Weston, Coral Springs or Parkland? (Miami, Fort Lauderdale: real estate, low crime, mobile home)

[Elvi03]

My husband and I are really starting to consider moving down to Florida from New York. During our trip this past August, we were showed Parkland and Coral Springs, which are beautiful and I hear have good schools. I have an 8 yr old & a 3 year old so schools are very important plus the availability of children's activities. I also liked that "everything seemed close" in Coral Springs and Parkland - this is also important.
I was told that I should also look at Weston since this is a very nice place to live. Right now we are living in a pretty affluent area in westchester and would like to move to a nice area to call home:

1. Is the commute to Ft Lauderdale and Miami better or worse from Weston?
2. Which of the 3 is a more "family oriented" place to live? Activities? Schools?

Which would you choose - why???

Thank you all for your help - This is such a big choice and decision - any insight is greatly appreciated

[doggiebus]

I like Weston and Coral Springs, not sure where Parkland is. My only complaint about both is they are just so far west, if you are a looking for a family oriented community and don't need the hottest places to be, then they are fine. If you are home on the weekends with the kids both are fine, but if you do enjoy going to the best restaurants or entertianment living further east is my suggestion. They are both just so far west.

Obviously the commute from Weston to either Ft. Lauderdale or Miami is better than Coral Springs.

[PBCboy]

Parkland is north of Coral Springs, south of Boca (mission bay), very much out west.

An extremely nice area, great for families. Very pricey, though.

[crisp444]

All three are very nice communities; Weston is the closest to Miami and Fort Lauderdale so a commute to those cities would be easiest from there. However, if you work in Fort Lauderdale (and not Miami) a commute from either Coral Springs or Parkland would work out fine. The schools are good in all three and none have particularly bad areas. They're all known to be affluent communities, so coming from Westchester NY, it won't be hard to adjust to all the money in those communities.

[bale002]

Originally Posted by Elvi03

1. Is the commute to Ft Lauderdale and Miami better or worse from Weston?
2. Which of the 3 is a more "family oriented" place to live? Activities? Schools?

Which would you choose - why???

Thank you all for your help - This is such a big choice and decision - any insight is greatly appreciated

I would forget about commuting to Miami from either Parkland, which is the furthest northwest of the three, or Coral Springs.

Coral Springs and Weston are roughly equidistant from Ft. Lauderdale, with a slight edge to Weston I believe, while Weston to Miami is doable, but still no day at the beach, as the saying goes.

Ideal would be a home-based business in Parkland, maybe jobs in Boca Raton which is strong in IT and telecommunications, also investment brokerage if you already have a portfolio of customers. What do you do exactly in Westchester County?

I agree with doggiebus in the sense that all three are quite far west, especially if the goal is commuting east to either Miami or Ft. Lauderdale, but for many people it's no problem or at least tolerated.

Also do a forum search on the three towns mentioned, you should come up with a lot of information.

Finally, maybe a guy whose moniker is "Ft. Lauderdale" will see your post and provide more insightful information.

All the best!

[Elvi03]

Thank you very much for the quick responses. I am in Finance and my husband is in Real Estate so I figured be close to the Ft Lauderdale & Miami areas. Right now we are about a 1 hour drive to the city in New York, so as long as I don't extend that commute - my husband would be happy.

I guess I am looking for a balance - nice neighborhood for kids but not to far away from good restaurants, bars either.

[dz2]

Originally Posted by Elvi03

Thank you very much for the quick responses. I am in Finance and my husband is in Real Estate so I figured be close to the Ft Lauderdale & Miami areas. Right now we are about a 1 hour drive to the city in New York, so as long as I don't extend that commute - my husband would be happy.

I guess I am looking for a balance - nice neighborhood for kids but not to far away from good restaurants, bars either.

I live in a community called Heron Bay in ParkLand, a bit pricey, but I would highly recommend it if you are looking for classy neighborhood, and a great place to raise kids. By and large all of Parkland is great. Coral Springs is right next to Parkland, both areas boast great restaurnts, since Coral Springs is an older city, definitely more areas of entertainment. Of all three places, Parkland, would be the obvious chpice.

[staceyblake]

My husband I are are both from NY, we grew up on the Island, lived in Westcher at a point as well as the city. We moved down here 6 years ago and both had jobs in Miami. Weston seemed a good choice all of the schools are A schools and it is a beautiful community. We moved to Parkland 6 months ago from Weston and absolutely love it! We both feel that it is a mini NY, compared to the rural"ness" of it, as well as the people. In Weston we had many friends that came from the temple...however in Parkland we have never walked anywhere without people saying hello, smiling and waving. The warmth here reminds us of where we grew up on the Island. Parkland is also very affluent, mostly Upper middle class persons.
The commute is a pain though, however for my husband its been worth it. Ft lauderdale is 20 minutes from Weston, Miami is 45 without traffic. Parkland is FAR from Miami in every way. You do get more for your $$ in Parkland right now because of the building in Heron Bay, many investment homes that havent sold. If you want the feeling of Westchester,NY..its Parkland. Weston was a bit of a culture shock for my husband and I, it was as far from a NY feel as you can get. The homes are pricey here, but you still get a ton more for your $$ then in Westchester, NY.
The homes in Weston are pricier then Parkland for what you get. Parkland offers more land then Weston..but Weston is more of a community. You have to weigh what your needs are...however if you are looking to be near a city, Coral Springs and Boca are steps away from Parkland. Also Stoneman Douglas is one of the best High schools in the US. Coral Springs has a mix of schools, and Westons High school has 5,000 students.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by Elvi03

My husband and I are really starting to consider moving down to Florida from New York. During our trip this past August, we were showed Parkland and Coral Springs, which are beautiful and I hear have good schools. I have an 8 yr old & a 3 year old so schools are very important plus the availability of children's activities. I also liked that "everything seemed close" in Coral Springs and Parkland - this is also important.
I was told that I should also look at Weston since this is a very nice place to live. Right now we are living in a pretty affluent area in westchester and would like to move to a nice area to call home:

1. Is the commute to Ft Lauderdale and Miami better or worse from Weston?
2. Which of the 3 is a more "family oriented" place to live? Activities? Schools?

Which would you choose - why???

Thank you all for your help - This is such a big choice and decision - any insight is greatly appreciated

1. Better to Miami, about the same to Fort Lauderdale (you deal with a sluggish I-595 versus a moving I-95)
2. Pretty equal, but you might want to consider Cooper City if your looking for a place with a lot of family activities and a less crowded, more small town like atmosphere in the schools.

Coming from Westchester shouldn't be much of a shock for any of these three communities. Everybody pretty much said what needs to be said here, but I would definitely add Cooper City to a potential candidate. I would probably rank it as a more family friendly community than all of these. You are also about the same distance to FTL but closer to Miami. Western Davie isn't a bad idea either, in fact, replace Coral Springs with Davie, it's the closest family-friendly suburb to downtown Fort Lauderdale, however there are some mobile home parks in that area, but I wouldn't be too worried (mostly just priced out middle class families but by no means "poor" people).

With all of these additions, my personal choices would be

1.(tie) Parkland (lots of trees, affluence, far from Miami but it feels that way!)
1.(tie) Cooper City (sense of community, small town feel, great location to Miami or FTL)
3. Weston (very very low crime, diversity, crowded schools, but we have a nationally ranked "Blue Ribbon" elementary school: Gator Run)
4. Davie (Closest in to FTL, mobile home parks off the highway, but further in an uncontested, middle to upper middle class, country like setting)
5. Coral Springs (some declines in the school system, especially high schools).

I live in the Weston area, lived in the Davie area, and very satisfied with both areas. If you need any assistance, feel free to DM me.

[CJFlorida]

Originally Posted by dz2

I live in a community called Heron Bay in ParkLand, a bit pricey, but I would highly recommend it if you are looking for classy neighborhood, and a great place to raise kids. By and large all of Parkland is great. Coral Springs is right next to Parkland, both areas boast great restaurnts, since Coral Springs is an older city, definitely more areas of entertainment. Of all three places, Parkland, would be the obvious chpice.

We also love Parkland. It is an amazing place. There are brand new upscale gated communities or you can get 1-4 acres with horses, depending on your tastes.

I do not find Parkland to be to far west driving wise because you don't hit traffic until you get to the eastern areas anyway. So basically your drive time is not much longer than if you lived a little more east, as the backups start to the east and south, not in Parkland.