Hollywood is located in Broward County, Florida about halfway between Miami and Fort Lauderdale along the eastern coast of South Florida.
Language Statistics
About 35% of the population of Hollywood. In 2000, about 67% of residents spoke English as a first language followed by Spanish (22%), French (2%), French Creole (1%), Italian (1%), Romanian (0.9%), Hebrew (0.8%), and German (0.7%). Hollywood has one of the highest populations of Cubans, Peruvians, and Romanians in the country.
Population Growth
Florida is currently experiencing rapid growth in many of its biggest cities with state-wide population growth of 11.6% between 2010 and 2017. Florida has 59 cities with a population of at least 50,000 -- including Hollywood -- and each city reported growth during these years. This growth is expected to continue over the next decade.
Hollywood, Florida is a fairly young city with a history that dates to 1920 when Joseph Young arrived in the area to create what he called a "Dream City in Florida." He dreamt of beautiful beaches along the Atlantic with an intracoastal waterway, modern infrastructure, and manmade lakes. He spent millions to construction the city and became the first mayor. He named the town Hollywood by the Sea. The town quickly attracted snowbirds, or northerners who were drawn to the area to escape their own harsh winters. During the 1920s, Hollywood Beach was transformed with the Broadwalk, a cement promenade about 30 feet wide stretching along the shore. By 1926, the area had 9 hotels and more than 2,400 homes.
In 1926, an extreme hurricane hit the South Florida Atlantic Coast. Hollywood was devastated by flooding that killed 37 people and incurred millions in property losses. In the aftermath, thousands of residents fled the area and the population dropped. The residents of Dania and Hallandale also seceded from Hollywood after refusing to pay municipal taxes to an essentially bankrupt city.
Young developed a plan to restore Hollywood by dredging a deep-water seaport from the shallow lake near Hollywood. His plan worked although he soon went bankrupt himself. Port Everglades eventually became Florida's busiest seaport. Hollywood's population reached 7,500 in 1945 and nearly doubled to 14,000 by 1950 despite two hurricanes in 1947.