Where to Live South FL Area Without Car? (Miami, Miami Beach: real estate, apartments)

[emcs]

For early retiree (from NYC), what would be some good places to live in South Florida without a car? Would like to live in a newer, upscale condo, on the ocean. Walking distance to supermarket, necessities. Nice area to walk around in. Not too loud at night. Safe. Nothing with an overtly Russian feel. Any other advice for such a move? Thanks.

[tallrick]

I suppose you could limit yourself to south beach or a select area of Coral Gables, but why do that. You will not be able to find work near where you want to live, in most cases so a car is mandatory. This is not NYC, by any means.

[Momma_bear]

It will be very isolating to live anywhere in SF without a car. If you are an early retiree I assume you will want to take advantage of all SF has to offer. Since the region is not organized around one city center, with mass transit connecting it to the suburbs, life is pretty isolating without a car.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by emcs

Nothing with an overtly Russian feel.

Great way to subtly eliminate Sunny Isles Beach, which is pretty much your sole option otherwise. You could try Galt Ocean Mile in Ft. Lauderdale.

[nitokenshi]

pembroke pines I lived there without a car and got around easily

[kevinkagy]

I would recommend Downtown Miami, even though it's not necessarily on the ocean but on the bay, but it's definitely very nice and very NYC-esque. To go to the beach, you can take the bus, it's about a 5 minute bus drive (S-Bus). Other pedestrian friendly areas would be the area in Coral Gables around Miracle Mile or anywhere in Miami Beach, both of which are also very pedestrian friendly.

And yes, Sunny Isles Beach is very Russian, but a little more car-oriented.

[JacobMAX]

Originally Posted by emcs

For early retiree (from NYC), what would be some good places to live in South Florida without a car? Would like to live in a newer, upscale condo, on the ocean. Walking distance to supermarket, necessities. Nice area to walk around in. Not too loud at night. Safe. Nothing with an overtly Russian feel. Any other advice for such a move? Thanks.

Try Downtown Miami / Brickell, probably is the best area with you don't have a car, and is relatively close to the beach. The public transportation is good ( you have the Metrorail, the Metromover ( free to ride ) and the Metrobus ) and you're close to everything in that area.

I would suggest Dadeland and Coral Gables ( Miracle Mile area ), all safe, with OK public transportation and within walking distance to supermarkets and stores/malls; but these two are more distant from the beach. Another good area is Miami Beach ( especially in South Beach and Mid-Beach ( around 41st Street ), it's safe, have OK public transportation and you can walk to supermarkets and stores/malls too.

[nicsma2002]

I second the Galt Ocean Mile suggestion. There's a Winn-Dixie (at least there was the last time I was there), lots of restaurants you can walk to, and some shops. Also Lauderdale-by-the-Sea might fit the bill. I'd check all along that area first. These are in Broward. This would be my first choice. Great ocean view, lots of walkability, very quiet & safe.

In Dade, maybe just north of 41st Street on Miami Beach. There are lots of condos there, not necessarily new, but there's always some construction going on so you might find something. I don't know about the markets & shops there, though. Stay away from South Beach - loud at night.

[heydade]

get a Vespa and live free on SoBe !

[MiamiGringo]

There was site listed in today's NYTIMES called Walk Score - Helping homebuyers, renters, and real estate agents find houses and apartments in great neighborhoods. where you can enter an address and it rates the neighborhood for walking.

I tried it with mine and it was fairly accurate 50 out of a 100 but it missed some big things, like think the Byron Carlyle is still a movie theatre but it might be a good place to look around.