Working on FIU Campus (Miami, Fort Lauderdale: rentals, condos, townhouse)

[nrhardin]

Hello all. I will be moving to the Miami area in April and will be working on FIU campus. My wife and I are in our late 20's and have a medium sized dog. My wife will be looking for jobs in the area and works in the medical field. I will be coming down to start scoping out neighborhoods the first week of December and have a couple of options from friends who have lived or live in the area. I'm curious about commuting times from places such as Weston, Coral Gables, Brickell, and Doral. We would prefer a townhouse or house (2/2 at least) with rent preferably under $1800. We'd like access to nice restaurants and activities, but aren't really into the partying scene. Safety and a "nice" neighborhood are what we are used to (Raleigh, NC). I've learned a ton from reading past posts and really appreciate any advice!

[Wild Style]

Originally Posted by nrhardin

Hello all. I will be moving to the Miami area in April and will be working on FIU campus. My wife and I are in our late 20's and have a medium sized dog. My wife will be looking for jobs in the area and works in the medical field. I will be coming down to start scoping out neighborhoods the first week of December and have a couple of options from friends who have lived or live in the area. I'm curious about commuting times from places such as Weston, Coral Gables, Brickell, and Doral. We would prefer a townhouse or house (2/2 at least) with rent preferably under $1800. We'd like access to nice restaurants and activities, but aren't really into the partying scene. Safety and a "nice" neighborhood are what we are used to (Raleigh, NC). I've learned a ton from reading past posts and really appreciate any advice!

The weston commute is going to SUCK! You are going South with every other person in Broward with the bright idea of living out in the burbs in Broward and commuting to Miami. That traffic is HORRIFIC!

Coral Gables (downtown) is very walkable, lots to do, and your probably 20 minutes or so from your job, depending on what time of day you leave your house to get to work.

Brickell or Downtown Miami are both walkable, tons to do, mass transit, about 25 minutes to get to FIU, and you have access to all the highways. Another plus is, they are talking about expanding the metro rail (train system) from Downtown/Brickell to FIU. Once that happens, you could effectively ditch your car and hop the train to get to work. Not sure if that idea will ever come to fruition, but if it does, your in a good situation.

Doral, I am not a fan of burbs, no less run down ones, so I would personally pass on doral.

You should also look at Coconut Grove, South Miami, Edgewater, Midtown. If you are into the hipster life style Edgewater/Midtown would be your best bets. All the places I have named are walkable, with restaurants, weekend events, other young people out and about etc. etc. Also they are central so if you want to get to other areas quickly, you can.

Hope that helps

[Cubanchic]

Agree with wildside and wanted to add that if your hours are 9 to five you would be traveling against traffic therefore making it a much better commute time.

Coconut grove, brickell, south Miami are all very nice especially for folks your age.

Weston would be on turnpike heading down to FIU and that would be a nightmare going both ways morning or night.

If you live in edge water, midtown, brickell or downtown think in terms of condos but also think in terms that your wife would have mass transit that serves the Jackson memorial hospital and U of M medical campus, she would be just a hope skip ona a jump to work.

Also if you are in FIU and work similar hours have her look at Kendall regional hospital, a bit further south south Miami, Larkin, and finally baptist Kendall. All of these would be very close to FIU campus.

[nrhardin]

I appreciate the replies and advice. I just got back from being down there the past week and seem to have narrowed down my focus on some areas. First off I would likely be driving to work before 7 and therefore coming home around 3 or so. I echo people's advice that Doral is not really what we are looking for. Some friends down there took me around the Coral Gables/Cutler/South Miami area. I think we'd both be happy there but have some doubts on finding a decent place to live for under $2000/month. I'll look into the areas mentioned above...I'm just a bit nervous after seeing traffic the other evening, especially with the Dolphin/Palmetto construction. Some people at work commute from the Miramar/Pembroke area and they say it only takes around 25 minutes.

How do people typically find good rentals? I've used Zillow, Trulia, etc. but are there any good realtors to help or is it more of a word of mouth sort of deal? Thanks again for any help.

[hurricaneMan1992]

Originally Posted by Wild Style

Another plus is, they are talking about expanding the metro rail (train system) from Downtown/Brickell to FIU. Once that happens, you could effectively ditch your car and hop the train to get to work. Not sure if that idea will ever come to fruition, but if it does, your in a good situation.

Taking Metrorail to work may be an option IF the OP will be still living in Miami and working at FIU around 2050... We should be getting 836 express busses that run in express lanes between downtown and FIU, in the next few years.

Also look in to Coconut Grove or the Roads, with any luck you can rent a townhouse for around $1800 and still have easy access to Metrorail and highways, and easier access to the Beaches than the Gables, if you're in to the beach.

Get a realtor since the landlord pays all the fees, and they will know which parts of the "black Grove" to avoid.

PS be careful about asking commute times, many people will give you "onramo-to-offramp" times without traffic instead of the full door-to-door time in peak traffic.

[shamrockfisher]

Miramar/Pembroke Pines is probably your best bet for commute and price. Weston is nicer but will cost you more rent $ and add drive time. All three still put you west which may be a little less exciting than out east but you will be situated well on the weekends to enjoy Miami or Fort Lauderdale and there are many more easy beach choices in Broward that most people in Dade don't utilize due to the drive from down south and west.

Doral would work for quick commute, central location and it is much nicer than the surrounding FIU areas and your wife will find alot of businesses located there. Personally, I don't care for how busy it is but you could decide later to move once you know the landscape better.