A secondary center of county administrative offices was built beginning in 1989 in Viera, Florida, a master planned community in an unincorporated area. The county offices were developed to serve the more populous southern part of the long county. Most county offices and the primary court facility are now based in Viera.[4]
The first Paleoindians arrived in the area near Brevard county between 12,000 and 10,000 years ago.[5] The Paleoindians were semi-nomadic people who lived in smaller groups. After a few thousand years, a new group of settlers appeared known as "the archaic people."[5][6] These people were primarily fishermen, as opposed to the hunting and gathering way of life which characterized the Paleoindians.[5] The Windover Archeological Site, discovered in 1982, was found during excavation to have the largest collection of human remains and artifacts of the early Archaic Period (6,000–5,000 BCE), or more than 8,000 years before present. It has been designated as a National Historic Landmark.[5] The Windover pond, which would have been a woody marsh at the time, was used by the Archaic Floridians as a burial ground, with the bodies being wrapped in fabric and submerged in the peaty soil. The pond was used for interments for around a thousand years (circa 8,000–7,000 BCE).[7]
The Ais and the Jaega were the dominant tribes in the area when it is thought that Ponce De Leon landed on the shores near Melbourne Beach in 1513.[5][8] There were about 10,000 of these natives in the area.[9]Pedro Menéndez de Avilés gave an early account of the Ais people in 1570 when he was shipwrecked off of Cape Canaveral. He faced hostile natives but through the use of a bluff was able to escape from them and get back to St. Augustine.[10] In 1605, Alvero Mexia was dispatched from St. Augustine to the Indian River area on a diplomatic mission to the Ais Indian Nation. He helped establish a "Period of Friendship" with the Ais Caciques(Chiefs) and made a color map of the area.[11]
During the 19th century, the state of Florida frequently changed the names and borders of counties. St. Lucie County was split off from Mosquito County in 1844.[12] St. Lucie County was renamed Brevard County in 1855 after Theodore Washington Brevard, who served as Florida Comptroller from 1854 to 1860. This "Brevard County" contained very little of present-day Brevard County. Most of present-day Brevard north of Melbourne was part of either Volusia or Orange counties.[12] Brevard County in 1856 extended as far west as Polk County and as far south as coastal Dade County. Complicating the discussion of Brevard County in the 19th century is that the boundaries have shifted such that the southernmost parts of present-day Brevard, were originally the northernmost parts.[13] The original county seat was located at Susannah, an early name for present day Fort Pierce.[13] Later the southern part of Brevard split off to form a new county, St. Lucie County in 1905. Gradually, the borders of Brevard County were shifted northward while the county got "pinched" eastward.[12] The portions of Brevard County in present-day Broward and Palm Beach counties were given to Dade County, western areas of the county were given to Polk and Osceola County, and parts of Volusia and Orange Counties were given to Brevard including the eventual county seat of Titusville. Later, the southern portion of the county was cut off to form St. Lucie County, which in turn spawned Martin and Indian River County.[12]
The first concerted development the area occurred with the extension of Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railroad into the area.[6] The railroad reached Titusville in 1886 and Melbourne in 1894. With the railroad came increased settlement and the first tourists. The first major land boom began in the 1920s after the end of World War I.[5] People flooded into the state of Florida, both tourists from northern winters and new full-time residents, and land prices soared. The Great Depression temporarily stopped growth in Florida. Before the start of World War II, the largest industries in Brevard were commercial fishing, citrus, and tourism.[6]
In 1940, the government built Naval Air Station Banana River (now Patrick Space Force Base). This military installation was the first of major federal investment in projects to aid the development of Brevard County. [14] The federal government also funded construction of what is now Florida State Road A1A, paralleling the ocean and providing vehicle access to the NAS.
Beginning in the 1930s, Harry T. Moore was a civil rights leader, teacher, and founder of the Brevard County NAACP. After the war he became president of the state NAACP. After the Supreme Court had ruled in 1944 that white primaries were unconstitutional, he conducted voter registration drives and succeeded in registering 31% of black voters in Florida, a higher percentage than in any other southern state. The white establishment resisted, firing both him and his wife Harriette in 1946 from their teaching positions as economic blackmail against them because of their activism. On Christmas night, 1951, a bomb exploded under their home, fatally injuring both of them. The murders were racially motivated and believed committed by members of the Ku Klux Klan. Four separate investigations were conducted, including the first by the FBI in 1951–1952, and the last in 2005 by the state. No one was ever prosecuted.[15][16]
In the late 1950s, the government opened the Long Range Proving Ground.[5] This later became the Kennedy Space Center. This helped stimulate development in the county; where Brevard had once been considered a "backwoods" area of Florida, it attracted more educated workers and scientists associated with the program. Beginning in the 1960s, new bridges constructed across the waterways were designed as high-rise steel, designed to be high enough to allow passage of boats underneath.[17]
As the county was long, people in the southern, more populous side of the county complained about being so distant from the county seat.[18] The county seat of Titusville was 50 miles (80 km) from Palm Bay, the most populous city in the county. Residents in the southern end of the county talked of creating a new county to serve them.The county decided to build a new county administration complex at Viera, near the geographical center of the county. This complex was started in 1989. Residents in the north also threatened secession.[19] Their proposal to form a new county, to be called Playalinda, had some momentum in the early 90s. The county made a few concessions to the people in the northern part of the county, and agreed not to officially move the county seat. Since construction of the new center, Viera has been for all intents and purposes the de facto seat of Brevard County. [19]
Geography
The Brevard–Volusia county line
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,557 square miles (4,030 km2), of which 1,016 square miles (2,630 km2) is land and 541 square miles (1,400 km2) (34.8%) is water.[20] Most of the water is the Atlantic Ocean, the St. Johns River and the Indian River Lagoon. The county is larger in area than the nation of Samoa and nearly the same size, and population, as Cape Verde.[21] It is roughly the size of the state of Rhode Island.
Located halfway between Jacksonville and Miami, Brevard County extends 72 miles (116 km) from north to south, and averages 26.5 miles (42.6 km) wide. Marshes in the western part of this county are the source of the St. Johns River. Emphasizing its position as halfway down Florida are two roads that have been numbered halfway down Florida's numbering system, State Road 50 and State Road 500.
Brevard County is the sole county in the Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). Palm Bay, Melbourne, and Titusville are designated as principal cities in the MSA.[23] The MSA was created as the Melbourne-Titusville-Cocoa, Florida Standard MSA in 1972, renamed the Melbourne-Titusville-Palm Bay, Florida MSA in 1983, and given its current title in 2003.[24]
The county government has historically labeled the beach areas differently. The North Reach includes 9.4 miles (15.1 km) in Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach. The Patrick Space Force Base beach is 4.1 miles (6.6 km). The Mid Reach includes the 7.6 miles (12.2 km) in Satellite Beach. The South Reach includes the 3.8 miles (6.1 km) in Indialantic and Melbourne Beach. The South Beaches include 14.5 miles (23.3 km) south of Melbourne Beach to Sebastian.[25]
The United States Board on Geographic Names considered two proposals in 2012 to officially name the barrier island extending from Port Canaveral to Sebastian Inlet. The 45-mile-long (72 km) island includes the cities of Cape Canaveral, Cocoa Beach, Indialantic, Melbourne Beach, Patrick Space Force Base, Indian Harbour Beach, and Satellite Beach. The American Indian Association of Florida submitted in October 2011 a proposal to name the island after the Ais people. In January 2012 the United Third Bridge and the Florida Puerto Rican/Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Melbourne submitted a proposal to name the island Ponce de León Island, after Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León, but it was ultimately not named.
There are 16 municipalities. The largest by population is Palm Bay, the smallest Melbourne Village.[26]
The underlying limestone in the county is relatively young at 150,000 years old. This means that the ground will not develop the sinkholes that are prevalent in the spine of Florida, where limestone is from 15 to 25 million years old.[30]
Climate
The county has a Köppen climate classification of Cfa, with a year-round distribution of rainfall. This means a humid subtropical climate with hot, humid summers and mild winters.[31] There are distinct wet and dry seasons. The dry lasts from December through May, the wet from June through November. During the dry season, periods of drought often occur, and can lead to a persistent and high wild land fire threat.[32] In numerous instances these fires have caused property damage. Several fires in 2008 forced the evacuation of Bayside High School, in the town of Palm Bay. In that particular event, 162 homes were damaged.[33]
January is the coldest month, with an average low of 50.7 °F (10.4 °C) and an average high 71 °F (22 °C). The warmest months are July and August with average highs of 90 °F (32 °C) and average lows of 72.2 °F (22.3 °C). The driest month is April with 1.6 inches (4.1 cm) of rainfall; the wettest is September, with 6.6 inches (17 cm). Offshore ocean temperatures have averaged: January – 64 °F (18 °C), February – 62 °F (17 °C), March – 67 °F (19 °C) and April – 72 °F (22 °C).[34] In federal maps printed before 2012, nearly half of Brevard was classified as prone to flooding. Most of this was in the relatively undeveloped low-lying areas, west of Interstate 95, on the banks of the St. Johns River. About 18,900 homes out of 164,000 single-family homes were in that area.[35]
Florida is a large subtropical state that is regularly affected by hurricanes. Although Brevard County is located along Florida's eastern peninsula, because of associated weather patterns, it is less frequently hit by direct hurricane landfalls than are portions of the Panhandle or South Florida. There are two predominant reasons for this. First, westward-moving tropical systems often reach an atmospheric ridge weakness in the Bermuda High by the time they approach Florida at a latitude as northerly as Brevard County. Combined with frontal systems that exit the United States' East Coast, many of these tropical systems are steered northwest and eventually curve northward offshore along Florida's East Central Coast. A second reason is that hurricanes making landfall along the Florida peninsula Gulf Coast often weaken to a tropical storm by the time they move northeast and reach Brevard County. (2004's Charley was an exception). No major hurricane, defined as category 3 or higher, has struck Brevard since 1850, the beginning of recorded climate.[36]
Although residents may refer to past storms as "hurricanes", by the time they strike the county, most have subsided to tropical storms or depressions. But because of the threat of storm surge, the beach community on the barrier island is often required to evacuate well in advance of the storm.[37] The possibility of storm surge is diminished when the storm comes across the state instead of directly from the Atlantic.[38]
Five hurricanes have directly affected Brevard since 1950: David (September 3, 1979); Erin (August 2, 1995) – made landfall near Sebastian Inlet and caused mostly minor wind damage and more extensive flooding countywide; Charley (August 13, 2004) – caused damage in Titusville and North Brevard; Frances (September 3, 2004) – struck neighboring Vero Beach in Indian River County directly and caused widespread wind damage throughout Brevard;[39] and Jeanne (September 26, 2004) – struck Vero Beach directly, following very nearly the same path as Frances. The latter two storms caused widespread damage in South Brevard, and resulted in $2.8 billion in claim payments.[40] Slightly more than half of one percent (0.6%) of houses were lost.[41] The following storms did not affect Brevard County with hurricane-force winds: Floyd (September 15, 1999),[42] and Irene (October 16, 1999).[43]Tropical Storm Fay dropped a record rainfall of 27.65 inches (70.2 cm) in 2008.[44]
The winter of 2009–2010 was the coldest on record since 1937, when such records were first kept.[45] Planting season, which normally starts around February 14, came six weeks later instead.[46] Some flowers and herbs are planted as early as January.[47] December 2010 was the coldest December on record.[48]
There were 1,677 manatees in Brevard County in 2015, out of a total of 6,063 in the state. This was an increase from 2014 when there was a total of 612 in Brevard County.[57] Manatees experience numerous threats within Brevard, where 312 died in the first half of 2021.[58]Bottlenose dolphin are commonly seen in the Intracoastal Waterway.[59] Fish and reptiles include alligators, red snapper, sea turtles,[55]North Atlantic right whales, a rare protected species, give birth near the coast of Brevard, among other places, from November 15 to April 15.[60]
The venomous brown recluse spider is not native to the area but has found the environment congenial.[61] The Florida Butterfly Monitoring Network has counted species of butterflies monthly for a year since 2007. In 2010, it counted 45 species.[62] Included are zebra swallowtail butterflies.[53]Lovebug season occurs twice annually in May and August–September. Motorists encounter swarms of these while driving during a four-week period.[63][64]Deer flies are particularly noticeable from April through June.[65]
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 606,612 people, 236,005 households, and 148,934 families residing in the county. The population density was 597.7 inhabitants per square mile (230.8/km2). As of 2021, 18.2% of residents were under the age of 18 and 24.2% were age 65 and over. There were 294,224 housing units and 76.2% of them were owner-occupied. There were 242,657 households in which the average household size was 2.46.[89]
In 2015, interracial marriage constituted 29% of all marriages, the fourth highest in the nation, which averaged 17%.[90] The population was distributed by age with 19.8% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 21.5% from 25 to 44, 30.4% from 45 to 64, and 20.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45.5 years. For every 100 females there were 96.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.9 males.[91]
In 2010, there were 229,692 households, out of which 23.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.28% were married couples living together, 11.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.40% were non-families. 28.44% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.53% (4.00% male and 8.53% female) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.84.[92][91] There were 74,000 veterans who lived in Brevard in 2010, accounting for 21% of the adults in the county.[93] Of those, a local agency counted in 2010 that 225 of the veterans were homeless.[94]
In 2012, the Urban Institute ranked the Brevard metro fourth in the country for racial equality. Criteria were integration of neighborhoods, income, and the quality of schools minorities attend. The area was ranked first for Hispanic equality with whites.[95]
In 2010, the median income for a household in the county was $49,523, and the median income for a family was $60,842. Males had a median income of $48,191 versus $33,276 for females. The per capita income for the county was $27,606. About 7.2% of families and 10.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.4% of those under age 18 and 6.9% of those aged 65 or over.[96]
In 2010, 90% of residents had a high school degree, compared with 85% statewide.[98] In 2009, 25.7% of residents had an undergraduate degree, below the national average of 27.7%,[99] but the same as the rest of Florida.[98] 14.7% of residents over 25 had undergraduate degrees in engineering. This is almost twice the national average.[100]
In 2007, a local census by volunteers counted 1,899 homeless residents.[101]
Brevard county commissioners are elected by the public to establish ordinances and policies for the county. The Commission appoints a County Manager, who executes the will of the commission. The county employed about 2,900 workers in 2009.[105]
There are 16 autonomous municipal governments within the county. The various cities, towns and villages of Brevard have varying reliance on services provided by the Brevard County government. About 100,000 households are located outside organized municipalities, and their occupants are directly served by the county government.[106]
A centrally located County Government Center in Viera was established to provide more accessible services to residents in the southern part of the county. It houses the various county government branches, including Housing and Human Services, Juvenile Justice, Public Safety, Public Works and Solid Waste Management.
The Brevard County government had annual expenditures just over $1 billion in the fiscal year 2009–2010, exclusive of the municipalities.[107] In 2009, real estate taxes for homesteaded property averaged 0.83% of the value of the property.[108] Real estate taxes are levied by each authority. They are collected by the County Tax Collector.[109] The total taxable real estate base was $33.7 billion in 2009.[110] County taxes rose 26.5% in total per capita revenue from 2002 to 2007, and 49.8% in property tax per capita in the same time frame.[111] Delinquent taxes were $36 million in 2008.[112]
In 2012 bonds issued by the county were given a rating of AA by the Fitch Group and improved ratings by Moody's.[113]
Brevard County has two unique election districts. One governs Port Canaveral; the other, the maintenance of the Sebastian Inlet.
Prior to the creation of districts in 1967, state representatives were elected by county. This geographic representation resulted in a longstanding domination of the state legislature by rural interests, as it did not recognize changing patterns of settlement and business in the state.
Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore Justice Center in Viera
The county has centralized most county and circuit courts in Viera which try a variety of cases including felonies, misdemeanors, traffic, and domestic. The courthouse in Titusville provides the venue for circuit and county cases arising in the north part of the county while the courthouse in Melbourne is the venue for county cases arising in the southern portion of the county. An elected State Attorney prosecutes criminal cases for the State of Florida. Indigent defendants can be represented by the office of the elected Public Defender. The 18th Circuit Court includes Seminole County as well as Brevard and includes not only the court itself but the State Attorney and the Public Defender.[118] In 2008, the public defender had a staff of 45 lawyers in Brevard who handled about 24,000 cases annually.[119]
The States Attorney's Office sponsors the Victim/Witness Services.[120] This provides advocates to alleged victims of violent crime and their families. The advocate helps the family understand the legal system as they navigate through it. They also seek out financial assistance
or counseling they might need. In 2005 they helped 8,448 alleged victims in Brevard County.
The County elects a sheriff, directly responsible to the courts but also to the state for the enforcement of state laws. Police chiefs, appointed by their cities or towns, perform the same function locally.[citation needed]
Most municipalities are located on at least one waterway. This has resulted in the county and seven cities having a boat or access to one to aid boaters, or to enforce the law in the water in their jurisdiction.[121]
The county jail is a 1976 facility which rapidly became overcrowded. Voters rejected expanding the jail on four occasions.[122] The sheriff solved the problem by the construction of a large but less expensive "hardened tent" to house non-violent offenders. Crowding reached its peak in 2007 at 1,988 inmates, 300 over capacity. The budget for the facility was $42 million in 2010. There were 1,585 residents. Costs for feeding and housing was $72 per inmate daily. There were 475 staff members.[123]
The county jail retains inmates awaiting trial or those who have been sentenced to a year
or less. Longer sentences must be served in state prisons, such as the facility in Sharpes for young men.
A unit of the Coast Guard, homeported at Port Canaveral, plays a role in preventing illegal immigration and is an interdictor of drugs in the area.
Public safety for unincorporated areas of the county is the responsibility of the Brevard County Sheriff's Office. All but three of the 17 incorporated municipalities, Malabar, Cape Canaveral and Palm Shores, maintain their own law enforcement services. Those three contract that service to the Sheriff's Office.[124]
In 2009, there were 1,200 law enforcement officers working in the county, of which 361 are sheriff's deputies.[125] The number of Sheriff's deputies had risen to 843 in 2015.[126] Of all crime that came to the attention of the sheriff's office in 2007, 80% was drug-related.[127] From January to June 2009, the county reported a total of 10,037 crimes. Of these, a majority, 3,002, were under the jurisdiction of the sheriff's department.[128] In 2009, the crime rate was 3,471.3 property-related crimes per 100,000 residents, slightly above the national average.[99]
Public safety for Port Canaveral is under the direction of the Port Authority. Traditionally, emphasis was placed on monitoring the content of containerized cargo on incoming ships, as well as underwater inspection of arriving ships that could be carrying explosive devices. In 2008, the Canaveral Port Authority Board of Commissioners approved the creation of an independent police department.[129][130]
In 2017, the Florida Highway Patrol had about 32 troopers working different shifts on the I-95 interstate, and the unincorporated parts of the county. Normally there were five or six officers per shift.[131]
The county runs a fire-rescue service. In the year 2015–2016, they responded to 11,383 trauma calls.[132]
In 2017, the fatality rate for pedestrians was the second worst for metropolitan areas in the nation.[133] In 2017, the most dangerous road for bicycles and pedestrians was on State Road A1A from Cocoa Beach to Cape Canaveral.[134]
Utilities
Three cities provide potable water and sewage for their cities and surrounding areas: Cocoa, Melbourne, and Titusville. The majority of Melbourne water customers are supplied with treated surface water from Lake Washington.[135] Where available, residents were obligated to hook into the system. In 2012, there were 90,000 septic tanks.[136]
Storm and wastewater management fees vary. In 2014, the county charged $36 annually per household. Cities and towns charged from $36 to $77.52 per household annually.[137]
Boardwalk over wetlands area at Chain of Lakes in Titusville
There are more than 100 parks and three campgrounds in the county that are managed by local government agencies.[138] Many of these are managed by the Brevard County Parks and Recreation, an agency within the Brevard County Government. There are 25 public golf courses and three private ones. Due to dwindling numbers of golfers, five courses closed from 2004 to 2017. In 2017, three public courses were being considered for closure.[139]
In 11 sanctuaries that protect natural ecosystems, the county's Environmentally Endangered Lands (EEL) Program offers passive recreation opportunities such as hiking, wildlife viewing, biking and paddling. In 2013, there was a total of 24,000 acres (9,700 ha), with 62 miles (100 km) of trails and 120 miles (190 km) of fire lanes. The quantity of fire lanes was considered insufficient.[140]
Brevard County provides a number of services to help older people, juveniles, people with physical or mental disabilities, and minorities. The Brevard County Housing Authority acquires and leases housing projects, investigates housing conditions, determines where slums and unsafe housing exist and investigates conditions dangerous to the public. It is managed by a board appointed by the county commission.[143] Several organization provide social services for juveniles, such as the Children's Home Society, Children's Advocacy Center of Brevard, and The Child Care Association of Brevard County.
Elections
According to the Secretary of State's office, Republicans are a plurality of registered voters in Brevard County.
Brevard County voter registration & party enrollment as of January 31, 2024[144]
This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (March 2019)
The county Domestic Product was $14.5 billion in 2009[146] and increased to $24.6 billion in 2019.[147] In 2010 and 2011, the Brookings Institution reported that Brevard ranked in the bottom fifth of the nation's top metro areas, based on unemployment, gross metropolitan product, housing prices and foreclosed properties.[148] Foreclosures reached a monthly high of 963 in March 2009.[149] The county reached an annual high foreclosure in 2009 of 9,772.[150] In December 2010, Forbes magazine rated the area the worst place in America to find a job.[151]
Government purchasing contributed 12–15% of the county's gross domestic product from 2000 to 2010.[152]
Though the area has a relatively small number of high technology companies, 736, a business journal ranked it eighth in the country as a high tech center in 2009. The area had 23,096 high-tech jobs with a ratio of 124 per 1,000 total jobs.[153]
In December 2010, Forbes magazine ranked the area as the worst in the country for finding a job, for the second time in 2010.[154]
During 2020, overlapping the COVID-19 pandemic, the metropolitan area was the second best-performing out of 200 in the country.[155]
In 2005, the median income for a household had risen to $43,281[156]
The county ranked 17th for per capita income, out of Florida's 67 counties.
The following were below the poverty line in 2000:
Families – 6.80%
Total population – 9.50%
Under age 18 – 13.00%
Age 65 or older – 6.50%
In 2012, 79,621 people in the county were receiving food stamps.[157]
In 2010, there were 5,600 civilian government workers in the county. They earned an average of $74,000 each in 2009.[158]
In 2009, 84,401 households in the county (38%) received social security payments averaging $16,136 for a total of $1.7 billion annually. 53,717 (24%) received pension payments averaging $24,327 for a total of $1.3 billion annually.[159]
Housing
The taxable value of property went from $20 billion in 2002 to $40 billion in 2007. In 2009 the bubble burst and a rapid descent to $24 billion was experienced. in 2017, the value rose to $35 billion. The last figure includes new construction.[160]
In 2011, the county was rated 6th worst in the country for foreclosures. There were 1,039 for the third quarter of 2010. Nearly half the homes in the county were worth less than their mortgages. The average home had dropped 53.4% since the peak of the boom.[161] In 2012, the county was the highest in foreclosure rate in the nation. In 2013, the metro area was rated "best" in the country for buying, with a 34 months supply of houses, with a discount rate of 28%, according to RealtyTrac. It has since reduced its backlog.[162]
In 2010 Kiplinger.com rated the county one of five "best" places in America to retire. Factors evaluated included cost of living, weather, the number of doctors, taxes, crime rates and recreational opportunities.[164]
The largest home in Brevard is a 50-room 19,000 square feet (1,800 m2) mansion in Suntree built in 1991 and once owned by Cecil Fielder.[165]
Development
The Viera Company, developing West Viera, gained state permission and county acquiescence to create a self-governing board named the Viera Stewardship District that could raise taxes and sell bonds to pay for roads, water lines, pumping stations and other infrastructure needed to support the construction of 16,500 houses, apartments and condominiums. The company proved that development could fund itself.[citation needed]
Industry
The Brevard economy has been driven by Trade, Transportation and Utilities (18%), Professional and Business Services (17%), Total government (15%), Education and Health (14%), Manufacturing (12%), Leisure and hospitality (10%), Construction (6%), Financial (4%).
In 2012 local government employed 21,000 workers. Over the years the percentage has varied from 7.2% to 7.9% of the population.[166]
The number of people working in construction dropped from 2,630 in 2005 to 1,420 in 2010.[167]
Port Canaveral is one of the world's busiest cruise port. There are seven cruise lines, with six major cruise terminals. There is 750,000 square feet (70,000 m2) of covered freight storage capacity. It handled 4,000,000 short tons (3,600,000 t) of cargo in 2004. The port has contributed $500 million annually to the county's economy.
Two hospitals were among the top five private employers in the county, together employing 8,850 in 2009.[110]
In 2008, 14,865 workers were employed at the NASA/Kennedy Space Center. The Center directly spent $1.82 billion in the county.[110]
A concern has been the probable reassignment of thousands of Space Coast workers when the Space Shuttle is discontinued in 2010. In 2010, 9,000 jobs were expected to be lost from the shuttle and other programs.[168] Each launch contributed $4 million to the county's economy. Annually, $78 million is spent at the Space Center Visitor's Complex, and $5.9 million from space business visitors.[169]
In 2014, there were 495 aerospace companies in the county. There were 36,223 workers. Sales and revenue from this industry were $3.4 billion.[170]
L3Harris Technologies, headquartered in the county, has the most employees in the private sector, 7,000 in 2019.[171]
Two locally headquartered builders, Mercedes Homes and Holiday, were among the top 30 in the nation. Mercedes had $1 billion in sales in 2004.
There are 15 Community Redevelopment agencies in the county. They are funded from real estate taxes in the affected area. Cocoa has three, and Eau Gallie, one.[172]
Though the area has a relatively small number of high technology companies, 736, a business journal ranked it eighth in the country as a high tech center in 2009. The area had 23,096 high-tech jobs with a ratio of 124 per 1,000 total jobs.[173]
The county had 1,050 restaurants in 2007 and nearly that many (1,040) in 2010. There were 22,600 leisure and hospitality workers in the county in 2006. This figure includes hotel workers. That figure had dropped 8.5% to 20,700 in 2010.[174]
In the early 2010s, the Shiloh area was proposed by Space Florida as a potential location for the development of a commercial-onlyspaceport. Located immediately north of the U.S. Government's Kennedy Space Center, the open access to the flyover range on the open Atlantic Ocean to the east, and easy access to the tracking facilities of the Eastern Test Range make the location an attractive launch site. Among other potential users of the commercial spaceport facility, SpaceX was reported to be considering Shiloh as one of several potential locations for building a commercial launch facility.[175]
Military
Military installations in Brevard County include Patrick Space Force Base, near Satellite Beach, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS), adjacent to the Kennedy Space Center, and the U.S. Air Force Malabar Test Facility on Minton Road in suburban Palm Bay. In 2009, they employed a total of 2,000 civilian federal workers.[158] In 2012 there were 2,900 military jobs in the county.[166]
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) Maintains one station in Port Canaveral, the station is located on the east bank of the West Turning Basin. The station is home to USCG cutter 617.[176]
The Navy maintains a Trident turning basin at Port Canaveral for ballistic missile submarines. The Naval Ordnance Test Unit (NOTU) tests weapons on these subs, which arrive at the rate of one a month. 160 ships visited their two piers in 2017.[177] The 2005 base closures included realigning NOTU out of state. The community was successful in having this decision revoked.[citation needed] The unit employs 100 military personnel and 900 civilian contractors.[178]
23% of Brevard County is agricultural-usable for citrus, raising cattle or horses. Cattle ranches include the Deseret, Duda Ranch, Kempfer, and two other major ranches.[181] Citrus growers include Victory Groves and Harvey's Indian River Groves. The county ranked 21 out of 24 Florida counties in the shipment of gift fruit. [citation needed]
In 2009, aquaculture was a $900,000 business in the county.[182] The county produces more than 25% of all blue crabs along Florida's East Coast.[183]
In February 2010, the USDA declared that Brevard, along with 59 other Florida counties, was a "primary natural disaster area".[182] This happened when the temperature falls below 28 °F (−2 °C) degrees for 4 hours, where crops are being grown.
Tourism
In 2016, tourism represents about 9% of the county's gross domestic product. The industry employs about 13% of the workforce.[186] The county raised its room tax to 5% in 2005. In 2012, this raised $8.4 million.[187]
In 2008, tourists spent $2.89 billion in the county. This is distributed in several categories: lodging $839 million, eating and drinking $509 million, Kennedy Space Center $597 million, retail sales $450 million, entertainment $120 million, and Port Canaveral $109 million.[188] Brevard tourists come mainly from ten states: Florida itself is first, followed by Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Virginia, Wisconsin, Georgia, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania. The five primary sources of foreign visitors are Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, China, and Italy.[189]
1.6 million people visited the Space Center Visitor Complex in 2008.[110] Tourism, measured by the tourist tax, reached a peak in March 2007.[190]
In 2009, there were 2.4 million overnight visitors in the county. There were 1.2 million day visitors.[191] In 2013, a city manager estimated that 20% of income from tourism comes during spring break.[192]
Brevard competes with other Florida areas for tourists. A number of organizations help promote the area. The Space Coast Office of Tourism consists of county staff and the Brevard County Tourist Development Council (TDC). They attempt to attract tourists. The TDC serves as an advisory council to the county on the expenditures of revenues received from a tourist tax. This revenue is spent on beach improvements, visitor information centers and website,[193] promotion and advertising, the Brevard Zoo, additional beach improvements and the Space Coast Stadium.
$97.7 million has been spent on beach replenishment in the county between 2000 and 2010. This was funded 58% by the federal government, 27% by the state and 15% by the county.[194]
In 2008 monthly tourist tax revenue slumped from a high of $1,174,742 in March to a seasonal low in September of $432,145.[195] In 2008, the county had 11,000 hotel rooms available. In July 2007, there was a 66.1% occupancy rate.[196] In 2008, the county had a nearly identical 81%+ occupancy rate in March and April. This fell to a seasonal low of 42.3% in September.[197] In January 2010, the average hotel room rate was $88.25.[198]
Cocoa Main Street, a member of the Florida and National Main Street Programs, works toward restoring business sites in the historic area known as "Cocoa Village". Cocoa Main Street has received six Florida Main Street Awards given by the Secretary of State. The restored area is a tourist attraction and an economic magnet.[199] Melbourne Main Street is another historic business area and tourist attraction restored through the Main Street Programs.[200]
Brevard has five judged art festivals annually attracting tens of thousands of people to art displays. Most festivals are held in the spring or fall when many tourists can attend. Many other annual festivals are held in parks and public sites throughout the year. The Brevard Cultural Alliance (BCA) maintains an event calendar[201] and a map of sites of historic, cultural, and ecological interest.[202]
The annual Florida Key Lime Pie Festival is held beach side every Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend. In 2018 The Florida Key Lime Pie Company successfully made the World's largest key lime pie.[203]
An annual February Greek Festival had over 8,000 visitors in 2011.[204]
The annual Grant Seafood Festival attracts as many as 50,000 people for the two-day February event. It is the Southeast's largest and longest running seafood festival.[205]
An ice skating rink in Rockledge serves the county's residents and visitors with hockey and figure skating events.[206]
In 2009, recreational boat owners generated almost $51 million annually towards the county economy, ranking the industry fifth in the state.[207]
Competitiveness
In 2010 a local group compared the county against four other "peer" cities: Austin, Texas; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Huntsville, Alabama; and Raleigh, North Carolina. It evaluated nine areas: business dynamism/vitality, competitiveness, education, economic growth, economic prosperity, livability, productivity/labor supply, technology and innovation/work force. While the county does well against national figures, and scored high in livability, it usually ranked last against these "peers" in the other eight areas.[99]
In 2009, the county had 13 patents per 1,000 workers, more than double the national average of 6.4 patents per 1,000.[99]
In 2009, Forbes ranked the county 18th out of 100 MSAs and first out of 8 metros in Florida for affordable housing and short commute times, among others.[208]
In August 2009, Florida Trend rated two Brevard companies, Harris Corporation[209] and Health First Health Plans,[210] in their rankings of the best places to work in Florida.
In May 2009, the Palm Bay-Melbourne area was ranked as the No. 8 tech center in the United States by Bizjournals. It overcame its low number of total high-tech companies and jobs by having a high number of jobs per high tech company (#4) and high tech jobs compared to total private-sector jobs (#2).[211]
Forbes magazine ranked Melbourne 2nd out of 150 metropolitan areas in the US, for the percentage of the population that are engineers,
6.6%, just ahead of Silicon Valley.
It reached a maximum employment of 254,514 in 2006.[212]
In 2006, Forbes magazine named Harris Corporation, headquartered in
Brevard, to its "Platinum 400" List.
The Technological Research and Development Authority, based on the Space Coast, delivers technologies to schools and small businesses throughout the state of Florida. They obtain this information through strategic alliances with NASA, the federal government, the aerospace industry and state partners. They also sponsor a business incubator at the Melbourne Airport.
The largest hotel in Brevard has 284 rooms and 30,000 square feet (2,800 m2) of meeting space.[213]
Labor
There were 168,500 private sector jobs in the county in 2009. The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted the following workers in Brevard along with average annual pay ($):
Retail 25,900 ($23,361)
Manufacturing 21,700 ($65,521)
Local government 20,100 ($42,517)
Hospitality 19,600 ($15,857).
The largest local employer is Brevard Public Schools with 9,500 of whom 5,000 are teachers.[214] Brevard County Teachers are represented by the Brevard Federation of Teachers (AFT).
The county had an unemployment rate of 12.7% in January 2010, a 20-year record high.[215] In March 2010, there were 33,500 people out of work.[216] The county experienced a record low unemployment in 2005 of 2.8%.[217] There were 32,608 people unemployed in the county in January 2011.[218]
In 2009, there were 6,400 federal workers, total, employed in the county. They earned an average of $74,600.[219]
In 2009, average annual salaries in the county for engineers was $90,563; registered nurses $53,315; education $49,441; police officers $43,035; cooks $21,569; and cashiers $19,489. The average annual pay for all workers was then $42,411.[220]
In 2011, there were more engineers (48) per thousand workers than any other region in the United States.[221]
In 2007, Space Coast Credit Union was the largest locally based financial institution in Brevard County and the third largest credit union in the state of Florida, with assets of over $3 billion.[223][224]
In 2011, the majority of groceries were sold in chain stores. Publix has 23 stores; Winn-Dixie has 10; Wal-Mart has 12 stores; the county has three warehouse clubs. 38% of groceries were purchased at Publix, 30% at Wal-Mart superstores, and 7% at Winn-Dixie.[226]
Private charities
In 2013, there were 1,611 private charities registered in the county. They received $1.5 billion, spent $1.4 billion, and held $2.5 billion in assets.[227]
Health
Health statistics
Brevard was ranked 25th in the state, out of 67 counties, for health outcomes in 2014. 22% of residents smoke, 28% are obese, 25% are physically inactive, 20% drink in excess. The county ranked 13 in clinical care, 25th in societal factors (including air pollution and drinking water quality).[228] In 2013, there were about 88,000 persons without medical insurance in the county.[229]
Health care services tend to cost more in Brevard than Orlando or the statistical average in Florida. In 2009, a nursing home private room averaged $79,023 annually, semi-private $74,643, private one-bedroom assisted living $39,000. A home health aide, Medicare-certified, was $88,660, substantially higher than the Florida average of $51,480. Adult day care (44 hours) was cheaper at $12,870 annually, as was a home health aide "licensed-only" $38,896.[230]
In 2013, the County Health Department Director issued a caution about the potential danger of flesh-eating bacteria that inhabit inland estuaries.[232]
Healthcare facilities
As of 2011, there were ten hospitals in the county, with 1,734 beds total.[233] Health First is the largest healthcare provider in the county, consisting of four not-for-profit hospitals—Cape Canaveral Hospital in Cocoa Beach, Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne, Viera Hospital in Viera, Florida and Palm Bay Community Hospital in Palm Bay.
Besides hospitalization, services include outpatient centers; the county's only trauma center (at Holmes Regional Medical Center); home care; specialized programs for cancer, diabetes, heart, stroke, and rehabilitative services; central Brevard's largest medical group; and Medicare Advantage, commercial POS, and commercial HMO health plans. Parrish Medical Center, a 210-bed hospital, was named America's No. 1 Healing Hospital for the third straight year by the Baptist Healing Trust.[234]
Space Coast Center for Independent Living offers over-all services for individuals with all types of disabilities: peer support, advocacy, skills training, accessibility surveys, support groups, transportation, specialized equipment, sign language interpreter coordination services,[235] and a program for high school students for career development.[236]
The Space Coast Early Intervention Center is a nationally recognized not-for-profit pre-school and therapeutic center that offers care and aids with the development of small children with special needs.[237] Children are treated and educated with the specific goal of mainstreaming children diagnosed with the following into public school: Down syndrome, Williams syndrome, cerebral palsy, deletion syndrome, PDDs including Rett syndrome, autism, and Apert syndrome, as well as children with visual, speech and hearing delays.
Health Outreach Prevention & Education (HOPE) is a network of community partners working together to provide care for people without insurance, and for children with special needs. This network includes hospitals.[citation needed]
The Brevard Alzheimer's Foundation is unique for being a local organization only. It has three adult daycare service locations and often provides transportation and funding.[239] The non-profit Circles of Care provides mental health programs to Brevard.[240] Dialing 2-1-1 in the county gives response to people in crisis and/or needing information about community resources.[241]
There are place names currently used, or used at one time by the USGS. Some are early developments, while others are former stations along the main line of the Florida East Coast Railway. Several of these disappeared when Kennedy Space Center took over their area.[11]
Elementary and secondary education is provided by the Brevard Public Schools and private schools.
In 2011, six public schools were ranked by the state in the top ten schools in the state, out of 2,800 There was one list each for primary and secondary schools.[242]
The Brevard County Library System has 17 branches.[243] Although the Merritt Island Public Library is counted as part of the Brevard County Public Library System, it is part of a separate library district. In 2005, HB1079 was passed to codify all the special acts under which the Merritt Island Public Library District exists.[244]
While Brevard County has transportation available in the usual modes for a coastal county—highways, shipping, and airlines—it has the addition of space transportation, making it unique in the world.[249]
Florida Power & Light (FPL) maintains an oil-fired generating plant at Sharpes; it generates 800 megawatts (1,100,000 hp), supplying most of the requirements for the county. In 2008 the company announced plans to replace the plant with a more efficient natural gas-powered plant in 2013 with a 1,250 megawatt capacity, which can supply 250,000 homes or businesses.[252] Near FPL's plant is the Indian River Power Plant; formerly owned by the Orlando Utilities Commission, it is now owned and operated by RRI Energy. In 2016, FPL had 304,400 customers in Brevard.[253]
The county government maintains various landfills for solid waste. Brevard County Central Disposal Facility is located in Cocoa, has a size 190-acre (77 ha) and receives annually around 275,000 tonnes of waste.[255] In 2013, the county planned a new $100 million landfill, north of U.S. Route 192, near the border with Osceola County, 8.5 miles (13.7 km) west of I-95. The county has awarded a $3.9 million contract for a wetlands mitigation for this new landfill.[256]
In 2013, the county, for the first time, let a seven-year contract out for bids for solid waste. The resulting contract is expected to cost $1 billion over the lifetime of the contract, the county's largest single contract. This was the first time in 20 years, a bid was requested. In the past, Waste Management, Inc has performed the work, not only for the county but for 9 of 16 Brevard municipalities. Waste Pro has five of the remaining municipal contracts. Rockledge and Titusville maintain their own trash service.[257] In 2013, the county directly contracts for solid waste pickup for 100,000 residences.[258]
Water
In 2013, the county consumed about 100,000,000 US gallons (380,000,000 L; 83,000,000 imp gal) daily. Landscape irrigation accounted for about half of this usage.[259]
In 2017, there were five municipal entities selling water (figures in parentheses are millions of gallons/day): Cocoa (22), Melbourne (19), Palm Bay (6), Titusville (2), and West Melbourne (1). The fifth, Brevard County (1), is low because county areas outside the preceding cities, purchase their water from those cities.[260]
Wastewater
The county controls six Wastewater Treatment Facilities: Mims (900,000 US gallons (3,400,000 L; 750,000 imp gal)/day), Port St. John (500,000 US gallons (1,900,000 L; 420,000 imp gal)/day), South Central (Viera) (12,000,000 US gallons (45,000,000 L; 10,000,000 imp gal)/day), South Beaches, and Barefoot Bay area.[261] Some cities have wastewater treatment plants, as well.[262]
Media
Brevard County is within the Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne-Cocoa-Clermont television market. The county is within range of many television and radio stations located in Orlando.[263]
Newspapers
Florida Today is the major daily newspaper serving Melbourne, Brevard County and the Space Coast region of Florida. It is owned by the media conglomerate Gannett Company.[264] A monthly newspaper, El Playero, serves the Spanish-speaking population of the Space Coast.[265] The Brevard Business News, Hometown News, Space Coast Daily, Talk of Titusville, and Viera Voice also cover local news within Brevard County.[citation needed]
The Manure Film Project: A Crappy Documentary with Absolutely No Budget (2018)[267]
Transformers: Dark of the Moon, directed by Michael Bay. Filmed in 2010 at Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), orbiter processing facilities, and launch pad among other areas
I Dream of Jeannie, a 1960s comedy series, was set in Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral but filmed in California.
Arts and culture
The Maxwell C. King Center for the Performing Arts, seating 2000, features locally produced and former Broadway shows, ballet, and symphony. Several different performances are scheduled each week.
The Brevard Symphony Orchestra and the Space Coast Ballet offer shows performed by professionals. There is the professional Space Coast Symphony Orchestra.[268] Community orchestras and bands include, but are not limited to, the Melbourne Community Orchestra,[269] the Space Coast Pops and the Community Band of Brevard.[270] Choral groups include the Brevard Community Chorus,[271] the Brevard Chorale,[272] the Indialantic Chamber Singers,[273] and the Brevard Youth Chorus.[274]
The Brevard Zoo is a 75 acres (30 ha) facility[275] that contains more than 650 animals representing more than 165 species from Florida, South America, Africa, Asia and Australia. The Zoo offers animal experiences including giraffe
and lorikeet feedings, African kayak tours, paddle boats in the wetlands and a train ride.[citation needed]
Ballet
The Space Coast Ballet incorporates professional principal dancers and instructors together with many roles for local senior talent as well as roles for students. They annually stage The Nutcracker.
The Brevard Museum of History & Natural Science features the remains of the "Windover Man", the oldest human remains found on the North American continent, and a re-creation of the Windover Dig, a "wet" archaeological site. A visitor may see how Native Americans lived and Florida pioneers survived.[278]
Honor America runs the Liberty Bell Memorial Museum. This houses a replica of the Liberty Bell, historical documents, and patriotic memorabilia. Items are permanent reminders of our nation's history, as well as a memorial to military veterans.
The Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore Memorial Park and Cultural Center features a museum with artifacts and timeline of the civil rights movement and the story of Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore, civil rights leaders who were killed after their home was bombed on December 25, 1951.[279]
The Wizard of Oz Museum features a large collection of over 3,000 Wizard of Oz artifacts and memorabilia,[280] including the first known published copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, signed by L. Frank Baum, an early copy of the script for the 1939 MGM movie, and a fox-raccoon jacket owned by Judy Garland, monogrammed with her initials, "JG." The facility also includes a gift shop, and a large room with 31 projectors featuring both the Van Gogh Experience, and a Wizard of Oz immersive experience.
^Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.[86]
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^[8]Archived May 19, 2009, at the Wayback Machine G. Scott Thomas (May 11, 2009). "San Jose leads as America's top tech center". bizjournals.
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Busick, Glenda Carlin (1992). Brevard good ole boys: A taxpayer searches for truth in the "good ole boy" network of county government. Tampa, Florida: Free Press Publishing. ASINB0006OUK3C. A critic summarizes and comments on Brevard politics in the late 20th century.
Eriksen, John (1994). Brevard County, Florida: A Short History to 1955. Melbourne, Florida: JohnEriksen.net/. ASINB076H69FDW. This is a documented history of Brevard County, from prehistoric to the space age. Documented with 320 end notes drawn from 1000 sources.
Middleton, Sallie. "Space Rush: Local Impact of Federal Aerospace Programs on Brevard and Surrounding Counties," Florida Historical Quarterly, Fall 2008, Vol. 87, Issue 2, pp. 258–289. JSTOR20700217.
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