Cocoa, Florida
Location in Brevard County and the state of Florida
Coordinates: 28°22′10″N 80°44′38″W / 28.36944, -80.74389
Country	United States
State	Florida
County	Brevard
Area
- City	km²  ( sq mi)
- Land	km² ( sq mi)
- Water	km² ( sq mi)
Elevation	m ( ft)
Population (2000)
- City
- Density	/km² (/sq mi)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
Area code(s)	321
FIPS code	12-131502
GNIS feature ID	02806083

Cocoa is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. The population was 16,412 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S Census estimates of 2005, the city had a population of 16,898. ^[1]

Government

Cocoa first approved the Council-Manager form of government in 1959, and subsequent changes to the state statutes mirrored the City of Cocoa's Council-Manager Plan. The City Council serves as the Board of Directors for the City, with the Mayor as Chairman. The City Manager serves as the Chief Executive. The City Council for the City of Cocoa is made up of five members; the Mayor is elected at large and the four council members are elected by each of their districts.

• Mayor - Mike Blake
• Councilman District 1- Clarence Whipple 2006-2010-
• Councilman District 2- Jake Williams
• Councilman District 3- Charlie Love
• Deputy Mayor and Councilman District 4- James McCarthy 2002

Downtown, now called "Cocoa Village", has been revived with a series of government grants and private investment. The Diamond Square Redevelopment Agency has been established with the goal of improving residential and commercial values in the citys minority areas.

Sister City

On October 7 2007, the City became a sister city with the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh. Mayors Mike Blake (Cocoa) and Daniel Vaknin (Beit Shemesh) both signed two copies of a contract declaring them as official sister cities.^[2] Brevard Community College also stated that they would participate in the twinning by exchanging students.

Geography

Cocoa is located at 28°22′10″N, 80°44′38″W (28.369334, -80.743779).¹

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 24.7 km² (9.5 mi²). 19.3 km² (7.5 mi²) of it is land and 5.3 km² (2.1 mi²) of it (21.64%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 16,412 people, 6,939 households, and 4,232 families residing in the city. The population density was 849.4/km² (2,200.3/mi²). There were 8,064 housing units at an average density of 417.4/km² (1,081.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 62.47% White, 32.28% African American, 0.63% Native American, 0.94% Asian, 0.23% Pacific Islander, 1.58% from other races, and 1.87% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.93% of the population.

There were 6,939 households out of which 28.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.0% were married couples living together, 19.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.0% were non-families. 32.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.97.

In the city the population was spread out with 26.4% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 29.1% from 25 to 44, 21.6% from 45 to 64, and 14.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 90.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.4 males.

Economy

Personal income

The median income for a household in the city was $27,062, and the median income for a family was $31,243. Males had a median income of $27,294 versus $22,500 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,665. About 21.8% of families and 24.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 38.7% of those under age 18 and 11.8% of those age 65 or over.

Media

Radio stations

• WMMV 1350 AM

Notable Residents

• Michael Blake, first Afro-American President of the Space Coast League of Cities.^[3] Linebacker, Miami Dolphins^[4]
• Scott Thompson aka Carrot Top - Former resident

References

External links

• Cocoa Village, the historic downtown area of Cocoa Florida
• aerial views of the downtown area
• City of Cocoa official site

Coordinates: 28.369334° N 80.743779° W

Municipalities and communities of Brevard County, Florida
County seat: Titusville
Cities	Cape Canaveral | Cocoa | Cocoa Beach | Indian Harbour Beach | Melbourne | Palm Bay | Rockledge | Satellite Beach | Titusville | West Melbourne
Towns	Grant-Valkaria | Indialantic | Malabar | Melbourne Beach | Melbourne Village | Palm Shores
CDPs	Cocoa West | June Park | Merritt Island | Micco | Mims | Port St. John | Sharpes | South Patrick Shores
Communities	Barefoot Bay | Canaveral Groves | Courteney | Floridana Beach | Kennedy Space Center | Melbourne Shores | Scottsmoor | Suntree | Viera

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