Looking for an area in Florida that has other Airline families (Miami: job, housing)

[Acts16chick]

Hello

My airline pilot husband and I currently live in South Jersey (basically Philly burbs). We moved here a year ago to be near his base, Newark. We are both from Maryland right outside D.C. and hate it here.

He has an interview with JetBlue at the end of the month and we are thinking of moving to Florida if he gets the job since Fort Lauderdale is one of their major hubs and they also have tons of flights out of Orlando, Tampa, Sarasota, Ft. Myers, and West Palm for him to commute to work if he doesn't get based in FL.

My husband lived in Daytona Beach for 4 years and loved it. I am not crazy about the Daytona area. I have been to Fort Lauderdale and LOVED it but it is really expensive!

We would love to buy a house in an area with other airline families. We are in our mid to late 20's with no kids yet but plan to have a family in the next few years. Any airline families out there with suggestions?

[macguy]

Originally Posted by Acts16chick

Hi my husband has an interview with JetBlue at the end of the month and we are thinking of moving to Florida if he gets the job since Fort Lauderdale is one of their major hubs and they also have tons of flights out of Orlando, Tampa, Sarasota, Ft. Myers, and West Palm for him to commute to work.

He lived in Daytona Beach for 4 years and loved it. I am not crazy about the Daytona area. I have been to Fort Lauderdale and loved it but it is really expensive!

I would love to buy a house in an area with other airline families. We are in our mid to late 20's with no kids yet but plan to have a family in the next few years. Any airline families out there with suggestions?

Just two nights ago they had the final vote on airport expansion for Fort lauderdale, this has been going on for 15 years. One of the comments was the cost will be so high that discount air lines will not be able to fly out of Fort Lauderdale any more. Their cost is expected to go up 500% to fly into Fort Lauderdale. This could begin to take place in the next 3 to 5 years. Jet Blue seems like one of the airlines that would pull out although they say differently. Just something to look into.

For the record, I am always saying how Broward county is doing everything they can to grow ever bigger. If you were at the meeting the other night you would not have believed it. All they talked about was this being a world class destination for people and they could care less about the home owners that are being impacted or anybody else for that matter. They are going to spend from 2 to 3 billion dollars on this deal. They just want to stack up as many people as they can. We have no water roads our grid lock much of the time and the place is completely built out now and they are trying to attract even more people. This place operates in it's own reality. I am glad I won't be here to see it. Good luck to you.

Broward runway to grow; noise is the next issue - 06/07/2007 - MiamiHerald.com (broken link)

[Acts16chick]

Thanks macguy. At the end of the Herald article it quoted JetBlue as in favor of the expansion so I doubt it would run them out. Thanks for the info!

[jhlcomp]

I don't know if you can pinpoint any specific areas where pilots seem to live. I have friends who are pilots and they live near me in Weston and in Coral Springs.

I am sure others will reply with more info for you. Also, I noted that some pilots like living in more rural areas just as long as they could get to thier hub.

[macguy]

Originally Posted by Acts16chick

Thanks macguy. At the end of the Herald article it quoted JetBlue as in favor of the expansion so I doubt it would run them out. Thanks for the info!

That is probably based on promises and kick backs they think they might have coming. You have to see what actually happens when it all comes to pass.

[Acts16chick]

Originally Posted by jhlcomp

I don't know if you can pinpoint any specific areas where pilots seem to live. I have friends who are pilots and they live near me in Weston and in Coral Springs.

I am sure others will reply with more info for you. Also, I noted that some pilots like living in more rural areas just as long as they could get to thier hub.

Thanks for the info. We will check out those areas. Coral Springs seems nice from what I have found online. And yes, easily getting to a hub is key.

I really hope I get more replies! I am mostly interested in moving to a place with other crew and making friends with other pilot wives who understand the airline lifestyle.

[unixpilot]

As a pilot family you'd be hard pressed to find a better community than Spruce Creek just south of Daytona. Private airport and homes with taxiways up to hangers. Pretty Sweet.

New Smyrna Beach ain't bad either.

Read the Miami forum, South Florida is no place to raise kids.

[jhlcomp]

There is an area of Wellington (Palm Beach County) that has exactly what unixpilot mentions re Daytona Beach. There are other fly-in communities in Florida. Folks in these areas, for the most part, aren't commerical pilots. These are single engine and a few multi engine folks. There is a sizeable gap between commercial jet pilots and single engine pilots.

[5FLgirls]

I used to live in Jupiter and we had three pilots on our street; one who actually works for JetBlue but works in Orlando. Although north of Ft. Lauderdale, it's not a bad drive. You can make it to the airport in 1 hour and it's a great place to raise kids while still having affordable housing (for FL).

[CollierBound]

I'll confirm that Coral Springs is nice. I've met some airline families in our community in Weston, too. About 30 minutes drive from FLL. Lots of positives - safe neighborhoods, lots of good restaurants, new regional YMCA in town with classes, new ice rink coming, movies in the park in the winter, Sunrise outlet malls 15 minutes up the road, good schools (public and private). Weston is a planned community, which feels kind of fake at first (like Celebration, the Disney-planned town), so it's not for everybody. It also has a bunch of mansions, so has the reputation of being a place that rich people live. There are lots of middle class families here, too (teachers, etc.).