Briny Breezes, Florida

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Briny Breezes is a town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population was 411 at the 2000 census. Briny Breezes (or "Briny" as it is known locally) is a small coastal community of approximately 488 mobile homes along U.S. Hwy. A1A.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 History
4 External links

[edit] Geography

Briny Breezes is located at 26°30′32″N, 80°3′15″W (26.508849, -80.054150)^GR1.

It is about 1.6 miles south of Ocean Ridge and 1.3 miles north of Gulf Stream.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²). 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it (22.22%) is water.

Briny is unique retirement village in that it is the only mobile home trailer park literally on the coast in Florida. No where else can one possibly get a mobile home trailer spot on the coast. It sits between the Atlantic Ocean on the East and the Inter-Coastal Waterway on the West. Briny offers a bundle of amenities and services that include access to a pool, shuffleboard courts, a marina on the intercoastal, its own beach front with a clubhouse, community events during the winter, and numerous social clubs. Because it is east of the Inter-Coastal, it is a mandatory evacuation zone when there are pertinent hurricane-related warnings are issued.

Sitting in hyperelastic Boynton Beach, there is access to other public facilities, services, and amenities on Federal Highway and farther in-land on Congress Avenue.

Briny is a private community consisting mostly of "Snowbirds" from the Northeast, Midwest, and Canada. While it is not a gated community, it seems to be a superior job of enforcing its rules in part attributed to the commitment of its members. One visiting there can feel a sense of security. The process of getting your own place includes an interview with a committee, so just because you have the money to buy a spot does not mean you will get in.

As mentioned elsewhere, there is a planned referendum on whether to sell the property to a developer who will turn the property into high-end permanent housing. So, there is some question at the time of writing (12/2206) how much longer Briny will be in existence.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 411 people, 266 households, and 129 families residing in the town. The population density was 2,267.0/km² (5,912.5/mi²). There were 534 housing units at an average density of 2,945.4/km² (7,682.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 99.27% White, 0.49% Asian, and 0.24% from other races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.49% of the population.

There were 266 households out of which 1.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.7% were married couples living together, 2.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 51.5% were non-families. 48.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 34.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.55 and the average family size was 2.06.

In the town the population was spread out with 1.9% under the age of 18, 1.5% from 18 to 24, 4.9% from 25 to 44, 25.3% from 45 to 64, and 66.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 70 years. For every 100 females there were 77.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 76.0 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $34,583, and the median income for a family was $55,500. Males had a median income of $31,250 versus $33,333 for females. The per capita income for the town was $35,338. About 1.5% of families and 6.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under age 18 and 5.6% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] History

In late 2005, news began to spread through the community that a secret developer was trying to buy the entire municipality for 500 million dollars. This would equate to an average of slightly more than 1 million dollars per residential lot. In December 2005, it was announced that more than 70 percent of the 488 lot owners had voted to hire a lawyer to pursue the sale.

If the sale goes through, it would mean a huge windfall for each lot owner. By way of illustration, in the mid-1990's, properties were generally sold in the $50,000 to $60,000 range. Even as late as 2002, $150,000 was a common sale figure for a property.