Miami Dade College North Campus area (Pembroke Pines, Weston: crime rate, neighborhood, live in)

[RelocateMaybe]

Can anyone describe what the neighborhood around MDC's north campus is like? How about the campus itself?

[tallrick]

el dumpo, high crime immediately around the campus, as well as industrial areas. Campus reasonably safe but has property crimes to deal with.

[compelled to reply]

Ghetto. Really that simple. The MDC campus itself is OK for safety, but I wouldn't leave something valuable in your car in plain sight.

[RelocateMaybe]

Compelled, I see you are from Weston... what would the commute from Weston to that area be like?

[compelled to reply]

Actually not too bad...take I-75 to Gratigny Pkwy to 27th Ave...light to moderate traffic at peak times...light traffic off-peak times...about 35 minutes give or take. Other decent areas further south like Pembroke Pines near I-75 would only be about 20 minutes. Aventura is also close in theory, but the traffic from that area can make the commute cumbersome.

[straight shooter]

What everyone else has said, it is surrounded by a bad neighborhood, plain and simple.

[RelocateMaybe]

I've now read more of the back threads on North Campus and I see others saying it's not so bad. I understand it's a Haitian-dominated area, but are we talking an ethnic neighborhood or the kind of place where drive-by shootings are a common occurrence? Is it labeled ghetto because it is dominantly black or because it is very run down and high crime? I currently live in a neighborhood that is pretty ethnic -- Korean and Armenian -- but also safe and peaceful. I would NOT be keen on driving through really scary places to get to work, but it doesn't bother me to drive through obviously ethnic areas that are well kept. There's a difference between smashed glass all over, nothing but graffiti, and people passed out in alleyways and a bustling neighborhood full of people who have less money and a different language than myself. Does this make sense?

[RelocateMaybe]

Or let me try it this way... if your wife, daughter, son, husband was considering taking classes at the North Campus, would you be appalled and fearful for their lives? Or would you just say, "Dude, don't leave your laptop lying on the front seat!"

[compelled to reply]

It's not a racial issue that makes the area bad, it is a crime issue. Towards the northeast of the campus, it could definitely be described as an "ethnic" area where people are just trying to get by and the crime rate isn't too elevated (although still slightly so). In any other direction, it's just bad, although I would say it's a small percentage of thugs that ruins it for the 95% of the decent people in those areas.

[RelocateMaybe]

OK. How bad is bad? Is it actually dangerous to drive to and from the campus? Or does one just not want to go wandering around locally at lunchtime?

I'm trying to compare to, say, South Central LA, where if I accidentally got off the freeway, I'd roll up the windows, lock the doors, and beat a hasty retreat to the exit. If my car broke down I'd be seriously concerned. Is it that bad? Has it gotten a lot worse in the last 2-4 years?