The Complete Guide to Living in Broward County: Which City Actually Fits Your Family
Here is something that almost every Fort Lauderdale video on the internet gets wrong: they show you Las Olas, a boat, a sunset, and call it a day. That is like judging all of Los Angeles by Hollywood Boulevard or New York by Times Square alone.
Broward County has half a dozen distinct personalities within Fort Lauderdale itself — and that is before you get to the suburbs like Weston, Parkland, Hollywood, Coral Springs, and Davie. Some of these places are 15 minutes apart and feel like completely different worlds. Some are just a couple of streets apart and feel the same way.
This is not a ranking. It is a map. By the end of it, you will know which part of Broward County fits your family's lifestyle — plus my personal top five, a sleeper pick, and the one place that I think best captures what South Florida living is actually about.
I'm Joe Vairo — a 2x eXp ICON Agent, ranked the #3 real estate agent in Fort Lauderdale by Fort Lauderdale Magazine, and founder of the Vairo Group, ranked the #3 real estate team in Fort Lauderdale. I grew up here, I live here, and my team has helped hundreds of families buy and sell homes across Broward County and all of South Florida. Here is the honest guide.
One Thing Worth Knowing First: Broward Is Not Shrinking, It's Trading Up
On paper, Broward County's population looks like it is shrinking — more people left last year than moved in. But follow the money rather than the head count and a different story emerges. Domestic migration brought a net $3 billion more into Broward County than it took out over the last five years. The people leaving are being replaced by wealthier residents who are no longer just coming for the tax advantages and the weather — they are coming for the lifestyle and the location. Fort Lauderdale specifically ranks top ten nationally for inbound wealth growth. Broward is not declining. It is trading residents.
Pembroke Pines and Miramar: The Smart South Broward Value Play
If you want a great family suburb with a shorter commute toward Miami-Dade and want your dollar to stretch further, Pembroke Pines and Miramar are worth serious attention.
Pembroke Pines is Broward's second-largest city, built almost entirely around master-planned family living. Gated communities like Grand Palms, Chapel Trail, and Silver Lakes deliver community pools, top-rated schools, and generous park infrastructure without the price tags you find further east. Miramar sits right next door with strong neighborhoods like Monarch Lakes, Silver Falls, and Riviera Isles — a mix of families, professionals, and young workers commuting to Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and sometimes even Boca.
A Saturday here might mean a morning at CB Smith Park and dinner at the Gardens Mall — which has a Nike outlet worth the visit. The trade-off is real: you are 30 to 40 minutes from the beach and downtown Fort Lauderdale, and neither city has a truly walkable downtown. But for the family that values Costco proximity, strong schools, and a shorter Miami commute over being close to the water, this corner of South Broward is one of the smartest buys in the entire county.
Cooper City: Someplace Special for Families
If your priority is great schools, quiet streets, tons of parks, and more house for the money — Cooper City deserves a serious look. My team shows it to families constantly, and a lot of people I know growing up in Fort Lauderdale actually grew up here.
Cooper City has built its entire identity around being a genuine family town while staying close to everything. The city's own slogan is "Someplace Special" and it earns it. A-rated schools, low crime, community pools, and youth sports leagues that function as a rite of passage — everyone who grows up in Cooper City plays youth sports. Communities like Monarch Lakes, River Chase, and Embassy Lakes are exactly the neighborhoods families move here specifically to access.
Life here is not flashy. Saturday morning is soccer, afternoon is a cookout by the pool with friends. If your dream is walking to a boat slip or being five minutes from downtown, you will feel that gap in Cooper City. But for families who want the suburban sweet spot with good schools and a strong community without breaking the bank, Cooper City checks almost every box.
Weston: The Suburb Done Right
If you want great schools, manicured neighborhoods, golf, proximity to everything, and almost nothing left to chance — Weston is the answer.
Weston was built from scratch in the 1990s as a planned community, and it shows in the best way. Wide boulevards, mature landscaping, HOAs that actually enforce standards, top-tier schools, and a polish that is rare to find this close to both Miami and Fort Lauderdale. The biking infrastructure here is also genuinely excellent — a detail that matters if you are doing any kind of endurance training. Communities like Weston Hills, Bonaventure, and Windmill Ranch draw families and executives who want the suburbs done right.
A Saturday in Weston might mean a round of golf, lunch at Weston Town Center, and an early evening because the kids have practice the next morning. Weston does not have a real beach or an urban downtown — Weston Town Center is the gathering point and it is evolving nicely — but you are only 15 to 20 minutes from everything you need. For the buyer whose definition of a dream home is a complete, well-run system where nothing feels unfinished, Weston is genuinely hard to beat.
Southwest Ranches and Davie: Land, Privacy, and Room to Breathe
If your dream home needs a barn rather than a clubhouse — if you want acreage, horses, and neighbors you cannot see — Southwest Ranches and Davie are Broward County's equestrian country.
Southwest Ranches is the dream for anyone who wants space above everything else. The zoning is specifically designed to protect large acreage agricultural properties. Barns, riding rings, and genuine privacy are the baseline here, not the exception. This is also where a significant number of celebrities and athletes choose to live in South Florida, and it is not hard to understand why — almost every home sits on over an acre, and the combination of space and location is nearly impossible to replicate elsewhere in the county.
Davie leans into the same identity with a Western heritage twist — the Davie Pro Rodeo is a genuine local institution — and adds a college town dynamic with Nova Southeastern University right in the mix. The trade-off is obvious: you are driving to almost everything. But if your vision of a dream home includes a home gym, a basketball court, a pool, and room to actually run on your own property, this is where that vision lives in Broward County.
Hollywood Beach: The Boardwalk City That Is Finally Having Its Moment
If your perfect day involves flip-flops, coffee overlooking the water, no real agenda, and one of the last real boardwalks in South Florida — Hollywood Beach is the answer.
Hollywood's boardwalk stretches almost two and a half miles along the sand, lined with restaurants, ice cream shops, bars, and a genuinely laid-back energy that is different from anywhere else in South Florida. A morning walk, an afternoon at the beach, dinner at sunset watching the boardwalk traffic — that is a normal Tuesday here.
Real estate in Hollywood skews toward condos rather than single-family, though there are solid single-family options especially around the Hollywood Circle. The bigger story right now is the development momentum that is finally reaching Hollywood — for years the attention skipped from Fort Lauderdale straight to Miami without stopping. That is changing, and the transformation now underway positions Hollywood as one of the better long-term value plays in the county for the buyer who gets there ahead of the curve.
Downtown Fort Lauderdale and the Waterfront Neighborhoods: The Heart of the South Florida Lifestyle
For energy, walkability, an active downtown that is genuinely on the rise, and the most complete version of the South Florida lifestyle — downtown Fort Lauderdale and its surrounding waterfront neighborhoods are where it all comes together.
Las Olas Boulevard is the living room — restaurants, boutiques, bars, coffee, gelato, walkable at a real human scale. Flagler Village and FAT Village bring an arts and brewery edge to the north of downtown, similar in character to Wynwood in Miami but more approachable. New residential towers are reshaping the skyline. Office space is growing. The entire downtown core is alive in a way it was not even five years ago.
For the waterfront buyer specifically — the buyer whose definition of luxury is a boat in the backyard and direct ocean access — Fort Lauderdale has earned the Venice of America nickname honestly. Over 300 miles of inland waterways and canals. Neighborhoods like Rio Vista, Las Olas Isles, Harbor Beach, and Lauderdale Harbors where the canal-front lifestyle is built directly into the address. Half the homes in these neighborhoods have a yacht parked out back that costs more than the home itself. You pull out for the afternoon, run through Port Everglades, come back in time for dinner on your own patio. Nothing else in Broward County replicates this.
The surrounding pocket neighborhoods — Rio Vista, Tarpon River, Colee Hammock, Victoria Park — give buyers who want the downtown access without the high-rise condo format a single-family or townhome option that is still walkable to everything. The trade-off throughout this corridor is the same as any growing urban market: traffic and parking are getting worse, and prices are moving up. If you want to be somewhere clearly on the rise, downtown Fort Lauderdale is almost impossible to ignore right now.
Coral Springs and Parkland: Schools, Space, and Community Done at Scale
If A-rated schools, manicured master-planned communities, and a genuine sense that the city was designed for families are the priorities — Coral Springs and Parkland are the answer at the northern end of Broward.
I grew up in Coral Springs. The city has been recognized nationally for its parks, planning, and community infrastructure. Parkland right next door has become one of the most sought-after addresses in the entire county — recently ranked the number one place to live in all of Florida — drawing families who could afford to live almost anywhere and still choose Parkland for its larger homes, excellent schools, and the proximity to Boca Raton's character without Boca's prices. Communities like Heron Bay and Parkland Golf and Country Club deliver that complete experience.
The trade-off is distance: you are 25 to 30 minutes from the beach, and neither city is a nightlife destination. For families whose top priorities are schools, parks, and community over beach proximity and evening energy, this pairing is genuinely hard to beat anywhere in South Florida.
Pompano Beach: The City That Is Finally Getting Its Moment
Pompano Beach spent years in Fort Lauderdale and Boca's shadow — and that is changing fast, which is exactly why we are calling it Pompano Yes.
The pier has been rebuilt. The beachfront corridor has been revitalized. New dining and major redevelopment are reshaping both the downtown core and the beachfront. The city still carries a quieter, more local character than its neighbors, and real estate remains one of the better relative values on the waterfront — though certain pockets are quietly catching up to the new energy.
The development story here is as compelling as anywhere in the county. The Ritz-Carlton Residences are coming to Pompano. The world's first standalone Waldorf Astoria Residences is coming to Pompano. Over $4 billion in committed investment is reshaping the city. If that does not signal where Pompano is heading, nothing will. The boating and fishing culture that has always been here is not going anywhere — and now serious institutional capital has arrived around it.
Lauderdale-by-the-Sea: The Best Small Beach Town in South Florida
If you want small beach town energy with no high-rises, a genuine downtown, and a community that has figured out exactly what it wants to be — Lauderdale-by-the-Sea might be the best-kept secret in Broward County.
A strict height ordinance means you will only find boutique buildings, single-family homes, and townhomes here. The intersection of A1A and Commercial is a real walkable downtown with breakfast spots, coffee, bars, and Billy Jack's for a burger and a beer. The underwater world here is exceptional — Lauderdale-by-the-Sea is the beach diving capital of Florida, with Anglin's Pier Reef right offshore and the SS Copenhagen a bit further out. People who live here love the events, the laid-back pace, and the genuine community character that is increasingly rare in South Florida. You are still close enough to Fort Lauderdale and Pompano for everything you need.
Plantation: The Most Practically Located City in Broward County
If your priority is convenience — being close to everything without being committed to any one thing — Plantation delivers.
You are centrally located relative to Fort Lauderdale, Weston, Pembroke Pines, Coral Springs, and even Boca. Easy access to I-95, I-595, and the Turnpike. Close to Sawgrass Mills Mall, great parks, excellent golf, and Plantation Walk for dining. You are 15 to 20 minutes from downtown Fort Lauderdale without paying downtown prices. Tons of single-family homes and solid townhome options. And Plantation is home to American Heritage School, which Niche ranks as the number one private school in Broward County — and a perennial football powerhouse that routinely sends players to the NFL.
Hallandale Beach: Oceanfront Luxury Without Miami Beach Prices
If you want oceanfront luxury but do not want to pay Miami Beach prices and do not need Fort Lauderdale's energy — Hallandale Beach sits right on the Broward-Miami border and has one of the fastest-changing skylines in the county.
The proximity to Gulfstream Park and Aventura Mall drives significant activity. Luxury condo inventory that barely existed a decade ago is now genuinely competitive. The trade-off is that traffic can be difficult, construction is constant, and the city is still finding its full identity. But for buyers searching for oceanfront new construction at a relative discount to Miami, Hallandale Beach is worth a serious look.
The Sleeper Pick Nobody Talks About: Oakland Park
Oakland Park is surrounded by Fort Lauderdale in every direction — and most people researching Broward County never give it serious attention. That is a mistake.
The location is nearly ideal: close to the beach, close to Fort Lauderdale's lifestyle and restaurant scene, close to everything. Oakland Park has its own genuinely good downtown area, Funky Buddha Brewery is one of the best breweries in the county, and wine bars like Rebel Wine Bar and spots like Vandoleros round out a food and beverage scene that is more interesting than most people expect. The character is slightly more hipster than Fort Lauderdale proper — and the price reflects the opportunity.
Median sales price for a single-family home in Fort Lauderdale currently sits around $682,000. In Oakland Park, it is approximately $519,000. That is a $163,000 discount for essentially the same access to Fort Lauderdale's lifestyle. Oakland Park deserves more attention than it gets.
Honorable Mentions
Lighthouse Point — Small, exclusive, boating-focused, no fixed bridges, deep water, Hillsboro Inlet. One of the best boating communities in all of Broward County.
Coconut Creek — Known as the butterfly capital of the world. Genuinely family-friendly with great parks and a quieter pace than its neighbors.
Wilton Manors — Small, artsy, walkable, with real character, excellent local restaurants, and some of the best community events in the county.
Hillsboro Beach — Tiny exclusive barrier island town with some of the most private oceanfront real estate in Broward County — beachfront single-family homes with Intracoastal frontage on the other side.
My Personal Top Five
Fort Lauderdale — Where I live, and where I see the most complete South Florida lifestyle in one place. The waterways, the downtown, the boating, the restaurants — if I had to describe South Florida in one city, this is it. Complaint: traffic and parking keep getting worse.
Pompano Beach — I am probably the most bullish person on the internet about Pompano. The momentum is real and the opportunity is real. Only complaint: we need more restaurants and office space, not just condos.
Plantation — Practical, central, genuinely easy to live in. Great for families who love Fort Lauderdale but want more space and value. Best of everything without breaking the bank.
Coral Springs and Parkland — Schools, communities, parks, and space. Still more affordable than Boca. The only downside is the 25 to 35-minute drive to the water — but for the right family, that trade-off is completely worth it.
Southwest Ranches — My pick for anyone who wants real space, acreage, and privacy. I am going to live there at some point and you will probably only see me at Costco and Publix — because I will have everything I need on the property. The home gym, the pool, the basketball court, the room to actually run. The only downside is it is quiet — but that is the entire point.
Which Part of Broward County Is Right for Your Family?
Broward County is not one lifestyle. It is a dozen different lifestyles sharing the same county lines — from the boat-in-the-backyard canal neighborhoods of Fort Lauderdale to the equestrian acreage of Southwest Ranches, from the boardwalk energy of Hollywood Beach to the master-planned family suburbs of Weston and Parkland. There is genuinely something for every type of buyer somewhere in this county.
The work is figuring out which lifestyle actually fits your family before you buy — not after.
Ready to Find the Right Part of Broward County for Your Family?
I'm Joe Vairo with the Vairo Group. Whether you are six months into your research or ready to make a move, my team and I help families navigate this exact decision every single day — matching lifestyle to location so you land in the right place the first time.
📲 Text or call me at 954-830-1126
📩 Email me at [email protected] anytime — I respond personally
Joe Vairo is a 2x eXp ICON Agent, South Florida real estate agent, and Fort Lauderdale Magazine's #3 ranked agent in Fort Lauderdale. The Vairo Group, ranked the #3 real estate team in Fort Lauderdale, specializes in waterfront properties and luxury relocation in the $1M+ market.
