converted into a combination school, serving students in...
.
Public primary and secondary education is handled by the Broward County Public Schools
Broward County Public Schools
Broward County Public Schools, a public school district serving Broward County, Florida, is the nation's sixth largest public school system and the largest fully accredited district in the nation, with over 260,000 students in more than 260 schools and education centers...
District (BCPSD). The BCPSD operates 3 high schools, 4 middle school
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
s and 12 elementary school
Elementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
s within the city limits. Ramblewood Elementary School received a Florida Sterling Award for its efforts in 2006. In 2008 the Florida Department of Education awarded all public schools in the city except Coral Springs High School
Coral Springs High School
Coral Springs High School is a public secondary school located in Coral Springs, Florida. It is a part of the Broward County Public Schools district. The school has a population of 2233 as of November 2010....
"A" grades based on their performance on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test
Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test
The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, or the FCAT , is the standardized test used in the primary and secondary public schools of Florida...
; Coral Springs High received a "B" grade, until 2010 when the Coral Springs High received its first "A" grade. All public elementary, middle, and charter schools in the city received "A" grades in 2009 except Broward Community Charter School West, which received a "B".
Sports
Coral Springs does not have any professional sports teams, but has more than 25 amateur sports leagues. Coral Springs Youth Soccer had more than 3300 players in their 2006 season, playing for 284 teams in 20 separate leagues, divided by age group and sex. The Honda ClassicHonda Classic
The Honda Classic is a PGA Tour golf tournament that is played each March in Florida. It was founded in 1972 as the Jackie Gleason's Inverrary Classic. In 1981, American Motors backed the tournament. Since 1982, American Honda Motor Co., Inc...
golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
tournament was played at the TPC at Eagle Trace from 1984 to 1991 and 1996 and then at the TPC at Heron Bay from 1997 to 2002. The short-lived professional soccer team Coral Springs Kicks
Coral Springs Kicks
Coral Springs Kicks were an American soccer team based in Coral Springs, Florida that played in the USISL. The Kicks were led by Michael Araujo, whose 11 assists were the most in the USISL.-Year-by-year:-1993 Standings:...
(USISL) was based in the city.
The regional Sportsplex has a jogging path, an aquatic center, tennis courts, ice rinks and a dog park. The NHL's Florida Panthers
Florida Panthers
The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in Sunrise, Florida, in the Miami metropolitan area. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . They play their games at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise and are the...
call the Saveology.com Iceplex, part of the Sportsplex, their official home and conduct much of their training there. The International Tennis Championships
Delray Beach International Tennis Championships
The International Tennis Championships is an ATP World Tour 250 series men's tennis tournament held every year in Delray Beach, Florida, and played on hard courts. The event was held in Coral Springs from 1993–1998; in 1999, it was relocated to the Delray Beach Tennis Center...
—an ATP
Association of Tennis Professionals
The Association of Tennis Professionals or ATP was formed in 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to protect the interests of male professional tennis players. Since 1990, the association has organized the worldwide tennis tour for men and linked the title of the tour with the...
International Series men's tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
tournament was held at the Sportsplex from 1993 to 1998.
Seven professional athletes are from Coral Springs: MLS
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...
soccer player Stephen Herdsman
Stephen Herdsman
Stephen Herdsman is an American soccer defender playing for the Michigan Bucks of the USL Premier Development League.-Career:...
, Latvian Higher League soccer player Nate Weiss
Nate Weiss
Nathaniel "Nate" Weiss an American/Israeli professional soccer player, currently plays for Råslätt SK in Sweden...
, and NFL football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
players Dan Morgan
Dan Morgan
Daniel Thomas "Dan" Morgan, Jr. is a former American football linebacker for the Carolina Panthers and the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Panthers 11th overall in the 2001 NFL Draft...
, Todd Weiner
Todd Weiner
Todd Michael Weiner is former American football American football offensive tackle of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the second round of the 1998 NFL Draft. He played college football at Kansas State.Weiner also played for the Atlanta Falcons....
, Darius Butler
Darius Butler
-New England Patriots:Butler was drafted by the New England Patriots in the second round of the 2009 NFL Draft. On July 10, 2009, he signed a four-year contract with the Patriots that included a total of about $2.1 million in guaranteed money....
, Steve Hutchinson, and Cody Brown
Cody Brown
Cody Dion Brown is an American football linebacker for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the second round of the 2009 NFL Draft...
. and Three NCAA athletes hail from the city: sprinter Walter Dix
Walter Dix
Walter Dix is an American sprinter who specializes in the 100 meters and 200 meters. He is the fourth fastest 200 m runner ever with a best of 19.53 seconds, and has broken the 10-second barrier in the 100 m with a best of 9.88 seconds.Dix was a highly successful amateur...
, Florida Atlantic University
Florida Atlantic University
Florida Atlantic University, also referred to as FAU or Florida Atlantic, is a public, coeducational, research university located in , United States. The university has six satellite campuses located in the Florida cities of Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, Port St. Lucie, and in Fort...
baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
player Robbie Widlansky, and University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
football player Sam Young.
Several athletes participating in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China are from or currently living in Coral Springs, including Beach Volleyball
Beach volleyball
Beach volleyball, or sand volleyball, is an Olympic team sport played by two teams of two players on a sand court divided by a net.Like volleyball, the object of the game is to send the ball over the net in order to ground it on the opponent’s court, and to prevent the same effort by the opponent....
gold medalist Misty May-Treanor
Misty May-Treanor
Misty Erie May-Treanor is an American professional volleyball player. She has won more tournaments than any other female player with 107 career wins....
, swimming silver medal
Silver medal
A silver medal is a medal awarded to the second place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, and contests with similar formats....
ist Dara Torres
Dara Torres
Dara Grace Torres is an American international swimmer and a twelve-time Olympic medalist. Torres was the first swimmer from the United States to compete in five Olympic Games , and, at age 41, the oldest swimmer ever to earn a place on the U.S. Olympic team...
(who resides in neighboring Parkland, Florida
Parkland, Florida
Parkland is an city in Broward County, Florida, where zoning laws are designed to protect the "parklike" character of the city. Initially, there were no stores or traffic lights in Parkland, though this changed in the early 2000s. As of the 2010 census, the population of Parkland was 23,962...
but trains in Coral Springs), and sprinting bronze medal
Bronze medal
A bronze medal is a medal awarded to the third place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The practice of awarding bronze third place medals began at the 1904 Olympic Games in St...
ist Walter Dix.
Media and culture
Coral Springs is a part of the MiamiMiami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
-Fort Lauderdale
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, on the Atlantic coast. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the South Florida metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010...
-Hollywood
Hollywood, Florida
-Demographics:As of 2000, there were 59,673 households out of which 24.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.5% were married couples living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.2% were non-families. 34.4% of all households were made up of...
media market, which is the twelfth largest radio market and the seventeenth largest television market in the United States. Its primary daily newspapers are the South Florida-Sun Sentinel
Sun-Sentinel
The Sun Sentinel, owned by the Tribune Company, is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S., and all of Broward County, but circulates throughout all of South Florida.-Overview:...
and The Miami Herald
The Miami Herald
The Miami Herald is a daily newspaper owned by The McClatchy Company headquartered on Biscayne Bay in the Omni district of Downtown Miami, Florida, United States...
, and their Spanish-language counterparts El Sentinel
El Sentinel del Sur de la Florida
El Sentinel del Sur de la Florida is a weekly Spanish-language newspaper published in Fort Lauderdale, Florida by the Sun-Sentinel Company, a subsidiary of the Tribune Company of Chicago, which also publish the South Florida Sun-Sentinel...
and El Nuevo Herald
El Nuevo Herald
El Nuevo Herald is a McClatchy newspaper published daily in Spanish in Miami, Florida, in the United States. El Nuevo Heralds sister paper is The Miami Herald, also produced by the McClatchy Company.-About El Nuevo Herald:...
.
The city is home to two local weekly newspapers, the Coral Springs Forum and Our Town News. Both publications focus on local issues and human interest stories. The Coral Springs Forum was founded in 1971 by local high school students, the publication was sold after their graduation to local residents. Later the company became a subsidiary of the Tribune Company
Tribune Company
The Tribune Company is a large American multimedia corporation based in Chicago, Illinois. It is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, with ten daily newspapers and commuter tabloids including Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Hartford Courant, Orlando Sentinel, South Florida...
, the South Florida-Sun Sentinel
Sun-Sentinel
The Sun Sentinel, owned by the Tribune Company, is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S., and all of Broward County, but circulates throughout all of South Florida.-Overview:...
publisher.
The Coral Springs Center for the Arts
Coral Springs Center for the Arts
The Coral Springs Center for the Arts is an arts center and former community center in Coral Springs, Florida, USA. The facilities include a theater and the Coral Springs Museum of Art, which is open 60 minutes prior to curtain time, and features changing exhibits of works by Florida artists.-...
opened in 1990. Originally planned to be a gymnasium, a US$4 million renovation in 1996 added a 1,471 seat theater. The theater presents a program of popular shows and a yearly Broadway series. The 8000 square feet (743.2 m²) Coral Springs Museum of Art has a small number of exhibits and focuses on art classes and programs for the local community. There is currently one public library in the city, the Northwest Regional Library, affiliated with the county-wide Broward County Library
Broward county library
The Broward County Library was established in 1973 as the result of a campaign by the Friends of the Fort Lauderdale Library in Florida, the United States. The system began issuing borrower cards on June 17 of 1974 for 270,000 items in four branches. Over the following three decades, many of the...
system. The band New Found Glory
New Found Glory
New Found Glory is an American rock band from Coral Springs, Florida. Formed in the summer of 1997, founding members were lead vocalist Jordan Pundik, guitarists Chad Gilbert and Steve Klein, bassist Ian Grushka and drummer Joe Marino...
hails from Coral Springs and was formed in the city.
The "Our Town" Festival has been continuously held since 1979, first sponsored by the Coral Springs Chamber of Commerce, and promoted by a non-profit organization since 1997. The event has a car show, a beauty pageant
Beauty contest
A beauty pageant or beauty contest, is a competition that mainly focuses on the physical beauty of its contestants, although such contests often incorporate personality, talent, and answers to judges' questions as judged criteria...
and carnival rides
Amusement ride
Amusement rides are large mechanical devices that move people to create enjoyment. They are frequently found at amusement parks, traveling carnivals, and funfairs.-Notable types:*Afterburner*Ali Baba*Balloon Race*Booster...
. The festival attracted more than 100,000 attendees in 1984, and the city estimated 200,000 visitors at the 1990 event. A parade
Parade
A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of some kind...
was added to the event in 1985; since 1994, the parade has been run as a separate event during the Christmas season. Several other festivals are held throughout the year, such as "Fiesta Coral Springs", a Hispanic culture celebration, and the Festival of the Arts. At Coral Springs' 25th Anniversary Party, the Guinness World Record
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
for "Largest Hamburger and Milkshake" was broken on July 10, 1988. The hamburger measured 26 feet (8 m) in diameter and weighed 5063 pounds. The record stood for just over a year.
Coral Springs has two designated Florida Heritage sites. The Coral Springs Covered Bridge
Coral Springs Covered Bridge
The Coral Springs Covered Bridge is a 40 ft covered bridge located in Coral Springs, Florida and was the first permanent structure built in the city. It has also been honored with a Florida Heritage Site Marker.-Structure and design:...
was the first structure built in the city, in 1964. The steel bridge, 40 feet (12 m) in length, is the only covered bridge in Florida in the public right-of-way
Easement
An easement is a certain right to use the real property of another without possessing it.Easements are helpful for providing pathways across two or more pieces of property or allowing an individual to fish in a privately owned pond...
. The American Snuff Company
American Snuff Company
The American Snuff Company, formerly Conwood Sales Company LLC, is a division of Reynolds American, a major tobacco company. The American Snuff Company was acquired by Reynolds American in mid-2006 for $3.5 billion in cash. It now generates nearly 7% of Reynolds American's annual revenue. The...
provided two historical designs for the bridge sides, to make the structure appear aged. The Covered Bridge is depicted in Coral Springs' seal. The Museum of Coral Springs History started as a real estate office. Built outside the city limits, the single-room wooden structure was moved to Coral Springs and became its first administration building. Later it was used as the first police station, and as a Jaycees clubhouse; it was moved to the city dump in 1976, where it was used as a fire department training site for smoke drills. After it was inadvertently set on fire, public outcry prompted the building's relocation to Mullins Park for restoration. Since 1978, it has housed the city's history museum. The exhibits in the museum are historic items and city models.
Coral Springs is a sister city
Town twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
of Paraíso, Costa Rica
Paraíso, Costa Rica
Paraíso is a small city in Costa Rica, located 8 km southeast of Cartago. It is a tourist attraction due to its exceptionally beautiful surrounding locales.It was established in 1823.-Points of interest:...
.