What are the best coastal communities to live in in Southern Florida? (Miami: foreclosures, condos)

[onegreatnurse]

Hi, I'm thinking of relocating, I'm SOOO tired of the cold winters in NJ..I lived in California and Virginia Beach but don't want to go back to either place for various reasons..Virginia still not warm enough, Cali too many problems with drought and money...anyway, where would you recommend in Southern Florida? I have an 11-yr-old son and I need a decent school system, hopefully not an oxymoron in S. Fla....and I'm a nurse so I can live/work anywhere but would like to be close enough to the beach that I don' have to drive more than say...10 minutes or so!! Money isn't much of an issue because I can sell my house up here and by something cash, I've been saving like a fiend..also, anyone know what the nursing salaries are? Thanks..

[fauve]

I think you both would really enjoy a condo right on the beach. There's nothing more wonderful then waking up and looking out at the ocean every morning.

Schools within 10 minutes of the beach can be a little sketchy though. I would recommend checking out various magnet programs. They are mostly located in the downtown areas near the beach.
Broward Magnet Programs

[Rock Newman]

Originally Posted by onegreatnurse

Hi, I'm thinking of relocating, I'm SOOO tired of the cold winters in NJ..I lived in California and Virginia Beach but don't want to go back to either place for various reasons..Virginia still not warm enough, Cali too many problems with drought and money...anyway, where would you recommend in Southern Florida? I have an 11-yr-old son and I need a decent school system, hopefully not an oxymoron in S. Fla....and I'm a nurse so I can live/work anywhere but would like to be close enough to the beach that I don' have to drive more than say...10 minutes or so!! Money isn't much of an issue because I can sell my house up here and by something cash, I've been saving like a fiend..also, anyone know what the nursing salaries are? Thanks..

Palm Beach Gardens , Jupiter , Tequesta , Juno Beach , Stuart or even Vero Beach .

[onegreatnurse]

Thanks, Jupiter is one of the places I had been consdering..what about Coral Springs? Is that really far inland? I've seen people mention that and Coconut Creek...are there any other areas near Fort Lauderdale that are good?

[rkumar3]

The main fort lauderdale beach (specifically Galt Ocean Mile) by Oakland and A1A is really nice. I used to live there and you have condos right on the sand, tons of stuff to do without driving... restaurants, banks, library, grocery shopping, coffee etc. Most of those condos are old and people bought them real cheap so not a lot of foreclosures either..... pretty stable. Of course you are still very close to the Fort Lauderdale downtown, airport etc. I checked the prices the other day and nice 2/2 go from 200K ++

[kevinkagy]

I really like Miami Shores, which is a nice quiet, quaint, coastal community right on Biscayne Bay. The public schools aren't good there, but there are a lot of really good private schools. For good public schools and a coastal community, I'd look into North Beach (in Miami Beach) or Aventura. Coconut Grove, Downtown Miami and Brickell are all on Biscayne Bay too, but I can't say the public schools are too good in this area, but the area is very safe and very nice. Best of luck!

[fauve]

Coral Springs is about 25 minutes from the beach. It has great schools though. I'd recommend Parkland above Coral Springs though if you're going to live that far from the beach. Where you live will probably depend on where you get a job though.

[Rock Newman]

Originally Posted by fauve

Coral Springs is about 25 minutes from the beach. It has great schools though. I'd recommend Parkland above Coral Springs though if you're going to live that far from the beach. Where you live will probably depend on where you get a job though.

We live in Parkland and yes it is a nice area , as is the area of Coral Springs that it borders . Similar to Weston , I believe that Parkland and Coral Springs are are too far from the beach for the OP .

[Rock Newman]

Originally Posted by kevinkagy

I really like Miami Shores, which is a nice quiet, quaint, coastal community right on Biscayne Bay. The public schools aren't good there, but there are a lot of really good private schools. For good public schools and a coastal community, I'd look into North Beach (in Miami Beach) or Aventura. Coconut Grove, Downtown Miami and Brickell are all on Biscayne Bay too, but I can't say the public schools are too good in this area, but the area is very safe and very nice. Best of luck!

Kevin , I believe the OP is looking in either Broward or Palm Beach .

[fauve]

I'm not sure where the exact districting is for Marjory Stoneman Douglas - I only know that it is in Parkland - perhaps Coral Springs is covered too. In another thread, OP mentioned Mast Academy on Key Biscayne as a potential high school for her child. That was my reasoning for recommending Parkland (Stoneman Doug is equally reputable) above Coral Springs. If schools don't take precedence in OP's mind, or she finds a great magnet (say with an IB program) then beachfront condo sounds perfect.