Boca Raton is a city located in Palm Beach County, Florida and was incorporated in May of 1925. As of the 2000 census, the incorporated area had a total population of 74,764, the 2004 population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 78,069.. It is the largest city between West Palm Beach and Pompano Beach. However, on November 2, 2004, the voters of the Via Verde Association and the residents of the Waterside community approved annexation into the incorporated area of Boca Raton, increasing the city population to 83,960 and land area to a total of 29.6 square miles.
Boca Raton is located at 26°22'N 80°6'W (26.37, -80.10). Boca Raton is the second most populous and southernmost city in Palm Beach County. It is located on the East coast of Florida between Delray Beach to the north and Deerfield Beach, in Broward County, to the south.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 75.4 km2 (29.1 mi2). 70.4 km2 (27.2 mi2) of it is land and 5.0 km2 (1.9 mi2) of it is water. The total area is 6.63% water. Substantial parts of metropolitan Boca Raton including most areas west of Interstate 95, are actually the unincorporated parts of Boca Raton.
As of the census of 2000, there are 74,764 people, 31,848 households, and 20,000 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,061.7/km2 (2,749.8/mi2). There are 37,547 housing units at an average density of 533.2/km2 (1,381.0/mi2). The racial makeup of the city is 90.75% White, 3.76% African American, 0.16% Native American, 1.99% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.39% from other races, and 1.90% from two or more races. 8.51% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 31,848 households out of which 24.1% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.1% are married couples living together, 7.1% have a female householder with no husband present, and 37.2% are non-families. 29.5% of all households are made up of individuals and 11.6% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.26 and the average family size is 2.81.
In the city the population is spread out with 18.9% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 26.4% from 25 to 44, 26.7% from 45 to 64, and 19.8% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 43 years. For every 100 females there are 95.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 92.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $60,248, and the median income for a family is $77,861. Males have a median income of $52,287 versus $33,347 for females. The per capita income for the city is $45,628. 6.7% of the population and 4.1% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 6.0% of those under the age of 18 and 4.9% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
Boca Raton and its neighboring communities in south Palm Beach County have drawn a very large number of Modern Orthodox Jews who have established a network of synagogues and yeshivas. Many Jewish residents of this community tend to be involved with numerous Religious Zionist causes and express strong support for Israel.
Listed on early maps as "Boca Ratones," many people wrongly assume the name is simply translated to "Rat's Mouth." The Spanish word boca (or mouth) was often used to describe an inlet, while raton (literally mouse) was used as a term for a cowardly thief. But the Thieves Inlet, Boca Ratones, originally appeared on eighteenth century maps associated with an inlet in the Biscayne Bay area of Miami. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, the term was mistakenly moved north on most maps and applied to Lake Boca Raton, whose inlet was closed at the time. Non-locals often mispronounce the city name. "Boca Raton" rhymes with "tone" and "alone," not with "baton."
The city's early history was as the site of Addison Mizner's Boca Raton Hotel, its most prominent building. The "pink hotel" today is visible from miles away as a towering building on the Intracoastal Waterway. The Pearl City neighborhood of Boca Raton was established to originally house the service personnel for the hotel. Japanese farmers of the Yamato Colony converted the land west of the city into pineapple plantations beginning in 1904. During World War II much of their land was confiscated and used as the site of a major training facility for B-29 bomber crews. Much of the airbase was later donated to become the grounds of Florida Atlantic University, many of whose parking lots are former runways of the airbase, while part of the airbase is now used as Boca Raton Airport. The Japanese heritage of the Yamato Colony survives in the name of Yamato Road (NW 51st Street) just north of the airport and at the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens northwest of the city.
Boca Raton was the site of two now vanished amusement parks, Africa U.S.A. (1953-1961) and Ancient America (1953-1959). Africa U.S.A. was a wild animal park in which the tourists drove through the park and could view the animals outside their cars. It is now the Camino Gardens subdivision one mile (1.6 km) west of the Boca Raton Hotel. Ancient America was built surrounding a real Calusa Indian burial mound. Today, the mound is still visible within the Boca Marina & Yacht Club neighborhood on U.S. Highway 1, just north of Yamato Road.
In the late '60s Boca Raton became the southern home to International Business Machines. In 1965, well before the extension of I-95 into Suothern Florida, IBM purchased several hundred acres of real estate just west of the FEC right-of-way and just north of Florida Atlantic University. Construction of IBM's Boca Raton Main Site began in earnest in 1967, and the mammoth manufacturing and office complex was dedicated in March, 1970. The campus was designed with self-sufficiency in mind, and to that end sported its own electrical substation, water pumping station, and rail-spur. Among other very noteworthy IT accompolishments, such as the mass manufacture of the System/360 and development of the Series/1 mainframe computers, IBM Boca Raton Main Site was the birthplace of what we know today as the IBM PC, which later evolved into the IBM PS/2. In 1989, IBM relocated their manufacturing for what became the IBM PC Company to Research Triangle Park in Raleigh, North Carolina, and converted the cavernous manufacturing facilities into offices and laboratories--later producing ground-breaking products such as the OS/2 operating system and Voice-Type Dictation, known today as ViaVoice voice-recognition software.
IBM maintained its facilities at Boca Raton until 1995, when the facility was closed and sold to the Blue Lake Real Estate, who in turn sold it to T-REX Management Consortium. Today, T-Rex has revitalized the once-deteriorating facility and its surrounding real estate into a highly-successful business and research park. What used to be IBM Facility Building 051--a highly robust, secure, secretive complex separated from the former main IBM campus by Spanish River Boulevard and informally referred to as the IBM Skunk Works--was donated to the Palm Beach County School District and converted into Don Estridge High-Tech Middle School. It is named for the late Don Estridge, whose brilliant team was responsible for giving the world the first IBM-PC.
Boca Raton became famous for passing a city ordinance banning the further development of multi-family housing within the city limits and for special zoning that limits the size and types of commercial buildings and advertisement signs which may be erected within the city limits. There are no traditional car dealerships in Boca Raton because of these limits on roadside use, but a luxury car dealer did showcase a few cars inside a roadside building having glass walls. Corporations such as McDonald's had to redesign their classic "golden arches" restaurant to conform to Boca Raton's sign zoning restrictions. The unincorparated part of Boca Raton still feature the classic arches, but the heights of the signs were reduced. The effects can be seen in the city in which a number of buildings were constructed with classic Addison Mizner architecture and in the subdued roadside advertising.
In 1991, a new downtown shopping center, Mizner Park, was built over the site of a defunct and vacant galleria mall. It has since become a cultural center for the city. Featuring a landscaped central park between two cobblestone roads (collectively called Plaza Real) with stores only on the outside of the roads, Mizner Park resembles a Mediterranean suburb with a more contemporary look. It features many fine restaurants and is home to the Boca Raton Museum of Art. In 2002, a new amphitheater was built replacing a smaller one, providing a large-capacity outdoor venue.
However, despite Mizner Park's success, crime and racism occurred. In the mid 1990s, the Ku Klux Klan marched down Plaza Real; there were also several shootings, stick-ups, and a minor crime causing fountain damage from liquid soap. It was fixed many months after and was eased from Hurricane Frances washing it away. The faux bell tower was however severly damaged. These harsh crimes and natural problems didn't stop the downtown remodeling project. Six new high-rise buildings were built downtown. The historical Bank of America building built in the 1960s was renovated and Charles Schwab moved in on the east side. It is the only building above the height limit that is allowed to be and is a symbol of Boca Raton's skyline.
In the early 21st century, Simon Malls bought out Town Center at Boca Raton and rebuilt the mall with an extension. Originally, it was feeling doomed since Mervyn's closed its store as well as another in the city. Saks Fifth Avenue then took and renovated the space and the old Saks was demolished and the lot was extended with a new anchor Nordstrom. The finished product was unveiled in late 2000 with over 25 new stores to shop in. It has now become a tourist attraction and one of the largest Simon malls in South Florida.
Other projects, such as the renovation and expansion of Boca Raton's YMCA facility will expand the incorporated area's limits.
Source:
BocaRatonFL.com
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