Areas around Coral Gables (Miami, Miami Beach: real estate market, to rent, crime rates)

[Foxboro]

I am a finalist for a great job in Coral Gables. I visited the area this past weekend for a couple of days and was impressed. The real estate market in my opinion is a little out of control. While driving around, I was not overly impressed with the surrounding areas just outside of Coral gables and the real estate market still seems high. We are looking for a single family home with 2 or 3 bedrooms and 1 and a half bathrooms. Our maximum is $450,000. What are the nicest areas that would be in that range and still within an easy commute (half hour or less)? I have to say coming from Boston a lot of the areas look kind of "ghetto" and are still expensive.

[Astral_Weeks]

Yeah, the $450,000 single-family housing budget will mean you can buy a very small fixer in Coral Gables and that is it. Try the Biltmore Heights area just west of C.G. Very nice area in the city of Miami. I hear the elementary school is very good. Nice tree canopy and some pretty nice mid-century modern architecture. The only problem is quite a few of the homes are larger (more expensive) but you might find something. Less commercial areas in the area though so not as walkable as the gables.

Also, South Miami is a good area to check out.

What is the rush to buy? If you are brining significant equity from Boston then that might ok. But we are getting pretty far into the cycle at this point. Might want to rent for a year and see if you like Miami first.

Where are you relocating from? And good luck getting the job offer.

[MadManofBethesda]

Originally Posted by Astral_Weeks

Yeah, the $450,000 single-family housing budget will mean you can buy a very small fixer in Coral Gables and that is it. Try the Biltmore Heights area just west of C.G. Very nice area in the city of Miami. I hear the elementary school is very good. Nice tree canopy and some pretty nice mid-century modern architecture. The only problem is quite a few of the homes are larger (more expensive) but you might find something. Less commercial areas in the area though so not as walkable as the gables.

Biltmore Heights is a nice area, but just as an fyi, it is not in the City of Miami. In fact, there is no section of the City of Miami south of 8th St. that is west of Coral Gables.

http://www.miamigov.com/planning/ima...Region8x11.pdf

[Foxboro]

Thank you for the help and it is great advice! If offered the position, we would rent first but would want to eventually purchase a place. We would be relocating from Foxboro, about 25 miles south of Boston. If offered the Gables job, I think my toughest decision will be concerning quality of life. I guess I am in shock to find out that it is cheaper to live in a nice Boston suburb, with lots of public transportation and entertainment options than to live in a South Florida city without a lot of those amenities and much higher crime rates.

[bale002]

Originally Posted by Foxboro

We would be relocating from Foxboro, about 25 miles south of Boston. If offered the Gables job, I think my toughest decision will be concerning quality of life. I guess I am in shock to find out that it is cheaper to live in a nice Boston suburb, with lots of public transportation and entertainment options than to live in a South Florida city without a lot of those amenities and much higher crime rates.

Coral Gables is to Miami what Brookline is to Boston.

How much is a nice SFH in Brookline? I thought so.

Miami ain't just some south Florida city. The Port of Miami, for example, is more important on the east coast than Boston.

Whatever crime statistics you have read are probably county-wide and not specific to Coral Gables which, by the way, ain't no suburb 25 miles from a city, it is right next to the City of Miami, the business district, Brickell, and MIA, an intercontinental airport.

Generally speaking, southeastern Florida, from Miami to roughly the southern side of Lake Okeechobee, is a very thin sliver of land between ocean and swamp, that offers warm temperatures all year round which living creatures, including humans, seem to crave.

In fact it is packed with seven million of them, all competing with each other for a tiny piece of that sliver, and there are few places like it in the continental United States, outrivaled only by coastal California which is twice as expensive; come to think of it, Miami/Coral Gables is still a bargain for a lot of people.


What is shocking about that?

[Foxboro]

I think you need to visit Brookline, the two are not similar in anyway except proximity to the abutting major city and airport. I will agree that Coral Gables is quite nice and it makes sense that real estate is expensive but for many of the surrounding communities I would strongly disagree.

[Lo Maximo]

Originally Posted by Foxboro

I am a finalist for a great job in Coral Gables. I visited the area this past weekend for a couple of days and was impressed. The real estate market in my opinion is a little out of control. While driving around, I was not overly impressed with the surrounding areas just outside of Coral gables and the real estate market still seems high. We are looking for a single family home with 2 or 3 bedrooms and 1 and a half bathrooms. Our maximum is $450,000. What are the nicest areas that would be in that range and still within an easy commute (half hour or less)? I have to say coming from Boston a lot of the areas look kind of "ghetto" and are still expensive.

Foxboro, I live in the area and I think your visual assessment is pretty accurate. Unfortunately Miami doesn't have a lot of aesthetically pleasing areas outside of the wealthy neighborhoods like Coral Gables, parts of Miami Beach, South Miami, etc... If you want to be close to be Coral Gables, there are several areas that are close by but won't be as easy on the eyes. That being said, they are relatively safe and family friendly, with some having good schools. The areas include Schenley Park (west of 57th Ave. between Coral Way 22nd St. and the canal on south)...gets a bit iffy as you get further west; neighborhood west of 57th Ave. between 56th St. and 48th St., you can also look north to 40th St. but it is not as nice; Coral Gate neighborhood Northeast of 37th Ave. and Coral Way (22nd St.) intersection; Shenandoah but only between 12th Ave (which borders the roads) and 22nd Ave.....limit how far north you look as you probably don't want to be right near 8th St.

[perry335654]

Have you ventured in to this ghetto called Brickell:

When you get to the west of I-95 that you see in the picture you will enter in to an Hispanic neighborhood called Little Havana, it is safe but not what you are looking for and same as when you enter north of the Health District with all of its medical buildings, you will be in little Dominican Republic known as Allapattah.




SkyscraperCity - View Single Post - Downtown Miami Pictures

[Astral_Weeks]

Originally Posted by MadManofBethesda

Biltmore Heights is a nice area, but just as an fyi, it is not in the City of Miami. In fact, there is no section of the City of Miami south of 8th St. that is west of Coral Gables.

http://www.miamigov.com/planning/ima...Region8x11.pdf

Thanks for the correction and the heads up.

[FatDrunkAndStupid]

Originally Posted by Foxboro

Thank you for the help and it is great advice! If offered the position, we would rent first but would want to eventually purchase a place. We would be relocating from Foxboro, about 25 miles south of Boston. If offered the Gables job, I think my toughest decision will be concerning quality of life. I guess I am in shock to find out that it is cheaper to live in a nice Boston suburb, with lots of public transportation and entertainment options than to live in a South Florida city without a lot of those amenities and much higher crime rates.

Miami is in many respects a Third World Banana Republic with small settlements of relative civilization and tolerable standards of living interspersed in a sea of crap. The premium you are paying is not so much for the things these outposts have but more for what they keep you away from. Boston has a much larger foundation of middle class people. Miami is Brazil- haves and have nots and if you want to live with the haves you are going to have to pay.

I'd check out South Miami. Just south of the University of Miami on the West side of US 1 there is a relatively nice neighborhood (though a small ghetto exists nestled in the southeast quadrant of South Miami abutting US 1) and then on the east side of US 1 behind the Shops at Sunset there is a relatively decent neighborhood as well.

But do consider the quality of life issues, particularly if you have children. Miami is one of the worst places in America to raise kids. The tuition at the good private schools is steep and the premium to live in a good school district is just as bad. That alone could easily eat up whatever extra dough this job offer entails.