North Miami (Griffin Blvd @ NE 125th St). Good or Bad?? (Hollywood: apartment complex, rentals)

[Yepega]

I'm a single female moving to the Miami area from New Jersey. I found a nice apartment at this intersection but I don't know much about the area. Is this a safe area or should I stay away from there? I'm not looking for anything fancy but at least somewhere I can walk safely at night without fear of getting mugged. I appreciate everybody's opinion.

[Yepega]

I'm also looking at another one by Stirling Rd @ N 56th Ave in Hollywood, an apartment complex called Emerald Place. Would this be a better area?

[aventura22]

Check out this map of Broward County -- it lists the relative safety of the neighborhoods you're looking for.
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=...c06&dg=feature

I checked out Emerald Place and it seems okay, not the safest area but not the ghetto either. Good luck in your search! I may move down to South Florida in January.

[hurricaneMan1992]

Griffing Blvd. and 125th? It's kind of borderline--not crappy, but not that good either. There isn't really much to walk to, and it can get sketchy at night. I'd recommend the Sans Souci neighborhood east of US1, south of 125th, or 135th east of US1, instead.

Stirling and 56th ave. is quite far out from Miami and about at un-walkable as it gets. It's also not very convenient to I-95 and no turnpike onramp either. The neighborhood seems to be safe enough (very Jewish), but of course it all depends on your neighbors in the complex.

You might also look in to the apartments and condos south of Hollywood Blvd. on Park Rd. by the golf course, such as Windsor. More convenient to highways, and you can walk to the shopping center with Target as well as the Tri-rail. In general, I have had better neighbours in condos than these apartment complexes, though you usually have to deposit more and deal with the association.

These areas are spread quite far apart, if you know where you will be working or looking for work, it can help to choose.

[richzimme]

Yepega, I know that area very well and I think hurricaneman sums it up very well. I think you could find similar priced rentals in the Sans Souci area. I'd recommend trying to rent right on Sans Souci Blvd. There are lots of reasonable rentals there and the neighborhood is much better than Griffing and 125th. Big plus to Sans Souci is it's particularly walkable with a great pizza parlor, brand new Whole Foods, Panera Bread, 24 hour pharmacy, lots of other eateries and decent clean shopping within a few blocks. The Whole Foods opening was IMO a big plus for the already decent and progressing Sans Souci area. Even if rents are $100 more per month, I think it'd be well worth it. FYI, Griffing and 125th has some walkable shopping but it's very low grade in comparison. Needless to say, you always have to be careful as crime can happen anywhere.

[Yepega]

Thanks for the replies guys, much appreciated!

Now how about this area of Hollywood: N Dixie Hwy @ Taft St. Too sketchy? Dangerous?

[peanut11]

Originally Posted by richzimme

Yepega, I know that area very well and I think hurricaneman sums it up very well. I think you could find similar priced rentals in the Sans Souci area. I'd recommend trying to rent right on Sans Souci Blvd. There are lots of reasonable rentals there and the neighborhood is much better than Griffing and 125th. Big plus to Sans Souci is it's particularly walkable with a great pizza parlor, brand new Whole Foods, Panera Bread, 24 hour pharmacy, lots of other eateries and decent clean shopping within a few blocks. The Whole Foods opening was IMO a big plus for the already decent and progressing Sans Souci area. Even if rents are $100 more per month, I think it'd be well worth it. FYI, Griffing and 125th has some walkable shopping but it's very low grade in comparison. Needless to say, you always have to be careful as crime can happen anywhere.

Would you say anywhere along San Souci Boulevard should be okay?
Thanks!

[richzimme]

Anywhere along Sans Souci Blvd would be much, much better than anywhere in the area of Griffing Blvd and 125th Street. The whole environment on Sans Souci Blvd is much, much better. I'd say with about 99% certainty that any apartment on Sans Souci Blvd will be better quality, better upkeep, and better neighbors than in the Griffing and 125th Street area. I live about 4 miles N. of Sans Souci and the Griffiing areas and know both of these areas well. I frequently go to the Panera Bread, Steve's Pizza, LA Fitness, 24 Hour Walgreen's, Whole Foods, and Girrafa Brazilian Steaks in the Sans Souci area. Sans Souci Blvd. is also walking distance to the 123d St Causeway (Connects to Miami Beach) and there's loads of restaurants and shops on the Causeway. Frankly the only thing near Griffing and 125th is the President's supermarket and a pretty tired Neighbor's Diner. The apartments in each of these two very different areas reflect the relative economic environments.

You asked if "anywhere along Sans Souci Blvd" should be okay. My answer would be compared to Griffing and 125th, anywhere along Sans Souci Blvd would be a big improvement. That said, the apartments along Sans Souci Blvd are not new, they were built probably in the 1970s as much of this are was.

Sans Souci will take an extra 5 minutes to get to I-95 which is the main connecting highway in the area if you have to commute.

[Dakster]

And hopefully you like being close to lots and lots of people. I'll let someone else school you on where to avoid as far as shopping in the area as well if you go there.

[hurricaneMan1992]

About Sans Souci, there are a few Sec. 8 apartments in the back on 116 rd. and 18 dr. ...but yeah, along Sans Souci Blvd. itself and up to 123 st is fine. if you plan to take the bus and walk to Whole Foods, try to stay closer to Sans Souci and US1, like by the tennis center, otherwise it's a bit of a hike.

Try to cross at Sans Souci not at 123 st, unfortunately, there are no other crosswalks inbetween... Also there's no safe and direct way to cross 123rd st to get to the LA Fitness. You'll find the parking lot is marked with huge zebra crossings and an wider sidewalk frontage for pedestrians, but there is no legitimate way to actually cross the 4 lanes of traffic with center turning lane ... typical Florida, this is what we have to settle for as "walkable." -- OK, rant over --