Southwest Ranches is a town in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is a suburban community part of the Miami metropolitan area and is located on the eastern edge of the Everglades, southwest of Fort Lauderdale and about northwest of Miami. It is unusual in that it consists of three non-contiguous areas, albeit they are in close proximity; the two largest being separated by . It became the county's 30th incorporated place in 2000 to avoid annexation into Pembroke Pines and to preserve its semirural lifestyle. Because the area has many horse ranches and is located in the southwestern part of Broward County, residents chose "Southwest Ranches" over other potential town names.
The population at the 2020 census was 7,607.
In 1996, Pembroke Pines proposed a bill to the Broward County Legislative Delegation to annex all the unincorporated areas between Griffin Road, Sheridan Street, Flamingo Road, and SR 25 into Pembroke Pines. Hundreds of citizens from the unincorporated area of Southwest Ranches packed the delegation hearing in November 1996 at Pembroke Pines City Hall to protest this takeover and to call for the right to form their own city. As a result of this grassroots effort, the State Legislature passed a bill in the 1997 session that called for a vote of Southwest Ranches' citizens in March 2000; they could be annexed into either Pembroke Pines or Davie, or become a new city.
Southwest Ranches Homeowners Association was an umbrella group composed of individual homeowners associations in the Southwest Ranches area. Anyone belonging to an individual homeowners association was also automatically a member of the group, with full voting rights. In 1997, its members agreed to actively promote incorporation of a new city for the area and formed a political committee to explore this option. A feasibility committee was appointed to determine if a new city would be viable. They would have to know if revenues would be adequate to cover the costs of running a city. Dr. Milan Dluhy of Florida International University was contacted and asked to complete a formal feasibility study; Dluhy had produced many such studies for groups that subsequently became successful cities. The committee also contacted Moyer and Associates, the company that provides contract services to Weston.
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2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Southwest Ranches had a population of 7,607. The median age was 46.0 years. 19.8% of residents were under the age of 18 and 18.3% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 98.5 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 97.0 males age 18 and over.
99.6% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.4% lived in rural areas.
There were 2,364 households in Southwest Ranches, of which 37.5% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 69.5% were married-couple households, 12.7% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 13.0% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 9.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Southwest Ranches racial composition<br> (Hispanics excluded from racial categories)<br> (NH = Non-Hispanic)
!Race
!Number
!Percentage
|-
|White (NH)
|3,380
|44.43%
|-
|Black or African American (NH)
|343
|4.51%
|-
|Native American or Alaska Native (NH)
|12
|0.16%
|-
|Asian (NH)
|291
|3.83%
|-
|Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian (NH)
|0
|0.00%
|-
|Some other race (NH)
|49
|0.64%
|-
|Two or more races/Multiracial (NH)
|292
|3.84%
|-
|Hispanic or Latino (any race)
|3,240
|42.59%
|-
|Total
|7,607
|100.00%
|}
2010 census
{| class="wikitable" style="float: center; margin-right: 2em; width: 45%;"
!colspan=4|Southwest Ranches Demographics
|-
!2010 Census||Southwest Ranches||Broward County||Florida
|-
|Total population||7,345||1,748,066||18,801,310
|-
|Population, percent change, 2000 to 2010||+8.3%||+7.7%||+17.6%
|-
|Population density||562.5/sq mi||1,444.9/sq mi||350.6/sq mi
|-
|White or Caucasian (including White Hispanic)||85.9%||63.1%||75.0%
|-
|(Non-Hispanic White or Caucasian)||56.4%||43.5%||57.9%
|-
|Black or African-American||5.4%||26.7%||16.0%
|-
|Hispanic or Latino (of any race)||33.3%||25.1%||22.5%
|-
|Asian||2.8%||3.2%||2.4%
|-
|Native American or Native Alaskan||0.6%||0.3%||0.4%
|-
|Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian||0.0%||0.1%||0.1%
|-
|Two or more races (Multiracial)||2.9%||2.9%||2.5%
|-
|Some Other Race||2.4%||3.7%||3.6%
|}
As of the 2010 United States census, there were 7,345 people, 2,210 households, and 1,844 families residing in the town.
2000 census
As of 2000, before being annexed to Southwest Ranches, those who spoke only English accounted for 82.09% of Green Meadow residents, while those who spoke Spanish at home made up 17.90% of the population. In the Rolling Oaks neighborhood, those who spoke only English accounted for 70.42% of all residents, while Spanish speakers were 29.57% of the population. In the Country Estates neighborhood, English-only speakers were 78.46% of the population while Spanish speakers made up 21.53% of the population. In the Sunshine Ranches neighborhood, 76.22% of residents spoke only English while 22.16% spoke Spanish 1.61% spoke Italian.
Economy
The Florida Department of Corrections operates the Region IV Correctional Facility Office on the grounds of Broward Correctional Institution in the former Country Estates CDP and in Southwest Ranches. The Broward prison formerly housed the female death row, which was moved to the Lowell Correctional Institution in February 2003. This park includes a schooling ring, a show ring, and the Equestrian Oasis, an art installation primarily used to provide drinking water for horses.
Government
From the time of its founding until 2012, the town conducted its business from a modular office at the South Broward Drainage District headquarters. In 2012, the town, under the leadership of Vice Mayor Doug McKay, renovated a former church to create Southwest Ranches' first permanent town hall. Police and emergency services are provided by the nearby town of Davie.
Southwest Ranches' charter defines the governing body as a council with one mayor and four council members. The mayor and the council members are elected at large from the electorate of the town, but the council members represent districts in which they must reside. The mayoral role is largely ceremonial with no more power than any council member. Other charter positions serving Southwest Ranches include the town administrator, financial administrator, and town clerk.
The town's first council consisted of Mayor Mecca Fink, Vice Mayor Johnny Dollar, Forrest Blanton, Freddy Fisikelli, and Astor Knight.
Education
Southwest Ranches is served by Broward County Public Schools.
- Hawkes Bluff Elementary School
- Silver Trail Middle School
- West Broward High School
Notable people
- River Alexander, actor
- Ricou Browning, actor and film producer
- Gisele Bündchen, Brazilian model
- Vernon Carey, American football player
- Miss Cleo, television psychic
- Daunte Culpepper, American football player
- Karlos Dansby, American football player
- Vontae Davis, American football player
- T. J. Duke, racing driver
- Juan Gabriel, Mexican singer, songwriter, and actor
- Udonis Haslem, basketball player
- Tyreek Hill, American football player
- Dwayne Johnson, actor and former professional wrestler
- Sean Kingston, rapper and singer
- Raw Leiba, actor and film producer
- Trippie Redd, rapper
- Rick Ross, rapper and record executive
- Uncle Louie, American talent manager, music producer, and actor
In media
In April 2019, the WSVN show Deco Drive featured a Southwest Ranches farm owned by Uncle Louie.
References
External links
- Town of Southwest Ranches