Two of the newest residents of Downtown Fort Lauderdale enjoyed a sunny walk on the Riverwalk. The weather was warm, neighbors walked their dogs, and many construction sites in downtown were energized by noise.
None of the hubbubs seemed to plague the ja or the journey. They are five week-old twin sisters who took a peaceful nap when their mother, Jame Callahan, pushed a double-decker stroller into the sidewalk.
“That’s a good idea,” Callahan, 40, said of raising a family in downtown Fort Lauderdale. “We were actually going to move to a suburban area, but we really like it here. It’s convenient for everything. We can go for a walk at midday, and we’re pretty safe here too.”
Data collected from the Downtown Development Authority in Fort Lauderdale confirms what many residents have noticed in recent years. Once a spot for retirees and beach butts in the ’90s, Downtown Fort Lauderdale now lives with young families.
Callahan, who moved to downtown for her job as a paralegal three years ago, noticed a trend in the apartment building where many of her neighbors raise toddlers.
“There’s a young crowd, especially in our building, so you wouldn’t think everything is centered around health, wellness, run clubs, etc,” she said. “But we have a lot of families.”
The DDA released its annual report in April. This includes an 83% increase in families with children since 2018 and an even more astounding 47% increase in families with children under the age of five over the past five years. The data sets Fort Lauderdale apart from other cities where young families have advantages in suburban and rural areas, particularly since the pandemic.
“If you compare it to almost every other major urban centre in the country, it’s a very opposite story,” says Matthew Schnur, DDA Research and Innovation Manager. “The words come out about how much Fort Lauderdale invests in its overall quality life. We are finally becoming a true year-round destination.”
This report – Downtown Lauderdale considers its area to be a 2.2-square-mile area within Sunrise Boulevard, Northwest Avenue/SW Force Avenue, SE 17th Street, US-1 and Las Olas. The population in the downtown area has grown 96% since 2010, and is now approaching 27,000 residents. Employment is also rising as downtown businesses employ 68,000 people. This is 3,000 more jobs than in 2023.
The data suggests that downtown Fort Lauderdale has seen $10 billion worth of housing, office and infrastructure development, multi-million dollar renovations of Huizenga Park, and the emerging dining scene (Fort Lauderdale has become Broward’s first Michelin star. According to Apartments.com, the average rent for Downtown Fort Lauderdale is around $2,900 a month, while Brickell, right next to downtown Miami, costs more than $3,500 a month.
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This area is just right for those who want to raise a family.
“This strong growth in population growth has been going on for decades,” Schnoor said. “The intention of Fort Lauderdale’s downtown was to become the centre of this growing and evolving city with incredible locations, habitability and quality of life comparable to other major cities. That vision has begun to come true, especially over the past five years.”
Factors of ease of walking
When 42-year-old Bryson Ridgeway (42), first moved to Fort Lauderdale after graduating from college in 2006, he wasn’t planning on staying too long. Almost 20 years later, Ridgway lives in the Rio Vista area with his wife, Catherine, and three children, ages 9, 11 and 13.
As a longtime resident, Ridgway has seen the evolution of downtown Fort Lauderdale, especially as housing options have increased over the past decade. He said the ease of walking in the area is a big draw. He can walk a quarter mile to drop off the kids at school, go to work a mile, and go to a three-block block at Las Olas restaurant.
While walking through all of that, he recently noticed a lot of new families in the neighborhood.
“And we noticed there was an influx of people behind us along with more kids,” he said. “That part is surprising, but when you intuitively think about it, it’s not at all surprising. A lot of people have started moving here since 2010 and ever, they haven’t left.”
After giving birth to twins, Callahan said the ease of walking downtown was a factor in the family’s decision to stay in town. Not only does her building have great amenities, but Callahan and her boyfriend can also walk to work with twins and nearby public spaces, like a riverwalk. Now she looks forward to the completion of the renovation of Huizenga Park, which will also be enjoyed by Journey and Jade.
“We don’t have to walk far to do anything,” Callahan said. “We rarely get into a car.”
Downtown institutions, community centres and museums are also adapting to the area’s growing population. Joecox, president and CEO of Discovery Science Museum, is looking at two major changes to the area: the city skyline and children.
“Even in downtown neighbourhoods like Flagler Village five years ago, we rarely saw strollers,” said Cox, who has been living in downtown since 2018. “It seems like they’re everywhere now.”
Cox said the museum, which caters to families with exhibits and IMAX movie theater, is working closely with the DDA to monitor changes in demographics. This means that the museum was ready for an influx of young children.
In August 2023, the museum opened a Discovery Spot. This is a 5,000-square-foot exhibit designed specifically for children under the age of six to learn about Florida’s ecosystems, such as the Everglades and Ocean. It was a hit right away. The attendance “surged,” Cox said.
“It’s all done in a developmentally appropriate way, very playful, very child-friendly,” Cox said.
The number of attendees that have been hit during the pandemic has exceeded the museum’s pre-pandemic level of about 400,000. Last year, we welcomed over 487,000 people.
The ease of walking in downtown also plays a role in museum attendance, he said.
“If you live in Palm Beach, I hope you will come to the museum frequently, but come as much as a family with a young child who can walk out of downtown Fort Lauderdale and jump out of school, and come along the river for a nice walk along the museum.
The museum has also seen significant growth in membership. Cox says it is an indicator of frequent visitors. In 2018, the museum had a family of about 2,000 people. Currently, there are over 6,000 families, many of whom live nearby.
Zion Otto, a resident of Oakland Park who lived in Fort Lauderdale as a teenager, took two children, Christopher, 4, and Serena, 2, to the museum to use the membership on a recent afternoon. As her children stared at the museum’s aquarium, Otto reflected on how much the area had changed.
Now 30, Otto said Downtown has become a great place for his family. Her son will be attending downtown preschool.
“I’m also looking at new developments like they’re building this new, huge, family-friendly park here,” she said, referring to Huizenga Park. In a short time since she returned from Texas to Fort Lauderdale, she made many friends with small children.
For Rabbi Chaim Slavaticki, the changes in demographics have been a huge surprise in recent years. When Slavaticki and his wife founded the Las Olas Jewish Community Center about 12 years ago, the majority of participants were young professionals or empty nesting people.
In recent years, he said that the family has seen such a dramatic increase, doubled attendance at community centre Hebrew schools. To cater to younger families, the center has launched a new family-friendly holiday program over the past two years and a new children’s Saturday program last year.
As a father of six children, ages 3 to 14, Slavatikki is happy to see this change. A few years ago, he said he was their only family on the street. Now, kids are everywhere, riding bikes and playing together.
“It’s beautiful,” Slavatikki said. “It’s a place where people feel very welcoming and everyone feels like they’re at their Fort Lauderdale home.”
Baby Pipeline
If you really need evidence of the baby boom in Fort Lauderdale Downtown, check out one of our daycare centers. The waitlist has been extended for more than a year in some locations.
“Our demand for care, especially for toddlers and toddlers, was so high that we couldn’t provide it. I think many other providers are on the same boat.” Her center, which offers day care through primary schools, has a growing list of waitlists.
Parents are keen to find quality services, Schrohler said, but there is not enough day care in the area.
“Downtown is becoming truly family-friendly and we’re here to support that,” she said.
Tara Barlow, owner of Nanny and Family-Care service provider Jovie, has noticed another interesting trend that is unique to Fort Lauderdale and downtown Broward County. To attract and retain workers, we have provided employees to Jovie’s childcare services for specific times. This allows you to day care for your kids on weekdays, for example, and have kids with Jovi’s nanny a few days a week, Barlow said.
“There was always demand, but demand changed the way you look and feel,” Barlow said.
In downtown Fort Lauderdale, where parents tend to work long hours in demanding areas, Barlow said Jovi’s clients use the service to maintain what she calls “work-life fuse” balance.
“(Parents) want it to take an hour or two so they can go to fitness classes right after work or just before work. “They understand that they also need to be able to balance that part of their life to be fully involved with their mental health and family.”
DDA statistics show that childcare services appearing in downtown Fort Lauderdale have a good pipeline for future clients. Since 2020, young professionals have increased by 40%.
Margo, 28, is one of his demographics. After graduating from graduate school in 2020, she moved to downtown Fort Lauderdale and worked for Styles, a real estate company. Notter, originally from Naples, Florida, said that Fort Lauderdale was “top of my list” while he was looking for a job. Young professionals like her own flocked to the city to work in several industries, including health, law, real estate and technology, she said.
She’s not sure where life will take her, but she says she has built such a strong sense of community in Fort Lauderdale, and she says she can see herself and perhaps even the family there.
“I have a lot of friends in South Florida. It’s close to my family. It was the ideal city for me,” she said.
