Two of downtown Fort Lauderdale’s newest residents enjoyed a sunny stroll on the Riverwalk. The weather was warm, neighbors walked their dogs and downtown’s many construction sites boomed with noise.

None of the hubbub seemed to bother Jade and Journey. They’re five-week-old twin sisters who napped peacefully as their mother Jayme Callahan pushed the double decker stroller down the sidewalk.

“It’s a good idea,” Callahan, 40, said of raising a family in downtown Fort Lauderdale. “We were actually going to move out towards the suburb area, but we really like it down here. It’s just convenient for everything. We can go out on walks midday. And we’re pretty safe down here, too.”

Data collected from Fort Lauderdale’s Downtown Development Authority confirms what many residents have noticed in recent years. Downtown Fort Lauderdale, which was once the spot for retirees and beach bums in the ‘90s, is now becoming populated with young families.

Callahan, who moved to downtown three years ago for her work as a paralegal, noticed the trend in her own apartment building where many of her neighbors are raising toddlers.

“Especially in our building, you wouldn’t really think that since we have a younger crowd, everything’s centered around health, wellness, run clubs and things like that,” she said. “But we have a lot of families.”

The DDA released its annual report in April detailing the area’s growth, including an 83 percent increase in families with children since 2018 – and an even more astounding 47 percent increase in families with children under 5 in the past five years. This data sets Fort Lauderdale apart from other cities where young families have been moving out in favor of suburban and rural areas, especially since the pandemic.

“If you compare that to almost every other major urban center in the country, that’s the polar opposite story,” said Matthew Schnur, the DDA research and innovation manager. “The word is getting out over how much Fort Lauderdale is investing in overall quality life. We’re finally becoming a true year round destination.”

The report – which considers downtown Fort Lauderdale to be the 2.2 square-mile area within Sunrise Boulevard, NW Seventh Ave/ SW Fourth Avenue, SE 17th Street, US-1 and Las Olas – also boasts the city’s overall growth in demographics, economics and real estate development. The downtown area’s population has grown 96% since 2010, now approaching 27,000 residents. Jobs have increased as well, as businesses downtown employ 68,000 people, which is 3,000 more jobs than 2023, the report says.

The data suggests that downtown Fort Lauderdale, with its $10 billion worth of investment in residential, office and infrastructure developments, the multi-million dollar renovation of Huizenga Park and an emerging dining scene (Fort Lauderdale just got Broward its first Michelin star), has become a happy medium for young professionals who find Miami too busy and West Palm Beach too relaxed. The average rent in downtown Fort Lauderdale is about $2,900 a month while the average rent in Brickell, the neighborhood just next to downtown Miami, is over