My defense of Pompano Beach (Miami, Fort Lauderdale: house, neighborhood, middle school)

[sofla951]

Alextation I agree Atlantic has its rougher looking sections west of Dixie but east of Dixie isn't that bad at all in my opinion and only going to improve.

[dk22]

slfla951, I understand what you're trying to say and agree that not all of Pompano is not like how people paint it. I think most people out west with their image of pristine paradise perfection always look down on anything east of University Dr and consider it a ghetto while they really live in a drained swamp. If they didn't have their iron fist associations, I wonder if their place would maintain its newness look for long.

[sofla951]

True dk22- although if you never leave Lighthouse Point you pretty much have pristine paradise perfection (: I just have always liked east Broward more than west Broward. The newest sections with their roads straddled by subdivision buffers are nice to look at but I like living near the coast in a city with business/retail rather than a suburb which feels like a collection of subdivisions. A few years ago I had friends who built a new home in Parkland and ended up moving back to Pompano within a year because it just wasn't for them. I agree with most posters that there are bad areas of Pompano west of Dixie between Atlantic/Copans and that Pompano needs to improve western sections of Atlantic and Copans. I think the problem with Pompano is it has no real showcase commercial areas.The beach and pier haven't changed much over the past 30 years, except for a few new condos, like that new development on what used to be Oceanside Plaza. So people just pass through or hear about crime on the news and make generalizations. Fort Lauderdale has Las Olas/Beach area, Hollywood now has its downtown, Boca has Mizner, Delray- Atlantic Avenue. Deerfield has done a great job on its beach. Pompano for some reason has never been able to get its act together to fix up the beach area. I have a friend who works for the city of Pompano and he said the past city manager had no interest in really taking on the quagmire and politics of redeveloping the beach. He only had a few more years to get a full pension and was only interested in sliding by until then. Anyway Pompano has a new city manager, many new commissioners, and hired two very successful people to take on the task of redeveloping the Beach and Downtown. The tacky pink concrete that Pompano did along Atlantic and Federal a couple years ago does look cheap. But hopefully people will take a look at the link I provided and see that Atlantic and the beach area will look very different in two years.

[johnnypockets]

I'm actually happy that people are so ignorant to how nice East Pompano is. It will keep the rent prices down so I can move back there in a year or two.

[fauve]

Originally Posted by johnnypockets

I'm actually happy that people are so ignorant to how nice East Pompano is. It will keep the rent prices down so I can move back there in a year or two.

Exactly. That there's still an affordable place that people can walk to the beach is a very good thing.

[Nolefan34]

The ignorance on here about Pompano is astounding. Pompano Beach isn't bad at all. The areas most people would go to are east of Dixie Highway, mainly along US1 and A1A which are pretty good areas. There are plenty of restaurants, shops, bars, etc., and the rent prices are affordable compared to Fort Lauderdale or Boca. Plenty of people go jogging out along US1, Atlantic Blvd., and A1A. Eastern Pompano is very safe, especially on the island. Also, there are very few bums in East Pompano. The same cannot be said for Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale, or other areas.

Pompano gets a bad rap from the Hammondville Road section. It is really silly because someone visiting Pompano would never have a reason to turn down Hammondville Rd. or venture into those neighborhoods. That is where all of the crime occurs. The rest of Pompano is very safe. It reminds me of the people who think Plantation is a bad area because there is a small section on the eastern fringe that borders North Lauderdale and Sistrunk that has crime.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by Nolefan34

It reminds me of the people who think Plantation is a bad area because there is a small section on the eastern fringe that borders North Lauderdale and Sistrunk that has crime.

Where does Plantation border on "Sistrunk" or even close to North Lauderdale?

[sofla951]

^ I think he meant the areas of Plantation east of the turnpike south of Sunrise/the Swap shop. It actually borders Lauderhill not North Lauderdale- I get these two along with Lauderdale Lakes confused alot. Nolefan- thats the reason I created this thread. Pompano south of Atlantic and East of Dixie is pretty nice with very nice with watefront neighborhoods with a few light business/industrial areas along Dixie. The rest of the area in Pompano south of Atlantic is business parks/industrial with Palm Aire Country Club/Cypress Bend taking up the southwest section. North of Hammondville/MLK and west of 95 north to the city border Sample road is 98 percent industrial land with many new industrial parks which is why Pompano is a major employment center in SFL. East of Dixie north of Atlantic is generally pretty safe. Old Pompano gets a little sketchier as you get closer to Dixie/MLk and Cresthaven and PB Highlands aren't the prettiest neighborhoods-more working class but definitely improved over the past few years and generally safe. Really the only areas I would consider that bad is the area between Dixie and 95 and Collier City to the west, but go down Powerline Road between MLK and Atlantic and that area is definitely improving alittle. Also compared to Federal highway in parts of Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood there isn't any homeless/seedy motels etc along Federal in Pompano- except maybe Orleans Inn. True tons of people from all over use the jogging trails in Pompano park and around the golf course airport along Federal.

[hollyinhollywood]

I was driving US1 in Pompano the other day. Compared to US1 in Hollywood, it's not bad at all. The area east of US1 has always been decent.

[CoCoGirl]

Originally Posted by sofla951

Federal looks rougher because the car dealerships have gone out of business......which is going on all over the country. I don't get your comment about ONE graveyard along the entire stretch and the public golf course is kept up well..it just needs to get rid of that chain link fence. Also Momma Bear I see you live or used to live in Weston you are probably one of those people afraid of their own shadow. One can also say there's better places to live than Weston. I would much rather live 5 minutes from the ocean and be able to take out my boat whenever I want. Why live in Weston which has the geography and climate of any swamp in the southeast ....whats the point of living in Florida if it takes you that long to get to the beach? Pompano has more potential than Weston and can only improve. Once it redoes Atlantic and its Old Downtown will have even more to do than boring Weston. You may be able to get more for your money in Weston than the area I live in Pompano but I would be bored to death in Weston and it would suck having to run inside at night to avoid being eaten by mosquitos.

Crime goes on in Weston, that movie "Bully" is based on what those crazy white kids did out in Weston. I've heard of a few heinous crimes out in Weston.