Moving to Hialeah (Miami, Kendall, Doral: apartments, crimes, townhouses)

[PBCboy]

Originally Posted by aneider

Hello all! I'm a european moving to Hialeah gardens. I will be a teacher at the Mater Academy, and i would like to know any information that you could give me about that primary/middle school, anything useful for me to start planning my trip there, real state agencies, libraries, gyms, parks... i have been reading your posts, and it sounds that hialeah gardens is quite a nice place. I will be there in a month, and I'm really excited!!! I have no problem with spanish, it's my second language and english is my third, so i think i will be fine. The school is in 7901 NW 103 Street. I can't work out how streets are named here, what does 7901 mean? In europe streets have people's names! Also, what is a good place to start making friends?
Thank you all for all your help.

Hmmm, I wouldn't say Hialeah (or South Florida in general) is the best place to make friends.

As for the street thing, most of Dade County uses numerical street names (Cutler Bay and some other areas don't though). It is less common outside of Dade County though.

[TannerMan]

I moved to Hialeah a while ago too and am also intrested in that school for my kids. From what people have told and what I have found out its an integrated middle/high school, people have always told me they are satisfied with it, the school is not that large compared to other schools in the area but they are expanding by building new buildings. The school is on 103rd Street which is basically the most congested road in the area besides probaly Okeechobee road a few blocks soluth of the school, traffic might be a small issue at the peak hours getting out but most teachers get to schools really early. The school is a Charter school which I still don't totally understand but its slightly different from other public schools.The school was rankd in the top 200 in the nation and has one of the highest graduation rates in the area (95%). And for some reason I have also read that the school does have alot of foreign teachers from all over Europe, Canada, Australia, and India, something thats also impressed me about that school.
I live in a part of Hialeah that is often confused for Hialeah Gardens because Hialeah is older and Hialeah gardens is newer basically all built post 1990. All of the cities neighborhoods are quite safe family oriented neighborhoods. The city is also hispanic majority and very safe, crime is a non issue. Im not sure about Hialeah Gardens but in Hialeah which anybody living in Hialeah Gardens will go for anything does have a large library system with one central large libray (JFK Library) on 49th Street and palm ave which is down down the road from Mater Academy. There are several gyms in the area, when you get here just be on the lookout, I go to the largest one in Hialeah which is the Ballys on 16th Ave. And there are a variety of parks, but depends on what part of Hialeah Gardens you are moving to because each neighborhood seems to have its own neighborhood park.

The numerical streets are very confusing in the begining, The city of Hialeah uses its own grid system so basically 103rd street in Hialeah Gardens is 49th street in Hialeah, once you move here you'll figure it out in time.
I don't know whats a social spot in the area, Ive just made friends with neighbors, parks, even maybe the gym and of course at your workplace.

By the way 7901 is not the street name its the buildings number, the street is 103rd street.
And if you don't mind me asking, where from europe are you moving from?

[Chelito23]

Aparently from the address you gave, Hialeah Gardens is on the Miami Dade County grid system. As Tanner said, Hialeah has a different numbering set for the same grid that overlaps into Hialeah. Since Hialeah and Hialeah Gardens are next to eachother, it is confusing, especially if you don't live here.

That address, in theory, means that it is 103 blocks north of downtown Miami and 79 blocks West...in other words, the school is located on NW 103st at what would be the equivelent of 79 AVE (cross street). In reality, it is at the corner of the Palmetto expressway and NW 103rd St.

Mater Academy is an old K-Mart turned into a school. Not a very picturesque place much less around the school for that matter, but that is what Hialeah Gardens is all about.

Hialeah is old, Hialeah Gardens is new. Neither places are what most people (much less Europeans) would consider nice. They are bother heavily Hispanic, but that is not an issue unless you choose to make it one. They are a hodge podge of dense, suburban style housing among chaoticaly zoned industiral and commercial warehouses. The real problem in that area is the thug mentality of many of the residents and their children. You wouldn't expect it just by driving through since it isn't a "poor" community, it is actually lower and middle class, financially speaking. You will learn all about mass consumerism, emulation of the bling bling lifestyle...in short, the stereotypical life in America.

I take issue with the comment that there crime is not an issue. WRONG! It isn't the inner city, it is more like suburbia meets inner city. There aren't exactly drive bys, but there are robberies, vandalism, break ins and hoodlums roaming around looking for mischief, more so than you would find in other suburbs farther north in Broward. It is an expensive (overpriced) area for what it is by the way.

Traffic is a MAJOR headache as well. This is also easily verified...and keep in mind some people that rave about the area are not life long residents...I suppose it is nice at first just because it is so different and exotic. Good luck, visit first, talk to the locals, *ask for help and directions* and you will get a taste of how your new neighbors will be...

[blackklight]

i wouldn't go as far as call it that but it's not "very safe" as tannerman would like to put it. there was a house 3 blocks away from mine that was shot up with machine guns and not that long ago someone broke and entered around the same block.

for some reason the swat was at a house by the supermarket a few days ago too, i wouldn't suspect that in a "very safe" area.

or helicopters
or police sirens

but thats for another day

it's 50/50 when it comes to here because although my street looks filthy the next street has nicer houses and you can usually see this a lot here. in general most areas of west hialeah are more pleasant looking but as i don't live there i can't comment on it's "safety." regardless tannerman seemed to have been sold on the idea long before moving here on living in a cuba-away-from-cuba, something you might want to keep in mind.

as for matter academy, yes it is a good school and if your kid has the grades to get in by all means, REGISTER them, if not try getting them in the new school off west 18th ct and 103rd.

Westland Hialeah High School - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[vancet]

hialeah is very safe. opalocka is the one that isnt safe, ur mixing them up. if u call wannabe thugs dangeorus then yes hialeah is dangerous. if not then its just like any other city. miami lakes is another great city, and hialeah gardnes is good too. i think the schools are pretty good too, its just the kids from miami gardens that bring down the ratings. id imagine that the hialeah kids are well behaved and get good grades.

[Chelito23]

Hialeah kids well behaved and get good grades? Uh, that is wishful thinking. Hialeah High is a D and F school consistenly. I worked in Palm Springs Middle and Hialeah High. The schools are nothing what you think they are like. I strongly urge yout o volunteer at one of them and see how things are and of course get involved...

And then again even in the ghetto, it is always "the street over" or the other neighborhood that is bad. So I wouldn't say Hialeah is nice and safe because it is adjacent to Opa Locka and Miami Gardens which are much worse.

[aneider]

Thank you very much to all of you for all the information you gave me about hialeah gardens. somebody wanted to know where i will be coming from... I am from the basque country between france and spain. It is a lovely place where you can go skiing and to the beach in the same place, an hour by car. I will ask you more questions about hialeah in the future if you don't mind. Watching some videos about hialeah gardens on youtube i came up with a new term for me: "chonga". is it really like that? Hialeah on you tube looks really like a "ghetto", but i suppose that there will be many different areas. Again, thank you all for your comments. kind regards

[MastersDegree]

It's funny when you try to imitate others and you don't successfully succeed. All that money wasted when you could of bought a clue. Read a book, it helps.

[gymbuff]

Move to a newer community in South Broward, or cross the canal into Miami Springs.Either was, north or south, you will find much more beauty, both in the architecture of the homes, and in the overall looks of the community.

[gymbuff]

I recently took a drive around hialeah gardens one Sunday morning. while I used to think Hialeah gardens was an extention of hialeah (condos, zero lot homes, warehouses) I did notice that the newer part of the city have very nice architecture. Also Hialeah gardens has paid attention to green areas, vegetation, and impatiens. Overall, while both cities have similar qualities, I think Hialeah Gardens has an overall better look.