Davie, FL
What Davie is actually like
Davie is one of Broward County’s oldest communities, tracing back to an early-1900s farming settlement on land drained from the Everglades. Out-of-state businessman Robert Parsell Davie purchased 44 square miles of that reclaimed swampland to develop farms; the settlement was first named “Zona,” but residents renamed it Davie in his honor within a few years. The town formally incorporated on November 16, 1925, and reincorporated on September 19, 1963 (Source). From early on, Davie leaned into a Western, agricultural identity rather than a beachy or urban one — a heritage still visible today in zoning rules for parts of town that require hitching posts on new commercial buildings and permit horses and riding trails in ways most Broward County municipalities do not.
The town’s biggest identity-shifting development was educational rather than commercial. Nova Southeastern University was founded on December 4, 1964 and built its main campus on a 314-acre site in Davie that had been a World War II naval training airfield, land the federal government stipulated should remain dedicated to education; that site grew into the South Florida Education Center, which today also hosts Broward College, McFatter Technical College, and satellite campuses of Florida Atlantic University and the University of Florida, with NSU alone enrolling more than 20,000 students as of 2024 (Wikipedia). Even as that higher-education footprint grew, Davie preserved much of its rural and equestrian zoning in its older residential districts rather than converting entirely to standard suburban subdivisions.
Today Davie functions as a hybrid: a college town built around NSU, Broward College, and the other South Florida Education Center campuses, layered onto a town that still markets its Western heritage through rodeo grounds and horse-friendly neighborhoods. It remains incorporated as a Town rather than a City — a designation Davie has kept even as its population has grown well past what most people associate with “town” government — and it continues to sit at the edge of Broward’s development, bordering Everglades-adjacent conservation land to its west.
Home values in Davie
Redfin put Davie’s median sale price at $574,712 as of July 2026, or $305 per square foot, up 7.9% and 1.0% year-over-year respectively — check Redfin’s Davie page for the current month’s figure (Source). Zillow’s Home Value Index (ZHVI) for Davie put the typical home value at $518,236 as of June 30, 2026, down 3.4% over the past year — a distinct, generally lower market than Miami-Dade (Source). RentCafe put Davie’s average apartment rent at $2,446 a month as of August 31, 2026, with one-bedrooms averaging $2,163 and two-bedrooms $2,545 (studio data wasn’t available) (Source). One genuinely distinguishing cost and lifestyle factor is Davie’s equestrian and agricultural zoning: parts of town, especially older “Old Davie” districts, are zoned for larger lots, horse-keeping, and low-density estate living rather than standard suburban subdivisions, which tends to mean bigger parcels, higher per-lot land costs, and different maintenance expectations (fencing, pasture, barns) than a typical Broward starter-home neighborhood — worth flagging to any buyer comparing Davie listings by price per square foot alone.
Getting around
Walk Score rates Davie 27 overall (“Car-Dependent”) citywide, with a Transit Score of 17 and a Bike Score of 43 (Source). That fits Davie’s mix of large-lot equestrian zoning, a spread-out university campus, and suburban subdivisions, with pockets of higher walkability directly around the Nova Southeastern University campus.
Davie FAQ
Is Davie, FL walkable?
Mostly not, outside the area immediately around Nova Southeastern University’s campus. Walk Score rates the town 27 out of 100, “Car-Dependent,” overall — Davie’s equestrian-zoned neighborhoods and spread-out layout were built around large lots and horses rather than sidewalks and transit, so most addresses require a car (Walk Score).
Does Davie, FL flood?
Davie is inland and not exposed to coastal storm surge, but like the rest of low-lying Broward County it depends on canal drainage to handle heavy summer rainfall, and the area has a history of hurricane impacts (including Wilma in 2005). Check First Street Foundation or Redfin Climate data for a property-specific flood-risk score. Always check FEMA's Flood Map Service Center and Broward County's own flood-zone lookup tool for a specific address — flood-zone designation (and the insurance requirement that comes with it) can vary block to block, and the county's own materials describe zone bands (X, AE, VE) rather than naming a single risk level for an entire city.
Can you keep horses in Davie, FL?
In parts of town, yes — Davie is known regionally for zoning that preserves an equestrian and agricultural heritage in its older “Old Davie” districts, including rules that require hitching posts on new commercial buildings in some areas and allow horse-keeping and riding trails on larger residential lots. This is a real, distinguishing feature of Davie’s zoning versus most of Broward County, though buyers should confirm current zoning for a specific parcel with the Town directly rather than assume horse rights apply everywhere in town.
Do you need a car to live in Davie, FL?
For almost everyone, yes. Davie has no rail station of its own, though Tri-Rail’s Sheridan Street station and Broward County Transit buses serve the area; the town’s low-density, large-lot layout outside the university core assumes a car for daily life (Wikipedia).
Is Davie, FL good for families?
Davie’s public schools are operated by Broward County Public Schools, and the town’s large lots, parks, and equestrian-friendly neighborhoods appeal to families wanting more space than a typical Broward subdivision offers — though as with any town, specific school assignment and quality should be checked address-by-address on the district’s own site.
What is there to do in Davie, FL?
Nova Southeastern University and the South Florida Education Center anchor a genuine college-town scene, while the town’s rodeo grounds and Western-heritage events, equestrian trails, and nearby nature attractions like Flamingo Gardens reflect Davie’s older farming and ranching identity (Wikipedia).
Nearby alternatives*We're not ranking these — every neighborhood has real trade-offs, and which ones matter is up to you.
Plantation
Davie's neighbor to the north, a larger and more built-out Broward suburb along the same I-595 corridor.
Weston
Davie's neighbor to the west, sharing a similarly quieter, more rural-suburban feel near the Everglades.
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