Margate, FL

Margate was planned around municipal infrastructure before western Broward County became fully urban. In the early 1950s, developer Jack Marqusee assembled former vegetable farmland and laid out a community with zoning, roads, storm drainage, water and sewer service, sidewalks, and streetlights. He formed the name Margate from his surname and the idea of a gateway into western Broward. The settlement incorporated as a town in 1955 and became a city in 1961. Its present footprint is only about nine square miles, yet it contains roughly 30 miles of canals. Its everyday waterscape is inland—canals behind houses and along local roads—with the Atlantic shore about 7.5 miles to the east.

ATTRCity of Margate / CC BY 4.0

Two major roads supply the clearest orientation. State Road 7 runs north-south through a long commercial strip, while Atlantic Boulevard crosses the city east-west; the community redevelopment district follows parts of both corridors. Residential subdivisions and canal streets fill much of the space between them. Health care supports a substantial share of local working life. The 289-bed HCA Florida Northwest Hospital sits on State Road 7, and Margate's 2024 financial report listed the medical center as its largest principal employer. City government, Broward County schools, retail, and automobile dealerships also appeared near the top of that report. Workplaces line the commercial corridors and cluster at civic sites across the city. Broward County buses serve the library and both major corridors, linking Margate with neighboring communities.

ATTRDtobias / CC BY-SA 3.0

Margate has spent decades trying to give those corridors a stronger public center. The city created its Community Redevelopment Agency in 1996, and the agency has funded streetscape work, parks, and facilities within the State Road 7 and Atlantic Boulevard district. A covered field completed at the Margate Sports Complex in 2021 now hosts sports and public events in all weather. A much larger City Center remains in planning. An October 2025 presentation described a proposed development of as many as 50 acres near State Road 7 and Margate Boulevard, potentially combining housing and commercial uses. As of the agency's 2025–26 goals, a developer agreement and ground lease with Brookfield remained under negotiation, so renderings depict a project under negotiation, not an operating district.

ATTRIanaré Sévi / CC BY-SA 3.0

Existing civic spaces already support a varied calendar. Calypso Cove at Royal Palm Park has a lap pool, a plunge pool, a zero-depth pool, swimming lessons, a fishing dock, and basketball courts. The Broward County Library system's Margate Catharine Young Branch provides another public destination on Park Drive. At the Sports Complex, Sounds at Sundown brings concerts and food vendors to the covered field on the first Saturday of most months. The city also holds a Fourth of July celebration there and stages its Winter Festival along Margate Boulevard near State Road 7. During Sounds at Sundown, the same roof used for daily recreation becomes a concert venue, giving Margate a recurring gathering place while the proposed City Center awaits final agreements and approvals.