palm beach gardens vs cityplace area (Miami, Fort Lauderdale: rentals, condos, crime)

[tramo]

I am 28 yrs old,single looking for aplace in Palm beach gardens or near city place. Would prefer a younger area with things to do i.e. nightlight/downtown areas. Pretty much just want a real garage as im car guy. Was gonna look at Cityside until i heard here that it can be a bad area outside the fence. Budget is low 100s at best......

[Jonotastic]

Yeah there is a huge ghetto right next door to CityPlace. One of my friends is a security guard dispatcher, she said there is A LOT of daily crime around that area, very surprising. I'd choose Palm Beach Gardens, Delray Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Miami Beach in your situation.

[TriMT7]

Originally Posted by tramo

I am 28 yrs old,single looking for aplace in Palm beach gardens or near city place. Would prefer a younger area with things to do i.e. nightlight/downtown areas. Pretty much just want a real garage as im car guy. Was gonna look at Cityside until i heard here that it can be a bad area outside the fence. Budget is low 100s at best......

There are no homes IN City Place in that price range with personal garages. Cityplace is condos and the townhouses with two car garages still sell for about 400k. You rent a townhouse for about 2k/month, and you can BUY a 1 bedroom condo right now in the 100s.

Now, just South of Cityplace you can find single family homes, but again, in any location that is desirable, you're not going to find anything in the low 100s. There are plenty of rentals, however.


I recommend the Cityplace/downtown WPB area for most young people who want some sort of night life. I lived in Cityplace and never felt unsafe, and have quite a few friends who still live downtown or in Cityplace. Despite the ghetto being half a mile away, it's like a world away. But welcome to South Florida, that's the way it is! It's actually the same general "bad area" that is outside of Cityside.

The problem with Cityside, however, is that there are a loooot of "low rent renters" (so to speak) which can cause problems. A lot of people who never spend a lot of time in downtown WPB have a distorted picture of what it's like to actually live there.

Palm Beach Gardens is nice, a suburban atmosphere, but the "young people" entertainment options aren't as great. I lived in Jupiter for four years (just North of Gardens), and the action was definitely in downtown West Palm.... though there is very good shopping and dining in Gardens, it's geared towards an older crowd, IMO. Downtown WPB has the added bonus of a residential college (Palm Beach Atlantic) being right there.


I woudl recommend checking both areas out on a Friday and Saturday night --- Cityplace/Clematis in WPB, and Downtown/PGA Blvd and see what fits better. JUst don't expect either place to be like Miami or Chicago, because it's not.

[BevoInPA]

If you can manage the commute I recommend Delray Beach. I was 30 when I moved to Palm Beach Gardens and I HATED it. I don't even like downtown West Palm. Delray is attractive, feels safe (east of Swinton), has bars, clubs, clubs and it no longer expensive. You have buy a condo in the building I used to live in, Pineapple Grove Village, for $150k. These were converted to condos and offered for over $400k. You can walk to the beach, the beach is nice and the area is generally professional and upscale retirees (east of Swinton). There are also young professionals in Boca/Delray.