why do people with kids not live on the beach? (Hollywood: apartment, foreclosure)

[Momma_bear]

Originally Posted by bocamom

Well, I am comparing apples to oranges at some level, since i am on the beach in pompano and have been looking at real estate in boca, but my problem has been the opposite: it costs more to live on the edge of a golf course just west of a highway in boca with nothing within walking distance than it does to have three sides open on the beach in pompano.

I think when you compare comparable housing you will find that it is more expensive to live east. You cannot compare Pompano with Boca. Anywhere in Boca will be more expensive than Pompano. You need to look at comparable housing in east Boca vs west Boca. When you do that you will see it is more expensive to live east than west.

If you price a 1500 sf house in Fort Lauderdale and then price a 4000 sf house in Weston it will seem that Weston is more expensive than Fort Lauderdale. But if you price a 4000 sf house built in the same year in both cities you will see it is more expensive to live east. Plus you have to deal with the school issue at some point.

There are some towns that are east that are cheaper (Pompano, parts of Hollywood) than others (Lighthouse Point, Boca, most of Fort Lauderdale).

[Nolefan34]

Well of course it would be cheaper to live in Surfside than in Boca. Not all eastern cities are desireable just because they are near the ocean. There are a good number of crummier areas close to the water.

You also have to take into consideration that, as other posters mentioned, the housing stock near the water consists mostly of older homes, apartments, and condos. The western areas are mostly newer housing built since the 80s and 90s. Much of the development east of US1 in Fort Lauderdale dates back to the 1940's-50's. Even the commercial development. Take a look at the shopping centers along US1. They are all older, which is actually quite attractive IMO and is a pleasant changeup from the rest of South FL which everything is new looking and boring.

[AJ1972]

I personally am not a fan of sand, the ocean, or bathing in the sun. I also (again, my personal choice) do not want my children sitting in the sun hours on end (it's unhealthy). It's also so crowded/cluttered and busy, and out West is much more open, and suburban, with activities for the kids. Also cleaner and newer (of course depending on where you go).

Originally Posted by bocamom

i am looking for a nice beachfront 2/2 NORTH of the Hillsboro inlet (I am south of it now and the inlet effluent makes rather gross here for swimming). Anything from deerfield bch to south delray is fine except for the mile around the boca inlet.

I have found that there are no kids on the beach in any of the buildings I have looked in and I don't understand why. I grew up on the beach and have lived on the beach most of my life and find it is just great to have the recreational opportunities the beach provides and it makes my son rather popular for playdates, etc., that we have the pool and beach available.

So what is the deal? Why is the beach considered a place for childless couples? why do people keep suggesting that with a child i should go west? Is it just because it is unusual? Or is there some really good reason I haven't picked up on?

it actually is less expensive than renting a house, most of the beach is low in crime, almost all of the buildings are secured/gated/have a lobby guard and the school districts are the same as they are on the other side of the intracoastal in most cases.

What's the deal?

Thanks

[Wild Style]

Originally Posted by Nolefan34

Well of course it would be cheaper to live in Surfside than in Boca. Not all eastern cities are desireable just because they are near the ocean. There are a good number of crummier areas close to the water.

You also have to take into consideration that, as other posters mentioned, the housing stock near the water consists mostly of older homes, apartments, and condos. The western areas are mostly newer housing built since the 80s and 90s. Much of the development east of US1 in Fort Lauderdale dates back to the 1940's-50's. Even the commercial development. Take a look at the shopping centers along US1. They are all older, which is actually quite attractive IMO and is a pleasant changeup from the rest of South FL which everything is new looking and boring.

hollywood and surfside being two of them.

As for why people live in suburbia as opposed to the more urban areas in the east. You would have to research how suburbia came about and the subsequent brain washing of the silly masses.

[bocamom]

Originally Posted by AJ1972

I personally am not a fan of sand, the ocean, or bathing in the sun. I also (again, my personal choice) do not want my children sitting in the sun hours on end (it's unhealthy). It's also so crowded/cluttered and busy, and out West is much more open, and suburban, with activities for the kids. Also cleaner and newer (of course depending on where you go).

I never go outside on the beach until after 6 pm. i am exceptionally pale, and there's no way i can sunbathe.

Sand is a PITA, but we shower when we come in before bed and that seems to take care of it pretty well. Nothing is perfect, though. This beach, for all of its beauty, is dirty. The beaches in Boca are much cleaner. We rarely swim int eh ocean. But the pool is polluted too - full of chlorine - a carcinogen. . . .

but to me it is just so good to feel like i am in nature. i like to see the storms coming in and the sun rising, i like to see what the ocean looks like everyday. i like to be able to play baseball, football, soccer and volleyball for miles every night. Today we saw the flying machine take off and land (this guy with a sort of kiteboarder's kite and motor who flies around the beach).

I think this stuff is great for my kid. But, the reason i asked this is because I have been feeling guilty as it does seem the kids all live west and it is not ideal for that reason.

My building was built in the mid 80's, that's fine, post lead paint, but plenty of time for the toxins to offgas. I'm used to living east and i've only drastically remodeled one of my homes. I dont' like the smell of new things and I despise mosquitos.

But I am not suggesting that people SHOULD move east, I'm just wondering why there is such a complete dearth of kids int he buildings in Highland Beacha nd Boca I have been looking in (where incidentally, I get less value than in pompano on the beach, but i think better value than west boca.

In West Boca the places I was seeing in the range of what I am paying were filthy and tiny and located near roads or these golf course drainage ditches they call "canal view" - like I would pay extra to live on land soaked in Atrazine. Now that is insane.

i can't touch an actual HOUSE in the school district I wanted to go to in Central/West Boca for what I am paying, but I have found at least seven apartments with over 1500 sq feet on the beach in Highland beach, the one I am looking at has tennis courts and an awesome beach and pool and is walking distance from a library. . .it even has a pool and ping pong table and a piano. . . but everyone is twice my age

I guess I would just expect to find one other family with a kid in each building, not zero! i sold my house (intracoastal/boca) in 2005 and have been renting since, and it seemed logical to be beachfront if I could just go wherever. . . I guess it just isn't done. . . but I can't go west to live in a tiny apartment. i will keep paying for this and private school for the price of living out there and going to public school. . .

although i have actually heard good things about mcnab elementary. does anyone know anything bout it?

i think i'll make a new post. . . . there're a lot of nice people on this board. thanks

[bocamom]

Originally Posted by Momma_bear

If you price a 1500 sf house in Fort Lauderdale and then price a 4000 sf house in Weston it will seem that Weston is more expensive than Fort Lauderdale.

I have never lived in more square footage than I have right now. My intracoastal home was 1700 under air, this is 1750. I don't want to go under 1500 square feet because we have king size organic mattresses, seven bookcases, and at least ten musical instruments (including a large electronic drum set up) and i work out of the house. but we are not at all short of space.

The house I grew up in was about 1400 sq feet - also intracoastal in Boca. If there were five of us I could understand. But I have a bedroom with ocean views all around and an office with the same, my son's room is 11 by 20 so he has all the room he needs, and we also have garage parking, downstairs storage, and a 5 by 17 porch. What more could two people need? I'm not sure I've even ever been in a 4000 sq foot house that wasn't a veritable mansion on the beach or intracoastal. That;s HUGE by my standards lol. I guess growing up east made me more space thrifty.

[bocamom]

i think a 4000 sq foot house in a nice area of boca would cost about 3k a month, while a beach apartment of 1500 sq feet in Boca is more like 1400-1700. In that price range in west boca i was finding the same square footage but never found any that seemed far enough from major roads.

[Momma_bear]

Originally Posted by bocamom

I have never lived in more square footage than I have right now. My intracoastal home was 1700 under air, this is 1750. I don't want to go under 1500 square feet because we have king size organic mattresses, seven bookcases, and at least ten musical instruments (including a large electronic drum set up) and i work out of the house. but we are not at all short of space.

The house I grew up in was about 1400 sq feet - also intracoastal in Boca. If there were five of us I could understand. But I have a bedroom with ocean views all around and an office with the same, my son's room is 11 by 20 so he has all the room he needs, and we also have garage parking, downstairs storage, and a 5 by 17 porch. What more could two people need? I'm not sure I've even ever been in a 4000 sq foot house that wasn't a veritable mansion on the beach or intracoastal. That;s HUGE by my standards lol. I guess growing up east made me more space thrifty.

My point is that if you compare something east with something west you have to compare the same somethings. Comparing Pompano, which is considered low end to Boca which is considered high end is not a matter of east vs west, but a matter of comparing apples and oranges. You are not comparing the same things.

East is more expensive than west if you stay comparable.

[Nolefan34]

I agree MommaBear. East is more expensive than west comparably speaking. In the east, everything is older, smaller, and more congested with a few exceptions. You are paying extra for the location and convenience of living east.

[fauve]

Yeah, Surfside is a real S Florida slum, esp if you consider Hollywood to be the ghetto... I'm honestly starting to wonder if it's jews y'all are objecting to.