Wellington (Tampa, West Palm Beach, Boca Raton: for rent, crime, how much)

[vconnie]

Hi everyone, I posted yesterday on a different thread. Posters were saying Wellington has "gone to hell". Please, I am wondering what this means, is it schools? housing market? or just the town in general? What is happening there (PBC)so I ask again where would a family with school age children from LI, NY be better-West Palm Cty. or Brevard Cty? Look forward to all opinions and input! Thanks!

[JSnFla]

people have told me wellington is getting bad with crime, gangs and problems with the 3rd world invasion that is affecting all of PBC. most of the developments are gated so i assume the issues are out in town, dunno. if u r from long island and concerned about your kids i strongly recommend u stay on long island. so many families from long island move down here and end up endlessly complaining about the schools and then move back to LI. i grew up on LI and there is no place down here i would have wanted to grow up or go to school. brevard county is way different, more southern redneck kinda atmoshpere but many northerners moving there as well.

[vconnie]

Originally Posted by JSnFla

people have told me wellington is getting bad with crime, gangs and problems with the 3rd world invasion that is affecting all of PBC. most of the developments are gated so i assume the issues are out in town, dunno. if u r from long island and concerned about your kids i strongly recommend u stay on long island. so many families from long island move down here and end up endlessly complaining about the schools and then move back to LI. i grew up on LI and there is no place down here i would have wanted to grow up or go to school. brevard county is way different, more southern redneck kinda atmoshpere but many northerners moving there as well.

JSnFla,

Thanks for the input. I hear what you are saying about the gated communities being safe and everything. But, like you know you (the whole family)can't possibly stay "behind the gates" 24/7! So this wouldn't work for my family. I have been to Melbourne(yrs. back)it is not as much like what LIr's are used to, PBC is more like that, IMO. I am concerned about the children: school, friends etc. but we also need to be happy and some what comfortable or none of us will be happy. Do you really feel the schools are that "bad" and that would have such an impact on wanting to return to LI? Are you in either county I mentioned? Are you happy down in Florida? Thanks for listening and your input. The longer this move is taking to happen the more of an "education" I am getting about Florida. Thanks again!

[louisamay]

Wellington is not crime ridden. We have lived here for over 15 years and love it. My husband and I are educators and the schools here are great. There is lots to do - parks and recreation are abundant as well as shopping and fine dining. I just posted our house for rent-we have 6 kids and need a larger home but don't want to give up this house just yet. You can see pictures under Wellington rent 3/2 pool home. Really, if you want more details about Wellington, please PM me. My family sold their home on L.I. 6 years ago and moved to FL.

[florida4ever]

What??? Wellington has not "gone to hell"! I moved here 2 years ago from California and love it. I have two children in top rated schools and have never heard anything about gangs, crime, etc. We do live in a gated community, but we spend most of our time in the beautiful parks and playgrounds. Everything you could want is here.........or nearby. Plus, we have the horse shows and polo during the winter months. I can't imagine that it gets better than this. Hope this helps.

[PBCboy]

Wellington isn't bad crime-wise at all. Compared to such crime-ridden cities like West Palm Beach, Lake Worth, Riviera Beach, Latana and Boynton Beach it is a haven. By "gone to hell" I would assume they mean that it is very built up and has tons of traffic. But crime? No. There's a few lower class areas with crime but like Boca Raton they are far out of the way. If you want a nice house in a good community then Wellington is great. The only problem is how much traffic there is now. Also there are not many illegal immigrants there, the largest percentage of illegal immigrants are in the West Palm Beach/Lake Worth area.

[House4Sale]

going bad, you need to nip that in the bud. Don't wait for it to go bad, start hammering your elected officials NOW!! numbersusa.com has free prepared FAXes to send elected officials. Let's get off our fannies and do something about it before it's too late. This benefits all for even recently arrived decent immigrants don't like plight either. It's for ALL concerned about a safe America.

I've a friend who constantly complains about the 'hood going down. (Five families next door. That's why we had to move from S. FL). Did she ever call, write, FAX, contact elected officials (even when I GAVE them all the needed info)? No. So I told her to talk to me AFTER she's done so. Complaining to each other is wasted effort. Put that energy in the hands of those who we've elected as they ARE the ones who can do something about the mess!

[JSnFla]

Originally Posted by vconnie

JSnFla,

Thanks for the input. I hear what you are saying about the gated communities being safe and everything. But, like you know you (the whole family)can't possibly stay "behind the gates" 24/7! So this wouldn't work for my family. I have been to Melbourne(yrs. back)it is not as much like what LIr's are used to, PBC is more like that, IMO. I am concerned about the children: school, friends etc. but we also need to be happy and some what comfortable or none of us will be happy. Do you really feel the schools are that "bad" and that would have such an impact on wanting to return to LI? Are you in either county I mentioned? Are you happy down in Florida? Thanks for listening and your input. The longer this move is taking to happen the more of an "education" I am getting about Florida. Thanks again!

My opinion of south florida in general is not very good anymore. i moved to the ft lauderdale area 5 yrs ago, after everyone told me to avoid south florida, and after about 2 years i knew they were all right. u can have a nice life here but south florida is a very strange place. it is generally being largely invaded by people fleeing 3rd world nations and this affects everyone. broward and palm beach become more and more like miami everyday and eventually it will be one big banana republic atmoshpere where english is a language u rarely hear. i do not recommend moving a young family from LI to south florida, that being said if u must do it then i would chose a spot in northern palm beach county such as wellington. i would also highly recommend palm beach gardens and jupiter. these are all very exclusive, wealthy communities but u r still in south florida and that will be very clear to u at all times. i am moving to tampa in 2 weeks, the feel, culture and general mentallity is quite different over there although also changing some. so, u can make it work in south florida if u really need to or want to but i dont see a bright future for the region.

[vconnie]

Originally Posted by JSnFla

My opinion of south florida in general is not very good anymore. i moved to the ft lauderdale area 5 yrs ago, after everyone told me to avoid south florida, and after about 2 years i knew they were all right. u can have a nice life here but south florida is a very strange place. it is generally being largely invaded by people fleeing 3rd world nations and this affects everyone. broward and palm beach become more and more like miami everyday and eventually it will be one big banana republic atmoshpere where english is a language u rarely hear. i do not recommend moving a young family from LI to south florida, that being said if u must do it then i would chose a spot in northern palm beach county such as wellington. i would also highly recommend palm beach gardens and jupiter. these are all very exclusive, wealthy communities but u r still in south florida and that will be very clear to u at all times. i am moving to tampa in 2 weeks, the feel, culture and general mentallity is quite different over there although also changing some. so, u can make it work in south florida if u really need to or want to but i dont see a bright future for the region.

Jsn,
Thank you for answering. I guess from all you have said and the move you are making you are not happy with all the "change" in S. Fla. You are right the "feel" of Tampa will be different as I know it would be if I moved to Brevard Cty. We did live there shortly about seventeen yrs. ago. We love the climate, but it was still very undeveloped at the time. It was almost impossible to find certain items in the supermarkets and even a shoe store for our daughter who was a baby at the time!! We really didn't know anyone either and because it was Melbourne almost twenty yrs. ago, you could imagine making friends was almost impossible! Needless to say we came back to NY. After a very good life here, and finally selling a business that left no room so to speak to relax we have decided to make the move to Fla. once again! I have friends in Melbourne now and they say the area is quite built up. I know it is not W. Palm, or Wellington but it has changed and with the internet now we could get almost anything we could want or need. Well now that I have rambled on and on, sorry! I wish you luck w/your move.

[jaxcurious]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2007/05/08/w1b_wellcrime_0508.html (broken link)

Todays Palm Beach Post - Crime Rises In Wellington