Las Olas Boulevard - the community



			COMMUNITY American Lung Association First Presbyterian Church, Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art \| Fort Lauderdale Stranahan House Chris Gaus (Mangos) Each year people ask, "Why should I be a member of The Las Olas Association, Inc.? How do I benefit?" It's a good question. While I was working to renovate Mangos, my new neighbors would come and ask me if I was going to join the association. I didn't know what they were talking about. Was it some kind of secret organization where here would be a special handshake and other rituals that were completely unfamiliar to me? I'd never been involved in anything like it before. As it turned out, on of the Mangos' principal owners was the President of the Association, so I was coerced into joining and getting involved whether I liked it or not! In the summer of 1993, the association, with the help of some friends, procured 'on the street parking' as an experiment. My business was better as a result, and at the end of the probation period they were able to make it permanent. Later we found a program called Business Capitol Improvement Program to make permanent improvements to the city right-of-way. Our first planned improvement was the decorative concrete planters and refuse containers on the street. About the same time, the City of Fort Lauderdale announced that it was going to replace all the sidewalks on the street. Whenever there was an event on Las Olas Boulevard, there would be extensions cords everywhere, which irked code enforcement to no end. So we decided that while the city had the street under construction, it would be a good time to install permanent electrification to all the palms and laurel trees lining the boulevard. I mentioned these particular types of improvements initiated by the association only because they are impossible without the association. The city will no listen to you and me as individuals, but they will listen to an association. The greater the number of members in the association, the more impact we have when making a request with the city. That is one of the reasons that I am glad that Mangos is a member of the association.
	IN THE COMMUNITY

	Las Olas is a community. Las Olas isn't just a street. The boulevard begins with the Museum of Art at number one, and goes right down to the Elbo Room on the A1A. In between the two there are the businesses and organizations that you'd find in any other community in America; restaurants of all types, salons, banks, realtors, gas stations, a barbershop, a post office, a pharmacy, a deli, sidewalk cafes, jewelry stores, a cigar bar, antiques stores, art stores, fashion boutiques, a bakery, churches, shoe stores, a diner, a hotel, liquor stores, ... and even our own historic house. In addition, we have delightful parks and shaded seating areas, and some fabulous events such as the Las Olas Wine and Food Festival, Christmas on Las Olas and the Las Olas Art Festivals. During certain months, we have free outdoor movies. Some of us are lucky enough to live in the Las Olas neighborhood too; we have all the amenities we need right on our doorsteps. Las Olas is like a village. Stroll just a few steps from the boulevard and you'll find an art house cinema, a center for the performing arts and a science museum. Add to this the fact that we are in beautiful South Florida, that we have Fort Lauderdale beach at the end of our street, that several of our businesses are right on the waters of 'The Venice of the Americas' and we have an unbeatable combination.

Las Olas in the Community : Offers : Where to Stay : Events : Beach : Location : Join

Las Olas has always been Fort Lauderdale’s most charming thoroughfare.
Las Olas is at the forefront of everything from fashion boutiques and art galleries,
to memorable restaurants, sidewalk cafes and bars.

Running almost parallel to Fort Lauderdale’s New River on its way to the Atlantic Ocean,
Las Olas is a broad avenue divided by a wide landscaped median of flowers and towering shade trees.
Over the canal at the east end of the tree lined median, in the Colee Hammock neighborhood,
are more shops, restaurants, and stores too unique to describe … all worth exploring!
The Las Olas location is within walking distance of the beach, where Las Olas Boulevard meets the ocean.

A few minutes from most hotels and easily accessible by water taxi or land taxi,
Las Olas is a lively, pulsating, world class boulevard. Night or day, Las Olas is the place to be.

Special offers and events, where to stay, where to eat - your guide to Las Olas Blvd, the heart of Fort Lauderdale.
(Often misspelled as Los Olas, Las Olas means 'The Waves')