Relocating from Westchester NY to Miami (Pembroke Pines, Kendall: apartment complexes, rentals, condos)

[inf123_in]

Planning to move to Miami from north Westchester NY, we are family with kids going to KG, I will be working in hammocks, based on school reviews, and commute to office, we have zeroed on renting apartment Weston/near by areas, I would greatly appreciate any info /suggestion

1. Good Apartments to rent in and around Weston with Asian families

2. Commute on I-75S and FL 821S, during office hours, and routes to avoid into and out of west Kendall

3. Suggestion on any other places in Broward that has good schools,Asian families and commutable to hammocks

Thanks

[ruski]

Weston is great. That's where I moved to from Westchester, NY

Hammocks will be a long-ish commute, but doable.

In addition to I-75 and FL Turnpike you can also take US-27 and Turnpike (some parts of Weston are closer to US-27)

Schools.. Well, Weston is the place with good schools.

[wizrap]

IMHO, Weston is perhaps the most multi-cultural city in Broward County; I think people from nearly every part of the globe live here, so an Asian family should fit right in, no matter where in the city you decide to rent. I live in Weston and I have neighbors from South America, South Korea, Russia, Italy, India, Canada, Israel and Jamaica. Weston is nearly 50-50 split between non-Hispanic and Hispanic.

Weston has a handful of apartment complexes and also has several condo communities in the older, Bonaventure section; the condos in Bonaventure are privately owned and several are available for rent -- you could google Bonaventure Weston, FL rentals -- and I'm sure you should be able to find several.

As far as a drive down to Kendall, during office hours, it is going to be brutal -- I would do as Ruski suggests and take the Turnpike extension. I had an assignment in Doral last month (Doral is in central, western Dade County) and during non-peak times, it took me about 45 minutes each way. You might save some time if you look at some places in western Pembroke Pines -- you'd probably shave around 10, 15 minutes.

Good luck to you and here's hoping you and your family find something you like!

[JacobMAX]

Weston is an excellent area in nearly every regard, and very diverse. But that commute would be brutal, I personally would rule out all of Broward except probably West Pines and West Miramar, which would have slightly better - probably bearable - commute times. From Weston (Bonaventure area, where most Weston apt. complexes are) would be approximately just over 40 miles (that's taking the shortest route) and at peak hours I'd guess 1:30-2:15 hrs total each way (depending on accidents, construction, how briskly you're driving, etc).

Take a look at West Pines and West Miramar - they're nearly as nice, quite safe, diverse as well, have cheaper housing prices, good schools on the more West End areas (west of I-75). Plus somewhere nice and safe in Miami-Dade (like Dadeland - which has a small but significant Asian community; South Miami, Coral Gables, etc.) Even though I prefer Broward; but with that commute, especially having to go through the West Kendall/SW Dade area - which is a traffic nightmare, even going against traffic most of the way; I wouldn't even consider it.

[ruski]

Originally Posted by wizrap

IMHO, Weston is perhaps the most multi-cultural city in Broward County; I think people from nearly every part of the globe live here, so an Asian family should fit right in, no matter where in the city you decide to rent. I live in Weston and I have neighbors from South America, South Korea, Russia, Italy, India, Canada, Israel and Jamaica. Weston is nearly 50-50 split between non-Hispanic and Hispanic.

Weston has a handful of apartment complexes and also has several condo communities in the older, Bonaventure section; the condos in Bonaventure are privately owned and several are available for rent -- you could google Bonaventure Weston, FL rentals -- and I'm sure you should be able to find several.

As far as a drive down to Kendall, during office hours, it is going to be brutal -- I would do as Ruski suggests and take the Turnpike extension. I had an assignment in Doral last month (Doral is in central, western Dade County) and during non-peak times, it took me about 45 minutes each way. You might save some time if you look at some places in western Pembroke Pines -- you'd probably shave around 10, 15 minutes.

Good luck to you and here's hoping you and your family find something you like!

I used to commute to Doral for 3 years, but that was before Pembroke Pines and Miramar got built out. Although it was also before the improvements to the tolls on Florida Turnpike (so I would be flying past PPines and Miramar, but then sit at the toll booth near Medley).

Radar detector helps to cut down the trip time

[Nolefan34]

Weston is a bit far. I would recommend a little further south. Western Pembroke Pines and Western Miramar are a more bearable commute. One area that might work is the area where Red Road and Hiatus Rd. intersection. There are a bunch of new apartment complexes there. You are right off of the Turnpike/Red Rd. exit. You can simply jump on the Turnpike and avoid 75 altogether.

The Turnpike commute down to Kendall isn't that bad. You are going against the grain of traffic once you get past SR-836 interchange. There are often slowdowns on the Turnpike around where I-75 connects to Okeechobee. But its nothing that terrible.

Where in West Kendall are you commuting to? There is a big difference between getting off at SW 88th Street versus getting off at SW 156th Street.

[inf123_in]

Thank you all for valuable info

Nolefan34: I will be exiting SW120th street

[ruski]

40 minutes without traffic from Weston.

[JacobMAX]

Originally Posted by ruski

40 minutes without traffic from Weston.

Ruski, I did and do agree with you on many things here on the forum, but I lived (and will be living) not far at all from West Kendall; the SW 120th St Area of The Hammocks (which is basically the south end of it) has one of the worst traffic congestions at rush hour in all of SoFL. It's about 40 miles, unless there's no traffic (which is impossible, as the OP's work is in West Kendall) and the OP's driving fast and overtaking everything, that's still nearly impossible.

I once did a commute with roughly the same number of miles - towards Deerfield Beach near I-95 and Hillsboro from the south end of the Brickell area - taking the I-95 Express, against traffic, and very nearly all of the miles on the highway; and in the best days I averaged about 50-55 minutes total, driving (quite, actually quite very briskly, I'd rather even not say the avg. speed). Conclusion, I'd say from Weston (Bonaventure) to The Hammocks is at least 1-1:10hr (with little traffic). With regular (or a load of) traffic, quite a bit more.