If you’re considering retiring to the sunshine state, here’s why you should seriously consider settling down in Fort Lauderdale.
Of course, Florida has some great cities and is a popular place for retirees to head to but when it comes to catering for the older sections of society Fort Lauderdale is tough to beat.
The weather, the beaches, the quantity and quality of things to do; it all adds up to make it a great place for the over 65s to live. If you’re looking for great assisted living fort lauderdale has that too.
Here are five reasons you would love to spend your retirement in the “Venice of America”.
The climate
If you dream of hanging up your winter coat for good and put snow shoveling behind you, Fort Lauderdale has just the climate to turn that into a reality.
With an average yearly temperature of 77 degrees Fahrenheit, you’re going to be able to say goodbye to chilly weather and hello to warm coastal breezes.
It’s true during the summer months, it can get pretty humid, but when you can escape to the beach anytime you like, it’s not much of a downside.
The landscape
This is a truly breathtaking part of the world, and the best way to explore it is to get out on foot.
Its beaches are what bring tourists flocking to the area and are a huge bonus for residents to have on their doorstep.
Fort Lauderdale Beach and Beach Park are lined with palm trees, coupled with the clear skies and crystal waters, it is a true paradise. With lots of places to sit and rest along the route, you could spend hours enjoying the sea breeze and taking in the view.
Las Olas Beach also offers pristine sand and palms. With a selection of good restaurants and shopping at the Las Olas Boulevard and parking at a convenient distance, it’s another great option to while away the hours.
Hopping on and off water taxis in the Intracoastal Waterway offers even more leisurely sights of the city.
It’s not all about the water either. There are some beautiful green spaces to take a book and a picnic to enjoy the cool shade of a tree, such as the Hugh Taylor Birch State Park and Snyder Park.
While there is such a lot to see on foot, it doesn’t mean you will need to walk for miles to get around. Unlike many cities, you really don’t need a car in Fort Lauderdale. Along with the water taxis, you can also hop on and off the Sun Trolley bus, which covers seven routes stopping along the beach road, downtown, and various neighborhoods.
For the more active, there is a bike share scheme along with plenty of taxi options too.
The culture
Once known as the spring break destination for college students, new laws brought in to curb unwanted behavior have seen the area transform into an attractive holiday destination for sun-seekers since the mid-eighties.
Home to more than 4,000 restaurants, many of them can be found in the Riverwalk Arts & Entertainment District which, runs along Las Olas Boulevard, reaching from the beach all the way to the center of downtown.
You can keep your brain active and learn a little of the area’s story with the many historical attractions available.
The Fort Lauderdale historical walking tour offers the opportunity to see three museums along the New River banks; the King-Cromartie House, the New River Inn, and the Replica Schoolhouse Museum.
Other well-loved museums include Bonnet House Museum and Gardens, an early 20th century estate where you can find out about the legacy of the former residents Frederic and Evelyn Bartlett, and Stranahan House, Fort Lauderdale’s oldest surviving structure.
Get your art fix at the NSU Art Museum, whose permanent collection contains more than 7,500 pieces of work and also hosts temporary exhibitions and a range of unique events.
A visit to Florida’s very own Hollywood, just outside Fort Lauderdale, offers the opportunity to see the Downtown Hollywood Murals featuring 30 large-scale original artworks.
The entertainment
Being a popular tourist trap, Fort Lauderdale is just bursting with entertainment options. So many, in fact, there should never be a reason to feel bored during your retirement.
There are so many options to choose from to get your fill of fresh air. Botanical Gardens and Everglades Wildlife Sanctuary, Flamingo Gardens, features 3000 species of native plants and trees and more than 90 species of Florida native birds and animals.
Butterfly World is home to 20,000 exotic butterflies and birds, housed in six tropical garden aviaries.
Or take the weight off and enjoy the scenery on one of the many sightseeing cruises available.
They say you never stop learning, so a trip to one of the many popular museums may be something to entertain you when you feel like being indoors. Take a walk through automobile history at the Antique Car Museum, or a great place to take the grandkids is the Museum of Discovery and Science, with everything from a storm center where you can experience gale-force winds to fossil digging alongside a prehistoric megalodon.
If you like the bright lights and buzz of a casino, the Seminole Hard Rock Casino not only boasts a 30,000 square-foot gaming area, it also hosts A-list music and celebrity performances as well as a comedy club.
The food
Fort Lauderdale boasts a heady mix of traditional Latin American eateries and the increasingly popular farm-to-fork style restaurants cooking up sustainability sourced produce.
Just some of the most popular places to eat in Fort Lauderdale include El Camino and El Vez, serving up authentic Mexican food. Louie Bossi is so popular you can wait up to two hours for a table if you turn up without a reservation and offers exotic ingredients such as octopus, found along the north Fort Lauderdale beach.
If you feel like becoming a gourmet chef yourself, Chef Jean-Pierre’s Cooking School offers informal, hands-on demonstration classes almost every day, with most classes taught by Jean-Pierre himself.
So if you’re looking for a fun-filled, sun-filled retirement, you need to look no further than Fort Lauderdale.