Hillsboro Pines, FL

Hillsboro Pines is a small Broward County census-designated community with a neighborhood-scale center: the private Trooper Phillip A. Black Memorial Park. The 2020 census counted 496 residents. Hugh Stillman donated the park land in 1976 to honor Florida Highway Patrol trooper Phillip Black, who was killed that year. The story gives the place a rare landmark that belongs to residents, not a city park system.

The park is maintained through the Hillsboro Pines Civic Association, which organizes volunteer work and donations. There is a basketball court, ping-pong table, horseshoe area, canal boat ramp, and open ground for gatherings. Hillsboro Pines has no homeowners association; the civic group's role is focused on keeping this shared piece of the neighborhood in shape. It also gives neighbors a place to mark birthdays, clean-up days, and holiday gatherings together. It is an intimate arrangement: a little Broward enclave where the best-known meeting place is a memorial built by neighbors and cared for by them.