Advice: Homestead and surrounding area (Miami, Kendall: crime, buying a house, transfer)

[Miamibound]

Hello everyone. I am relocating to the South Miami area in the next several months. I will be working at Homestead ARB. We plan on buying a house in the area. I have 3 kids, one in elementary, one in junior high and one in high school. It's really hard to tell without actually being there at the moment but what areas would you folks advise that we look for housing in, considering schools, crime and my commute? I don't want to have a commute over 45 min if at all possible. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by Miamibound

Hello everyone. I am relocating to the South Miami area in the next several months. I will be working at Homestead ARB. We plan on buying a house in the area. I have 3 kids, one in elementary, one in junior high and one in high school. It's really hard to tell without actually being there at the moment but what areas would you folks advise that we look for housing in, considering schools, crime and my commute? I don't want to have a commute over 45 min if at all possible. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Nowhere. Hate to say it, but almost nowhere. Homestead is easily one of the most dangerous cities in the United States, and the schools are easily the worst as well. Half of the schools have rodent infestations, and none of them are safe. You could TRY Pinecrest,the schools are ok and crime is not bad by Miami standards but you need about, say, 600k to spend on a home. That pushes you to the edge of the 45 minutes. Kendall is a possibility, but public schools are not an option. To tell you the truth, if you really are looking for a place to raise your kids, you would have to move to Broward, and that presents you with a MINIMUM hour and a half commute. I would stay where you are, or move to Kendall and send kids to private schools (if you can afford it).

[eufo]

If you can afford it, you may want to try Palmetto Bay area. It will be a longer commute, but its as far south as I would go in the metro area and still feel like I'm in the civilized world.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by eufo

If you can afford it, you may want to try Palmetto Bay area. It will be a longer commute, but its as far south as I would go in the metro area and still feel like I'm in the civilized world.

Yeah, Palmetto Bay is decent.

[miamiblue]

My father works at Homestead ARB and lives in east Kendall. He gets on the Turnpike at SW 120 St and the drive is probably about 30 min. because he is going the opposite direction of traffic from all the people going in to Miami to work. The schools are pretty good in this area, compared to some of the others in the county (of which my sister and I are both products - my school track was Leewood Elementary, Arvida Middle, Killian High), but the area has become pretty pricey. I would recommend staying south of Kendall Drive, north of SW 152 St or 144 St, and east of the Turnpike for the nicer neighborhoods and less east-west bound traffic during day to day errands. Palmetto Bay could be another decent choice since you can get on the Turnpike from there as well. You'll spend about $4/day in tolls, if they're still what they were when I worked down there for a summer - get a Sunpass. Forget about taking US-1 down to Homestead from these areas, it will take forever.

You do NOT want to make the commute from Broward. A close friend I used to work with did this for 10 years to a location in the Pinecrest area, and he said he was lucky to still be sane by the end of that.

As far as schools go, yes there are issues, but if you are active in your child's school and give them the educational support they need to do well, you'll be wasting your money on a private school. I hate to say it, but a lot of the MDCPS's problems lie with students who have no guidance at home. This transfers right over to private schools as well. A friend's husband taught at Westminster (private school) and Coral Park (public), and he saw some of the same types of problems, just that the Westminster kids were driving BMW's and had massive drug problems because they could afford it. Also, the magnet programs are another option in public schools - I did regular public school and got a full scholarship to the University of Florida and feel I got a decent education. My sister attended magnet schools for dance and also was accepted to UF with a scholarship. You can't totally blame all the problems on the schools, it is possible for students to do well.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by miamiblue

As far as schools go, yes there are issues, but if you are active in your child's school and give them the educational support they need to do well, you'll be wasting your money on a private school. I hate to say it, but a lot of the MDCPS's problems lie with students who have no guidance at home. This transfers right over to private schools as well. A friend's husband taught at Westminster (private school) and Coral Park (public), and he saw some of the same types of problems, just that the Westminster kids were driving BMW's and had massive drug problems because they could afford it. Also, the magnet programs are another option in public schools - I did regular public school and got a full scholarship to the University of Florida and feel I got a decent education. My sister attended magnet schools for dance and also was accepted to UF with a scholarship. You can't totally blame all the problems on the schools, it is possible for students to do well.

They could try to get the kids into the Coral Reef schools, which are absolutely excellent. Shame that almost all Miami-Dade schools are unsanitary, but the education is very good. Killian is fine if you keep an eye on your child (I had a friend who moved down there while I was in HS and went to Killian, my school was not really anything special by Broward standards (Which are not THAT good in the first place) and he kept on telling me how he wants to drive all the way back up here just to go to school), but Homestead and South Dade HS could be likened to third world education. Killian could be doable though.

[miamiblue]

Originally Posted by fort lauderdale

They could try to get the kids into the Coral Reef schools, which are absolutely excellent. Shame that almost all Miami-Dade schools are unsanitary, but the education is very good. Killian is fine if you keep an eye on your child (I had a friend who moved down there while I was in HS and went to Killian, my school was not really anything special by Broward standards (Which are not THAT good in the first place) and he kept on telling me how he wants to drive all the way back up here just to go to school), but Homestead and South Dade HS could be likened to third world education. Killian could be doable though.

This is true, the schools down toward Homestead are not known to be very good. My sister was in the magnet programs at RR Moton (not in a very good area, but a great school), Southwood Middle (in Palmetto Bay, yet the site of a student stabbing a few years ago, still a good school), and Coral Reef. I don't know what Killian is like now, but I was there 94-98 and it was extremely crowded, featured on the news due to large fights, and involved in the art magazine scandal during that time. I don't know if any boundaries have been changed to help with the overcrowding, but when I was visiting in early June I noticed that it looks as though they have done some much needed adding on to the school.

Either way, I think that an individual's personality, self-esteem and self-discipline are crucial in their ability to succeed. For example, Palmetto High is known as a great school and is located in a very upscale neighborhood. My mother's friend had two sons who she managed to get into that school instead of Killian because she was afraid of Killian's reputation. Unfortunately, her boys and another neighborhood boy all ended up with serious drug addictions for which they had to go to rehab. The students at Palmetto that are "haves" seem to have disproportionate access to hard core drugs due to their affluence. Those who are the "have nots" and "have lesses" fall prey due to normal teenage peer pressure. To me, a lot has to do with character and parental involvement. I'm not saying that every student at that school has this problem, but it's as if parents were lulled into a false sense of security because there was less of a lower-income population at Palmetto vs. Killian.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by miamiblue

This is true, the schools down toward Homestead are not known to be very good. My sister was in the magnet programs at RR Moton (not in a very good area, but a great school), Southwood Middle (in Palmetto Bay, yet the site of a student stabbing a few years ago, still a good school), and Coral Reef. I don't know what Killian is like now, but I was there 94-98 and it was extremely crowded, featured on the news due to large fights, and involved in the art magazine scandal during that time. I don't know if any boundaries have been changed to help with the overcrowding, but when I was visiting in early June I noticed that it looks as though they have done some much needed adding on to the school.

Either way, I think that an individual's personality, self-esteem and self-discipline are crucial in their ability to succeed. For example, Palmetto High is known as a great school and is located in a very upscale neighborhood. My mother's friend had two sons who she managed to get into that school instead of Killian because she was afraid of Killian's reputation. Unfortunately, her boys and another neighborhood boy all ended up with serious drug addictions for which they had to go to rehab. The students at Palmetto that are "haves" seem to have disproportionate access to hard core drugs due to their affluence. Those who are the "have nots" and "have lesses" fall prey due to normal teenage peer pressure. To me, a lot has to do with character and parental involvement. I'm not saying that every student at that school has this problem, but it's as if parents were lulled into a false sense of security because there was less of a lower-income population at Palmetto vs. Killian.

My school was something of a "middle class (how rare)" school. The education offered was good, not great, but there were few fights(Actually next to no fights), and a lot of students were drinking/smoking pot, but it never really got beyond that. Affluence and boredom does seem to lead to further experimentation. We actually had field mice in our school last year, too after they started invading with new building construction in a big field, but they got rid of them.

[rogerbacon]

I moved to Homestead in January (lifelong Miami-Dade county native) and I see no difference between this area and any other part of Miami. Try Silver Palms (Silver Palms - The Royal Collection in Miami New Homes by Lennar). The houses are about $400,00 and they just finished building a new elementary school. Your commute to work will be around 20 minutes.
As far as high school, all public schools can be bad. Basically, if your kids stay in the honors classes ( not hard to do these days since standardss so watered down) they will get a decent education.
Actually, I don't consider the Silver Palms area (around SW 240 st) to be Homestead but "Homestead" is what it says on my utility bills.

Roger Bacon

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by rogerbacon

I moved to Homestead in January (lifelong Miami-Dade county native) and I see no difference between this area and any other part of Miami. Try Silver Palms (Silver Palms - The Royal Collection in Miami New Homes by Lennar). The houses are about $400,00 and they just finished building a new elementary school. Your commute to work will be around 20 minutes.
As far as high school, all public schools can be bad. Basically, if your kids stay in the honors classes ( not hard to do these days since standardss so watered down) they will get a decent education.
Actually, I don't consider the Silver Palms area (around SW 240 st) to be Homestead but "Homestead" is what it says on my utility bills.

Roger Bacon

The honors classes are totally useless, and those schools usually have like no AP options. That also does not makeup for the substandard cleanliness in Miami-Dade schools. They really wanted a place to raise thier family, they would have to either check out Palmetto Bay/Pinecrest or have a 1 and a half hour to 2 hour commute from hell from Broward. Actually, they could really just take U.S 27 to Krome and go all the way down. Acutally no, thats still a commute from hell. They should stay where they are right now, unless they can afford Pinecrest/Palmetto Bay, which in all due respect is a beautiful area.