page_title: Boca Raton, Florida
section_title: Suburban expansion
hierarchical_section_title: Boca Raton, Florida / History / Post-World War II history / Suburban expansion
caption_attribution_description: English: The skyline of Boca Raton, Florida's beachfront area (not downtown).
context_page_description: Boca Raton, is the southernmost city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It was first incorporated on August 2, 1924, as "Bocaratone," and then incorporated as "Boca Raton" in 1925. The 2019 population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau was 99,805. Known as one of the wealthiest cities in South Florida with common sights of yachts, private jets, exotic cars, and mansions which are concentrated in the Downtown, Coastal, and Gated Country Club Communities. With a multitude of amenities such as golf, tennis, racquetball, polo, swimming pools, spas, gyms, and restaurants, Boca Raton has been consistently highly ranked for fitness and leisure. Outside of the Boca Raton city jurisdiction, there are approximately 200,000 people with a Boca Raton postal address, even though they live outside of municipal boundaries, such as West Boca Raton. As a business center, the city experiences significant daytime population increases. Boca Raton is 44 miles north of Miami and is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area, which had a population of 6,012,331 people as of 2015.
context_section_description: In the 1980s, because of an explosion of development to the west of the historical center of the city, some eastern areas began to decay, including the downtown corridor. For instance, the old Boca Raton Mall, a shopping mall in the downtown area, was beginning to experience higher vacancy, and occupancy by marginal tenants, owing to the opening of Town Center at Boca Raton west of the city in 1980.
  In 1991, the new downtown outdoor shopping and dining center, Mizner Park, was completed over the site of the old Boca Raton Mall. It has since become a cultural center for southern Palm Beach County. Featuring a landscaped central park between the two main roads (collectively called Plaza Real) with stores only on the outside of the roads, Mizner Park resembles a Mediterranean suburban "town center" with a more contemporary look. It features many restaurants and is home to the Boca Raton Museum of Art, which moved to the new facility in 2001. In 2002, a new amphitheater was built, replacing a smaller one and providing a large-capacity outdoor venue where concerts and other performances are held. The Mizner Park Cultural Center, an indoor performing arts/comedy show theater is located to the southwest of the amphitheater within the Mizner Park property.
  Mizner Park has significantly aided downtown revitalization. Many new eight- to ten-story mixed-use buildings have been constructed, are under construction, or are proposed for the downtown area. The surrounding areas to the downtown have benefited from the downtown redevelopment. What used to be small office areas built next to a compact restaurant/shopping location, has become a mixed-used shopping, restaurant, spa, and upscale apartments district called Royal Palm Place, built next to Mizner Park.
  The National Cartoon Museum built a 25,000-square-foot (2,300 m²) facility on the southwest edge of Mizner Park in 1996. Open for six years, the museum relocated to its original home in New York City in 2002. Building renovations for public uses, including the local public TV station, and private uses, such as a locally owned and operated bookstore, were completed in 2008. In addition to the Mizner Park Cultural Arts Association's theater and space, the building is home to the Schmidt Family Foundation.
  As development continued to focus to the west of the city in the 1980s and 1990s, the mall area known as Town Center at Boca Raton became the geographic center of what is referred to as West Boca Raton, though this mall was not annexed into the city until 2004. This area, including the unincorporated area west of the city (discussed below), is now almost entirely built out.
  Today, Boca Raton is said to be the Beverly Hills of Florida with well-developed beach resorts, luxury country clubs, and five-star shopping and restaurants. Forbes ranked Boca's Royal Palm Yacht and Country Club the third most exclusive gated communities in the US in 2017. Many mansions and estates have been built and reflect the high real estate values. 18.1% of homes for sale are within the $655,000-$966,000 range, 8.5% in the $966,000-$1.288 million range, and 11.9% in the $1.288 million plus range. Since the mid-2010s, there has been a developing boom such as the building of the Mandarin Oriental's Residences, remodeling of Downtown Boca Raton's Mizner Park, and development around Florida Atlantic University and Lynn University. In 2011, around 60,000 New Yorkers migrated to Florida which was the largest state-to-state migration that year and the rate of in-state migration has stayed at around the same level since then. Boca Raton is famous for being a Jewish retirement city.
caption: Panoramic view of a portion of the Intracoastal Waterway in downtown Boca Raton
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