‘Your City, Your Future.’ Miramar asks residents to help shape the next decade
As Miramar prepares to craft its first long-term strategic plan, city leaders are making sure residents play a central role in deciding what the next decade should look like for the fast-growing southwest Broward County city.
The plan will guide traffic, public safety concerns, housing growth and parks and recreation plans for the next 10 years. The blueprint will be the first of its kind drawn up by the 71-year-old city, founded in May 1955.
This week, the city is launching a vigorous outreach effort designed to gather ideas and feedback from residents and business owners. The effort is being led by the WhiteHouse Group, a Fort Lauderdale consulting firm that won a $204,000 contract to help survey Miramar residents.
The goal is simple: Get as many residents as possible to fill out a survey listing their hopes for Miramar’s next decade. The idea is for that blueprint to be shaped not only by city leaders, but also by the people who live there.
The outreach to get people to fill out the survey will include town halls, QR codes and door-to-door engagement as the city gathers public input, according to Cassandra Carvalho Lindsay, the city manager’s office chief of staff. She outlined the effort to city commissioners during the April 1 meeting.
The effort will be coordinated by a city committee dubbed the North Star Navigators, a group of senior staff members tasked with making the process more engaging.
For a city of roughly 150,000 residents, a statistically valid survey sample would require about 380 to 400 responses. But Miramar officials say they are aiming higher.
“We believe our residents are very engaged,” Carvalho Lindsay told commissioners. “We believe we can exceed that number.”
At last week’s City Commission meeting, Carvalho Lindsay emphasized that public input will be key in shaping the city’s priorities.
“This is really about making sure residents understand the purpose and importance of the city’s strategic plan and that they have an opportunity to be involved in shaping it,” Carvalho Lindsay told commissioners.
‘Your City, Your Future’
The outreach effort will begin with a public education campaign titled “Your City, Your Future.”
Over several weeks, the city will post informational messages on social media and other platforms explaining what a strategic plan is and why it matters.
Officials hope the campaign will prepare residents to participate in the next phase — community meetings and surveys designed to gather ideas about how the city can improve everything from services and infrastructure to future development and quality-of-life issues.
The engagement effort will be coordinated by the North Star Navigators, a group of senior staff members representing departments across city government. The committee includes leaders from public works, utilities, planning and zoning, finance, police, fire and other departments.
Their role will be to review public feedback and ensure it is incorporated into the planning process before recommendations reach the commission.
Town halls planned
Residents will also have several opportunities to share their views in person.
The city is planning three community meetings where residents can speak directly with staff and complete surveys about the city’s future priorities.
The schedule:
- April 30: 6 to 8 p.m. at the Alexandra P. Davis Multi-Service Complex, 6700 Miramar Parkway
- May 14: 6 to 8 p.m. at Sunset Lakes Community Center, 2801 SW 186th Ave.
- May 28: 6 to 8 p.m. at Miramar City Hall, 2300 Civic Center Place
During the meetings, residents will be able to ask questions about the planning process and provide feedback on issues they want city leaders to address over the next decade.
City staff will be on hand with electronic tablets and paper copies of the survey to make it easy for residents to participate.
Survey distribution
The city will launch its public survey on May 29, the day after the final community meeting. The city plans to promote the survey through:
- Utility bills with QR codes linking to the survey
- Door hangers distributed to homes
- Community events and neighborhood meetings
- Homeowners association meetings
- Advisory board meetings
- Signs and A-frames placed throughout the city
- Social media and Miramar TV
- City newsletters and the municipal website
- Bus benches and electronic message boards
City staff will also set up tents at special events to encourage residents to complete the survey, and officials say they will make a special effort to reach older adults by attending senior events and mailing surveys directly to them.
Those who prefer paper copies will be able to return them by mail or have them picked up by city staff.
To encourage residents to attend meetings and complete surveys, the city plans to raffle prizes at each community meeting. Those who complete the survey will have their names entered into drawings for $100 gift cards and iPads, sponsored by a private company.
Final step
Once the city gathers community feedback, leaders will move into the next stage of developing the strategic plan.
That phase will include two leadership retreats where city officials and commissioners review the survey results and begin shaping goals and priorities.
The retreats are tentatively scheduled for late August. The final strategic plan will then be presented to the commission.
This story was originally published April 7, 2026 at 4:50 PM.
