Is Ft. Lauderdale right for liberal from MN? (Jacksonville, Miami: house, school districts)

[ArielE]

Hello,
My husband & I are young professionals who will be starting a family in the next few years. I'm from a very liberal, beautiful but cold city in Minnesota, and that's where we're living now. My husband wants to move to Florida and I want to see if I can find a place with the right fit. Please help! Here's what we're looking for:


"Walkability" -- ie, We dislike strip malls, suburban type areas, and anything where you don't have a nice outdoorsy place or urban area to walk around in or go to restaurants, libraries, museums, etc
Affordable housing (we're trying for under $250,000)
Family friendly
Environmentally friendly
Mild weather
Hills... I don't like completely flat areas
Liberal attitude
A large body of water nearby, the ocean, a river, lakes, anything really.
Lots of green space and parks

To give you an idea, we lived in Portland, OR and St. Louis, MO for school and were happy with both of these cities as far as liberal attitude, walkability, hills, bodies of water, and affordability are concerned. I work in Medicine and he works in Physical Therapy and so we would also need a place with job opportunities in these fields.

Are there any cities in Florida that may fit some or all of these criteria? If not, we're going to have to look at Colorado or California as alternatives.

I posted this in a Jacksonville forum and got a wonderful response. Many people suggested Ft. Lauderdale might be a better fit.

[compelled to reply]

I'll try and address your wants one by one.

Originally Posted by ArielE

"Walkability" -- ie, We dislike strip malls, suburban type areas, and anything where you don't have a nice outdoorsy place or urban area to walk around in or go to restaurants, libraries, museums, etc- Not a great area for walkability. Your best bets are probably Las Olas/Downtown Ft. Lauderdale and downtown Hollywood.
Affordable housing (we're trying for under $250,000)- Yes and no. How small do you want to go?
Family friendly- Does not coexist with walkability.
Environmentally friendly- Yes and no. The area is playing catchup, but I live in an area that was once part of the Everglades, and so does half of Broward County. Something to consider.
Mild weather- Hot summer, cold winter.
Hills... I don't like completely flat areas- This is probably the flattest city in the United States. No lie.
Liberal attitude- Yes, but passively.
A large body of water nearby, the ocean, a river, lakes, anything really.- Ocean.
Lots of green space and parks- Somewhat.

To give you an idea, we lived in Portland, OR and St. Louis, MO for school and were happy with both of these cities as far as liberal attitude, walkability, hills, bodies of water, and affordability are concerned. I work in Medicine and he works in Physical Therapy and so we would also need a place with job opportunities in these fields.- Actually, pretty good for the field.

Are there any cities in Florida that may fit some or all of these criteria?- No. If not, we're going to have to look at Colorado or California as alternatives. - Do it.

I posted this in a Jacksonville forum and got a wonderful response. Many people suggested Ft. Lauderdale might be a better fit.

Unfortunately, I don't think Florida would be a good idea. Ft. Lauderdale is a better bet than Jacksonville, but still not ideal.

[ruski]

I doubt they would welcome them libruls in Jacksonville very well.

And Fort Lauderdale doesn't have any hills except for Mount Trashmore.

There are rolling hills in Clermont, FL. That's just north of Orlando. But again, I think they would have problems with libruls there.

[StilltheSame]

Ariel,

We recently moved to Minneapolis from the Ft. Lauderdale area. I dont know what city in Minnesota you are referring to - and there are positives and negatives to Fort Lauderdale. I dont find many (if any) areas of Lauderdale walkable to most of the Twin Cities. The weather is warmer, and somewhat milder, but not really temperate. You may have difficulty coping with the constant heat and humidity. You will likely find affordable housing, but no hills. MInneapolis green spaces are much more planned and well thought out than those in Ft. Lauderdale, but there is the ocean. If you have more questions/comments you can dm me. Good luck.

[Nolefan34]

Ariel>

Based on your criteria, I'm not sure this area is for you. Yes liberals and the liberal mentality dominates this region, but the government seems to be highly conservative and falls in line with the rest of the State of FL which is dominated by conservatives. But Broward County is mostly liberal for sure. But like someone else said, its not the hippy-type liberal. Its more like "i can do whatever I want and run all over people" liberal.

That said, I would rule out anywhere else in FL outside of Broward, Dade, and Palm Beach Counties. The rest of FL may as well be Alabama. I cannot think of a more conservative city than Jacksonville, FL. You would get run out of town by the religious bible-thumpers and Sarah Palin junkies. I would certainly stick to South FL if you plan on moving here.

Second, there are NO HILLS here. I'm not even kidding. The terrain is flatter than a supermarket floor. Mole hills and garbage dump sites are the only places that rise much above sea level. In order to see hills, you will have to drive up to central FL around Orlando and you can take a weekend trip to see hills. You can also drive to the mountains of northern GA and NC in about 12 hours.

The weather- I would not describe it as "mild", but moreso extreme. Yes the winters are very mild and beautiful. They last about 3 months of very comfortable weather. The rest of the year is very hot and humid and we get a ton of thunderstorms, flash floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, etc. The humidity is the worst element. IF you walk outside of your house at 2AM you will start sweating immediately because of the humidity. The summers are very yucky, sticky, hot, humid, and rainy. This isn't to discourage you. Some people like me like the heat and humidity. I don't kknow why I like it, I guess maybe because the girls tend to wear less clothing and go to the beach more. I don't know.

Family friendly/walkability- like the other poster said, there are few areas that you would call "walkable" here. Las Olas, Fort Lauderdale Beach, downtown Hollywood, Aventura (somewhat), Brickell/downtown Miami, and Miami Beach are the only areas in South FL that you can describe as walkable. The problem is that those areas are NOT family-friendly. They tend to be more singles and couples who like to go out to expensive restaurants, bars, and clubs that they can walk to from their buildings. Also those areas tend to be surrounding by not-so-good areas that are only a few blocks away. And you see lots of bums walking around the streets. Fort Lauderdale has more bums hanging around the streets than any city I've seen except Atlanta, GA. Most of the family-friendly areas are the suburb type areas you described.

A large body of water- have you heard of the Atlantic Ocean? There is nowhere you can live in S. FL where you are more than 20 miles from the ocean. The Florida Everglades is just to the west. In fact, all of South Florida used to be everglades before they developed it. Lake Okeechobee, the 3rd largest lake in the U.S. is about 90 minutes away. Then you've got the FL Keys which are less than 2 hours away. Its a great drive to drive down to Key West which takes more like 4-5 hours, but is worth it for a vacation.

Lots of green space- Not so sure about that. Broward County is highly developed and I don't see many green places here. We have our share of parks, but they are small. The city of Parkland located in Northwest Broward County has a lot of green space.

I hope I addressed your questions. I would strongly recommend you take a trip down here for a few days and see how you like it.

[SFLGal]

Florida is not the place you are looking for. No walking areas here (other than the beach), totally flat, high cost of living, low wages, tons of crime, you won't get much of a house for $250, mainly zero lot lines and there are NO liberal radio stations here on the AM anymore, all conservative.

[southfl1]

I agree with everyone here and had to laugh at some of the comments too! Boy can I relate to them!

I think your best bet would be to look into a move to Asheville NC. Sure there is no Ocean nearby but it's so darn liberal, hilly and walking friendly. It's also a great area for your type of work as many retirees are heading up there. It's a beautiful town....like a San Francisco of the East!

[paula62776]

Have you looked into Austin, TX at all?

[wandering_jew]

Life requires making trade-offs and ultimately only you can decide where to call home. Making a life decision based on the mindless prattle of anonymous bloggers on here is bad sense. Every place has its pluses and minuses.

Weather - if you like year round summer and beach weather, only Hawaii beats south Florida. The talk on here about hurricanes is crap - Florida has not had a single hurricane in 4 years. They don't strike every year, never at the same place, and at least you have several days advance warning, unlike a California earthquake which happens without warning.

Schools - Fort Lauderdale schools are tragic, but there are suburban areas with excellent school districts: Boca Raton, Parkland, to name a few.

Walkability - you need to live in historic urban areas such as east Hollywood, South Beach in Miami, Victoria Park/Las Olas in Fort Lauderdale, or Mizner Park in Boca. Generally these communities cater to the young, hip, gay, or empty nesters so you would sacrifice school quality proximity to Starbucks or the sushi bar.

Liberal values? What exactly are those? Wilton Manors is a gay enclave within Fort Lauderdale, yet there was no shortage of McCain/Palin signs there during the last election.

But come down and visit and follow your heart!

[Nolefan34]

Originally Posted by wandering_jew

Life requires making trade-offs and ultimately only you can decide where to call home. Making a life decision based on the mindless prattle of anonymous bloggers on here is bad sense. Every place has its pluses and minuses. Very true. Comments on a message board tend to be mostly negative.

Weather - if you like year round summer and beach weather, only Hawaii beats south Florida. The talk on here about hurricanes is crap - Florida has not had a single hurricane in 4 years. They don't strike every year, never at the same place, and at least you have several days advance warning, unlike a California earthquake which happens without warning. Most years we get at least one hurricane or tropical storm that hits this area. The last 4 years have been unusually quiet, but every year from 1995-2005 we had serious hurricane threats each year. The only "advanced warning" you get is that the hurricane can hit anywhere between NC and Miami. You don't know where it will hit until it actually hits. And by that time it is too late to evacuate as the roads are gridlocked. Hurricane Andrew was headed directly to West Palm Beach until it veered south to Miami last minute. Hurricanes are not to be taken lightly. People who think that have never lived in FL or experienced a hurricane first-hand. My relatives thought the same thing until they moved here and took a direct hit.

Schools - Fort Lauderdale schools are tragic, but there are suburban areas with excellent school districts: Boca Raton, Parkland, to name a few. Agreed.

Walkability - you need to live in historic urban areas such as east Hollywood, South Beach in Miami, Victoria Park/Las Olas in Fort Lauderdale, or Mizner Park in Boca. Generally these communities cater to the young, hip, gay, or empty nesters so you would sacrifice school quality proximity to Starbucks or the sushi bar. Agreed.

Liberal values? What exactly are those? Wilton Manors is a gay enclave within Fort Lauderdale, yet there was no shortage of McCain/Palin signs there during the last election. Not all gays are liberal and not all liberals are gay. Not all democrats are liberal either. Broward County is not that liberal even though the majority of residents are democrats. Broward is very balanced between conservative democrats and republicans. You don't see too many hippies around here.

But come down and visit and follow your heart!

Anybody who considers living here should come for a week and visit. Drive around and get a feel for the area. There is a big difference between living in Las Olas and living in Weston. Big difference between living in Boca and living in Miami.