Living in Davie, FL: What It's Actually Like

Davie is a Broward County town that still feels like it has room to breathe—horse trails and small ranch lots sit a few minutes from shopping centers and two college campuses. It is a genuine mix of longtime residents and a younger population drawn in by Nova Southeastern University and Broward College, and that mix shapes the town in ways that are worth understanding before deciding whether it fits.

The horse-country reputation is real.

Davie has zoning specifically protecting agricultural and equestrian land, which is why it is not unusual to see a horse pasture backing up to a newer subdivision. The town leans into this identity rather than treating it as an inconvenience—there are still working ranches and riding facilities within the town limits, something that sets Davie apart from most of the rest of Broward County, where that kind of open land has largely been developed over the past few decades. For buyers drawn to a slower pace without leaving the greater Fort Lauderdale job market behind, this is Davie's defining characteristic.

Two college campuses shape the town.

Nova Southeastern University's main campus and Broward College's Central Campus both sit in Davie, bringing student housing demand, restaurants, and a younger demographic into a town that would otherwise skew more purely suburban-family. This mix is part of why Davie has a wider range of dining and retail options than its size alone would suggest and why the town feels a bit more active than some of its quieter neighbors.

Getting around

Griffin Road and State Road 84 handle most east-west traffic through town, connecting residential neighborhoods to the shopping and dining along the main corridors. Florida's Turnpike runs along Davie's eastern edge with an exit at Griffin Road, giving residents a direct route toward Fort Lauderdale and points south without relying entirely on surface streets during peak hours. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport sits within a manageable distance, which matters for anyone who travels regularly for work or pleasure.

Everyday life

Publix, Target, Walmart, and Costco all have locations serving the Davie area, along with Pembroke Lakes Mall for larger shopping needs and Bass Pro Shops for the outdoor and sporting goods crowd. Memorial Regional Hospital and Memorial Hospital Pembroke are both within reach for healthcare needs, giving residents two full-service hospital options. Broward County Public Schools serves the town—use the district's official lookup tool to confirm which schools serve a specific address, since boundaries can change over time and a builder's neighborhood map is not the final word on assignment.

The pace of daily life

Compared to the more densely built coastal cities in Broward County, Davie moves at a noticeably different pace. Lower density and the town's protected agricultural land translate into wider lots, more visible green space, and a quieter feel even close to major roads. That does not mean isolation—the college campuses and their surrounding retail keep the town active—but it does mean Davie reads as more spread out and more residential than cities closer to the coast.

Who tends to like living in Davie?

Davie tends to suit buyers who want suburban space without being far from a major metro job market, families who value the mix of good schools and open land, and anyone drawn to the town's more relaxed, less densely built character compared to coastal Broward cities. It also suits buyers who want walkable proximity to a college campus without living in a purely student-dominated area, since Davie's residential neighborhoods remain distinctly family-oriented even with two universities in town.

What Davie's zoning actually protects

Davie's agricultural and equestrian zoning is not simply a historical leftover—it is an active land-use designation that continues to shape what gets built and where. This is part of why newer subdivisions in Davie often sit adjacent to genuinely undeveloped or lightly developed parcels rather than wall-to-wall construction, a pattern that is increasingly rare elsewhere in Broward County as available land gets built out. For buyers who specifically want that visual and practical contrast—new construction next to open space rather than more new construction—Davie remains one of the more reliable places in the county to find it.

The commute question, answered honestly

Davie's road network genuinely does connect efficiently to Florida's Turnpike and the broader regional highway system, but actual commute experience depends heavily on specific origin and destination, time of day, and which part of the metro area a resident is traveling to for work. Rather than quoting a specific travel time that would only be accurate for one particular route and time of day, the honest answer is that Griffin Road and the Turnpike exit at Griffin Road give Davie residents a genuinely useful head start compared to towns further from a Turnpike iinterchange—butanyone with a specific daily commute in mind should test the actual drive at the time of day they would be making it before finalizing a decision.

Comparing Davie to its immediate neighbors

Buyers researching Davie often end up comparing it informally to nearby towns like Cooper City or Weston, both of which share some of Davie's suburban, family-oriented character but differ in density, price point, and the specific mix of amenities each offers. Davie's two college campuses and protected agricultural land give it a genuinely distinct identity within that comparison set, rather than making it simply interchangeable with its neighbors.

Davie in one sentence

If a single sentence had to capture Davie's identity, it would be this: a town that has managed to keep meaningful open agricultural land inside its borders while still sitting close enough to Fort Lauderdale's job market and Florida's Turnpike to function as a genuine commuter suburb—a

combination that is increasingly hard to find elsewhere in Broward County as available land continues to be developed.

A realistic picture, not a sales pitch

This guide is meant to give a genuinely useful, balanced picture of what living in Davie is actually like, including both the appeal (open land, two universities, reasonable Turnpike access) and the practical realities (checking school boundaries directly, testing an actual commute before assuming a general description applies to a specific route). That balance is the point—a buyer who moves to Davie with accurate expectations is in a much better position than one working from marketing copy alone.

Common Questions

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See things to do near Vineyards, the schools and getting-around guide, the step-by-step buying process, or start with the buyer's guide to new construction in Davie. Compare townhome vs. single-family. See the community at Vineyards.