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Renting an Apartment in Lake Worth
Lake Worth is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, which takes its name from
the intercoastal waterway along its eastern border. The lake itself was named
for General William J. Worth, who led U.S. forces during the Second Seminole
War. As of 2006, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 36,342. It
is part of the South Florida metropolitan area, which is home to 5,463,857
people.
Local folklore has it that the first post office in the Lake Worth area was
founded in the 1880s by a married African American couple who were freed slaves.
The initial name for the post office was Jewel. The post office was located in a
small dry good shop which the couple operated to serve the lake traffic which
connected the small pioneer homesteads located along the banks of the Lake Worth
lagoon.
After Henry Flagler extended his rail line south from West Palm Beach to Miami
in 1896, a land development scheme was created to plant a townsite between the
railroad and the lake. Purchasers of lots within the townsite would also receive
a larger plot of land west of town for agricultural use. The initial name
proposed for the new town was Lucerne. However, the U.S. Post Office refused to
accept the name because there already was a Lucerne, Florida post office.
Therefore, the city fathers settled on the name Lake Worth, for the lake on
which the fledgling town was sited. One of the main streets was named Lucerne
Avenue instead. The city was officially incorporated in 1912. Many of the first
residents were farmers from other parts of the American south and mid-west,
looking to benefit from the growing winter vegetable market of the time. The
city benefited with the rest of south Florida during the Florida land boom of
the 1920's. A wooden automobile traffic bridge over Lake Worth was completed in
1919. The first casino and municipal beach complex was completed shortly
thereafter. The 1920s also saw the completion of the Gulfstream Hotel, which
towers over the downtown to this day.
The city was severely damaged in the 1928 hurricane, toppling the bell tower on
the elementary school (today the City Hall Annex) and destroying the beachfront
casino and automobile bridge over Lake Worth. This led to a severe economic
decline within the community which led into the Great Depression. Things were so
dire in the city in the 1930s, that President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Works
Progress Administration built a striking, moorish-styled "City Gymnasium" on the
corner of Lake Avenue and Dixie Highway to provide employment for the
impoverished citizenry. The building today serves as City Hall.
Development started again after World War II with many modest pensioners,
especially from Quebec, Finland and eventually Germany, moving to the city and
building 1,000 square foot cottages. These new immigrants brought their
industrious nature with them as well as their native customs, restaurants,
shops, and churches and for decades the town flourished. To this day one can
find an unusual abundance of beer halls, chocolatiers, Bavarian delicatessens
and Lutheran churches, which stand out in the semi-tropical urban sprawl of
south Florida.
The South Florida construction boom brought a new wave of immigrants in the past
few decades. Central American immigrants, largely from from Guatemala, have
added a Hispanic aspect to Lake Worth's culture. Sadly, an influx of cash
economy illegal aliens has also resulted in a rise in crime. Their fear of
reporting crime due to their status has contributed to a rise in criminals who
prey both on the immigrants' fear of deportation and the knowledge that these
illegals are paid in cash and rarely use the banking system. Currently, the
robbery rate is over 3 1/2 times the national average, and the overall crime
rate is over 2 1/3 times the national average.
After a short period of neglect and decline in the 1980s and 1990s, the downtown
area has seen a huge resurgence in interest and development and once moribund
property values have soared. The city's charming main street, Lake Avenue,
contains some of the oldest commercial structures in south Florida, including
the Lake Worth Play House and the art deco building, originally a cinema, which
formerly housed the PBICA. The re-discovery of this unique charm has spurred new
interest in the city.
The city was hit especially hard by Hurricanes Frances, Jeanne and Wilma in 2004
and 2005. Their famous fishing pier was the most damaged and with the help of
FEMA it is now being repaired; it is anticipated to reopen in the Spring of
2008.
Geography
Several geographical features in Palm Beach County confusingly use the words
"Lake Worth". The city of Lake Worth is named after a lake now usually called
Lake Worth Lagoon. This lake opens to the Atlantic ocean at the Port of Palm
Beach via the Lake Worth Inlet. Another inlet exists further south at Boynton
Beach. The port and two inlets are all distant from the city of Lake Worth. The
lake is a long channel that spans much of Palm Beach County; indeed the
Intracoastal Waterway traverses the length of the lake. The man-made inlets to
the ocean have replaced the natural freshwater with saltwater, such that the
lake is actually now a tidal body, instead of a true lake.
The USDA has mapped most of Lake Worth in the Southern Florida Flatwoods land
resource area. Deep, poorly drained acidic sandy soils are typical for the area;
they have gray topsoil, white subsoil, and a dark hardpan. Much of Lake Worth is
built on a rapidly drained white or gray sand which is too dry and infertile to
support vigorous plant growth. The western outskirts of Lake Worth are in the
Southern Florida Lowlands area. Topsoils there are sandy, but the subsoils have
a much higher content of clay and the soils are relatively fertile. As in the
flatwoods, these soils are poorly drained for many purposes unless drainage
systems are installed.
Lake Worth bills itself as "Where The Tropics Begin." Many tropical plants grow
in the city; among the more prominent examples are mahogany, royal poinciana and
many species of palm, including coconut palm. African tulip tree, avocado and
many species of eucalyptus may also be found, although they are on the city's
list of trees to avoid. Temperate-zone trees native to Lake Worth or Palm Beach
County include American elm, live oak, red maple, red mulberry and slash pine.
Species which are grown south of their native areas include American sweetgum,
Shumard oak and tulip tree.
Although the incorporated city of Lake Worth is small geographically, as is
common in Palm Beach County, a large unincorporated urbanized area with a Lake
Worth postal address lies to the west of the city, and includes the Census
Designated Place of Lake Worth Corridor, as well as neighborhoods such as "The
Fountains", Lago Lucerne, Lake Osbourne Estates, Melaleuca Lane Corridor, Lake
Charleston, and Palm Beach National. The 2006 Census estimates this urbanized
area's population as 154,892. The total population of both incorporated and
unincorporated Lake Worth is estimated by the 2006 Census to be 190,377.
Demographics
There were 13,828 households out of which 26.0% had children under the age of 18
living with them, 36.9% were married couples living together, 11.5% had a female
householder with no husband present, and 44.4% were non-families. 33.6% of all
households were made up of individuals and 11.4% had someone living alone who
was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the
average family size was 3.19.
In the city the population was spread out with 22.9% under the age of 18, 10.6%
from 18 to 24, 32.6% from 25 to 44, 19.6% from 45 to 64, and 14.3% who were 65
years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there
were 108.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 110.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $30,034, and the median income
for a family was $35,374. Males had a median income of $24,862 versus $22,971
for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,517. About 15.8% of
families and 20.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including
24.1% of those under age 18 and 12.7% of those age 65 or over.
As of 2000, the three most spoken first languages in Lake Worth were English at
56.61%, Spanish at 26.57%, and French Creole which was spoken by 9.17% of the
population.
Lake Worth has a large Finnish expatriate population, and Finnish is spoken by
2.57% of the city's residents as their native language. Other languages spoken
by residents of the city include French at 1.96%, Mayan languages were spoken by
1.11% (primarily spoken by Guatemalans of Mayan descent,) and German as a mother
tongue was spoken by 0.52% of the population.
As of 2000, Lake Worth had the twentieth highest percentage of Guatemalan
residents in the US, with 4.87% of the populace. It had the twenty-first highest
percentage of Haitian residents in the US, at 8.10% of the city's population,
and the eighty-third highest percentage of Cuban residents in the US, at 3.47%
of the it's population. It also had the twenty-third most Hondurans in the US,
at 1.59% of all residents. Due to the percentage of Finnish as a first language,
it can be assumed that Finns made up around 2.57% of the population as well.
Culture
Though Lake Worth is a considered a suburb of West Palm Beach, the city's uptown
area has developed a distinct character and is a regular destination for both
tourists and residents of South Florida. Downtown Lake Worth is home to the Lake
Worth Playhouse, and the Museum of the City of Lake Worth. Yearly festivals such
as the Street Painting Festival and Finlandia Week (a celebration of Lake
Worth's Finnish population) attract thousands of people. When combined with
neighboring Lantana's Finnish community, it becomes the largest Finnish
community in the United States. The largest Oktoberfest in south Florida is held
every October just outside the city on Lantana Road. The city also holds a
biweekly street festival called "Friday on the Avenues" with both Lake and
Lucerne Avenues being blocked to traffic and food and art kiosks being set up
around the antique Town Clock in the square in front of City Hall Annex.
With 8,098 people claiming Finn descent in 2000, Lake Worth boasts the second
largest Finnish diaspora in the world (second to Stockholm).[citation needed] In
addition, Lake Worth has a large population of new immigrants from Latin America
and the Caribbean, though the downtown area has become increasingly gentrified
in recent years. Some of South Florida's most attractive architecture can be
found in College Park, an affluent neighborhood in the northeast corner of the
city. Lake Worth's Bohemian atmosphere attracts many artists and musicians and
the city has a large gay and lesbian population. Since 2000, each March,
Compass, the largest gay and lesbian community center in Florida and the
Southeast United States partners with the city to host one of the largest
gatherings of gay and lesbian people in the state at downtown's Bryant Park. The
festival is an annual fundraiser which supports an array of social services for
low to moderate income individuals and families.
A substantial portion of the 1981 movie, Body Heat, starring William Hurt and
Kathleen Turner was filmed in downtown Lake Worth.
Education
Lake Worth Community High School is the second oldest high school in Palm Beach
County, established in 1922. The city is also home to Lake Worth Middle School
and several elementary schools. John I. Leonard Community High School is located
in neighboring Greenacres.
Palm Beach Community College's main campus is located in unincorporated Lake
Worth. It is the oldest community college in Florida, founded in 1933 as Palm
Beach Junior College. It was at one time located on the campus of Palm Beach
High School, at the present day Dreyfoos School of the Arts in downtown West
Palm Beach. The school moved to its present location in 1956. The name was
changed to Palm Beach Community College in 1988.
The local Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church also runs a separate private school
(pre-K through 8).
Park Vista Community High School opened in 2004, and is a public high school
that offers academies in four areas of study: Health Occupations, Information
Technology, Automotive, and Film & TV productions.
Recreation
Lake Worth contains a bounty of public parks and open space. The Municipal Beach
is one of the last remaining large tracts of open, public space on the ocean in
southeast Florida. Attempts to redevelop the site with a larger private
component - such as hotels, chain shops, restaurants and condos - have met
fierce opposition from city residents. The City Pier, jutting into the Atlantic,
was once a proud symbol of the city. However, much of it was destroyed by
Hurricane Frances in 2004. Bryant Park, downtown on Lake Worth, has a 1920s
bandshell which is used for festivals and events year round. The nearby
municipal golf course offers low cost golfing with spectacular views of Lake
Worth and Palm Beach beyond. On the west side of town, the County owned John
Prince Park follows meandering shores of Lake Osbourne and offers miles of bike
and walking trails as well as hundreds of acres for picnicking, volleyball and
even overnight camping.