Best places to live near Ft. Lauderdale (Hollywood, Coral Springs: HOA fees, house)

[vvolin]

I am sorry, I have just reread your post. Do you mean the executive airport on the north part of Fort Lauderdale? If that is the case, then go for Coral Spring and Parkland.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by vvolin

Broward County is destined to grow: I have seen a dramatic change in traffic in the 12 years I lived there.

It's already done growing. The place is built out. The 90s were the big growth phase. Go see the thread on the FL forum.

[Wild Style]

Originally Posted by compelled to reply

It's already done growing. The place is built out. The 90s were the big growth phase. Go see the thread on the FL forum.

^^

This!

Broward missed the boat.

Attract big businesses: fail
Responsible city planning: fail
Mass transit: fail
Affordable.... you get the picture

With gas prices going up up up and peak oil being what it is, South Florida as a whole is going to need to figure something out.

as for best places to live near fort lauderdale? ummm I am partial to Plantation (west of the turnpike between sunrise blvd and broward blvd and east of university.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by Wild Style

^^

This!

Broward missed the boat.

Attract big businesses: fail
Responsible city planning: fail
Mass transit: fail
Affordable.... you get the picture

With gas prices going up up up and peak oil being what it is, South Florida as a whole is needs to figure something out.

I'm planning for this. I'm ready to leave as soon as the changes start truly becoming visible, in the meanwhile, the OP wouldn't have a bad commute from eastern Coral Springs at all. 15 minutes and no highways. Just take Rock Island Rd to McNab Rd.

[Need2SellH20Home]

Originally Posted by mczabe

I know these questions are asked a lot, but I am sooo unfamiliar with this area, I can't even make sense of it all as I wade through posts.

If someone would please take pity on my and t-a-l-k s-l-o-w-l-y about places to live near Fort Lauderdale. I have young children who will be starting school in the next couple years. I would like a safe, somewhat self-contained town/area with a nice, boring suburban feel. Would like to keep the cost of a home below $400K. Not even sure what a typical commute in the area is like, but my husband commutes over an hour now. We'd like it to be shorter - his job would be near the executive airport - but 30 minutes or so is fine.

TIA for any help you can offer.

I would consider Bay Harbor Islands. The area is incredibly safe, on the water and with A schools!

[mczabe]

Wow, Need2Sell, I just looked up real estate listings in Bay Harbor Islands. It does look gorgeous, but $52 Million is a bit out of our price range. There were only two homes listed between $300-400K!

Compelled - Weston was mentioned by someone else I was talking to. Mostly gated communities, correct? What is the shopping, restaurant, school situation like there?

[compelled to reply]

Bay Harbor Islands is also a 45 minute commute and it's in Dade County, which is not for someone looking for a "boring" (Yeah, picking on you again ) place to live.

Weston is mostly gated communities and has kind of an upscale theme, but there are actually a lot of houses in your price range. Like nice newer ones with pools in great (depending on where you are moving from) school districts. Weston is the most Latin city in Broward County so that tends to reflect on the dining options, which are mostly upscale. There is also pizza/Italian restaurants (I recommend Delvecchios), a pretty authentic Korean restaurant, some other Asian restaurants and a variety of upscale nouvelle American type restaurants. You also have your typical quick service chains like Panera Bread and Pei Wei, and there are a couple of smaller independent places. There is even a Greek takeout place and an authentic Italian deli (real Italians working there).

Shopping is more limited. You have to drive to Pembroke Pines or Plantation for malls and big box stores, but there are plenty of well stocked Publix grocery stores and basic services. It's not as self contained as Coral Springs in this regard.

About the schools, they typically are on top of the state. One of the elementary schools even achieved Blue Ribbon status (Eagle Point). They are also notoriously overcrowded, with Cypress Bay High especially gaining notoriety for having 5500 students. There is nothing wrong with the education that is offered because of the high levels of parental involvement, and the large size means there is something for any student, but it causes some issues. Keep in mind that if you move here this year they are sending all newcomers in Weston to underenrolled Western High School in Davie, which has a smelly outdated building and is academically a notch below Cypress Bay, although still above average and known to be a safe school. A small portion of Weston will be permanently zoned for that school. The elementary and middle schools are also known to be overcrowded, although there is no rezoning issues going on, so keep that in mind if you have high schoolers. I heard Gator Run is really disorganized from the locals despite having sky high test scores (probably has more to do with the socioeconomics). I also hear about some issues from Falcon Cove Middle. Otherwise I have heard nothing but good things about the schools.

I have to say though, this community is definitely BORING looking. Although the look is objectively green and pleasant, it is also objectively homogeneous.

But yeah, if you buy a house, plan to be settled in for a while...the prices are tumbling. I honestly would rent and sit for a year or two (or three) not only to get familiar with the areas, but to get a better deal on a house and not go upside down if you hate your neighborhood/city or the region in general, or ever need to take another job transfer...

[Need2SellH20Home]

Originally Posted by mczabe

Wow, Need2Sell, I just looked up real estate listings in Bay Harbor Islands. It does look gorgeous, but $52 Million is a bit out of our price range. There were only two homes listed between $300-400K!

Compelled - Weston was mentioned by someone else I was talking to. Mostly gated communities, correct? What is the shopping, restaurant, school situation like there?

You probably were looking at Bal Harbour. There are some homes that even have helicopter pads


Bay Harbor Islands consists of two islands. One has residential homes and the other condos. The condos are in the range of 190K-300K

You can also find homes in Surfside Florida.

[Sharkey514]

Does anyone have opinion about Bayview, Sea Ranch Lakes, Coral Ridge areas in Ft Lauderdale? Is Rio Vista safe or not? Thanks.

[island mermaid]

Originally Posted by Sharkey514

Does anyone have opinion about Bayview, Sea Ranch Lakes, Coral Ridge areas in Ft Lauderdale? Is Rio Vista safe or not? Thanks.

I live 1/4 mile north on A1A from Sea Ranch Lakes. Nice area, walkable to the grocery store/ cvs/ a few shops, restaurants & bars. No crime to speak of. I've seen some older people but yet quite a few families there as well.