Possible Move to Florida... (Miami, Hollywood: relocating, property taxes, travel)

[cdietrich404]

My husband, 4 small kids and myself are possibly going to be moving to Florida from Detroit due to a job offer in Miami. I have been researching the best areas like crazy and am thinking Weston would be the best fit for us. We will be renting and would like the rent to be around 2K or under. We are a white family and as I mentioned before have 4 kids so schools are important as well.

I was just wondering all of your thoughts. The drive looks to be 40 mins which I am sure could be adjusted with traffic and etc.

It is the most important that we are in a safe area with great schools and is in our price range.

Any thoughts???

Thanks so much!
Cheryl

[doggiebus]

I think Compelled to Reply can help you on this as he lives in Weston.

[Cane Fan]

Originally Posted by cdietrich404

My husband, 4 small kids and myself are possibly going to be moving to Florida from Detroit due to a job offer in Miami. I have been researching the best areas like crazy and am thinking Weston would be the best fit for us. We will be renting and would like the rent to be around 2K or under. We are a white family and as I mentioned before have 4 kids so schools are important as well.

I was just wondering all of your thoughts. The drive looks to be 40 mins which I am sure could be adjusted with traffic and etc.

It is the most important that we are in a safe area with great schools and is in our price range.

Any thoughts???

Thanks so much!
Cheryl

When you say "white" what do you mean ... do you mean "anglo " ... I hate the use of the term "white" to denote Caucasian Americans or Anglos.. just so you know you will be surrounded by a "white" Hispanic population in Weston that is for the most part upscale and professional and is approximately 48 % of the demographic here in Weston with the rest being Anglo , with small pockets of people from the Caribbean and Asians as well . Now that I am done with my sociological diatribe ... Weston is a great place to live , it has excellent schools , both public and private ... lovely parks , amenities , it is safe , clean , very green , has a hometown movie theater , good restaurants a nice town center ,, you are twenty five minutes from the beach ( Ft.Lauderdale ) on the weekends ... one hour and twenty minutes to Naples / Marco Island ... 50 minutes to South Beach , Brickell , Key Biscayne ( nice parts of Miami ) ... no you do not need to know Spanish to survive because unlike in Miami most service personnel are also bilingual and can speak good English !!

Besides the good schools , this is a very kid friendly community with tons of dance and sports activities ... we have been here for twelve years since moving here from Texas and we enjoy it . You should be able to rent a 4 bedroom 2 1/2 bath 2,200 ft home for $ 2,000.00 ... look in the Falls , The Meadows , The Ridges , The Lakes and North Lakes .

The only area that I would recommend in SW Broward for quality of life over Weston would be Parkland which is twenty minutes north of Weston and a long commute to Miami in the mornings .

[Wheaten]

Keep in mind that Weston is one of the better communities, and priced in line with that. Add on to the commute costs, $1.00 per toll. Doesn't sound like much, but $4.00 per day (usually 2 tolls each direction,) add up FAST. (SunPass helps.) If you are planning on traveling from Weston to Miami, the drive just down 75 to the start of the turnpike often reaches 35 minutes+ due to traffic. Double all commute times during rush hour, assuming NO accidents in SFla. If you're then planning on heading past Doral, add 25 minutes. If you're planning on heading down the Palmetto, leave around 5 am if you want to get there.

I don't want to burst your bubble about Weston, but you need to plan to make a couple of trips down there and actually drive these distances/ locations during rush hour before you make any decisions. Also keep in mind that when school is out, traffic volume during rush hour drops by about a third and during the winter when there are lots of tourists, traffic goes up 10-20% depending on where you live. Standing in traffic (and paying ridiculous gas prices for it,) will eat away at your quality of life. Then again, if you have kids, it may be less expensive to let them go to better public schools in Weston and commute, rather than to pay for private school in Miami (a requirement in many areas.)

If you are looking for suggestions, it would help to know where you would be working in Miami.

[planetsurf]

I agree with others here. DRIVE IT!! A commute is a commute. Weston to most of Miami isn't TOO bad but compared to actually living in Miami...
(I know folks in California, mostly the Orange County folks, who communted over 1.5 hours each way, so it's all relative! )
Without traffic (or more likely in Miami, light traffic) I can make it from Weston to Coral Gables in 35 minutes and no tolls. Medium traffic add 10 minutes.

There are also 2 ways to get to Miami from Weston -- go east, 595 to I-95 (or Turnpike - tolls) then south OR go south, 75 to Palmetto (826) to the Dolphin (836 -- tolls here too).

Depending on where in Miami, if it pays to do the 595 route, you might want to look at Plantation too (especially in the Nob Hill Rd area). Slightly better commute and good schools.

Don't write-off Miami though. Don't know your $ situation, age of kids or what you 'like', but lots of people prefer it (especially if you can limit the commute).

Good luck.

[compelled to reply]

I missed my thread! Too bad everyone else already covered it better than I could have! Except no, Plantation is NOT a better commute. Stick with 75 and the Palmetto, both ways are bad but I would rather have a few miles of smooth sailing on 75 than a few miles of smooth sailing on 95. Not to mention deal with those people running over the plastic totem poles on the toll lanes on 95 in Miami. Not very good schools in Plantation either, except for at the elementary level, never has been either and I don't know why people think Plantation has or has a reputation for good schools but I have heard it more than once for whatever reason. Even Davie would be a better option for schools if you were to do the 595 thing which IMO is WORSE than 75/Palmetto thing (http://www.greatschools.net/city/Davie/FL vs http://www.greatschools.net/city/Plantation/FL). Plantation would be a good option of all of the kids are young and they plan on moving again or using private schools (American Heritage) after elementary school.

It's also a misconception that Weston is really any more expensive than other areas. The property taxes are higher but the housing is the same as Davie, Plantation, Pembroke Pines etc although Cooper City is a little less for an almost equivalent school district. I would look into Cooper City, it's a LITTLE further south for a SLIGHTLY better commute and a LITTLE cheaper than Weston but the schools aren't any lesser really.

[noland123]

What part of Miami will you be working ? There are some nice affordable family area neighborhorhoods in the Miami metro.

[sapphos]

Originally Posted by noland123

What part of Miami will you be working ? There are some nice affordable family area neighborhorhoods in the Miami metro.

I agree a couple of pp's have asked you what area you will be working in. That will make all the difference in the world.

[dwb090]

Hello all, I found this sight by accident and kinda glad I did. I work in public safety. My family and I are planning on relocating to southern florida. I am applying in Miami Gardens. I do not plan on living their but do not want a very long commute. Can anyone give input on a nice, safe, and a good high school in the area. I am familar with Boynton Beach, but i do not think I will be able to afford there rent at first. Thanks for any input from anyone.

[planetsurf]

Originally Posted by dwb090

Hello all, I found this sight by accident and kinda glad I did. I work in public safety. My family and I are planning on relocating to southern florida. I am applying in Miami Gardens. I do not plan on living their but do not want a very long commute. Can anyone give input on a nice, safe, and a good high school in the area. I am familar with Boynton Beach, but i do not think I will be able to afford there rent at first. Thanks for any input from anyone.

Boynton Beach is really far from Miami Gardens. If you don't want a far commute, scratch anything north of Ft Lauderdale (including Boca). IMG is north of the really tight traffic as you head into Downtown Miami from the noth or west, but it's still a pretty far distance from Palm Beach County.
I worked in Miami Gardens for a few years about 7 years ago. I commuted from CGables and it was a realtively easy 25-45 minute commute. You could really live tons of places, it's pretty central.

I would work backwards from the high school you want. I assume public? Start at GreatSchools.net -- you can be anywhere from Weston to Hollywood to more obviously Aventura or Miami Lakes.
Since the turnpike is RIGHT THERE, you can also extend a bit north to the Coral Springs area, but then you start to get into a doable, but longer commute.

I would caution 1 thing RE the school -- don't just assume b/c a school has high average SAT/FCAT scores it is the best choice for your kid(s). Lots of ok but kind of mundane schools are filled with middle-class, "slightly above average" kids and there isn't a poorer population to drag down the average score. You really need to try and get a feel for everything a school has to offer and how your kids will fit in and hopefully thrive, not just be "another" kid.

Good luck.