Florida Mainstreet

You won't find international models in Victoria Park. You won't see the mansions of Fortune 500 moguls. There's no nightlife here to draw the crowds, no big malls for shoppers. What you'll find instead is a rapidly reviving neighborhood near downtown Fort Lauderdale, filled with tall flowering trees and people just happy to be there.

Dating from the 1920s, Victoria Park may not be the oldest neighborhood in Fort Lauderdale, but it was the first to undergo a thorough facelift, taking on a fresh, second-generationidentity. Along with the nearby Colee Hammock neighborhood straddling Las Olas Boulevard, Victoria Park has flourished over the past decade as part of Fort Lauderdale's vibrant downtown revival.

"People are moving in and enhancing the charm that was already here," says Greg Briche, a landscaper who has lived in Victoria Park for 14 years. "We're a baby Coconut Grove."

Unless you already live there, don't be surprised if you've never heard of Victoria Park. It is almost entirely a residential neighborhood, with businesses limited to the streets that form its boundaries: Broward Boulevard, Federal Highway and Sunrise Boulevard.

As a result, Victoria Park has become the relaxed downtown kind of neighborhood that some people had despaired of finding in Broward County. People walk their dogs, plant flowers in their front yards and ride their bicycles down to Las Olas for brunch at The Floridian.

"It's a community of people who are pulling together, and who want to get to know their neighbors," says Briche. "When you bike around the neighborhood, inevitably you run into people and talk."

Named for the daughter of an early developer, Victoria Park is home to about 10,000 of Fort Lauderdale's 150,000 residents. Without a central shopping district as a focal point, it may be best known as the childhood home of tennis star Chris Evert.

Once a neighborhood of working-class families and fixed-income retirees, Victoria Park has seen its demographic profile change dramatically in the past decade. The median age has dropped to 40, and the average household income has risen to more than $50,000. It has become one of the most diverse communities in Broward County, both economically and socially. It still has a substantial contingent of retirees, but today the tone is set by single professionals, young families and a large concentration of gay couples. An estimated 30 to 35 percent of Victoria Park's residents are gay.

Property values continue to be on the upswing. Fifteen years ago, a typical house in Victoria Park sold for $35,000 to $40,000. Today the same house will go for $150,000 to $200,000, and it's not unusual to see properties priced at $300,000 or more.

People are naturally drawn to Victoria Park for its location: The beach, downtown offices, restaurants and the performing arts district all are nearby. But there's another factor that is perhaps just as important. No section of Fort Lauderdale has had more old-home renovation than Victoria Park, with eight houses under consideration as historic landmarks. The area has a distinctive feel - leafy, close-knit, with a well-ordered tastefulness - but there's no characteristic style of architecture. Homes come in all sizes and shapes, from New England Federal to Mediterranean Revival to boxy bungalows.

The future for Victoria Park looks bright. The people who live there no longer have their hearts in some distant homeland. The new generation of people in Victoria Park see this as the place they want to be - the place they call home.