moving to ft. lauderdale-general area

[Mr.Kurtz]

AT least a white trash racist is honest and you know where he stands.

Are you another Berkely wanna be living in Cheap Gainesville ... ?

[vigo]

Pedifiles? Sounds like something you use to remove the dry skin from your heels.

[Nolefan34]

If you think Broward County is safe, just take a walk along US1 in Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, or Dania Beach. You will see more bums, vagrants, and riff raff than you've ever seen in your life.

Better yet, walk on Broward Blvd from downtown Fort Lauderdale west to Plantation. Better yet, walk along Dixie Highway from the top to bottom of Broward County. Better yet, walk on Sistrunk Blvd. You will see how safe it is!

[seain dublin]

Originally Posted by dhumbee

i was just looking for suggestions as to any nice salons that are down to earth, also good, safe areas to live. i never said that there are thousands of jobs out there waiting for me, as if you haven't noticed the whole U.S. is having economic problems, and i have lived in areas like FL where jobs are hard to come by, and areas where there are more plentiful jobs. i am just looking for INFO on the area, not an opinion on my financial well being.

Well the problem is people move to FL with no jobs and then find themselves in a jam and suddenly FL is to blame.

Have you even checked the requirments for getting licensed in the state of FL to be a hair stylist? Depending on whether or not the state you come from matches FL's requirements there maybe more schooling involved in addition to licenses and applications.

[BigSkygirl]

Hello! We recently relocated to Fort Lauderdale from Canada with 3 of our kids. We did a lot of research before choosing Victoria Park as our neighborhood. You cannot generalize about the city nor the neighborhoods in this city. You need to determine what constitutes a "great" area for you. Do you have kids and need them to go to public schools? Then that is a big deal and start your search with A rated districts. If you can afford Catholic or Private then you dont have to be as limited. Los Olas Blvd has a number of salons that cater to locals and tourists which means you can have a chance at walk-ins/weddings etc...and that is in fact how I found my salon and stylist. Now my whole family goes to him so instant book....

If you like to be able to walk to shops, restaurants and be close to the beach, then Victoria Park, Wilton Manors, Coral Ridge....and many others might be a good choice. They are pricier but there are some affordable neighborhoods in proximity that are more affordable and still quite lovely. These are urban neighborhoods and one thing I have discovered living here and previously in Pittsburgh is that most urban centers in the US have the "haves" and "have nots" living in proximity which means you might have more property crime. I feel safe in my neighborhood, I have 3 kids and while I wouldnt let them wander around in the neighborhood on their own, I didnt let them do that back in Canada either. There is a very active Community Association and the local police are very involved in the neighborhood.

We are close to downtown in a warm weather place so we do see homeless people regularly, not so much in our neighborhood but around the outskirts. It makes me more sad than nervous. A lot of mental illness and addiction as far as I can tell.

There are some beautiful suburbs like Weston and Plantation but they are farther out of the city and it tends to be more of a car culture. There are many gated communities which some people love but that would make me feel like I was being kept "in" more than keeping anyone out. But you have a more homogenous group of people in terms of racial and socio-economic levels (my opinion only) so that makes some people more comfortable. We are a mixed race couple with beige kids and liberal "Canadian" views so we wanted to be in a more diverse neighborhood. There may actually be better opportunities for you for salons out there in terms of building a clientele.

I would recommend spending some time here, walk around in different neighborhoods and rent before you buy since some neighborhoods that wouldnt even have hit your radar will come out as real gems for you.

On the work front, my husband was recruited here for an executive role and I was very concerned about finding a job. I started networking and did a couple of volunteer gigs and am now working with a company that actually sponsored my visa so you never know. I would take the advice on checking requirements for licensing and determine if you need to upgrade your skills or want to look at other options.

Hope this helped! I know its always daunting to make a big move. Good for you to be willing to try a new place, Good Luck!

[Jim_Miller]

Originally Posted by trailblazer33

Broward County is an extremely safe...

[Jim_Miller]

Originally Posted by maybesefl

Then you can just live around white trash racists.

If I wanted to live around white trash racists, I'd move to Davie.