Population and urbanization: causes, effects, and global trends

Sociology

Population & Urbanization

Back in 1959, a multimillionaire insurance magnate, John D. MacArthur, announced that he had plans to develop a piece of land that was approximately 4,000 acres. He wanted to provide homes for 55,000 people in a new community. Mr. MacArthur's wanted to name the new community Palm Beach City, but permission to use that name was denied. He then decided that he would keep with his idea of having a garden city and chose the name Palm Beach Gardens. He envisioned this new City as a place to be able to raise a family, earn a living and realize the American dream. So with this in mind, he began to work on building the City of Palm Beach Gardens (City History, 2008).

The City of Palm Beach Gardens has prospered during its fifty years in existence. During the year 1999, the John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation sold approximately 14,000 acres of land which included 5,000 acres within the city of Palm Beach Gardens. The City Council, with the idea of quality development in mind, was able to reach an agreement with the purchasers to manage this new growth. With the cooperation of all parties involved, the reputation and beauty of the City of Palm Beach Gardens was preserved and enhanced. The City of Palm Beach Gardens remains a premiere community in which to live and work, and will continue to be that way for future generations (City History, 2008).

Today Palm Beach Gardens is known for its beautiful Country Club living along with luxuries waterfront homes and residential communities. Palm Beach Gardens has a beautiful town center as well a large mall with all high end shopping. Palm Beach Gardens is located minutes close to the Palm Beach Airport and from Downtown West Palm Beach (Palm Beach Gardens, (2009).

The population in Palm Beach Gardens in July of 2007 was 48,913. This represents a population growth of 38.7% since the year 2000. The estimated median household income in 2007 was $70,907, which was up from $59,776 in 2000. The cost of living index in 2008 was 96.8, which was near the U.S. average 100. The population density is 878 people per square mile which is considered low (Palm Beach Gardens Florida, 2008).

Palm Beach Gardens seems to be a very nice place to live. It is relatively safe compared to other places within the State of Florida. In early 2007, there were only 15 registered sex offenders living in Palm Beach Gardens. The number of residents in Palm Beach Gardens compared to the number of sex offenders is 3261 to 1. This equates to a much smaller average than that for the entire state. Palm Beach Gardens also have a very low overall crime rate. In 2007 the crime index was 228.5, compared to the national average of 320.9. During the entire year of 2007 there was only one murder in the city and there were no reported arsons. The unemployment rate in December of 2008 was also low at 3% compared to 4.5% for the entire State of Florida. The poverty rate is also considerably lower than that for the entire state. In 2007 it was 5.8%, while the State of Florida was at 12.1% (Palm Beach Gardens Florida, 2008).

According to the U.S. Census in the year 2000, there number of high school graduates in Palm Beach Gardens was 94%, which was well over the state average of 79.9%. It was also recorded that 43.8% of the population, compared to 22.3% in the state of Florida had received a Bachelors degree or higher. These figures speak very highly of the school systems in Palm Beach Gardens, showing that they are indeed doing something right (Palm Beach Gardens (city), Florida, (2009).

Although Palm Beach Gardens has grown and prospered over the years and appears to be a great place to live, it is not without its problems as well. Like most modern communities around this country it is faced with some challenges. One problem that has recently been discussed is that of dealing with traffic flow and backups. There has been work done on I95 in order to help the traffic flow in and out of Palm Beach Gardens. There was also an expansion of PGA Boulevard in order to help traffic flow. Most of the time getting from one place to another is very easy. But for those times, during rush hour that the city did see traffic backups these construction measures have been undertaken to help alleviate the problem.