[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by leao2u

I can’t tell you all how much I appreciate your responses… My last question is if I land the position in the WPB area, should I try to find a place there OR north (Jupiter) or south (Boca) of there. I was in the WPB area last week, and it felt safe, but I did not venture into the outskirts that you spoke of.

The Jupiter area seemed like a good investment area with lots of potential to grow, but I'm not familiar with the lifestyle.

I personally cannot answer the specifics about Jupiter(im WAY south) but I know it is at least a decent community to live in and your commute will be MUCH better than from Boca Raton.

Palm Beach Gardens is a nice community though, but once again, I do not know many specifics.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by CiXeL

orange county,ca is a little more conservative than los angeles but even then my girlfriend was living with a monogamous gay couple in laguna hills for years before i met her and she moved in with me.

i havent been over to weston yet, i still need to check that place out. i know nothing about it.
alot of people in LA dont despise orange county although they may hate the TV show. people over there are pretty indifferent between san diego, san francisco, LA and orange county because it doesnt really feel that different between the various cities. people may be a little more hippie-ish up north and a little more surfer-ish in san diego or by the LA coastline but i never really even thought of the differences when i lived there. everyones trying to be an individual and theres so much variety that nothing surprises you.
ive talked to new yorkers who ive been able to relate with on aspects of that although it sounds even more developed in new york. the difference i see between personalities though is that a new yorker if they dont like you will be upfront about it where someone from california will be nice to your face but avoid you.
also whats nice about california in general is theres so many types of people that you can easily EASILY find friends. just go to any social gathering and youll pickup a few and there are all kinds of social gatherings for anything and everything.
i can go to a meeting about carnivorous plants and meet 35-45 people into it just in LA. theres even more in the SF bay area. i know of maybe 4 in south florida and maybe 10 in the whole state.

It is a bit more socially developed if you live in Brooklyn/Queens/Manhattan, but I DID live in suburbia in my time up there. One of the things I do not like about here is how you mentioned there are many different types of personalities in Cali (And I know NY from experience). Down here, you do not really have as many intellectuals and individualism is not huge here. In some areas down here it is less like that than others (I think it depends on how many transplants from other parts of the U.S,etc there), but that fake, consumeristic attitude is ALWAYS present here.

[compelled to reply]

ANYWAY, yeah, check out Palm Beach Gardens, it is a nice community and maybe PBCboy can step in here with more details, since he lives closer than I do.

[PBCboy]

Palm Beach Gardens is a very high class city to live in. The quality of life there is high and there is virtually no crime. The local mall, 'The Gardens' is a good size and they just built a high end shopping center (though I'm not quite sure if it's completely finished yet, most of the shoppes are open though). If you ever get bored you can head out to downtown WPB (City Place). Palm Beach Gardens is even better than Boca Raton in many aspects - it's newer and cleaner looking, and even higher class That makes it out of the price range for most normal people though.

Jupiter is another great place to live. Don't think that means you can get a good house for a bargain, though, because although Jupiter is one of the safest cities in PBC the lower class neighborhoods are still not good places to live (while there's not many gangs in the city that is where they come from). If you buy a nice house in Jupiter though you won't experience any crime and you'll enjoy yourself, and the people seemed to be friendly there (much more so than in the suburban western communities).

[leao2u]

PBCboy, can you tell me if Palm Beach Gardens or Jupiter (or any of the area between the two locations) would be a better location for a single guy or young family -- ('may' be getting engaged in the near future)? Also, is there a decent nightlife in the two locations? Lastly, how would you compare the cultural/social climates?

Also, I've heard Wellington is nice but is more of a family atmosphere and getting pretty crowded.

Thanks for any info provided!

[urbandeco]

Wellington is def very family oriented, nice but I think kind of boring. Boca may be a bit more happening that Palm Beach Gardens. I am not too familiar with Palm Beach gardens.

[PBCboy]

Originally Posted by leao2u

PBCboy, can you tell me if Palm Beach Gardens or Jupiter (or any of the area between the two locations) would be a better location for a single guy or young family -- ('may' be getting engaged in the near future)? Also, is there a decent nightlife in the two locations? Lastly, how would you compare the cultural/social climates?

Also, I've heard Wellington is nice but is more of a family atmosphere and getting pretty crowded.

Thanks for any info provided!

You can raise a family in both areas or be single and still be happy there. Jupiter might be better for families, but Palm Beach Gardens is a nicer area overall. Another poster meantioned Wellington, but that is a bit too far out west for my taste (and I've noticed many people in Western communities acting snobish and jerky - the people in Jupiter are much more friendly). Wellington is very built up and conjested now as well. For clubs you can see what West Palm Beach has to offer, but I should warn you that many are sleezy and are only there for you to avoid.

As for Palm Beach Gardens vs Boca Raton, I would say Palm Beach Gardens is even nicer than Boca. It's cleaner, newer looking, and has most of the stuff you'd have in Boca. Plus, in Palm Beach Gardens, I've met many international people from Europe. I've met friendly people from places like the U.K., Germany, etc. because there is a huge golf (PGA) thing up there and people compete from all over the world to play. It's just a happy, safe, great place to live, but it's very costly too.

[leao2u]

Thanks so much for that info! Last question 2 questions --- 1. PBG vs Jupiter on costs of living?

2. How would PBG & Jupiter be for a young professional/classy "Interracial" couple? (I'm white and she's black. I'll be moving down for sure, but she is at a crossroads right now... We'll be visiting this summer though).

Again, thank you all so much for all the great input!

[compelled to reply]

Although I can not really say much about up there (although Boca and PB Gardens are very "white" communities), I CAN tell you that interracial is NO issue in Broward County. Now that you add the family element though, the schools are crap down here(Broward) except in very boring family-ish communities like the one I am located in. Palm Beach Gardens, Wellington (part of it), and Jupiter have good school districts.

[PBCboy]

Where I live (in PBC) there are interacial couples (then again the anglo population is very small where I live) and I don't think it'll be that big of a deal in those cities.In areas like Loxahatchee, on the other hand, which is a redneck area out west, it would be a huge problem, and probably in the next county (Martin County).

The population in PBG, Jupiter, and Boca are all vastly anglo but they're not the redneck kind that would have a huge problem with this.

Oh, and as for the cost of living, PBG is more expensive and classy than Jupiter, but Jupiter still has very, very nice areas to live in. Palm Beach Gardens is more upper class white folk while Jupiter is more suburban, but then again I don't like describing them as suburban because to me most of the people that live in the western suburbs are jerks and they seem nicer in Jupiter.