Moving To Weston: Any Ideas? (Miami, Miami Beach: HOA fees, how much, houses)

[cirfer]

Currently living in Miami Beach, where the quality of life as well as the quality of education has steadily gone down. Recently had the opportunity to attend a Tennis Tournament in Weston for my 10 year old, and have made my mind to to relocate to Weston at the end of this school year. I have done some research on schools and leaning toward American Heritage School for both children. Would appreciate any ideas on a nice communities to begin my home search. I don't play golf and would like a well equipped community center & pool area, while being in the vicinity of the Midtown Heath club and YMCA.
Looking for an area I can feel safe letting kids play outside on their own.

[ruski]

Originally Posted by cirfer

Currently living in Miami Beach, where the quality of life as well as the quality of education has steadily gone down. Recently had the opportunity to attend a Tennis Tournament in Weston for my 10 year old, and have made my mind to to relocate to Weston at the end of this school year. I have done some research on schools and leaning toward American Heritage School for both children. Would appreciate any ideas on a nice communities to begin my home search. I don't play golf and would like a well equipped community center & pool area, while being in the vicinity of the Midtown Heath club and YMCA.
Looking for an area I can feel safe letting kids play outside on their own.

Hi cirfer, you will probably like Savanna - it has the best community center and pool area. And it is the closest to the YMCA - you can bike on the sidewalk all the way to YMCA from Savanna.
However it is not close to the Midtown Health club - you need to go there by car pretty much across Weston, but that's only 10 minutes

If you want to be half way between the two, then you could look at Weston Hills or Palm/Orchid Islands or Hibiscus Island.

The two communities near the Midtown Athletic club are the Windmill Ranches (where Dan Marino used to live) or Country Isles. Some Country Isles subdivisions are not gated, but are still very safe and lovely.


Please check your direct messages, I sent you a DM.

[ruski]

By the way, this is the pool / community center in Savanna, aka "Savanna Commons". Three pools and a water slide!

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=westo...gl=us&t=h&z=19

[ruski]

Oh, and this is a map of the developments I made for someone a while ago

[wizrap]

Originally Posted by cirfer

Currently living in Miami Beach, where the quality of life as well as the quality of education has steadily gone down. Recently had the opportunity to attend a Tennis Tournament in Weston for my 10 year old, and have made my mind to to relocate to Weston at the end of this school year. I have done some research on schools and leaning toward American Heritage School for both children. Would appreciate any ideas on a nice communities to begin my home search. I don't play golf and would like a well equipped community center & pool area, while being in the vicinity of the Midtown Heath club and YMCA.
Looking for an area I can feel safe letting kids play outside on their own.

I've lived in Weston for not quite 20 years (moved here shortly after it was incorporate as a city) so I'll give you my perspective. You didn't say what your price range was for homes, so depending on your budget, you might be making some trade offs, or maybe not.

As for developments being in the vicinity of Midtown Athletic Club and the Y, all of the developments in Weston are within easy driving distance -- Weston is not even 30 square miles so you can get to one end of the city to the other in an easy 15 minutes -- sometimes 20 depending on whether or not you hit all the lights. As for safety, Weston was recently named one of the safest cities in America by Neighborhood Scout -- it was the only city in Broward so honored. Nearly every development is gated.

All the gated developments have a community pool or pools -- the only one that I can think of off-hand that has a community center/clubhouse, in addition to a couple of pools, is the Savanna development -- there's a water slide, basketball court, football field and clubhouse. Savanna is just down the street from the Y and about a 15 minute drive, if that, to Midtown.

The oldest section of Weston, Bonaventure, requires mandatory membership to its community center, which has an exercise center, two pools, racquetball court, a theater, and inside basketball gym. I think the fee is around $300 a year. Much of Bonaventure is not gated, as it is older, but it is also very safe.

Hope this helps!

[ruski]

Another advantage of Savanna is its size. It is one of the larger communities in Weston, and this allows for lower HOA fees ($320 per Quarter, last time I checked).

[Mattie]

There is no community pool in The Landings, although most home have private ones. There is a park in the center with basketball courts though.

[Momma_bear]

Originally Posted by cirfer

Currently living in Miami Beach, where the quality of life as well as the quality of education has steadily gone down. Recently had the opportunity to attend a Tennis Tournament in Weston for my 10 year old, and have made my mind to to relocate to Weston at the end of this school year. I have done some research on schools and leaning toward American Heritage School for both children. Would appreciate any ideas on a nice communities to begin my home search. I don't play golf and would like a well equipped community center & pool area, while being in the vicinity of the Midtown Heath club and YMCA.
Looking for an area I can feel safe letting kids play outside on their own.

How much do you want to spend on a house?

[AlexRodriguez]

Stay away from Savanna if you can. Yes, it's a large community, but most houses are almost one on top of each other with no backyard (over 3000 houses) So, if you like the cookie cutter feel and NOT high-quality construction and a place your friends will hate when they come to visit you on new year's eve, then Savanna could be your place. Depending on your budget Weston has great communities from which you can bike to both midtown and YMCA.

[ruski]

That's a little harsh. On top of each other? There is plenty of elbow room in Savanna.

Homes in Weston Hills aren't THAT much further apart.

Also if you find a place on a wedge-shaped lot and/or and or on a corner and/or with a lake in the backyard, you will have plenty of room.

Take a look at my old house in Savanna, for example: