Miami Lakes vs. Doral (Weston: real estate, to rent, houses)

[straight shooter]

Miami Lake and Doral are some of the most overrated areas if you ask me. Miami Lakes is surrounded by undesirable areas. Hialeah, Hialeah Gardens, Opa Locka, and Miami Gardens. Doral is congested, the traffic is some of the worse in Miami-Dade County and filled with trucks. It is surrounded by warehouse and businesses and doesn't have much of a residential look to it. Its close proximity to the airport is convenient but it is also burdened with nonstop jet noise. They are also too far west to command the desirability and high real estate prices that they get.

[tallrick]

Originally Posted by straight shooter

Miami Lake and Doral are some of the most overrated areas if you ask me. Miami Lakes is surrounded by undesirable areas. Hialeah, Hialeah Gardens, Opa Locka, and Miami Gardens. Doral is congested, the traffic is some of the worse in Miami-Dade County and filled with trucks. It is surrounded by warehouse and businesses and doesn't have much of a residential look to it. Its close proximity to the airport is convenient but it is also burdened with nonstop jet noise. They are also too far west to command the desirability and high real estate prices that they get.

Dorazuela is a testament to how money stolen from Latin America can destroy south Florida. The best looking office park in Miami , the Koger Executive center has been destroyed to build the most tasteless "Downtown Doral". Homes are ugly postmodern garbage crammed in a road system from 1973. At least Miami Lakes has a nice looking community surrounded by low income areas, with the palmetto as its western border. Once the real estate market finds reality I think Doral will drop in value more than Miami Lakes.

[straight shooter]

^ I also think Doral's prices will drop in value more than Miami Lakes. It is more overrated and overpriced, and fueled by questionable foreign money.

[AnnRyan]

I always love it when folks start to prophesize that prices are going to drop. Because more than 60% of properties here were bought with cash over the past 5 years, Miami is all but immune from this happening. Simply put, there's no bank that needs to be paid, and if the can't find buyers, they're simply going to put those units up for rent, if they haven't already.

There may be small exceptions, like Miami Beach and low-lying areas, if we start to see more flooding.

[OptimusPrime69]

Doral is utterly crap. There is nothing there, but housing developments and warehouses. It's like something from the twilight zone. The "downtown" doral doesn't even exist yet.... and it looks like a hollywood movie set where they have all these random streets and office buildings, yet no ones in them. They're empty. It's like a wasteland of development. .... Just a facade. Also, Doral is so far out west butting up against the turnpike. It's ugly, flat, boring, and there's not even any good shopping or restaurants. It's like this cheese ball crap town that yes...admittedly has nice looking housing complexes, but nothing else.

[BNBR]

Originally Posted by OptimusPrime69

Doral is utterly crap. There is nothing there, but housing developments and warehouses. It's like something from the twilight zone. The "downtown" doral doesn't even exist yet.... and it looks like a hollywood movie set where they have all these random streets and office buildings, yet no ones in them. They're empty. It's like a wasteland of development. .... Just a facade. Also, Doral is so far out west butting up against the turnpike. It's ugly, flat, boring, and there's not even any good shopping or restaurants. It's like this cheese ball crap town that yes...admittedly has nice looking housing complexes, but nothing else.

This sounds a heck of a lot like West Broward not so long ago.... Why would anyone want to be way out in west Pines or Weston? It's awful....

Doral is hot, and will only get better. Newer, safer areas with decent schools are not going to decline. Shopping centers, restaurants, all that will come to service the people living there. It always does.

[miami_winter_breeze]

I personally think that no communities in Miami-Dade will drop in prices, or even rise slower than inflation barring some catastrophic incident such as widespread flooding predicated by all those scientists.

Miami is hot in general, and there are few places left to build.

[hurricaneMan1992]

Originally Posted by AnnRyan

There may be small exceptions, like Miami Beach and low-lying areas, if we start to see more flooding.

Actually, Doral, naturally part of the Everglades, is just as vulnerable as Miami Beach in this respect: High Water Line

[tallrick]

Originally Posted by OptimusPrime69

Doral is utterly crap. There is nothing there, but housing developments and warehouses. It's like something from the twilight zone. The "downtown" doral doesn't even exist yet.... and it looks like a hollywood movie set where they have all these random streets and office buildings, yet no ones in them. They're empty. It's like a wasteland of development. .... Just a facade. Also, Doral is so far out west butting up against the turnpike. It's ugly, flat, boring, and there's not even any good shopping or restaurants. It's like this cheese ball crap town that yes...admittedly has nice looking housing complexes, but nothing else.

If you remember the Koger Executive Center you know that area used to be attractive, and enjoyable. Those idiots at the Codina group demolished the whole thing and now have only overpriced vacant lots to throw away millions on property taxes to. My first business location was in the KEC and I was proud to have such a location that was well kept and beautiful. It is going to be great to see Downtown Doral fail as the economy slides downhill. The dirty, dumpy industrial areas nearby will do far better than the flop called "Downtown Doral".

[ray1945]

I've lived in NW Dade for 47 years, 37 of them in Miami Lakes. I think it is the best place to live north of Flagler Street. We have excellent elementary schools, a so-so middle school, and 3 high schools - one great, the other two barely so-so. Two of the elementary schools are K-8 and one of the high schools (excellent one) is a 9-12 school of choice. A savvy parent can bypass the middle school completely by renting/buying in the right elementary school attendance zone.

ML has its own police department, lots of park areas, many community sponsored activities for all ages, lots of restaurants, movie theaters - a pretty nice place to raise a family. The best part about living in ML, is that it's only a short drive to get out of Dade County. I do all of my shopping and get all of my medical care in Broward County.

Keep in mind that the mega mall (http://media.bizj.us/view/img/813195...ads-map*xx.png) being planned just west and north of ML is going to have a mega impact on the traffic and quality of life of NW Dade when it is completed in the early 2020s.

If I were moving to S. Florida today and I had to choose between the two, I'd choose ML over Doral.