Moving to FL: What are some young professionals areas within 20ish mins of Sunrise? (Fort Lauderdale: apartments)

[georgencsuee]

Hi there,

New to the forum, but I've been doing some reading and didn't see too much on my specific question.

I found a job in Sunrise and would be moving down from NC at the end of this month, beginning of next. I was trying to find out where are same of the young professionals areas within about a 20 minute drive of Sunrise (Sawgrass Mills mall area). Are they all in downtown Ft. Lauderdale and the beaches or also in the suburbs. Looking for a 1 or 2 bedroom for under $1000/month. I might consider paying a little more if I can get something with a garage. I'd like a safe area, of course, and pretty close to the night life.

From reading the posts on here a rough recommendation seems to be West of Turnpike (or even University) or East of US1. Weston and Parkland would be the safest and most expensive; Coral Springs, West Plantation, Cooper City, West Davie, West Miramar - pretty safe, suburban, family areas; downtown Ft. Lauderdale - pretty safe, urban, young area; beaches - pretty safe, younger areas. Not sure yet where Tamarac and Sunrise fit.

So if you were young, single, wanting a quiet night sleep or a place to go out depending on the day of the week, where would you move?

PS: Why don't those of you who know the area well, make a sticky thread with a quick, general list of characteristics for all the towns in the area. It would help new people like me a lot without having to do a lot of searching or giving up and just making a new topic.

[fauve]

Originally Posted by georgencsuee

Hi there,

New to the forum, but I've been doing some reading and didn't see too much on my specific question.

I found a job in Sunrise and would be moving down from NC at the end of this month, beginning of next. I was trying to find out where are same of the young professionals areas within about a 20 minute drive of Sunrise (Sawgrass Mills mall area). Are they all in downtown Ft. Lauderdale and the beaches or also in the suburbs. Looking for a 1 or 2 bedroom for under $1000/month. I might consider paying a little more if I can get something with a garage. I'd like a safe area, of course, and pretty close to the night life.

From reading the posts on here a rough recommendation seems to be West of Turnpike (or even University) or East of US1. Weston and Parkland would be the safest and most expensive; Coral Springs, West Plantation, Cooper City, West Davie, West Miramar - pretty safe, suburban, family areas; downtown Ft. Lauderdale - pretty safe, urban, young area; beaches - pretty safe, younger areas. Not sure yet where Tamarac and Sunrise fit.

So if you were young, single, wanting a quiet night sleep or a place to go out depending on the day of the week, where would you move?

PS: Why don't those of you who know the area well, make a sticky thread with a quick, general list of characteristics for all the towns in the area. It would help new people like me a lot without having to do a lot of searching or giving up and just making a new topic.

I love your idea of a sticky thread describing each area. At one point, I might have thought that would be impossible as there's so much disagreement at times about an area, but I suppose we could incorporate that disagreement into the description. Although, since we each have our own areas of expertise there might be some discord as to how a neighborhood should be described best if only one person were writing it. I do think your summations of the areas in relation to your needs is a good objective start.

I am no expert on Tamarac or Sunrise, though from reading they both seem to have areas of good and not so good. I'm unable get any more specific than that.

If I were you, I'd try to get a place on the beach - anywhere really is fine but in the interest of your commute, the closer to 595 the better, so that pretty much leaves you Ft Lauderdale Beach to the north or northern Hollywood Beach to the south. The traffic to Sunrise in the morning will be light because it's against the tide, though I'd still think you may be pushing 30 minutes.

If 30 minutes is unacceptable and a garage for storage really necessary, in the west I'd suggest Plantation, Weston, or Davie west of University (you will find a mix of families and young professionals) though I would visit each complex or get recommendations from prior posts as they're not all created equally. Many were turned into condos during the boom and now many are in transition as investors buy up foreclosures to rent them out. I'd be tempted to steer clear of those and try to find one that was managed well - this could present a challenge.

Also your budget may limit your options out west - I'm pretty certain it's not possible to find a 2 bedroom with a garage within it under $1,000 (at least in a place you'd want to live) and I don't believe there are any 1 bedrooms with garages.

I think targeting for a 1 bedroom with a nice view downtown may be the best bet for you and settling for that 30 minute commute. (And, I hate recommending a commute over 20 minutes to anyone, but in your case I'm making an exception.)

[Nolefan34]

Georgencsuee>

Everyone disagrees and gives 100 diffferent opinions. That's why a sticky thread doesn't work. There are too many suburbs and each has pockets of good and bad. It is hard if not impossible to define characteristics of each suburb and city. There is no one characteristic for any suburb. For instance, Sunrise has both good and bad areas and you'd have to get VERY specific to define characteristics.

Now, where to live would depend greatly on what your priorities/interests are. You call yourself a "young professional". Based on that, I'm guessing you want to be around others such as yourself and you wanna be around nightlife. Based on that, I think your best bet is living east of US1 closer to the beach. You would be commuting against the grain of rush hour traffic, so you'd easily be able to get from Fort Lauderdale to Sunrise in 30 minutes or less. West of the Turnpike is more laid-back, but is better suited for families with children.

Las Olas (downtown) is the ultimate area for young professionals, but is very expensive and might be out of your budget. The cheapest decent 1-BR apt. in Las Olas is $1400/mo and that is a rough guess. There is a limited number of luxury buildings downtown and the pricest are kept artificially inflated due to lack of supply and premium location.

Fort Lauderdale Beach is also pricey. A cheaper alternative might be Lauderdale-By-The-Seas located just north of Fort Lauderdale Beach. The rents are more reasonable there and you can find good condos. The downside is your commute will be closer to 30 minutes and you'll have to contend with bridge traffic.

If you want to be very close to work, I would recommend Plantation (west of TPK). There is a community called Camden Plantation that has 1-BR apt's with garages for around $1200/mo. The units are relatively new and well kept. Plantation has a decent amount of people in their 20's, except the area is loaded with college students at Nova nearby. The other downside is you could be living in a beach condo for the same price in Lauderdale By The Seas with no garage. Sunrise has good areas. Around the Sawgrass Mills mall there are some very nice, new apartment communities. Davie is another area with moderately priced apartments.

I would not recommend anyone young and single living in Coral Springs, Weston, or Pembroke Pines, unless they have family or other interests in those particular areas. They are nice areas, but are too isolated from entertainment. You'd be constantly commuting eastward 20-40 minutes to get to the beach and nightlife. Traffic in Broward County isn't all that bad, but there are 100 stoplights and commuting east-west can be a pain.

[georgencsuee]

Thank you both for your replies. Now if you would organize the sticky by age groups instead of towns, these 2 posts combined could probably make up the "young professionals" section. I might look into making this sticky happen after the moving craziness ends if someone else doesn't do it by then.

If anyone else has anything to add, please feel free to do so.

[StilltheSame]

Jacaranda is nice- I would consider it if I didnt want to drive to the Las Olas area.

[georgencsuee]

Anyone know anything about the Eclipse building downtown. It's affordable but I can't find any reviews

[Nolefan34]

georgencsuee>

I am not familiar with Eclipse, but be careful with the cheaper downtown buildings. There is a reason why it is cheaper than the rest. You get what you pay for. Some of them are dumps that were renovated and look nice in pictures, but underneath they have all sorts of problems.

I looked at a unit in a building called "Sole" just prior to the recent renovations. The place was a ****-roach infested moldy tenement. Then they did all of these renovations so that it looks nice on the surface. But you couldn't pay me enough to live there having seen it prior to the renovations. At is core, it is still the same dump it was 2 years ago with a fresh coat of paint. Like putting lipstick on a pig.