Moving from NYC/NJ area to Miami area??? (Fort Lauderdale, Miami Beach: apartment, condo)

[sjones123]

Hey Guys,

I'm looking to move from Edgewater, New Jersey where it's mostly young professionals that are single or newly married with a dog and their first BMW.

The area is great and has a Whole Foods, Starbuck, Borders, B&N, walking distance from the waterfront and located 10 to 15 minutes from NYC.

I'm looking for a nice 1 or 2 bedroom apartment/condo in a good area in Miami, Ft. Laudedale or Boca area.

Any suggestions??

Steve

[FortLauderdaleGuy]

Ft. Lauderdale has a Whole Foods, Starbucks, Borders, B&N, and is on the waterfront Boca Raton also has a Whole Foods, Starbucks, Borders, B&N, and is on the waterfront. I don't believe any other areas quite fit you description, although you might also want to check out Aventura, in Miami-Dade County, it also has a Whole Foods, Starbucks, Borders, B&N, though is across the ICW from the waterfront...pretty much all of the beaches in South Florida are on Barrier Islands, the beaches in Ft. Lauderdale and Boca Raton happen to be in the same city limits, whereas the beach across from Aventura is not...there are no B&N or Borders on any South Florida barrier islands...the closest is the Borders in Ft Lauderdale, which is on the waterfront on a middle island between the mainland and the barrier island, and had a kind of cool riverfront deck, but not on the barrier island...there are quite a few Starbucks in Miami Beach, and a few independent bookstores, but the closest B&N or Borders is quite a ways a way on the mainland...

[Nolefan34]

sjones>

Aventura and Boca Raton seem like areas you'd like. There is also a section of Fort Lauderdale along US1 that fits that description with Whole Foods, and other big-box stores such as the ones you mentioned. Miami (Coral Gables, Dadeland) has plenty of those clusters of stores, but not close enough to the beach. Also, the traffic is a lot worse in Miami than it is in Fort Lauderdale, so everywhere takes longer to get to.

[vvolin]

While Fort Lauderdale, Boca and Aventura all have the stores you mentioned and are essentially on the beach, their characters are very different. Boca offers more relaxed living, lots of families and retirees, a little more snobby than the others, a lot less stress and traffic. Aventura, on the other hand, is a traffic nightmare. You have to love people to live there, because you will have many of them in your personal space. On the other hand, Aventura is more diverse, with many different Latin backgrounds, has many ethnic restaurants and is, overall, more "lively" than Boca. Fort Lauderdale, a mix between the two, is also completely different. Preferred by the gay populations, the singles, the young professionals, it is trendier, with a party feeling year round along the beach. But it is also a place for families, which abound in the many nice neighborhoods sprawled around the city.
NJ reminds me more of Boca among the three, so if you are happy where you are and want something more like it, then choose north. Else, give Fort lauderdale a chance ( I would not recommend Aventura: I would not want to be there when the next big one hits and forces several hundred thousand people to evacuate on the same roads....)

[♥♥PRINC3Ss♥♥]

Why are you moving? A lot of people don't like it down here once they move, especially people from the East coast.

[BigPecs8]

We're in Pompano on US1 and love it.

[Smartone]

Edgewater? Thats where all the old people in Florida summer to. However, its a great town. The weather sucks in the NE though.

I would google the following places:

- Renaissance at Boynton Beach
- Mizner at Boca Raton
- Los Olas in Fort Lauderdale