Tell Me More About Hollywood, FL (Plantation, Davie: apartment, condo, neighborhood)

[Jersey Marco]

I lived in Hollywood for several years. A general rule of thumb for housing is to stay west of 95 and north of Hollywood Blvd. Closer to Sheridan, the better.

Hollywood around Dixie Highway is dicey. Around Route 1 is worse. You don't want to live there. Young Circle seems to attract a lot of freaks. I actually would go out of my way to shop at the Young Circle Publix to see the freak show. It was quite entertaining when the Greyhound station was still there!
Especially during the winter months. A lot of trash comes south.

Hollywood Hills area is nice. No real crime and nice neighborhoods. A very safe, quiet area. I was impressed with the quiet of the area on the weekends.

Also, east of 95 in Hollywood is a hurricane flood zone. Possible mandatory evacuation, CAT 3 and above.

I never had a bad experience in Hollywood, even in the bad sections. I was working in bad sections after Hurricane Wilma, when the power was out for 6 weeks, and had no bad experiences either.

[LiLShorty4lyfe]

Originally Posted by vigo

You think the North and South Lake areas are sketchy? Wow, I wonder how you define sketchy.

33021 is sketchy, in my opinion. Guess it depends on what you like.

I agree with the OP. The area east of US1- sketchy. My mother lives ib 33021 and its a fantastic area. You'll find in this area, if you dont live in 33021 you may picture west of 56th and get the wrong idea. Truth is, its a MUCH safer area than that of south lake. Thats jsut too close to hookerville- US1 and theres alot of crime in east hollywood. I avoid that area like the plaque unless im going past it to the beach.

33021 is called Hollywood Hills up to about West Park Rd (between Taft and Sheridan). North of Sheridan is called Emerald Hills (up to stirling). Emerald Hills is slightly more upper class than Hollywood hills, but much more $$. Hollywood hills is very family oriented neghborhood with little crime. Feel free to PM me for additional info as i grew up there and know hollywood like the back of my hand.

[compelled to reply]

Both Emerald Hills and Hollywood Hills are nice and very well kept, but have an above-average amount of burglaries...also driveway robberies aren't unheard of if you are a few blocks from Taft St or Stirling Rd. To be honest, the same could be said for Hollywood Lakes, with further from US1 getting better. The safest part of Hollywood is probably Oak Point/Oak Ridge, or basically the area between Stirling and Griffin Rd, Anglers Ave and SW 40th Ave, although some parts of this area are technically unincorporated. The area ranges from some of the biggest wealth in South Florida to lower end working class neighborhoods of mobile homes. Even the lower-income sections of this square are very quiet, though.

[southshorereject]

I've lived just east of 16th for over 5 years. I'm right on the border of "sketchy". So far, no incidents, thank goodness. The further east you go towards North Lake, the nicer -and more expensive- it gets. Lots of nice family homes, quiet streets. From 16th to Dixie -which includes US1- it is awful. Drive down US1 any time of day, and you'll see limpers, gimpers, transvestite hookers, crackheads and general unsavory types. It's like the Michael Jackson Thriller video.

I read the crime reports a lot. I would not want to be wandering around on US1 or anywhere west of it. All the seedy motels attract drug users and there is the homeless shelter. Nothing against the homeless, but there is definitely a bad group that hangs there. Also, the CVS on Johnson and US1 is a freak show. Avoid, avoid, avoid!

My street, although we do see the sketchy folk sometimes wandering, has a lot of apartments and rental houses. We seem to be getting a solid influx of young people there, good people with jobs. Lots of runners and dog walkers, which I like to see. I'm encouraged by the quality of people moving in, I hope they stay.

Downtown Hollywood is pretty cool IMO. I love it. The Broadwalk is awesome too, although it gets crowded. Hollywood has a lot of cool restaurants and bars. The town also organizes events, and they have a lot of music entertainment on the beach at night. They also did a wonderful job with the Arts Park at Young Circle. It used to be a pile of dirt, now it is gorgeous, with art studios and classes, music on stage, and a kiddie play park with modern art style playground toys.

Oh, and don't bother with Publix across from the Arts Park. It's called "Muglix" for a reason. Go to the one on E. Sheridan (which may technically be Dania).

In general, Hollywood has a LOT to offer. It is very nice. But, it does have it's serious cons. I know a few folks with children who moved out because of the crime and schools. I don't have kids, but I can understand. I honestly don't feel safe here like I should, and we might be moving in a year anyway, up north a bit.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by southshorereject

and we might be moving in a year anyway, up north a bit.

How far north? Except for maybe Boca, its about the same or worse north until PGA Blvd. Ft. Lauderdale, Pompano, Delray, Boynton, Lake Worth, etc can get downright scary between US1 and 95, where Hallandale and Hollywood are mainly just entertaining as long as you aren't a john or a prostitute. Think sleazy versus ghetto. East or west is a better bet for crime, like further east of US1, or Pembroke Pines to the west is fine if you like the latitude of Hollywood.

[crisp444]

Originally Posted by compelled to reply

How far north? Except for maybe Boca, its about the same or worse north until PGA Blvd. Ft. Lauderdale, Pompano, Delray, Boynton, Lake Worth, etc can get downright scary between US1 and 95, where Hallandale and Hollywood are mainly just entertaining as long as you aren't a john or a prostitute. Think sleazy versus ghetto. East or west is a better bet for crime, like further east of US1, or Pembroke Pines to the west is fine if you like the latitude of Hollywood.

I think that Hollywood is a great value. Hollywood Hills/Emerald Hills and also Hollywood Lakes are very nice, family neighborhoods with good schools and decent home prices within a decent commute from both Miami and Fort Lauderdale. Even West Hollywood, though more lower middle-class, is a decent area for a family to buy a starter home. East Hollywood west of US1, however, is another story.

I find it interesting that some people on this website (not including you) use PGA Boulevard as a dividing line between good (north) and bad (south). That is interesting to me, because besides Hyde Park and Davis Island in Tampa, Windermere, some of Downtown, and Winter Park in Orlando, all of the state's nicest neighborhoods are south of PGA Boulevard, not north of it. Once you're past Palm Beach and the few exceptions I have listed, you're driving for hours until you find a nice, non-sprawl area... the Midtown/Ardsley Park/Virignia-Highland area of Atlanta!

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by crisp444

I think that Hollywood is a great value. Hollywood Hills/Emerald Hills and also Hollywood Lakes are very nice, family neighborhoods with good schools and decent home prices within a decent commute from both Miami and Fort Lauderdale. Even West Hollywood, though more lower middle-class, is a decent area for a family to buy a starter home.

The schools aren't good in Hollywood Lakes (Emerald Hills/Hollywood Hills is solid for elementary) and the home prices are VERY high in both of these areas relative to other nice areas, in fact some of the highest in the county. Both of those areas are very solid for affluent families who can afford private schools, but mostly unattainable or impractical for middle class families. For starter homes under $200,000, it's also better to cross into the eastern areas of Pembroke Pines, Davie, and parts of Miramar if you have children for slightly better elementary schools, although otherwise they are similar and blend into each other. Driftwood Middle is also okay, but covers the former two as well as west Hollywood. In fact, these working class areas actually have better schools than Hollywood Lakes.

[crisp444]

What's wrong with South Broward and Hollywood Hills high schools? Looking at the socioeconomic demographics and ratings/comments on greatschools.net, they look fine. I thought that Hills had the reputation of being one of the better public schools in the area, actually. Don't mind, me, however... I'm just writing all of this and asking out of curiousity. Much of my Hollywood school knowledge comes from the opinions of the "Jewban" family I knew that lived on a really nice street of Hollywood Hills and put their kids through the school system in the 1990's through early 2000's. It just surprises me to hear that people specifically move to west Broward for the schools when there are good schools in east Broward, too.

[southshorereject]

Well, ultimately, we'd like to be up in St. Pete, but that won't happen for a while yet. So for now, we either stay in HWD, or I'd like to be up in Pompano. East, of course, being that I need beach! Lots of nice, quiet neighborhoods with affordable rents south of PGA. We'd even consider Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, which IMO, is absolutely wonderful.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by southshorereject

Well, ultimately, we'd like to be up in St. Pete, but that won't happen for a while yet. So for now, we either stay in HWD, or I'd like to be up in Pompano. East, of course, being that I need beach! Lots of nice, quiet neighborhoods with affordable rents south of PGA. We'd even consider Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, which IMO, is absolutely wonderful.

Be selective with Pompano (the crime is literally twice as bad as Hollywood), but LBTS is awesome!