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The Old And The New Boca Raton

By Jony Mozen


When it comes to beaches and sunshine, amusements and dining, nightlife and shopping, the Miami area has it all. Originally incorporated in 1925, Boca Raton, only 43 miles from Miami now hosts over 84,000 residents of its own. Although, a number of people reside outside the boundaries, only using this smaller city as a center for business and economic trade.

In fact, the smaller of these two cities was built as a business center. As such, the daytime population of the area often increases drastically. Whereas, the population at nightfall can at times seem almost non-existent.

One of the most historic and popular hotels in the area is that of a nearby local hotel resort & club, originally known as Addison Mizners Ritz-Carlton Cloister Inn, it was built in 1926, only one year after incorporation of the city. Currently, it remains one of the only five star rated hotels and resorts in Florida. With that being said, there are still several independent bed and breakfasts, hotels and chain lodging establishments with high ratings in the area.

The first business to grace the presence of this small city was that of IBM. IBM built its first business complex here in 1926. IBM together with another corporation secretly purchased land, then built what would become a quite historic business park. While now considered part of this small city, it originally the complex sat on the outskirts until the area was later annexed.

This small city and IBM are to be thanked for the first PC, which was developed in the area. The business park still in existence now stands next to the Tri-City rail park. Ahead of its time, the business complex was built with its own electrical substation, water pump and rail line. Eventually, IBM began to build other complexes in other cities, and outgrew the small plaza.

IBM and Bill Gates then developed the first personal computers for home and business. Later, the two worked together again when the IBM OS/2 operating system merged with the initial Windows operating system. So, while a lot of decay has happened in the area, some historical relics remain. Though, as it is mostly the eastern areas of the city which have seen such decay, pieces of the complex have also been lost in time.

Since the closure of the original mall, the downtown area has been built up with a new outdoor shopping center, several restaurants and improvements to the park including an outdoor amphitheater. The site also features a park which lies between the two main thoroughfares, now known as Plaza Real. A number of tourists have suggested the area is akin to shopping centers found in the Mediterranean.

The redevelopment and redesign of the shopping center along with a park setting, and other new buildings have worked to revitalize the city. Though, when it comes to housing, whether as a rental or purchase, it can often be difficult to find properties which are either acceptable or affordable by middle class America.




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