Is Ft. Lauderdale a good "family" city (Fort Lauderdale: neighborhood, elementary school)

[imcomputnik]

Hi everyone! I have four small children and currently live in the Kansas City metro. I am trying to find a city located at the beach that would be a good forever place to raise my children. They are all elementary age. Could I get some opinions on what everyone thinks about pros and cons and if there are nearby cities to look into...I am grateful for anything anyone can bring to the table.

Thanks!
Cathie

If there are better cities that have better qualities...let me know I am open!

[StEt0417]

If you can afford private school for all your children then I think its a nice place to live otherwise no. Its a beautiful city but its expensive and the public school system is not the greatest! There are plenty of other cities near by which arent far drive to the beach that have more families. Lighthouse point, coral springs, parkland, weston, p.pines. FYI lighthouse point does not have good public schools.

Just wanted to add make sure before moving you do you research on the schools especially if you plan on public, the school system in broward isnt so great. Most people end up sending their kids all over town to get them in magnet, charters or reassigned to schools that arent ghetto or they end up at private.

[vr2]

Absolutely not. Though you may be referring to the greater fort lauderdale area, in which case, absolutely not as well.

[Nolefan34]

NO. There are some suburbs around Fort Lauderdale that are good family places such as Coral Springs, Parkland, Sunrise, Davie, Weston, Southwest Ranches, Pembroke Pines, and Cooper City that are considered good family areas with good schools. But Fort Lauderdale (city proper) is not a good place to raise kids.

[ruhighlander]

I guess it all depends on your perspective. Moving to Broward from Baltimore was a good switch for us. While it still hasn't been easy to relocate and the kids are still adjusting, there is so much to do here. I feel like there are so many more things we can do as a family here. Plenty of parks, plenty of places to ride bikes, walk, many things to do in general compared to where we were. So far, I have been pleasantly surprised with the schools. I will say they are missing the arts in school down here. They have specials on a 6 day rotation, no band in elementary school but we can supplement at home. Major budget cuts but they have amazing parental and community support in out area. I'm not sure why everyone says its such a bad place to raise kids bc no where is perfect and I think it's what you make of it. Good luck in your decision!

[Nolefan34]

ruhighlander-

What part of Fort Lauderdale are you in? Are you living in the city of Fort Lauderdale? Or the greater Broward area. I think we need to distinguish because the City of Fort Lauderdale is pretty rough in many parts. There are some excellent suburbs such as Weston, Cooper City, Coral Springs, etc. which are nice and safe with good schools. I am not sure if the original poster meant the city or the greater area.

[ruhighlander]

Yes, I am talking about the suburbs of Ft. Lauderdale. We are in Cooper City. I guess I was responding ore to vr2 that said the greater Ft. Lauderdale area was bad as well. I can't really think of any real city area that would be a great place to raise kids. But for us, comparing our Baltimore suburb to the Ft. Lauderdale suburb is has been a positive experience

[Nolefan34]

ruhighlander-

My point is that the suburbs and Fort Lauderdale are two different animals. Fort Lauderdale is not considered a good place to raise kids. Some suburbs of Fort Lauderdale are considered very good places to raise kids. It just depends which suburb.

[G8tor]

Hi - I am in the same position as Cathie and surprised by some of the feedback although I am not a local and cannot dispute one bit of it. Neighborhood scout and US Census data shows some safe and children populated areas in Rio Vista and Victoria Gardens. Is that information inaccurate?

[Nolefan34]

G8tor-

Yes that is correct for the most part. But I don't know how good the public schools are. I think you'd have to send your kids to private schools there or else put them at the mercy of F schools of downtown Fort Lauderdale.

A much safer option if you have kids is to live in a western suburb where the public schools are much better. It is also safer overall in some of the Western suburbs.