Riviera Beach, Florida | |
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| Nickname: | |
| Motto: "Best Waterfront City" | |
 Location of Riviera Beach in Palm Beach County, Florida | |
| Coordinates:26°46′48″N80°4′2″W / 26.78000°N 80.06722°W /26.78000; -80.06722 | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Florida |
| County |  Palm Beach |
| Settled (Lake Worth Settlement) | c. Early 1860s–1880[1][6] |
| Settled (Oak Lawn Settlement) | c. 1881–1892[1][6] |
| Platted (Riviera Settlement) | c. 1893–1921[1][6] |
| Incorporated (Town of Riviera) | September 29, 1922 (1922-09-29)[1][6] |
| Incorporated (Town of Riviera Beach) | 1941[1][2][6] |
| Incorporated (City of Riviera Beach) | 1959[1][6] |
| Named after | French Riviera[7] |
| Government | |
| • Type | Council-Manager |
| • Mayor | Ronnie L. Felder (D) |
| • Council Members | Tradrick McCoy, Shirley D. Lanier, Douglas Lawson, KaShamba Miller-Anderson, and Dr. Glen Spiritis |
| • City Manager | Jonathan E. Evans |
| • City Clerk | Debrah Hall |
| • City Attorney | Dawn Wynn |
| Area | |
• Total | 9.66 sq mi (25.01 km2) |
| • Land | 8.28 sq mi (21.44 km2) |
| • Water | 1.38 sq mi (3.57 km2) |
| Elevation | 16 ft (4.9 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 37,604 |
| • Density | 4,543/sq mi (1,754/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC– 05:00 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC– 04:00 (EDT) |
| ZIP codes | 33403, 33404, 33407, 33410, 33418[10] |
| Area codes | 561, 728 |
| FIPS code | 12-60975[11] |
| GNIS feature ID | 2404626[9] |
| Website | https://www.rivierabch.com |
Riviera Beach is a city inPalm Beach County, Florida, United States, which was incorporated on September 29, 1922. Due to the location of its eastern boundary, it is also the easternmost municipality in theMiami metropolitan area. In the2020 U.S. census, the total population of Riviera Beach residents was 37,604 people.[12]
Riviera Beach is predominantly an African-American city and it is on thelist of U.S. cities with African American majority populations. It is home to thePort of Palm Beach and aUnited States Coast Guard station, and has its ownmarina.[13][14] Riviera Beach is home to Blue Heron Bridge, one of the country's top-rated beach dive sites.[15] In 2015, Riviera Beach renamed part ofOld Dixie Highway that runs inside the city limits as President Barack Obama Highway.[16] The city is also home toRapids Water Park, awater park attraction for both tourists and residents.
Riviera Beach was originally called Oak Lawn, but the settlement was renamed Riviera in 1893.[1] It wasn't until 1941 that "Beach" was added, though it was incorporated in 1922 as only the "Town of Riviera".[1] In 1959, it converted from a "town" status to the present-day "City of Riviera Beach".[6][1] For the first half of the 20th century, its nickname was "Conchtown", after the manyConch people (Bahamians andBahamian Americans) who resided in the city.[1][2][3][17][5] The city was named after theFrench Riviera.[7]
The approximate coordinates for the City of Riviera Beach is located in the northeast central part of Palm Beach County at26°46′48″N80°4′2″W / 26.78000°N 80.06722°W /26.78000; -80.06722.
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 9.8 square miles (25 km2), of which 8.3 square miles (21 km2) is land and 1.5 square miles (3.9 km2) (15.33%) is water. The eastern part of the city includes most ofSinger Island, a peninsula on the Atlantic coast of Palm Beach County, Florida, which is separated from the mainland portion of the city byLake Worth'sLake Worth Lagoon.
Riviera Beach has atropical climate, more specifically atropical rainforest climate (Köppen climate classificationAf), as its driest month (February) averages 64.8mm of precipitation, meeting the minimum standard of 60mm in the driest month needed to qualify for that designation.[18] Much of the year is warm to hot in Riviera Beach, andfrost is extremely rare. As is typical inSouth Florida, there are two basic seasons in Riviera Beach, a mild and dry winter (November through April), and a hot and wet summer (May through October). Daily thundershowers are common in the hot season, though they are brief. The city of Riviera Beach is home to many varieties oftropical vegetation, which can be seen in its variety of plants, trees, and flowers all overSouth Florida and the city itself.
| Climate data for Riviera Beach, Florida | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 75 (24) | 77 (25) | 79 (26) | 82 (28) | 86 (30) | 89 (32) | 90 (32) | 90 (32) | 88 (31) | 85 (29) | 80 (27) | 76 (24) | 83 (28) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 57 (14) | 59 (15) | 62 (17) | 66 (19) | 71 (22) | 74 (23) | 76 (24) | 76 (24) | 75 (24) | 72 (22) | 66 (19) | 60 (16) | 68 (20) |
| Averageprecipitation inches (mm) | 3.13 (80) | 2.94 (75) | 4.59 (117) | 3.66 (93) | 4.51 (115) | 8.30 (211) | 5.76 (146) | 7.95 (202) | 8.35 (212) | 5.13 (130) | 4.75 (121) | 3.38 (86) | 62.45 (1,588) |
| Source:The Weather Channel[19] | |||||||||||||
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1930 | 811 | — | |
| 1940 | 1,981 | 144.3% | |
| 1950 | 4,065 | 105.2% | |
| 1960 | 13,046 | 220.9% | |
| 1970 | 21,401 | 64.0% | |
| 1980 | 26,489 | 23.8% | |
| 1990 | 27,639 | 4.3% | |
| 2000 | 29,884 | 8.1% | |
| 2010 | 32,488 | 8.7% | |
| 2020 | 37,604 | 15.7% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census[20] | |||
| Race / Ethnicity(NH = Non-Hispanic) | Pop 2000[21] | Pop 2010[22] | Pop 2020[23] | % 2000 | % 2010 | % 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White alone (NH) | 7,586 | 7,440 | 8,302 | 25.38% | 22.90% | 22.08% |
| Black or African American alone (NH) | 20,066 | 21,126 | 22,877 | 67.15% | 65.03% | 60.84% |
| Native American orAlaska Native alone (NH) | 38 | 76 | 45 | 0.13% | 0.23% | 0.12% |
| Asian alone (NH) | 295 | 765 | 1,087 | 0.99% | 2.35% | 2.89% |
| Native Hawaiian orPacific Islander alone (NH) | 7 | 18 | 7 | 0.02% | 0.06% | 0.02% |
| Other race alone (NH) | 49 | 98 | 164 | 0.16% | 0.30% | 0.44% |
| Mixed race or Multiracial (NH) | 495 | 547 | 1,082 | 1.66% | 1.68% | 2.88% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 1,348 | 2,418 | 4,040 | 4.51% | 7.44% | 10.74% |
| Total | 29,884 | 32,488 | 37,604 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% |
As of the2020 United States census, there were 37,604 people, 12,045 households, and 7,425 families residing in the city.[24]
As of the2010 United States census, there were 32,488 people, 12,015 households, and 7,710 families residing in the city.[25]
As of 2000, 29.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.1% were married couples living together, 27.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.3% were non-families. 22.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.04 and the average family size was 4.62.
In 2000, the population was spread out, with 37.5% under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 27.1% from 25 to 44, 20.7% from 45 to 64, and 8.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 107.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 105.6 males. The median income for a household in the city was $28,715, and the median income for a family was $26,756.
In 2000, males had a median income of $27,232 versus $22,410 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,159. About 29.6% of families and 32.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 35.1% of those under age 18 and 21.4% of those age 65 or over.
As of 2000, those who solely spokeEnglish at home accounted for 90.30% of all residents, while speakers ofSpanish were 4.71%,French Creole 2.42%, and French speakers 0.95%.[26]
Riviera Beach has amayor–council–manager form of government.[27] Ronnie Felder was elected to a second three-year term as its mayor in 2022.[28] Jonathan Evans, who was fired ascity manager by three city council members in 2017 "for cause, for misfeasance" but without further explanation, returned to that position in 2019,[29] and as of July 2022[update] was in negotiations for a contract renewal.[30] The city is divided into five districts, each with a council member; the mayor does not vote.[28]
The Riviera Beach City Council has received national attention for its repeated clashes with local activistFane Lozman, starting with his successful lawsuit, brought under Florida's open-meetings law, to prevent them from seizing the marina undereminent domain and selling it to private developers.[31] In 2013,Lozman won against the city at theUnited States Supreme Court in anadmiralty case after the city seized hisfloating home. In 2018,Lozman won a rare second victory at the court, this one arising from his arrest during a city council meeting in November 2006.[32]
Public Elementary Schools
Public Middle School
Public High Schools
Charter High School
The original Riviera Beach Public Library was located at West Heron Boulevard until it had a mold and mildew problem. As a result, they decided to relocate to a new building, starting their search in 2020. The Library Director at the time, Rodney Freeman, wanted to make sure the new library matched the community’s needs, so they made sure to survey residents to see what they expected from a new library.
Based on the library’s mission as well as the community’s input, they decided to choose a location on North Congress Avenue near the city’s Youth Empowerment Center to encourage the youth in the community to continue to improve themselves. The biggest issue they faced with the new location is the decrease in size. The new building is about 10,000 square feet, which is a 4,000 square foot decrease from the West Heron Boulevard building. They worked with Opening the Book North America to design the space. Once renovations were complete, the library opened to the public in July 2021.[34]
With 32,723 residents to provide services to, the collection contains 70,257 volumes and circulates about 14,949 materials a year.[35] They also have digital subscriptions to multiple sources, including Black Life in America, which gives users access to records spanning from 1704 to today about African Americans’ experiences. They also have an African American Room where they provide even more digital resources on their smartboard about news regarding African American history.[36]
Riviera Beach is served by several bus routes operated byPalmTran.[37]
Municipalities and communities ofPalm Beach County, Florida,United States | ||
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