Moving to Miami/Ft Lauderdale from Minneapolis (Fort Lauderdale, Coral Gables: to rent, condo)

[Triplea273]

Hi everyone, my husband and I are relocating to Miami/Ft lauderdale for my job in about 1-2 months. I will be out there much sooner and stay in temp housing till my husband gets out there. We are coming from Minneapolis and own a condo here but will be looking to rent something in FL. My job will be in Ft. Lauderdale, a little north of downtown Ft. Lauderdale so I realize I will have a commute from Miami. My husband will likely work in Miami and I am ok with a commute to an extent, would prefer less than 45min but we'll see.

We have 2 little dogs, one we have to carry up and down stairs as she is getting older and her strength is fading. We are hoping for 2 bed/bath and would love to be in a nice area close or walking distance from grocery/restaurants/bars/coffee and or close to/near beach though I'm not sure we can get both. I'm not sure high rise is best due to our dogs, but we sort of assume that's what we'll end up in and we are ok with it to an extent (esp if it has all our other desires). Main priorities are location near activity but not like party-town, we're in our 30's and do not plan to have kids. We hope to be somewhere safe as husband does travel from time to time and I am out with dogs etc. I don't know if this exists in Miami, but also may be interested in townhouse/duplex type place so we are on ground level for dogs. budget can be flexible, up to $2500-$2700 a month maybe but wouldn't mind being lower.

Anyone have suggestions for areas to check out, areas to stay away from, even as specific as buildings to check out etc. we'll be out there in a couple weeks and want to start to make a list of places to view when we arrive. We are also open to checking out Ft. Lauderdale areas as well, but husband is more interested in Miami.

Thanks for your help!

[Fl1150]

Checkout Downtown/Brickell.

[hurricaneMan1992]

I would steer away from downtown/Brickell due to the garage and traffic hassle--it's best to live there if you don't have to drive every day. Also not much in the way of safe, desirable duplexes or townhomes in Downtown/Brickell, or actually anywhere in Miami itself. Most of the nice places are going to be luxury high rises, which it seems you're not too interested in. Perhaps Miami Shores--there's a cute and new little "main street" area you can walk to, and it's close enough to the Midtown/Wynwood/Upper East Side scene. Or Coral Gables, but then your commute to FLL gets much more difficult and you'd also be further from the beaches. If both of you are adventurous about the commute and wouldn't mind being in a smaller condo building as opposed to a townhouse, you may check out Surfside, Bal Harbour, and Bay Harbor Islands, which would be the best option on the beach side.

BTW there's always Fort Lauderdale itself which has quite a lot of activity--try to stay east of downtown, near the Galleria Mall or Las Olas Blvd. Bonus points if it's possible your husband can get a job in eastern Broward or northeast Dade.

[rnc2mbfl]

If one will work in Ft Lauderdale and the other in Miami, it's important to understand that commutes from Miami to Ft Lauderdale in the AM are much easier than vice versa. If I needed to commute to FTL from Miami, I'd want to live somewhat near I-95. Consider the Midtown area or Biscayne Blvd north of DT. Jumping on 95 from there is pretty easy and the pay lanes can make the commute pretty painless on particularly congested days, all things considered.

[doggiebus]

Look in the Bal Harbour, Aventura, Surfside or Sunny Isles areas. This would put you more in between Ft. Lauderdale and Miami. I wouldn't look at anything west of I-95 or anything south of Downtown Miami, for your situation.