Palm Bay, Florida
Palm Bay is located in Brevard County, Florida. The city's population is just over 100,000 as of the latest census and is Brevard County's most populated city. It is the main city of the Palm Bay - Titusville - Melbourne Metropolitan Area, which has approximately 535,000 people. In 2010, Forbes magazine rated Palm Bay as the 11th most innovative city in the United States.
A few of the well-known companies located in Palm Bay include Harris Corporation, MC Assembly, USBid, Inc., Palm Bay Hospital and DRS Technologies. Palm Bay was established in 1960. When Harris Corporation began to grow in size, more and more business and industry were attracted and the city soon began to expand and flourish. In the decades of the 1970s and '80s, the city had tremendous growth with the construction of many important complexes for the city government. The city today continues to grow because of it being near the coast and close to other major cities in the central part of Florida.
Palm Bay has excellent weather year round. The summers are very warm and humid on the coast but the winters are very mild and usually have very few cold temperatures. This is why Palm Bay is very popular as a year round tourism destination.
Palm Bay is a great place to live in. The city also has a bustling nightlife, various places to eat, places to see and can also offer you a great shopping experience. It is also an area of history and culture.
Palm Bay History
The Palm Bay area was first occupied by Timucuan Indians that were attracted to the benefits of the mouth of Turkey Creek on the Indian River. There were abundant amounts of fish, wildlife and fresh water springs. The first of the European settlers came to the area in the 1850s. They built a settlement along the banks of Turkey Creek that was originally called Tillman.
A lumbering operation was started along with packing houses and orange groves, but until the late 1800s, growth was slow until the railroad arrived making it easier to ship things and have things brought to the area. During the 1920s, the name of the city became Palm Bay because of the numerous Sable palms that bordered the bay.
In the early 1920s, a project to dig over 80 canals was started in order to control flooding and turned the large amount of marshland into agricultural farmland. Citrus groves were established and the product was shipped by rail in the winter to areas of the country that did not have citrus available.
Land and timber were sold to different paper companies as well. In the late 1950s, housing developments first started to sprout up in the area, and in 1960, the city was incorporated. That year the city's population was just 2,800.
The city started to take off at that point and many homes were sold and new businesses started to take hold in the area. Many new buildings and a great deal of infrastructure started to be put into place such as schools, a city hall, fire stations, police stations, libraries and new roads. Even though they experienced quick growth, the city set aside plenty of land in order to preserve the natural beauty of the area.
For three consecutive years between 2003 and 2005, the city made it to the finals as one of the All American Cities. Today the city is the 19th largest in the state in population and the ninth largest in square miles. There are over 900 miles of roads within the city limits. Palm Bay has become a very popular area for high- tech companies to set up headquarters. The city is operated by a group of people (city council and manager) looking towards the future without forgetting about how important the past is to them.
About Palm Bay, Florida
Palm Bay is a modern innovative and extremely popular city. Located on the central coast of Florida the city offers a myriad of choices for entertainment, recreation and cultural experiences. The city is home to the Wildlife Turkey Creek Sanctuary that has a number of endangered animals and plants.
Also located in the city is the Florida Tech Botanical Gardens that is over 30 acres of palm trees and many other species of flora. Sebastian Inlet State Park offers the visitor many options of water sports to enjoy as well as some of the best fishing in the area. Sport fishing is available on either private boats or larger charter boats.
Brevard County has a large arts community and Palm Bay is no exception. In Palm Bay, there are numerous actors, musicians and artists. A number of different events for the performing arts are hosted at the Maxwell C. King Center. The different events include symphonies, Broadway shows, jazz, opera, comedy and ballet.
Palm Bay is noted for having all the things wanted in a city and still maintaining a small town atmosphere. Orlando is only a 90 minute drive from Palm Bay but far enough so the heavy traffic and huge tourist population does not bother your slower and more peaceful way of life in Palm Bay. Just next door to Palm Bay is Melbourne and there is an international airport in Melbourne therefore traveling to and from Palm Bay is very easy and convenient.
There are a number of parks, lakes, rivers, beaches in and around the city of Palm Bay making outdoor activities one of the top priorities for all that live or visit the city. There is an endless list of activities to enjoy in the city.The area's golf courses are well taken care of and range in difficulty from short par-3 courses to full-length championship courses.
There are numerous restaurants to enjoy the wonderful seafood that is offered as well as many different international dishes. There are many museums and galleries to enjoy and the art festivals that are held in the Palm Bay and Melbourne area are second to none. Beach and water sports are plentiful with the ocean so close and many lakes where waterskiing and other activities like windsurfing and jet skiing are commonplace.
The city has become known as an arts friendly area and attracts a number of artists and has a number of art shows throughout the winter months. Artists from all over the country come to offer paintings, photos, glass designs, hand carved designs and much more. The shows are set up in different areas of the city and make for a great day for a family to walk around and see what is available.
About Brevard County, Florida
Brevard County is located in central coast area of Florida bordering the Atlantic Ocean. The population in the county as of the last census was about 536,000. Brevard County is the state's 10th largest county in population. The John F. Kennedy Space Center is one of the leading focal points of the county. A nickname for the county is Space Coast due to the influence of the Space Center. Because of this influence, the county received an area code of 321 or 3-2-1 blastoff. Since 1894, the county seat for Brevard County has been in Titusville. Nevertheless, the majority of the administrative work is done in the city of Viera. Because of the layout of the county, this is more than just one set of county sheriff's offices and courthouses. This makes for quite a unique form of county government since most counties in America have all the government offices centralized.
The county is abundant in its number of different fauna as over 4,000 species of animals call the county home. There are common mammals such as river otters, deer, bobcats and raccoons. There are a number of manatees in Brevard County. At last count close to 600 were in rivers around the area. Flora as in all of Florida is abundant and consists of many different trees, shrubs and flowers. There are native plants such as Cabbage Palm, Red Mulberry and Sea Grape.
The county population increased by over 60,000 between 2000 and 2010 making the increase just over 14%. The population of the county is more than in the entire state of Wyoming. The population from 2000 to 2007 grew nearly the full 14% with the last four years of population growth nearly static.
The county is 85% white, 10.5% black or African American, 4% Hispanic or Latino with the rest a mix of various different races and nationalities. Like many counties in Florida, the population has become stagnant due to the economic crisis.