West Palm Beach 55+ Communities
One of the most happening and historic cities in the area, West Palm Beach is the largest municipality and "county seat" of Palm Beach County, FL. West Palm Beach is nestled south of Riviera Beach, east of Loxahatchee and Wellington, and north of Lake Worth. Located about 70 miles north of downtown Miami, West Palm Beach is considered a principal city in the Miami metropolitan area. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of April 2020, the population in West Palm Beach was around 117,415. West Palm Beach is the oldest municipality in southeast Florida, incorporated in November 1894, two years before Miami. The West Palm Beach municipality website states that the cities mission is: "In partnership with our communities, West Palm Beach delivers exceptional customer service that enhances quality of life." Adding a Vision, and Core Values - DIRECT - Diversity, Integrity, Respect, Excellence, Collaboration, and Transparency.
There are nearly sixty West Palm Beach 55+ Communities, with monthly association dues ranging from approx. $250 to $550, some with capital contribution requirements. Additionally, most have leasing and other restrictions. When browsing the neighborhood of interest, be sure to click on the Association Information square to find out. Constructed between 1968 and 2007, West Palm Beach 55+ Communities offer a variety of designs and cozy architectural styles. Examples include beachy vintage 1970s condos and slick modern single-family homes constructed with stucco, stone, and concrete. Total square footage runs up to around 1,656 on the high end, terrific for downsizing or a winter getaway home. Frequent amenities include plenty of outdoor spaces to enjoy, like a pool or tropical gardens, plus the beach is a short drive away. Diligently and efficiently maintained living spaces are easy to care for. Often, fees paid to the governing association cover plenty of external and standard maintenance.
West Palm Beach Lifestyle
With all-year-round outdoor living, plus tons of adventures, events, and things to do, active adults thrive in the endless summer vibes of West Palm Beach 55+ communities. The biodiversity showcased in and around the area is magic, the city of West Palm Beach alone features over 50 parks. There are also county and state parks close by, providing educational programs, nature centers, boating, boardwalks, trails, fitness courses, recreational facilities, plenty of sports, outdoor events, and much more.
This is a prime location for diving enthusiasts as the area is known for some of the best diving and snorkeling spots in South Florida. It's a short drive to renowned Phil Foster Park showcasing an 800-foot long snorkel trail under the Blue Heron Bridge, and Peanut Island is close by, the size of around 80 acres, reachable only by boat. From beginner to advanced to professional, reefs are accessible to all levels. Also, John D. MacArthur State Park is a hop skip and a jump away, home to 1.6 miles of untouched Atlantic shoreline accessed by trolley or foot over the Lake Worth Lagoon through a charming wooden boardwalk bridge. There is a nature center, mangrove trails to explore, kayaking through the Lagoon, ocean swimming, snorkeling, plus sea turtle interpretation programs, food truck & specialty car events, plus moonlight concerts, to name a few. For more of the Everglade wetland freshwater marsh terrain, Grassy Waters Preserve is a terrific spot to check out, equipped with 15,000 acres of land filled with boardwalks and trails, guided tours and events, plus an educational nature center.
Golf aficionados worldwide are drawn to the West Palm Beach area as there are top-rated rolling greens with crisp tropical backdrops available all year long. There are some of the best private and public golf courses in the country, including the renovated municipal North Palm Beach Country Club, given to the city of North Palm Beach by Jack Nicklaus. The region hosts well-known golf events such as The Honda Classic. Established in 1972, this world-famous golf tournament is currently hosted at the PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, around a twenty-minute drive from West Palm Beach.
The city of West Palm Beach highlights and supports local businesses, philanthropy, and non-profits. The city hosts many public art installations, and numerous organizations and galleries support artistic expression, such as The Four Arts. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens are designed throughout the previous home and Intracoastal land of Ann Weaver Norton, revered artist, sculptor, and children's book author and illustrator. There are over 250 different types of palm trees and other tropical botanicals to explore, installations & exhibits by internationally acclaimed artists, diverse educational programs, special events such as Music in the Gardens, to name a few. West Palm Beach is home to the county's oldest and largest public garden, Mounts Botanical Garden. Then there is Whitehall, the estate home to Henry Morrison Flagler, constructed in 1901, now home to the Flagler Museum. Flagler is widely considered one of the most influential contributors to the development of east Florida. Visitors can participate in guided tours, presenting historical insight and what feels like time travel into the heart, glitz, and glamour of the Gilded Age.
Top-rated shopping, dining, breweries, and events can be found downtown at The Square, and on Clematis Street, the City of West Palm Beach provides a free handicap-accessible trolly service between the two. SunFest, the largest waterfront art and music festival in the state, has been hosted in downtown WPB at the beginning of May since 1982. This long weekend event's finale crowd favorite is a world-class firework display over the Intracoastal on Sunday night. On the other hand, the big fall event, Moonfest, a big Halloween block party on Clematis street, has been happening for over twenty-five years. Additionally, active adults living in one of the 55+ West Palm Beach Communities stay hip on the music scene with Bumblefest, an annual indie rock festival celebrating Purehoney Magazine's anniversary since 2014.
Comedy lovers can check out some of the best standup comedians in the world at Palm Beach Improv. Live theater, symphonies, ballet, and other worldwide, sophisticated, and cutting-edge performances can be seen at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts. The Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach is a terrific resource for residents, offering various educational events, programs, and tools. Included in the plethora of farmers' markets in the area, the West Palm Beach Greenmarket is filled with colorful, tasty, local, fresh produce. The market is gorgeous, neighboring the Meyer Amphitheater at Sunfest Park to the south on the Intracoastal. The Greenmarket is open each Saturday through April 16 from 9 am - 1 pm.
History
The history of people in the area we know today as West Palm Beach is thought to go back 5,000 years. In 1513 when Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León showed up for the first time, he found a thriving native settlement of around 20,000 people. Grouped into regional tribes, there were three predominant native settlements in the Palm Beach area. In the Lake Okeechobee Basin, the Mayaimi tribe, whose ancestors were likely one of the most ancient tribes in the area, the Belle Glade dated back to 1000 BC. From where the city of West Palm Beach sits today, there were the Ais and Jaeaga, who spanned on the northeast coastline and east of Okeechobee, and to the south on the coast and into the Everglades, the Tequesta.
In the early 1700s, native communities from Georgia and Alabama migrated south to the area known as the Miccosukee and Seminole tribes. Fast forward to February 10th, 1763, the Treaty of Paris was signed, and the Seven Years' War (French and Indian War) ended. After much discourse, an agreement is made, the treaty is passed, Spain keeps Cuba, but Britain takes over Florida. By this point, the entire native tribe population took a hit due to diseases brought from Europe, enslavement, and war. An influx of transplants from all over the world, including settlers from the newly formed United States of America and Spain, plus escaped enslaved people from the north who found safety with the Seminoles. Three Seminole Wars were fought from 1817 to 1858. The Florida Department of State website mentions by the time the Third Seminole War ended, the population of Seminoles had dwindled to around 200.
Flagler and on
Notable business tycoon Henry Morrison Flagler had many aspirations in a few different industries before he teamed up with a small group of investors, including the Rockefeller brothers, to create the Standard Oil Company. By 1878, when Flagler's wife, Mary, fell tragically ill and the family took the doctor's recommendation to winter in Florida, the Standard Oil Company proved a great success. While spending time in northeast Florida, Flagler discovered a lack of available transportation and lodging facilities. Quick to catch an opportunity of this magnitude, he took a small step back from the oil industry, setting his eyes on Florida.
In 1885, for the first time, Flagler illustrated the extent of his ambition by breaking ground on the Hotel Ponce de Leon in St. Augustine. The building, architecturally and design inspired by the Spanish Renaissance style, was completed around 1888 and grew to become the archetype of large-scale building construction using poured-in-place concrete. Today, the structure is a National Historic Landmark, and the heart of Flagler College Campus. Around the same time, he acquired the NE Florida Railway System, soon to be the Florida East Coast Railway, his crowned jewel. From around 1894 to 1896, the railway system expanded to the area we now know today as West Palm Beach and continued to build southward to its completion in Key West in 1912. Around 1896, Flagler built the Palm Beach Inn, an oceanfront resort on Palm Beach Island, today is known as The Breakers Palm Beach.
Essentially, the mainland, across the Intracoastal, Flagler contributed to building a residential and commercial hub in order to support the resort. The cities population grew to around 1,000 residents by 1895. Only weeks apart, there were two 1896 fires wreaking havoc on the recently incorporated city, particularly the business district. This prompted the city to implement new building code requirements, including what type of materials structures must be built with, and from then on, the infrastructure of the city became more dependable and sound.
In 1917, the completion of the West Palm Beach Canal accelerated the cities growth by allowing access from Florida's east coast to the west. This great expansion continued on into the Florida Land Boom of the 1920s, where this growth continued at an astounding too good to be true pace. Within a couple of years, the east coast of Florida was hit by two catastrophic storms, the 1926 Miami Hurricane and the 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane. Population growth had already begun to dramatically slow down and property values plunged in the area by the time the stock market crashed in 1929. This deceleration continued until around the middle of the 1930s. The Palm Beach Air Force Base created an influx of Military service people and their families to West Palm Beach and the surrounding area.
