If you haven’t heard of Fort Lauderdale, you might be the only ape in the cage who hasn’t. This is truly the “Venice of America” for all intensive purposes, with waterways throughout, giving access to one of the world’s best beaches and a harbor that is a gateway to international trade.

Though most famous as a tourism destination, Fort Lauderdale is so much more. Thanks to its popularity and media coverage for several decades, it is also a primary location for marine industry, manufacturing, financing, avionics and technology. It is also a prime location for film and television production.

One of the most sun-filled areas any ape has ever seen, Fort Lauderdale basks in as many as 250 days of sun a year. That’s a LOT of sunscreen! The temperature goes from a wonderful breeze-cooled 89 degrees in the summer to a laugh-in-Jack-Frost’s-face of 77 degrees in the winter. With the ocean right at your feet, the change won’t matter – particularly for transplanted Northern apes.

As Florida’s seventh largest city, there are multiple opportunities for the smart business ape to get to the top of the jungle. There is currently a two billion dollar expansion of the Port Everglades for cargo and passenger ships, as well as rail lines to move everything in and out of port. With all that happening, the possibilities are endless for the ape with a dream or a highly detailed plan.

And this is far more than the spring break - party place you’ve seen on the news. There are more than enough new schools and 37 public libraries that every young ape can utilize. With Broward County College, Florida Atlantic University, and Florida International University (the later two of which are listed in the top 300 universities in the US) all downtown, any family ape’s needs for higher education are readily answered.

So don’t just think of Fort Lauderdale as a place it have a good time. It is, but it is also so much more than that.

Check out the updates of redevelopment in the Ft. Lauderdale Florida area that the Big Hairy Ape has been talking about.