Embassy Lakes (Cooper City) vs Parkland? (Hollywood, Weston: real estate, gated, budget)

[cloozoe]

Current real estate prices? Aesthetics? Schools? Access to shopping? Intangibles? Any other comments welcome and appreciated.

[Momma_bear]

Embassy Lakes in CC is a nice development in Cooper City. Cooper City is located in the southern part of Broward County. You will find a wide range of prices in Embassy Lakes as it is a large development with different sized houses. It is a gated community, in an area where the schools are ok (for FL).

Parkland is an entire city. As a whole Parkland is more prestigious and more affluent than Cooper City, although Embassy Lakes is a pretty nice develpment. Parkland is in the norther part of Broward County. It has a more rural feel to it than CC although it is not truly rural. The schools in Parkland are considered very good (for FL).

I like Parkland better than CC but I have friends who live in Embassy Lakes and their immediate neighborhood is really nice.

I think that where you will be working would factor into the decision between these two areas. They are not really that close to one another.

[cloozoe]

Thanks for the response. I've been researching long distance, and that section of Cooper City and all of Parkland seem viable from what I can tell. New job is in Hollywood, so Cooper City is obviously much more convenient to work, but the 35 minutes (?) from Parkland is certainly doable and would be worth doing if the community, schools, ambiance, et al were significantly nicer. Sounds like you think they are.

I'll be heading down in about two weeks, but won't move the family until the end of the school year, so will have time to see for myself. Planning on renting us a house at first, but would like to be able to afford to buy in the same community so as not to further disrupt the kids. Can probably manage up to about $550k, although $450-500 would be preferrable. Anything much available in that range? Appears to be, but again, anything I've "learned", I've learned from afar.

Another question: we're (secular) Jews and while living in a virtual Jewish ghetto is not the goal, I don't want my wife and kids to be in a tiny minority, either, with people looking at them curiously to see if they can spot the horns. My New York born-and-bred wife has a hard time believing that there are, in fact, people south of NJ that are not members of the Klan, and this whole issue is of particular concern to her, although I've assured her that Broward County is not Selma, Alabama. In any event, I've assumed from what I can learn on-line that that there are likely a fair number of (non-Hassidic) Jews in either place - am I correct?

Thanks again.

[Momma_bear]

I don't think Jewish will be a problem in either community. Neither is so concentrated of so devoid of Jews that you will feel out of place. We are also Jewish and I would not be afraid of living in either place from that perspective. There is a large Jewish population in Broward, generally so even if your immediate neighborhood is not that Jewish you will always be able to find Jewish things in stores.

35 minutes from Parkland to Hollywood is reasonble outside of rush hour times. It might take a bit longer during rush hour. I have to admit that I really don't like CC.

[cloozoe]

Originally Posted by Momma_bear

I have to admit that I really don't like CC.

How come? Something tangible and specific or something ineffable?

[Momma_bear]

I live in Weston. Weston feels like a town. There is a real community feel here. CC does not have that community feel although it is very close to Weston. I really like living in a place that feels like a hometown. There are few cities here in Broward that have that feel to them.

I go to CC on a pretty regular basis. It's safe and Embassy Lakes is a very nice development. I don't know that many people who live in CC so Embassy Lakes is one of the few developments I am familiar with. When we first moved here I looked in a development called Country Glen that was in CC that was very pretty. I didn't like the house, although the development was pretty. At the time there was very little on the market down here so there wasn't another house to look at in Country Glen. Right now you will see lots of stuff on the market so you can look at different houses in neighborhoods you like.

[Momma_bear]

I forgot to add in my last post that we also looked in Parkland when we were looking at housing. We really liked Parkland but there was SO MUCH development going on at that time that it would have taken way to long to complete a new house. They were quoting us 15 months, and we figured it would take longer. We didn't want to wait that long.

We really liked Parkland.

Our kids play sports so we are in CC for football games and Parkland for lacrosse games. Both cities seem to have parents who are really invested in their families.

[cloozoe]

Many thanks for taking the time to help. I appreciate your observations.

[ready2move]

We moved from Cc last year after living there since 1992. CC has changed, but is still a decent place to live. We moved there for the schools, and my son attended K-12. They were usually A rated, but IMO, it's not saying a whole lot. My son got by on his own smarts, but was never really taught how to study or do a research paper. The administration at both the middle and high school micromanage.

There are several temples in CC, one is reformed, the other conservative.

We lived in a non-gated community in CC, but know several people who live in Embassy lakes. Most homes are cookie cutter, but I think in your budget you might be able to get something a little different. Don't rule out Rock Creek either. I personally like it better.

Good luck!

[Musclehead]

Originally Posted by cloozoe

Current real estate prices? Aesthetics? Schools? Access to shopping? Intangibles? Any other comments welcome and appreciated.

Real estate prices are lower in Cooper City , other than that Parkland is much nicer in every other aspect ..... no comparison !!!