Er, a tad concerned now! (Miami, Hollywood: low crime, house, transfer to)

[Justlooking fm UK]

My husbands company have asked him to transfer to their office in Miami which is located opposite the Doral golf course. Obviously we're quite interested and so before saying yes, we're doing our research. I have to say that I've heard quite a few negative things about Miami, as you would hear about any large city, my concern is how far out of the city does the rot stretch?

For example, I live about 1 hour (peak time drive) north of Manchester in a quietish village, good schools, low crime rate (although not long ago some lowlife yobs out to impress their mates put a cat in a garden waste bin and set it on fire - nice eh). Head into some of the suburbs closer to the CBD and you'd not last 5 minutes in some of the pubs/walking the streets.

As a whole, Manchesters crime rate may be high and although the suburb I live in is part of the Greater Manchester county, the crime rate in my area is low.

Is the crime rate/dislike of Miami aimed mainly at the inner city suburbs or does the rot stretch throughout? Are the worst areas in a particular direction i.e. east of the city, or are they dotted throughout and you're never far away from trouble?

Considering where the office is as I've mentioned above, are there areas within 1 hour commute which offer good schools/neighbourhood? It's one thing to google map, but you can't get a relative idea of size and distance without knowing the area.

We have 2 small children 9 and 4 and don't wish to make any mistakes where they are concerned.

Many thanks your valued opinions (although 'stay the hell away' might be a touch frank!)

JustlookingfmUK

[JacobMAX]

More expensive:

- Pinecrest / Palmetto Bay: very good neighborhoods, good schools ( elementary schools ), safe, and 20/30 minutes ( without much traffic ) from Doral.

- Key Biscayne: very good neighborhood, good schools ( elementary schools ), very safe and about 40/50 minutes from Doral.

- South Miami / Coconut Grove ( East of SW 32nd Ave ) / Coral Gables: good neighborhoods, OK to good schools, safe and about 20/30 minutes from Doral.

Not much expensive:

- Miami Lakes: good neighborhood, OK schools, safe, about 30 minutes from Doral.

- East Kendall: good neighborhood, OK to good schools, relatively safe, 25/30 minutes from Doral.

- Doral / Miami Springs: OK neighborhoods, OK schools, relatively safe.

- West Pembroke Pines / West Miramar: good neighborhoods, good schools, safe, about 40/50 minutes from Doral.

And the worst/high crime rate areas are generally right North/Northwest of Downtown Miami area.

[Justlooking fm UK]

Many thanks JacobMAX, your informative reply is much appreciated.

Justlooking fm UK

[TannerMan]

Doral has no inner city issues at all, but it isn't a small town either it has lots of buisnesses and industrial sectors, but crime is low, new schools, and the city is realitively new and growing. If its in your price range I dont see any problem with going with the Doral area to stay close to your husbands job. And Doral is in prime location, you are pretty much close to everything in Miami, right in the middle of everything if not close in place to get there quick.

[MiamiVice1985]

My cousin used to study at Exeter. I love the UK and I want to go back!!! But England to Miami??? Whew! Go to one of the places Jacobmax just said; Pinecrest, Key Biscayne, South Miami. The average price of a single family home on Key Biscayne is around two million dollars. That's a little better than one million pounds. The problem with Miami is that it takes a lot of money to shield your family from the impoverished crime ridden areas.

The most expensive neighborhoods in Miami are those that A)have the highest concentrations of Anglo-American reidents, and B) are close to the water. Assuming you do not have an unlimited income, let me suggest a few more locales...Your husband is working in Doral, which is 'West Miami', or in the suburbs. If you guys live in 'east Miami' or downtown, than he will be driving AGAINST traffic both ways. That is a good thing, and will shed hours off his commute on a weekly basis. Here are a few east-located areas that are nice and have...People who speak English and rarely commit crimes!!!
-Miami Shores
-East of Biscayne Blvd.(US1), north of Northeast 39th St., South of Northeast 79th St. That is one of the nicer residential blocks. There is security, little crime, and you might be able to find a single-family house on the water for less than a million dollars. There!

[305guy]

Justlooking: I work in Doral (south of the Golf Course) and live in West Miramar (right off the FL Turnpike). It takes me 20 minutes to get to work and it should be a little less for you since you'd work closer to Miramar. JacobMax's assessment is dead-on, I have lived in Miami-Dade forever and I really enjoy Miramar. It's quiet and suburban but close to Pembroke Pines so you have a lot of shops/restaurants. Crime is low (at least violent/drug related) and it is very clean with alot of family oriented parks.

I'd recommend West Miramar and live close to the Turnpike and/or I-75 so you can get to Miami quickly. Doral is relatively safe and does not have any inner-city,gang-banging, violent drug crime vibe whatsoever. Hope this helped.

[MiamiVice1985]

Hey its me again, go to mapquest.com, under the map section, type in Miami Shores for city, FL for state. Now you'll have to zoom in about three of four clicks. Look at the stretch of land East of US-1 (Biscayne Blvd.), north of Interstate 195, and south of N.E. 79th street. Try investigating that area. Then again, I have no idea what your budget is. If it is less than half a million dollars follow 305guy's recommendation, a half mil will net you a mansion in the area he is talking about.

[miamiblue]

So far all of these suggestions are good ones!

I am wondering, though, if JacobMAX's commute times for all locations are considering light traffic. I know that growing up in East Kendall and living in South Miami for several years, there is no way I could get to/from Doral in 20-30 minutes during normal commute times.

And what MiamiVice1985 said about living opposite the flow of traffic to downtown if at all possible, is very good advice!

Best of luck!

[compelled to reply]

W. Miramar to Doral is a breeze. You get on the turnpike extension and you are there, any time of day. Actually, any of the 75 corridor communities would be a decent choice, considering traffic conditions on that road are also good. Weston, Cooper City and west Pines are better choices than west Miramar. From the other direction (south) is a different story about the traffic, but I have had to get to Hollywood from the FIU area taking the turnpike/extension during rush hour and even that took me 30-35 minutes. If your work is near the turnpike extension, north of the dolphin consider yourself very lucky.

[diddiyo]

My work is only a few minutes away from the Golf-course and I also live in Doral. There isn't a lot to do (except for playing Golf lol) eventhough there's two malls with a movie theater and a bowling alley etc. There's a million gated communities around here and the whole area looks fake. Traffic is ridiculous. I guess if you're a family and/or want a quite neighborhood Doral is good for you.