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Real Estate & Homes in Cocoa Beach - Florida - Cocoa Beach, Florida, homes and communities Cocoa Beach
Background A gem on the east coast of Florida is Cocoa Beach and the surrounding areas because of the fine weather, cultural attractions, the miles of beaches and waterways and fishing; it is a virtual playground for the space adventurer as it is in the heart of the Space Coast. The great draw here is NASA and the Kennedy Space Center where residents and tourists can take in a launch or tour the Kennedy Space Center, the primary reason for the town’s existence. History of Cocoa Beach A family of newly freed slaves following the Civil War started the first real settlement in Cocoa Beach, though a hurricane in 1885 discouraged settlement. In 1888, a group of local men bought the entire tract of land now known as Cocoa Beach, but the land remained untouched until an attorney named Gus Edwards arrived and began to develop it. The City of Cocoa Beach was established on June 5, 1925 and was incorporated as a city on June 29, 1957. The city is ripe with history and much of it remains to be seen by the visitor or resident, most of it is in Historic Cocoa Village along the Indian River. A tour through the village provides a showing of the city’s history complete with architecture, quaint specialty shops boutiques, pubs and eateries along many of the tree-lined streets. Many historic structures including Travis Hardware, 1885, the Cocoa Village Playhouse, 1924, the Masonic Temple, 1919, the Sur Le Parc, 1888, the oldest existing commercial building in Cocoa Village all help maintain the historic identity of this beach community. Fast Facts Community Cocoa Beach is not much different than its dozen or so other counterpart coastal retreat cities in Florida. As more time passes, more people, especially the Baby Boomers, discover Florida as a land of opportunity for job growth, inexpensive real estate ventures and in many cases, small town living, which is different that the cities from where they come from in the north. Additionally, the weather makes for an advantageous place to be if you are an outdoor lover because the sun shows itself about 300 days of the year. Known as a retirement haven, Cocoa Beach actually bucks that trend with more than 65 percent of it residents under the age of 65. The city is predominantly Caucasian, according to the 2000 Census report and middle class, though when the space program suffers, as it did after the Challenger explosion or the Columbia accident, the local economy has been known to grind to a halt and in some cases, can take several years to rebound. Attractions One of the area’s most famous destinations, in fact one of the reasons that Cocoa Beach is what it is today, is the Kennedy Space Center. It is the center for all things space in the Unites States and where the curious can see the beginning of travels to space and those who hope to live out their fantasies can make them a reality. The Kennedy Space Center is the world’s premier gateway to things unearthly. It is the only launch site for the space shuttle, operates countdown missions and landing and recovery missions. The Kennedy Space Center is also the last earthly stop for hardware and crews before they make their way to the International Space Station. Cocoa Beach is home to the original Ron Jon Surf Shop, a one of a kind place, it is the world’s largest surf shop and has everything one needs to catch a break and ride a wave. Not actually an amusement park, Ron Jon is just a must see. There’s also Jungle Adventures, where you can view thousands of gators, take jungle cruises, see wildlife and witness the endangered Florida panther – a rare sight. Additionally, Walt Disney World, Universal Studios and Cypress Gardens are in the Orlando area, approximately 45 minutes to the west, and Cocoa Beach is the home of world-class golf, Atlantic coast beaches and fishing. Arts & Culture For such a small community, Cocoa Beach has an enormous amount of cultural events and venues including theaters and galleries for the most distinguished person. Theaters, many of them historic, include the Historic Cocoa Village Playhouse featuring community performers and professional entertainers; the Henegar Center for the Arts is another historical treasure and is now a vibrant center for the arts. Art exhibits are presented in the lobby gallery. Also here is the Maxwell C. King Center for the Performing Arts. A 2,000-seat performing arts center offering Broadway, dance, opera, classical, popular and children's theatre, the Phoenix Theater is a semi-professional theater presenting dramas, adult comedies and an annual musical and the Surfside Playhouse with a mix of comedy, drama and musicals, providing the community with training for backstage, technical and make-up skills. Education For such a progressive state as is Florida, Cocoa Beach is built around space and tourism generated because of the final frontier’s exploration and is underrepresented in advanced educational opportunities found in the larger areas such as Orlando -- where the University of Central Florida is located -- Gainesville, Tampa or Miami. Though these opportunities are not as plenty here, that doesn’t mean Cocoa Beach and the Brevard County School District doesn’t take their primary education seriously. Cocoa Beach is part of the Brevard County School District, one of the top ten school districts in the State of Florida and Cocoa Beach Junior/Senior High School ranked in the Top 100 – 2005 America’s Best High Schools by Newsweek Magazine. Recreation Cocoa Beach has 12.8 miles of waterways including canals, lagoons and ocean beaches so water sport and recreation is of the highest importance here. West of the city is where the Thousand Islands are, in the Banana River Aquatic Preserve. The Islands are a group of approximately fifty Islands some of which are naturally occurring while others were created during the development of Cocoa Beach and its canals in the 1950s and 1960s. The Islands range from a portion of an acre to over 200 acres making for a total of approximately 900 acres. Canoeing and fishing through the islands are local favorites. From all points: piers, land and sea, some of the fish caught here are grouper, dolphin fish, mackerel, tuna and snapper. Cocoa Beach is also the home of the world’s largest surf shop; Ron Jon’s and serves as a haven for those wishing to rides the Atlantic waves. Plentiful are the parks in the land of Space Coast in Cocoa Beach, there are almost a dozen facilities for the enthusiast to choose from, perfect for any occasion, from picnicking, camping, hiking, exploring, canoeing and biking. The Cocoa Beach Country Club includes a professional tennis complex for all ages and all skill levels. The Tennis Complex features: fourteen courts in all, including two clay courts, ten of the courts are lighted, two tennis professionals on staff, a wide variety of programs for everyone including leagues, clinics, a junior program and group programs, private tennis lessons by certified professionals and a pro shop for equipment and apparel needs. Lacking in Cocoa Beach though are the professional sports offerings. Professional basketball can be found in Orlando and football has made its home in Miami, Jacksonville and Tampa. Baseball is also found in Tampa and Miami. Baseball’s spring training does bring many northern teams south to Florida to places like Vero Beach, Port St. Lucie, Winterhaven and many of other Central Florida location. For Cocoa Beach, they focus on their beach and if residents want to attend such an event, all are just a short car ride away. Festivals abound in Cocoa Beach, with January being the only month not to host something. Being a beach town, most of the festivals revolve around the ocean in some way or another and include the SeaFest in March, the Ron Jon Easter Surfing Festival in April, the BeachFest in May and the National Kidney Foundation Surf Festival in September. Other events include Oktoberfest, the Chocolate and Champagne Festival, the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival and the Mardi Gras Chowder Cook-Off. Economy Cocoa Beach is a tourist destination and owes its existence in great part to the Space Program. Without either, the prior a growing force, the city would not be what is today – a thriving town on the verge of a mini-population explosion though Cocoa Beach is not a rich city, the median income for a household in the city is $42,372, and the median income for a family is $51,795. Men earn about $39,418 versus $27,113 for women. The economy here is firmly rooted in the work of NASA, tourism and real estate, which is growing at enormous rates, like the rest of Florida. And the thriving industry of tourism is based on two crucial factors: the health of the space program and the time of year. During the hurricane deluge of 2004 when four major storms hit the state, two of them directly crossing the Cocoa Beach area, tourism in Florida took a decline and is finally rebounding – on the verge of another storm season, though remarkably, real estate held its ground and is near the top in all the country.
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