Editing Coconut Creek, Florida (section)

==Characteristics==
Coconut Creek has an area of {{convert|31|km2|order=flip}}, with approximately 57,000 residents and 1,400 businesses. Housing is primarily single-family homes, condominiums, and townhouses within professionally landscaped communities.

The city took its name from the [[coconut]] trees, that were planted in the area by early developers. Robert E. Bateman, one of the developers, named Coconut Creek after combining the names of [[Miami-Dade County]]'s village of [[Indian Creek, Florida|Indian Creek]] and the [[Neighborhoods in Miami|Miami neighborhood]] of [[Coconut Grove]].

The city is a well-planned community with a unique environmental consciousness touting an abundance of trees, waterways, landscaped roads, parks, and butterfly gardens throughout the neighborhoods. This is due to the city's progressive planning approach to creating a unique life-style for residents and businesses. Coconut Creek is the first in the state of Florida and eleventh in the country to be certified as a "Community Wildlife Habitat".

Playful City USA, a national program advocating for local policies that increase play opportunities for children and is a key platform in combating the play deficit, has named Coconut Creek a 2012 Playful City USA. KaBOOM! selected Coconut Creek for its outstanding dedication to play.

Coconut Creek is adjacent to "[[Mount Trashmore (Broward)|Mount Trashmore]]", officially known as the Monarch Hill Renewable Energy Park, which has long emitted foul odors into the air of the city.<ref name=ss1>{{cite news |first=Lisa |last=Huriash |title=Landfill neighbors breathe easier |url=http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2008-04-18/news/0804170719_1_landfill-coconut-creek-application |work=[[South Florida Sun-Sentinel]] |date=April 18, 2008 |access-date=August 10, 2010 |archive-date=August 20, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120820021047/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2008-04-18/news/0804170719_1_landfill-coconut-creek-application |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=ss2>{{cite news |first=Jeffrey |last=Rubin |title=Creek Officials Gear To Fight Compost Plan |url=http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1991-02-14/news/9101080458_1_composting-yard-waste-waste-management |work=[[South Florida Sun-Sentinel|Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel]] |date=February 14, 1991 |access-date=August 10, 2010 |archive-date=August 20, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120820021036/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1991-02-14/news/9101080458_1_composting-yard-waste-waste-management |url-status=dead }}</ref> In September 2010, after threatening to sue over the landfill's odors, Coconut Creek reached an agreement with [[Waste Management, Inc.]], the operator of the landfill, that prohibits food and other decaying materials from going into Mount Trashmore after October 2, 2013.<ref name=ss13>{{cite news |first=Ariel |last=Barkhurst |author2=Lisa J. Huriash |title=Mount Trashmore smell prompts resident complaints |url=http://www.sun-sentinel.com/fl-trashmore-odor-violations-20130711,0,7700025.story |work=[[South Florida Sun-Sentinel]] |date=July 15, 2013 |access-date=July 13, 2013}}</ref>