[LingLing]

I don't know the answer. It seems all three have what you are looking for. I know LaJolla very well. I don't know anything about Newport except that Balboa Bay Club. I also don't know much about Laguna except all the art studios along their beautiful beaches. La Jolla has UCSD, Scripps, Salk and a lot of research institutes so..

[stevelb]

I see that you guys are still at it. Leaving Las Vegas, sorry that I presumed that you were a man. Typical male response!

Let me make it clear -I am not recommending the entire northeast quandrant of Ft. Lauderdale. Get a map. I am thinking Sunrise on the south, Federal on the west (US1), Commercial or a few more blocks north on the north, and the Ocean on the east. Not a real huge area, but contains all types of housing from high rise condos, low rise condos, and single family housing at various price ranges. Minutes to the beach. You could bike it, jog, or in some cases walk. Plenty of shopping and restaurants on Federal. Galleria shopping mall on Sunrise with the two retail stores that you mentioned as well as others, like Macys. Also some upscale restaurants. From this area it is 10 to 15 minutes to Las Olas for more shopping and restaurants. Maybe 20 minutes to the airport. Miami and South Beach about 45 minutes depending on the traffic. 15-20 minutes to Bocca. I consider it to be a safe area.

Having said all of that, as you are aware, I still favor California for you.
Take care Steve

[THASPECIAL]

Originally Posted by leavingvegas

Oh, what about Pinecrest, Palmetto Bay, Miami Lakes and Miramar?

I lived in Miami Lakes for a while....i personally liked it....you need a street mentallity to live in any part of S. Florida but that area is nice......there were gangs at Main Street every Friday and Saturday night when i lived in Miami Lakes when i was a teen and i saw some fights out there but what teen hasn't seen a fight?.............there was always a homeless guy/guys standing on the entrance ramps of the Palmetto Expressway and people would sometimes sleep under the overpass but overall they dont bother you if you are a normal everyday citizen of Miami Lakes.......there are pretty parks in Miami Lakes and a nice shopping area in "Main Street" where Don SHula's hotel and Resturant is at...nice golf coarses in that area if that is what you like.....but always keep your doors locked and never leave anything in your car that is valubale in site when you leave your car.......i know because as a teen i was around bad influences there and they liked walking around and stealing things out of cars for fun.......but if you look like you dont have anything then no one will usually bother you....Overall it is a pretty clean looking area of Miami and not too dangerous unless you are an oblivious person

[urbandeco]

Let me tell you what Boca Raton is like as I live here. I just traveled to Southern California so I can make a comparison. I would say Boca is kind of like La Jolla. Now, that does not mean they are exactly alike just similar. La Jolla is probably more wealthy as home prices are just higher in So. Cal. Boca has a lot of wealthy folks from the northeast. It has a small downtown that is in a serious transition. 10 years ago nothing was being built and there really was not a downtown. They built Mizner Park in the late 80's which is an outdoor mall/plaza/park. This has begun to spur development/density and now the place is beginning to boom. If you move here, you will witness the changes. Several loft complexes are being built which reflects the change in age of Boca's population. These don't come cheap as many of the developments in the new downtown range from the low 400's to over 2 mil. That is probably cheap for La Jolla. La Jolla has a more defined downtown area but Boca's will look that like in the near future. Maybe even nicer as it will be better planned. Boca has an increasingly diverse population. By diverse I mean Europeans, Northeasterners, Brazilians, Israelis, and many others. I am not so sure about La Jollas pop. As for beaches, Boca's beaches (north of Palmetto Park Road) are all protected from development. They are basically all state/city park beaches. As you head south of PAlmetto you will see development along the beach--yuk! La Jolla's beaches are beautiful with the cliffs/mountains. They are amazing but you really can't swim in the ocean as it is cold. Florida's coastline may not be as pretty but the clear water and soft white sand makes up for it. Boca is very very safe. There are really not any bad or unsafe neighborhoods. Boca is very clean, landscaped nicely as is La Jolla and is fairly quiet. Shopping is great. Restaurants are overly abundant. You have all the chains..etc...out west in the suburbs(yeah Boca is a suburb in itself) but the downtown area has mostly non-chains or more upscale chains. The new Boca Spine, is an area that will all pedestrian kind of like Lincoln Road in Miami Beach. This is proposed to stretch from Mizner Park through to Royal Palm Place (high density condos/wine bar/cafes)

[FloridaDude]

Isn't the lifestyle in Ft. Lauderdale all about the beach, the water, diving, open water boating, waterfront/oceanfront dining, etc.? All this is in East Lauderdale with ease of access. I would like to know, really...how many residents of western Broward County, take advantage of these things? Or do they find themselves living in their western neighborhoods only?