Boca, Parkland, Weston, Delray, Boyton or West Palm (Coral Springs, Boca Raton: to buy, live in)

[RayNagin504]

Parkland. Weston is snobby.

[WhatUpFLA]

Parkland and Weston are beautiful communities, and both cities great places to raise a family, IMO.

Parkland is smaller in terms of land area and population than Weston, and it's also farther removed from both Ft. Lauderdale and Miami. If you were working in Boca or Coral Springs, then the obvious best choice would be Parkland. That's a no-brainer. However, if you were working in Ft. Lauderdale or Miami, I would recommend moving to Weston.

Because Weston is all around larger than Parkland and better situated within Broward County, it has more amenities within its city limits and relatively nearby. There aren't many dining options in Parkland, and there's virtually no shopping within city limits. Parkland has a woodsier feel than Weston, an attribute of the city I really enjoy. It also has fewer HOA neighborhoods, and it's population is far less diverse. Getting to and from Parkland can be somewhat of a PITA because there's only one freeway that serves the community: the Sawgrass Expressway, a tolled road. At least you don't have to pay a toll on either I-75 or I-595 if you want to travel south, east, or west from Weston. But if you were to travel north, you would need to take the Sawgrass. However, most people in Weston don't commute north; most commute either south or east.

Overall, both of these cities are a lot more alike than they are different. You can't wrong with either, especially with regard to safety, aesthetics, and schools. Best of luck.

[Nolefan34]

You cannot go wrong with any of the areas mentioned. They are all good areas. It would depend greatly on where your job is. If you're job is in Miami, you should rule out Delray. It is too far away to commute reasonably. Even Parkland and Boca are pretty far from Miami, at least over 1 hour.

[SDTNT]

Thank you for all the responses! My job is sales oriented so my territory will be Florida South (Palm Beach to Miami on the East and Tampa and everything south on the West)...however I may only need to commute twice per week. Have some interest in The Bridges in Boca/Delray and Mira Lago and Parkland G&CC in Parkland...doesn't appear that there are new developments in Weston. Input on these communities would be appreciated.

[ruski]

Weston has been built out quite a few years.

[loribell38]

Moved to Weston ourselves in 99 leaving LI behind. Left in 2006 and for now am back on LI. Would choose Weston or Parkland if moving back (am back & forth with this idea). Loved the 7 years lived in Weston. Only problem we had was language barrier as most people spoke spanish in Weston area. Hard to make friends that way as we had no kids. Schools in Weston are great as the many people we knew with kids were very happy.

Happy back here on LI..but believe we would be better off back in Florida. Just we keep getting cold feet due to the reasons we left in the first place. Looking at Wellington area in Palm Beach now as it as close to the Weston feel to us.

[ruski]

Your cold feet may be caused by all that snow

[JacobMAX]

I would recommend Parkland or Weston; it's a tough one. As another poster said, you can't go wrong with both of these areas, they're great all throughout and would be a good fit for you. I would also suggest SW Ranches, which is just to the south of Weston, and it's more exclusive and I personally like it more, even as it's kind of an exurban, somewhat rural place. Excellent and probably as safe as it gets anywhere in the region, properly nice.

[WhatUpFLA]

Originally Posted by loribell38

Moved to Weston ourselves in 99 leaving LI behind. Left in 2006 and for now am back on LI. Would choose Weston or Parkland if moving back (am back & forth with this idea). Loved the 7 years lived in Weston. Only problem we had was language barrier as most people spoke spanish in Weston area. Hard to make friends that way as we had no kids. Schools in Weston are great as the many people we knew with kids were very happy.

Happy back here on LI..but believe we would be better off back in Florida. Just we keep getting cold feet due to the reasons we left in the first place. Looking at Wellington area in Palm Beach now as it as close to the Weston feel to us.

I've heard that the upscale areas of western Broward County such as Weston, Parkland, SW Ranches, Pembroke Pines, Coral Springs, etc. peaked in the late 90's/early 2000's, right before the area became completely built out. A number of people have told me that, unfortunately, western Broward is not what was 12-15 years ago.

Believe it or not, I know a family who moved to Plantation in '99, and they adored that area when they first moved there. Now, they can't wait to sell and move further north. However, I will attest to this: The matriarch of that particular family worked in banking in RI. In 2006, (pre-recession, mind you) she was still making $10 less an hour than she was making in RI in 1999. That was the first time the generally low salaries in South FL were put into perspective for me.

During the housing boom of the mid-2000's, Palm Beach County really boomed in comparison to Broward County, specifically Wellington, PBG, and Jupiter. That's why homes further north in the metro area are typically newer than those further south.

It looks like you have the right idea by concentrating your search further north if you chose to move back to FL. Wellington is now what Weston was when you first moved to FL in the late 90's.

[Swimmom32]

If schools are important for you and they won't attend private school I would really research those schools that the Bridges attend as I do believe from an acquaintance who is buying in there they are zoned for all Delray Schools...as some of Delray are zoned for Boca schools...we love Boca because of the proximity to everything as its so well located in my opinion...