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Considering relocating to Weston, FL. We are looking at homes and noticed there are quite a few communities in Weston. I'd love to get feedback on:
-general likes and dislikes of particular communities
-demographics
-amenities
-schools
-anything else.
In particular we've seen The Weston Hills CC, Savanna, Tequesta and The Isles of Weston. There are a couple more my wife mentioned but don't remember so if you have info on the others feel free to chime in.
Thanks a bunch!
Last edited by phantomdilbert; 07-28-2007 at 12:11 AM..
Considering relocating to Weston, FL. We are looking at homes and noticed there are quite a few communities in Weston. I'd love to get feedback on:
-general likes and dislikes of particular communities
-demographics
-amenities
-schools
-anything else.
In particular we've seen The Weston Hills CC, Savanna, Tequesta and The Isles of Weston. There are a couple more my wife mentioned but don't remember so if you have info on the others feel free to chime in.
Thanks a bunch!
I live in the Weston area, and I positively love it. The only thing I don't like about it is its "Cookie cutter" feel, but the town has AWESOME parks all throughout, including the huge Weston Regional Park.Traffic jams are unheard of. The town is one of the wealthiest in America for its size, and also has one of Americas lowest crime rates. The schools are as good as you are going to find, right up to High School, as Cypress Bay as well known as the best High School in the county. That particular school is still notorious for its overcrowding though, with around 5200 students in enrollment. It uses a 9th grade annex in SW Sunrise to handle the students. The community is something around 50 percent white, 40 percent Hispanic, 5 percent black, 4 percent Asian or anything else. The main thing people dislike about Weston would be the really strict Homeowners association and code enforcement, who will fine you for basically anything. Watch out for that. I love this area, and know pretty much anything you would need to know about it, so feel free to PM me about specifics!
Oh, another note.
Weston Hills- A super exclusive address. Homes start in the millions. Plenty of sports figures choose Weston Hills
Savanna- Nice, mostly middle end homes/Townhomes. Good Community.
To tell you the truth, every community in Weston is nice. Some are just more upscale than the others.
We recently moved out of Weston. You didn't say where you are moving from, so it's hard to give you an idea of what it might be like . South FL is not like the rest of the country. Personally, except for the weather, we hated it. The people are not friendly, English is the second language, and the schools are way too crowded. The housing market is tanking there, like everywhere else, and you can buy a house in Weston Hills, or anywhere else, for well under a million. We moved from The Landings, which I liked very much; smaller than many other communties in Weston. Savannah is HUGE, and has had issues with vandalism, loud neighbors, etc. It does have nice amenities, like a pool and club house with activities, you just have to know what your neighbors might be like. The Windmill Ranches and Windmill Preserve are much more exclusive than Weston Hills. Tequesta is an older neighborhood, but the lots tend to be larger because of the age. The various Isles are also nice, but when we looked there many of the homes seemed to have mold issues, so be careful. I think Weston is a good location for somebody who has to live in SOFL, it's certainly safer than the alternatives. And, if you have young kids who will take advantage of all the activites sponsored by the town, you may very well love it. We were not happy at all with the schools. Yes, they perform well above other Broward Cty districts, but that isn't saying much, IMO.
Had to laugh at that one. Start conversing with the Spanish speaking people, they speak English. You also moved to the most heavily hispanic city in Broward County. You should of moved to Cooper City or Parkland (or even Davie) if you wanted your kids to go to school with other non-hispanic white kids, or without 5200 students. I read that you found your nirvana in ATLANTA!!!! I have to chuckle at that. FL schools kind of suck in general, though. Gotta agree on that.
Last edited by compelled to reply; 07-28-2007 at 09:10 PM..
We maybe relocating from the bay area, CA. So definitely a huge change in terms of environment, lifestyle, diversity. It would be worthwhile if the numbers do work out.
Is Weston that heavily Hispanic? We've spent the past couple days there and it seemed more White?
How's about the schools? I have a 3 year old that I want to make sure is in the right school. Gator Run? Everglades? Comments on these? I think this maybe one of the schools we'll be zoned for. They show up as 10/10 on greatschools.net.
Personally I like more diversity. That's what will make the decision more difficult since bay area, CA is one of the most diverse in the nation.
We maybe relocating from the bay area, CA. So definitely a huge change in terms of environment, lifestyle, diversity. It would be worthwhile if the numbers do work out.
Is Weston that heavily Hispanic? We've spent the past couple days there and it seemed more White?
How's about the schools? I have a 3 year old that I want to make sure is in the right school. Gator Run? Everglades? Comments on these? I think this maybe one of the schools we'll be zoned for. They show up as 10/10 on greatschools.net.
Personally I like more diversity. That's what will make the decision more difficult since bay area, CA is one of the most diverse in the nation.
Weston is about 41 percent Hispanic. Most speak English, and the Latins tend to be of Colombian and Venezuelan descent. Amongst the white population, you have a large Jewish presence, and also more Asian Indians and upper class Blacks have been moving in as well. Gator Run and Everglades are both good elementary, but I am going to tell you the truth; Florida education can't really compare to any other state, including California. It's pretty crappy. In a way, schools in Davie and Cooper City are almost better because there is so much less crowding (once you hit the Middle school level), but those Weston schools will be as good as you are getting by Florida standards. Davie and Cooper City schools are also lacking in the diversity department. Basically, be involved in your children's education, and they will receive as good as of an education as anywhere. Good educational opportunities are certainly present in Weston, and the environment is ethnically mixed, but unlike what the other poster expressed, English is the first language, even amongst the Latins. Sure, you hear lots of Spanish spoken, but just talk to the people. They speak English.
English: yup that's what I experienced, I didn't see a lot of folks speaking Spanish per se. So when we did look around the various communities we are leaning towards Weston Hills. There's inventory under $1M and seems pretty attractive (especially when you compare what $1M gets you in the bay area).
We deliberately looked for places like Chinese and Japanese restaurants because that's the fare we'd miss the most. We tried out a couple Japanese (Japan Inn, Sushi Tom) and were quite satisfied with the food. yes, I know they are Chinese owned but that's even common in CA.
Schooling: we (my wife and I) are having this debate on private versus public. If we do this move (and we stay until they are of school age), my wife will have the opportunity to be very involved in the children's education.
English: yup that's what I experienced, I didn't see a lot of folks speaking Spanish per se. So when we did look around the various communities we are leaning towards Weston Hills. There's inventory under $1M and seems pretty attractive (especially when you compare what $1M gets you in the bay area).
We deliberately looked for places like Chinese and Japanese restaurants because that's the fare we'd miss the most. We tried out a couple Japanese (Japan Inn, Sushi Tom) and were quite satisfied with the food. yes, I know they are Chinese owned but that's even common in CA.
Schooling: we (my wife and I) are having this debate on private versus public. If we do this move (and we stay until they are of school age), my wife will have the opportunity to be very involved in the children's education.
Thanks for your feedback, do appreciate it!
For private, Sagemont School has a great reputation for its elementary, and it's right in Weston. To be honest, the public schools are not bad(especially by FL standards), but if you have 15k to shell out, go for private.A good private prep school is always better than public, no matter where you are.
Asian food- you aren't gonna find Asian food of the same quality here as easily. The Asian population is next to non-existent in South Florida, except in Miramar/Pembroke Pines. There is Asian stuff here though (especially in aforementioned Pembroke Pines), you just have to look a little harder. For Japanese, I actually find Japan Inn to be underwhelming and overpriced (then again, I'm from NY).
Well, if you have a million to spend, I Guess you should go Weston Hills. I agree with Windmill Reserve being more exclusive, but thats going a little above the million mark.Actually, if you had a million to spend, I would look in to coastal areas and send your kids to private over Weston any day!
Just want to give you another perspective on Weston... lived there two years and despised the place.
The schools are good for Florida... it's pretty if you like manicured landscaping and there are hospital jobs and some corporate jobs there, and it's pretty safe, parks are decent.
But, it is far from Ft. Lauderdale, musuems, etc., and the beach. Traffic on 595 is horrid on weekdays. The little downtown area of Weston is interesting for about 10 mins.
I hate gated communites and Weston is full of them. It's really practically a gated city, except that you can drive in on the main roads. Almost all the residential areas are gated (except for the older northern area that was annexed). We went to a birthday party once in one of the larger mcmansion developments and literally spent about 25 minutes behind a line of cars at the guardhouse.
If you love gated communites and the "screw everyone one else i got mine" atttitude that most (not all) people who live in them have, then you will probably love Weston. If you don't then don't move there. Besides the gates you have HOA's that control the color of your house, the types of plants you can landscape with, How often you have to get your roof cleaned, etc.
The hispanic population in Weston is large, but almost everyone will speak english. The Asian population is very small compared to the Bay Area or NYC. My wife is Asian-American and there is absolutely no sense of an asian community anywhere in South Florida.
FYI, I lived in the bay area for 4 years in SF and Oakland (never had a desire to live in Concord or Walnut Creek), NYC (Manhattan & Brooklyn) no desire for Short Hills NJ or Great Neck LI, etc. We lived in Weston because that is where the Dan Marino Center is for children with developmental disabilities and our oldest son is autistic and received therapy there.
Just want to give you another perspective on Weston... lived there two years and despised the place.
The schools are good for Florida... it's pretty if you like manicured landscaping and there are hospital jobs and some corporate jobs there, and it's pretty safe, parks are decent.
But, it is far from Ft. Lauderdale, musuems, etc., and the beach. Traffic on 595 is horrid on weekdays. The little downtown area of Weston is interesting for about 10 mins.
I hate gated communites and Weston is full of them. It's really practically a gated city, except that you can drive in on the main roads. Almost all the residential areas are gated (except for the older northern area that was annexed). We went to a birthday party once in one of the larger mcmansion developments and literally spent about 25 minutes behind a line of cars at the guardhouse.
If you love gated communites and the "screw everyone one else i got mine" atttitude that most (not all) people who live in them have, then you will probably love Weston. If you don't then don't move there. Besides the gates you have HOA's that control the color of your house, the types of plants you can landscape with, How often you have to get your roof cleaned, etc.
The hispanic population in Weston is large, but almost everyone will speak english. The Asian population is very small compared to the Bay Area or NYC. My wife is Asian-American and there is absolutely no sense of an asian community anywhere in South Florida.
FYI, I lived in the bay area for 4 years in SF and Oakland (never had a desire to live in Concord or Walnut Creek), NYC (Manhattan & Brooklyn) no desire for Short Hills NJ or Great Neck LI, etc. We lived in Weston because that is where the Dan Marino Center is for children with developmental disabilities and our oldest son is autistic and received therapy there.
A very accurate perception of Weston. Great post. Even if I enjoy living here, you speak very accurately of Weston. I haven't had any 595 problems, though.
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