Parkland, Florida

City in Florida, United States

7 min read

Parkland is a city in northern Broward County, Florida, United States. It is a suburb of Miami and located 42 miles (68 km) north of the city. As of the 2020 census, the population of Parkland was 34,670. Parkland is part of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to 6,166,488 people in 2020.

Parkland's zoning laws are designed to protect the "park-like" character of the city. There were no stores or traffic lights in Parkland until the mid-1990s and early 2000s when large neighborhood developments (Heron Bay and Parkland Isles) were built. The city of Parkland has been known since its early days for its assortment of park spaces and its emphasis on environmental preservation and equestrianism, so beloved, that over the first decade of Parkland's existence horses had outnumbered the town's population.

History

On July 10, 1963, a city charter was passed upon legislative approval after actively supported through the Florida State House of Representatives as House bill 2079, guided through the Florida House with the aid of Representative Emerson Alsworth Esq., from the original idea of a city charter for an unincorporated rural ranch style open spaced town of founder and local farmer, rancher, veteran, and politician Bruce Blount. Early on, Blount put up tracts of his private land, calling his town BBB Ranches, in his original attempts for official recognition. Rep. Alsworth would facilitate this process of approval by adding in the bill the name of the proposed town as Parkland, a description befitting Blount's initial proposal of an undeveloped town out of the way of the building boon of Broward County. And after a passing vote in July, on August 12, 1963, Parkland was officially recognized as a city of the state of Florida, by C. Farris Bryant, the Governor of Florida. Blount would go on to be the inaugural mayor of Parkland, previously having served as mayor and city commissioner of Pompano Beach.

On February 14, 2018, at the site of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the lone public high school in Parkland, became the scene of a deadly mass shooting perpetrated by Nikolas Cruz, a former student of the school. Surpassing the death toll at Columbine High School, the Stoneman Douglas shooting became the fifth deadliest shooting at a school inside of the United States.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 12.8 square miles (33.2 km²), of which 12.3 square miles (31.9 km²) is land and 0.50 square miles (1.3 km²) (3.97%) is water. The northern boundary of Parkland coincides with the border between Broward and Palm Beach counties. West Boca Raton, an unincorporated area of Palm Beach County that extends west of Boca Raton's city limits, lies to the north. Coconut Creek lies to the east, Coral Springs lies to the south and the west is bounded by the Everglades.

Climate

Parkland has a tropical climate, similar to the climate found in much of the Caribbean. It is part of the only region in the 48 contiguous states that falls under that category. More specifically, it generally has a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen climate classification: Af), bordering a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen climate classification: Am).

Demographics

2010 and 2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 34,670 people, 9,819 households, and 8,526 families residing in the city.

According to a 2016 estimate, the median income for a household in the city was $131,340, and the estimated median house value was $596,212. Males had a median income of $103,942 versus $81,425 for females. The per capita income for the city was $56,793. About 2.0% of families and .4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.2% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 23,962 people, 7,073 households, and 6,084 families residing in the city.

2000 census

In 2000, the city population was spread out, with 35.1% under the age of 18, 4.3% from 18 to 24, 32.8% from 25 to 44, 24.0% from 45 to 64, and 3.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.7 males.

As of 2000, 82.79% of inhabitants spoke English at home, while 11.48% spoke Spanish, of 2.03% spoke Italian, and 1.20% spoke German.

Politics

Parkland elects a five-member City Commission. Elections are non-partisan, however, all current members are party-affiliated (4 Democrats and 1 Republican).

Education

Broward County Public Schools operates public schools in Parkland.

Public high school

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School serves almost all of the city limits, while small sections are zoned to Coral Springs High School

In addition, the community is in the service area of the magnet school Pompano Beach High School.

Public middle school

Westglades Middle School in Parkland serves almost all of the city limits, while small sections are zoned to Forest Glen Middle School in Coral Springs.

Public elementary schools

Riverglades Elementary School
Park Trails Elementary School
Heron Heights Elementary School

Portions are zoned to Coral Park and Park Springs elementaries in Coral Springs.

Private primary schools

Mary Help of Christians School (of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami)

Notable people

Caesar Bacarella, race car driver
Nick Bilton, journalist, author, and filmmaker
Alfonso Calderón Atienzar, activist against gun violence, survivor of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, and a founding member of the Never Again MSD movement
Sarah Chadwick, activist against gun violence, survivor of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, and one of the leaders of the Never Again MSD movement
Ashley Cooke, country music singer
Jaclyn Corin, activist against gun violence and survivor of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting
Ryan Deitsch, student activist against gun violence and one of the founding members of the Never Again MSD movement who survived the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting
Sam Deitsch, author and gun control activist who survived the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting
Aalayah Eastmond, activist and advocate for gun violence prevention, social justice, and racial equality, and survivor of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting
X González, political activist who survived the 2018 shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School shooting and organized protests in response to it
Fred Guttenberg, activist against gun violence whose daughter, Jaime Guttenberg, was murdered in the Parkland high school shooting
David Hogg, gun control activist and survivor of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting
Lauren Hogg, activist against gun violence who survived the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting and sister of David Hogg
Kyle Kashuv, conservative activist who survived the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting
Cameron Kasky, activist and advocate against gun violence who co-founded Never Again MSD and March for Our Lives, and survived the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting
Roberto Luongo, former NHL goalie for the Florida Panthers, has lived in Parkland since 2000
Jared Moskowitz, U.S. representative and former Florida representative, Broward County commissioner, and Director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management
Andrew Peeke, professional NHL ice hockey player
George Poveromo, renowned saltwater angler and host of "World of Saltwater Fishing" on the Discovery Channel
Anthony Rizzo, former professional baseball player
Dara Torres, former competitive swimmer, who is a 12-time Olympic medalist
Jon Weiner, ESPN radio host
Alex Wind, activist against gun violence, one of the founding member of the Never Again MSD movement, and survivor of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting
XXXTentacion, rapper and singer, lived in Parkland from 2017 until his death