Comments on diversity in The Acreage? (Miami, Royal Palm Beach: rental, homes, neighborhoods)

[vjm]

Hi all,

Can anyone offer their perspective on racial and economic diversity in The Acreage area? The perfect neighborhood for me would one where there is no majority group, but I realize those are very few and far between. I have read a lot of the past posts on The Acreage, and am left with the impression it is pretty universally white and middle class. Is that so?

Thanks so much!

[33458]

I don't know that it's changed much, but that's what it was - actually lower-to-middle class. I always liked the old, extremely rural setting, but since it's been built up much in the past few years, it may now have an actual 'community' feel to it. The homes that are being built now are more in line with the neighboring developments, full of stucco ad Mediterranean accents, whereas 15-30 years ago most were rugged ranch style...even a log cabin or two. And yes, honestly, it was a 'white' working class area. So was Loxahatchee.
The faces may be changing, so check the latest demographics.

If you want diversity, perhaps check out parts of Royal Palm Beach?

[vjm]

Thanks so much. I checked the nearby school data (seems like a good way to get a grip on community diversity) and it seemed more mixed than I thought, which surprised me.

I am certainly open to all areas, but the big lots had a certain appeal. I am kind of an "either "city", with stuff just outside your doorstep, or "country" with lots of privacy and space" person. I will definitely add RPB to my list of places to check out, thank you for the suggestion.

Anybody else have a perspective, different or otherwise, on this issue?

[goofykid]

I lived in the Acreage for 13 years and although yea it's majority white but there are alot of minority's that live out there. I'm a minority my neighbors loved us and often still call us wanting us to move back. We had a Jamiacan man who lived behind us and a haitian down the street. The whole block would get invited to different party's and we all were accepted. Many people from the Caribbean move out there so they can have lots of land to grow their native fruit trees. Although it's not minority majority but it's deffinitely minority accepted. All the suburbs in South Florida have minorities.

[vjm]

This is why I love me some South Florida! Thanks goofykid. Sounds pretty idyllic. Since you lived there for so long, would you mind sharing any of the negatives that come along with The Acreage?

[goofykid]

I really can't think of any major negatives. Theres alot of dirt roads so if you own a low lying car or with rims it might be a problem. The main roads do get pretty congested during rush hour because their only three exits out of the neighborhood. They need to extend 441 to Persimmon already to help that. Also you got stupid kids knockin over mailboxes because they got nothing better to do but a cement mail box post can change that. Other than that I really can't think of any downside of living out there. Your 20 min from downtown and 30 min from the beach and you have plenty of privacy with your land. That neighborhood has changed alot since we moved there I remember when Royal Palm Beach Blvd was dirt and there was no bridge on Avocado. It is a great place to raise kids though. If you have any other specific questions please ask.

[GRETAGARTNER]

Royal Palm elementary schools are great - after that, not so much. Good luck if you have kids.

[vjm]

I would love some details, if you feel like providing them GretaGartner. I don't have kids, but that is definitely on the schedule.

I hear two complaints commonly about WPB/ FL schools. First, that a particular school is unsafe, and second, that kids are not challenged enough (usually attributed to the number of ESL kids per class). Are these an issue you have seen? Other things I haven't mentioned?

What about you goofykid? Any experience with the schools you can share?

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply. The more perspectives I get, the better.

[luckysnap]

Depends on what you mean by "diversity". Indian, Asian, native American, European, Scandinavian, Polynesian, Mongolian?

[vjm]

That's a great question.

I am using "diversity" in a couple ways. Income level is the easiest, I suppose. I prefer neighborhoods where households have a variety of income levels, particularly if there is a spectrum rather than discrete clusters. For example, I would feel more comfortable if there were roughly even numbers of wealthy, average and lower income folk, rather than a bunch of wealthy people and another bunch of lower income households. But either of these scenarios is preferable to a neighborhood that is exclusively one income level.

I am also using "diversity" to refer to different races. Again, I would love to be in a neighborhood that covers a spectrum. I am not as interested in a place that is overwhelmingly one race or another, and I am totally uninterested in an all white neighborhood. One of the things that I really like about South Florida is that, at least on paper, there is a real representation of many different races. It seems like a pity to me to miss out on that in the place I live.

I am also using "diversity" to mean ethnicity. I do consider neighborhoods that have people from Mexico, Cuba and Brazil to be diverse, even though they all get lumped under "Hispanic/ Latin" (whatever that term means) on things like censuses and that diversity does not show up. People from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, or who moved here from a variety of cultures, would definitely fall under my definition of "diversity". I guess a companion issue to this is language, particularly first language. A majority non-English speaking environment is fine with me, although I am terrible with tonal languages like Vietnamese and would struggle more with that.

I am also using "diversity" to refer to sexual orientation and the presence of LGBT households. I know there is a big kerfuffle about gay and lesbian Floridians adopting right now, and I know the parts of South Florida I have lived in before (Miami, briefly) were pretty gay friendly. I am not as familiar with the attitudes towards or presence of gays outside of Miami.

Whew! So, there you have it. Probably more than you wanted to know, but it was a very good question and quite thought provoking. Let me know if you have any feedback about the Acreage on any of these issues, or any other neighborhood that might be a good fit.

It looks like I have a job in WPB for ten weeks this summer, so I will be trying to find a short term rental in a neighborhood I think I may eventually want to live in. Sort of a "try on for size" period!

Thanks so much for your help everybody!