Port St. Lucie was a largely uninhabited tract of land in the 1950s.

Port St. Lucie

Port St. Lucie was a largely uninhabited tract of land in the 1950s. It was composed of a fishing camp, a few farms and businesses. In 1958, with a budget of $50 million, the General Development Corporation (GDC) purchased the River Park development and 40,000 acres (160 km2) along the North Fork of the St. Lucie River.[5] In 1959, the GDC opened its first bridge over the St. Lucie River, allowing for direct automobile access to Port St. Lucie.

How PSL became a city

By February 25, 1961 there were 250 homes in the new city. GDC requested the state legislature to incorporate 70 miles (110 km) along with the River Park settlement into the City of Port St. Lucie. Port St. Lucie became a city on April 27, 1961.
In the early 1990s, Core Communities (CC), acquired and began planning what would become St. Lucie West.

In 2006, CC started development of its newest community, Tradition. The community, which sits west of the Interstate 95 intersection of Gatlin Blvd., was a large cattle ranch before CC began to develop it. There they built around 13,000,000 square feet (1,200,000 m2) of commercial area, and room for over 18,000 residences. According to CC’s website, Tradition is the largest fully entitled residential development area from the tip of Interstate 95 to the Canadian Border. It is modeled after a 1950s-era town. According to its website, Tradition Square, the town center of the community, holds festivities year-round. It was also chosen as the site of HGTV’s Green Home 2009, and one of America’s best 100 communities.

Port St. Lucie is served by the St. Lucie Transportation Planning Organization (TPO). The TPO is governed by a TPO Board, which is composed of elected officials, representatives from the St. Lucie County School Board, and representatives from Community Transit, a division of The Council on Aging of St. Lucie, Inc. The original bus system started out as a demand response service bus in the 1990s, it only served St. Lucie County. Soon it expanded to a fixed route system, going to predetermined locations along a route. On June 3, 2002, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) approved funding, expanding the bus service to Martin County, and became the Treasure Coast Connector.

About

The city is home to New York Mets spring training, the St. Lucie Mets Florida State League team and the Mets rookie level team in the Gulf Coast League. All three play at Tradition Field. The Treasure Coast Galleons, a semi-pro soccer team also calls Port St. Lucie its home.The city also has two soccer clubs both with recreation and competitive play. There is a golf complex, the PGA Village with 54 holes of golf, a learning center and a historical center.