Relocating from Chicago to Ft. Lauderdale (Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood: real estate, rentals, homeowners insurance)

[homer4all]

Background:
We (Indian family of 4) been living in Chicago for 10 years and still not able to get use to cold. For longtime we have been dreaming to move warmer place, stay outdoor for max possible time and live happily ever after

We have one close family in Chicago, walking distance to each other and couple of friends. Not big family/friends circle.

Fast forward.. I asked and my company gave me an opportunity to work from our Ft. Lauderdale office and told us to visit place, work from there for 2 weeks, come back and decide.

We are here in Ft. Lauderdale looking for rental places in suburbs like Coral Springs, Parkland and Plantation. It's expensive, 2 bed and 2 bath you are looking at least $2500+ which seems too much to someone on W2.

Not sure if we have to take public or private school in above areas but private school can go$10k/child.
Not sure if there will be any salary increase to adjust cost of living.

BIG question:
1. Should we move from Chicago Suburbs to Ft. Lauderdale?
2. Or wait for few more years then look again if low cost of living work place is available?
3. Which suburbs have more Indian families in Ft. Lauderdale?


Chicago pros:
1. Family
2. Own house (not much left on mortgage)
3. Easy and settled life
4. Not expensive
5. Temple (I'm not religious but helps to keep kids connected to root)
6. Close team of 4 office colleague
7. Kids in charter school (<$300 fees/year)

Chicago cons:
1. COLD COLD COLD
2. Total 3hrs daily train commute (still OK for me compare to 2hr driving)
3. Not much outdoor activities

Ft. Lauderdale pros:
1. Nice weather
2. Outdoor activities
3. Many touristy places to visit

Ft. Lauderdale cons:
1. Expensive (house, insurance, school)
2. Start life again
3. No family
4. Looking daily drive of 45 mins one way (1.5hrs total)
5. Expensive private school

Anything we are missing or look from different angle?
Any other suggestions?

[kyle19125]

The glaring mistake in your pros/cons is the unjustified need for a private school with those expenses, and I don't think the $2500 a month lease will seem bad as a result. rentals in places like Cooper City (Cooper City HS), Davie (Nova HS), Pembroke Pines (Pembroke Pines Charter HS) or Ft Lauderdale proper (check out Ft Lauderdale HS and Pompano Beach HS) are close enough to work and feature A-rated public school districts.

[pierrekid]

Originally Posted by homer4all

Background:
We (Indian family of 4) been living in Chicago for 10 years and still not able to get use to cold. For longtime we have been dreaming to move warmer place, stay outdoor for max possible time and live happily ever after

We have one close family in Chicago, walking distance to each other and couple of friends. Not big family/friends circle.

Fast forward.. I asked and my company gave me an opportunity to work from our Ft. Lauderdale office and told us to visit place, work from there for 2 weeks, come back and decide.

We are here in Ft. Lauderdale looking for rental places in suburbs like Coral Springs, Parkland and Plantation. It's expensive, 2 bed and 2 bath you are looking at least $2500+ which seems too much to someone on W2.

Not sure if we have to take public or private school in above areas but private school can go$10k/child.
Not sure if there will be any salary increase to adjust cost of living.

BIG question:
1. Should we move from Chicago Suburbs to Ft. Lauderdale?
2. Or wait for few more years then look again if low cost of living work place is available?
3. Which suburbs have more Indian families in Ft. Lauderdale?


Chicago pros:
1. Family
2. Own house (not much left on mortgage)
3. Easy and settled life
4. Not expensive
5. Temple (I'm not religious but helps to keep kids connected to root)
6. Close team of 4 office colleague
7. Kids in charter school (<$300 fees/year)

Chicago cons:
1. COLD COLD COLD
2. Total 3hrs daily train commute (still OK for me compare to 2hr driving)
3. Not much outdoor activities

Ft. Lauderdale pros:
1. Nice weather
2. Outdoor activities
3. Many touristy places to visit

Ft. Lauderdale cons:
1. Expensive (house, insurance, school)
2. Start life again
3. No family
4. Looking daily drive of 45 mins one way (1.5hrs total)
5. Expensive private school

Anything we are missing or look from different angle?
Any other suggestions?

Welcome to south Florida! To answer some of your questions...

1. Very personal decision. For me personally, as a former new Yorker, I can't deal with cold anymore. And Chicago is a different beast of cold.

We were looking at a move to Naperville during the pandemic and quickly crossed it off our list once we remembered the bitter cold winters. Schools were a big reason why we wanted to make the move

2. Depending on where you are looking, prices may not see a drop.

3. West Davie and Weston have the largest Indian populations in fort Lauderdale from my understanding.

[pierrekid]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

The glaring mistake in your pros/cons is the unjustified need for a private school with those expenses, and I don't think the $2500 a month lease will seem bad as a result. rentals in places like Cooper City (Cooper City HS), Davie (Nova HS), Pembroke Pines (Pembroke Pines Charter HS) or Ft Lauderdale proper (check out Ft Lauderdale HS and Pompano Beach HS) are close enough to work and feature A-rated public school districts.

Completely agree here. Really don't need private school depending on where you move. You mentioned parkland on your list. They have excellent public schools along with Weston. Don't think you will need private .

[wizrap]

“Not sure if we have to take public or private school in above areas but private school can go$10k/child.
Not sure if there will be any salary increase to adjust cost of living.”

BIG question:
1. Should we move from Chicago Suburbs to Ft. Lauderdale?
2. Or wait for few more years then look again if low cost of living work place is available?
3. Which suburbs have more Indian families in Ft. Lauderdale?

If you are looking at Coral Springs, Parkland and Plantation, you won’t need private schools except possibly with Plantation (for middle and high school).

Big answers:
1. We can’t answer for you. Only you and your family can answer that question.
2. The last correction in 2008 resulted in real estate prices dropping by about 10% nationally, but when we lived in South Florida, I think some of the losses were about double that, if not more. I suspect that your home also would drop in value if real estate dropped throughout the country due to a recession, so it may be a wash.
3. There are at least 2 Hindu temples in Southwest Ranches, which is near Weston, Pembroke Pines, Davie, Sunrise and Plantation. There is another one on the east side of the county in Hollywood.

Good luck!

[wrat]

no mention of taxes? Fl has no state income tax and I am pretty sure Cook County taxes are quite a bit higher than Broward however our homeowners insurance situation in all of south Fl is pretty grim.

Cost of living aside from gas would probably be a wash, but Gas in cook county especially in Chicago where its close to $6 could tip the scale

[homer4all]

Thank you all for wonderful responses and displaying multiple choices.

I will be working in Ft. Lauderdale downtown and worrying about long driving commute.
Feels like anything above 30 mins is stressful and I’m seeing highways here they are chaotic, morning google maps giving us 40 mins or so during rush hour.

Somehow except for weather I’m not able to see any positive or advantages of moving.

How easy or difficult driving to downtown Ft Lauderdale from above listed suburbs?
Is south Florida good place to raise family?

Also don’t want to miss this opportunity if this is golden lifetime chance.

[wizrap]

Can you use google or Apple Maps to check the commute from Weston using the express lanes on I-595? Also, do you have a commute in Chicago? My niece lives there and she doesn’t rave about driving from downtown to her office in the suburbs.

When I go down to see clients in South Florida I still use Weston as my home base since it is so conveniently located near all the major highways.

Weston is also very popular with families due to it’s highly rated public schools.

[homer4all]

Weston/Coral Springs to downtown office showing 40 mins in google maps, not seeing anything about express lane.

My current Chicago commute is 1hr 15min in train, I never took car and will take me around 1 hr in rush hour traffic.

[Angel Calzadilla]

Originally Posted by pierrekid

Welcome to south Florida! To answer some of your questions...

1. Very personal decision. For me personally, as a former new Yorker, I can't deal with cold anymore. And Chicago is a different beast of cold.

We were looking at a move to Naperville during the pandemic and quickly crossed it off our list once we remembered the bitter cold winters. Schools were a big reason why we wanted to make the move

2. Depending on where you are looking, prices may not see a drop.

3. West Davie and Weston have the largest Indian populations in fort Lauderdale from my understanding.

"West Davie and Weston have the largest Indian populations in Fort Lauderdale" Totally wrong ! West Davie and Weston ARE NOT IN Fort Lauderdale. They are three different municipalities within Broward county.