Sunrise, FL

Sunrise began with one of Florida's most theatrical real-estate promotions. Developer Norman Johnson incorporated the 2,650-acre Sunrise Golf Village in 1961 with 350 residents and built a fully furnished Upside-Down House to attract buyers. Furniture, fixtures, landscaping, and even a convertible in the carport were inverted. The model drew 12,000 visitors in four days and over one million before its demolition in 1975. By 1971, the population had reached 15,000 and voters shortened the name to Sunrise. The 2020 census counted 97,335 residents, a scale far beyond the planned golf community Johnson marketed at Broward County's western edge. Annexation eventually carried Sunrise west to the Everglades and south across Interstate 595, producing distinct residential and employment areas. The four-square-mile Sawgrass Business and Entertainment District contains Sawgrass Mills, Amerant Bank Arena, and the 612-acre Sawgrass International Corporate Park.

ATTRYanjipy / CC BY-SA 4.0

Sawgrass Mills opened in 1990, establishing a regional outlet-shopping destination in western Broward eight years before the arena arrived. The office park supports corporate headquarters, research and development, high-technology manufacturing, and regional offices. Farther north, the 550-acre Sunrise Commerce Park is built around distribution buildings, manufacturing space, and low-rise offices. Outlet stores, offices, research laboratories, factories, distribution buildings, and the arena share one broad west-side corridor, bringing employees, shoppers, and event visitors into western Sunrise throughout the week. Eastern Sunrise retains older single-family blocks, apartments, lakes, and canals. Amerant Bank Arena gives the western district a sports identity recognized across South Florida.

ATTRYanjipy / CC BY-SA 4.0

The building opened in 1998 and has served as the Florida Panthers' home since then. It holds up to 19,250 spectators for hockey, and its schedule also includes major concerts and touring shows. The Panthers entered 2026 as back-to-back Stanley Cup champions after winning in 2024 and 2025, bringing championship hockey crowds to Sunrise. The arena, mall, and corporate park occupy the same Sawgrass corridor near the expressway, so hockey crowds share roads and parking infrastructure with outlet shoppers and office traffic. Arts and recreation programs gather farther east at the Sunrise Civic Center and City Park. The Civic Center opened in 1998, the same year as the arena, placing a municipal arts and recreation complex on the city's older eastern side as Sawgrass took shape in the west.

ATTRLTreadwell / CC0

The Civic Center campus on West Oakland Park Boulevard combines a theater, art gallery, athletic club, outdoor amphitheater, and aquatics complex; the latter includes a 50-meter pool and the city's water-safety programs. A visit can combine a swim program, gallery show, or theater event because the facilities share one campus. Its 2026 calendar ranges from gallery receptions and youth theater to teen open-mic nights. At City Park on Sunset Strip, the June 2026 Caribbean American Heritage Festival brought music, food vendors, steelpan and percussion activities, dance, storytelling, and a Junkanoo revue. The festival's park stage and the Civic Center's classrooms put neighborhood-scale programs on the side of Sunrise farthest from the arena's largest crowds.