Quote:
Originally Posted by Newyorker2
Parkland sounds great, but the cost of living seemed out of this world. Are there any good rentals in Parkland? I have seen this city come up over and over in this forum. Anything to do? I want a town good for kids, but also good for adult activities as well.
And yes I am more than willing to compromise proximity to the beach for good schools as that is most important. I was just hoping to rent within viewing distance of the beach, since i will probably not be able to afford a beach house down the road, renting one seemed the closest to realizing my dream. (LOL)
Can anyone tell me more about Broward towns?
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Now keep in mind that Boca Raton is the only city south of PGA Blvd that has decent all-around schools all the way to the coast. If you look into Broward, you are going to have to go pretty far inland for better schools, but as a plus, you WILL be closer to Miami.
The #1 rule to follow in Broward is to either stay west of University Drive or east of Dixie Highway. Once you go south of 595, stay east of U.S.1. That in between area has a lot of inconsistencies, while areas within those other two boundaries do not, although school quality does vary significantly (I.E. Sunrise/Plantation is a nice looking area but the schools flat out suck).
Parkland is basically a newer, very upscale suburb of 20 thousand in a "park like" setting with a decent amount of equestrian areas mixed in. There are actually real live forests in the city limits. At times, for better or for worse, you forget you are in South Florida when you are in Parkland. It's a VERY pleasant atmosphere, but it doesn't have as much of that tropical "Florida" look. There is little shopping and dining in the city limits, but you are close enough to Boca Raton and Coral Springs that it doesn't matter. It really feels like your "in the suburbs" there.
Coral Springs was mostly built in the past 40 years (a lot of areas in the past 15 years) and is known for it's low crime rate, large amount of ethnic diversity, and has a reputation for good schools. However, the school quality has gone significantly downhill in parts of Coral Springs, so keep that in mind. Stay in the Taravella Innovation Zone. It also feels more like "any suburb USA", but with more shopping and dining in city limits, including the "restaurant row" which has a variety of dining. There are also a lot of activities for families with children, and there is an active performing arts center in city limits. Coral Springs has a couple of scuzzy areas along Sample Road and Coral Ridge Drive, but the rest of the city is fairly clean. Traffic on the streets ranges from light to heavy.
You have a huge gap over there between Coral Springs and Davie where save for some elementary schools, the schools are not good. Tamarac, Sunrise, Plantation are decent looking areas, but won't meet your criteria.
Davie is getting closer to Miami. The entrance to the city is a somewhat unattractive line of mobile home parks in many areas. This tends to scare a lot of people off, but save for 1 or 2 parks, these places have a very strict background check process and don't let scum in. It's just a place for priced out middle class families to go. As you drive further south, it becomes a mixture of clean middle class family neighborhoods, equestrian areas, and a few McMansion developments. There is a distinctively "Rural" flavor in much of the city, and traffic on the streets is light.
Weston is immediately due west of Davie. It's a planned, resort-like community largely built by Arvida over the past 15 years. The streets are thin on traffic, crime is very low, and an underground power grid means power interruptions due to storms are rare. Most streets have a barrier of lush tropical landscaping separating developments as well as some very fantastic landscaping in the median. The city has a very green, upscale appearance that can certainly be called "plastic" at the same time. There are basically no dirty areas in the city limits.
Cooper City is directly south of Davie. Save for a couple gated communities, the city is dead-center middle class with some small shopping centers and a rarely-found sense of community. A lot of neighborhoods actually feed into each other versus having traffic constricted subdivisions, and there is a little bit of a country atmosphere in the city. It's an unusually sturdy area where neighbors tend to know each other. Traffic is light.
Getting very close to Miami-Dade county line, the west Pembroke Pines/Miramar area is mostly built in the past 5-10 years. It's known for a very mixed population (including a large east Asian population that is rare in Florida) and spotless gated communities. Stay west of 75 for better schools.
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01-28-2008, 03:04 PM
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