Wilton Manors has much to offer those relocating to Greater Fort Lauderdale. Known as the Island City, Wilton Manors nuzzles the two forks of the Middle River and is a refreshing urban commune of pricey, sought-after homes between Sunrise Boulevard and Oakland Park Boulevard, bisected by Andrews Avenue. Sunrise and Oakland Park boulevards are busy commercial thoroughfares with an assortment of office buildings, restaurants, movie theaters, and chic shopping storefronts.
Drive through this neighborhood and enjoy some of Florida's best tropical landscape designs by award winning landscape designer, Luis Llenza.
ISLAND CITY
Once your car makes the turn into the community of Wilton Manors, it's as if you've made a 360-degree change from city to small-town America. Slightly elevated traffic bumps remind you to slow down. Not just your car - but your mindset. Once in homeowner's mode, leave work-related worries behind.
Many residents have become acquainted with assorted colors of paint, and have gussied up their homes, refreshed their landscaping and have replaced their concrete driveways with paver stones.
New homes for sale are sprouting up in this section of greater Fort Lauderdale. The style of some two-story homes replicates Old South antebellum architecture. One-story ranch homes, the rage of the '50s and '60s, are being given facelifts to make them more 21st century-friendly. Antebellum meets the 21st century creates an interesting marriage.
Sometimes it takes a decline to spark a turn-around. That is what has happened in Wilton Manors, which has come a long way in a short time, thanks to the dedication of city officials and local businesses.
THE HOMES OF WILTON-MANORS
Condominiums of about 1,000 square feet, , lofts and more spacious apartments sell quickly. . Additional affordable housing is located on the edge of town. The city has a four-story limit on most buildings.
This “Island City” is small-town friendly with big-city sophistication, according to City Manager Joseph Gallegos. Within its city limits is the Colohatchee Nature Park, an oasis in the desert, that many people do not know is even here.
The makeup of Wilton Manors is intriguing. Gay residents coexist comfortably with straight community residents. There are more city government gay members here than in any body of government in the country. Their dedication to making Wilton Manors more than just a place to live, but also a place to be proud of, certainly is working well.
