Tamarac

History

In the early 1960s a young developer named Ken Behring came from the Midwest and bought land where he could, creating an active adult community of two-bedroom maintenance-free homes. He called his new city Tamarac, named after the nearby Tamarac Country Club in Oakland Park. In 1963, Behring built and Jesse Pilch sold the city's first development east of State Road 7, Tamarac Lakes Section One and Section Two. Next came homes built on a former orange grove called Tamarac Lakes North and Tamarac Lakes Boulevard. Four of Behring's last developments were Tamarac Lakes South, then the Mainlands of Tamarac Lakes just west of State Road 7, and finally the Woodlands community. The city's early leaders, hoping to preserve Tamarac as a bedroom community, allowed Fort Lauderdale to annex commercial pockets, forever losing land that might have bolstered the city's coffers. In the late 1970s, the city de-annexed a long line of commercial buildings from State Road 7 all the way to Northwest 31 Avenue, but it went along with Behring's vision of Tamarac as a bedroom community. The boundaries were wherever Behring decided to build homes. The city's current eastern boundaries narrow to a sliver from Northwest 31 to 37 Avenues, then widen to the south. The city's easternmost boundary extends below Commercial Boulevard to Northwest 16 Avenue. City officials had once considered revising their east city limit lines to ensure efficient delivery of government services. Behring also named a subdivision he built in the Pinellas Park area, the "Mainlands of Tamarac By-the-Gulf".

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water (3.92%). Tamarac has a tropical climate, similar to the climate found in much of the Caribbean. It is part of the only region in the 48 contiguous states that falls under that category. More specifically, it generally has a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen climate classification, Am).

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  21,933
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  20,179
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  15,180
• Boat-tailed Grackle

  Quiscalus major Vieillot, 1819 · Aves
  14,740
• Fish Crow

  Corvus ossifragus A.Wilson, 1812 · Aves
  13,239
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  13,169
• White Ibis

  Eudocimus albus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  12,968
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  12,046

Largest nearby schools

• WESTERN HIGH SCHOOL
  High · DAVIE · 3,566 students · 24.8:1 ratio
• MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS HIGH SCHOOL
  High · PARKLAND · 3,504 students · 25.4:1 ratio
• CORAL GLADES HIGH SCHOOL
  High · CORAL SPRINGS · 2,762 students · 28.8:1 ratio
• J. P. TARAVELLA HIGH SCHOOL
  High · CORAL SPRINGS · 2,586 students · 23.9:1 ratio
• MONARCH HIGH SCHOOL
  High · COCONUT CREEK · 2,344 students · 24.9:1 ratio
• CORAL SPRINGS HIGH SCHOOL
  High · CORAL SPRINGS · 2,320 students · 23.2:1 ratio
• PIPER HIGH SCHOOL
  High · LAUDERHILL · 2,310 students · 25.1:1 ratio
• DILLARD 6-12
  High · FORT LAUDERDALE · 2,279 students · 21.1:1 ratio