Best place to live in the Ft Lauderdale area? (Fort Lauderdale: condos, crime)

[Matches Malone]

I will probably be relocating soon to the Fort Lauderdale area due to a job.

I will be moving from the midwest. Salary is $70,000. I'm single.

How is the area? Is there a lot of crime?

What are some good, safe places to live?

How's the standard of living?

Traffic?

I'm just trying to get a feel for the area. I've never been to Florida before.

[Mr. Lee]

Most of Broward county is considered Fort Lauderdale, as an example I used to live in Davie yet the mail came addressed to Fort Lauderdale, so there are good areas and bad areas even within some nice cities, it will depend on the zip code of your job as to where you might wish to live. In Fort Lauderdale itself there is the Las Olas area 33301 which is a nice area and the 17th street Causeway area 33316 which is also nice, then there are nice parts of Davie, Plantation, Sunrise, Pembroke Pines and Cooper City to name some, and a lot of people like Weston and Parkland but you might not wish to live in any of those west side cities if you are going to be working on the east side because the commute might take an hour each way during rush hour.

Crime in all the upper cost areas will be fairly low whereas crime in some of the low cost areas usually is higher.

Best thing for you to do would be to come down for a vacation for a few weeks to see what area best fits your way of life, the suburbs out west or city life on the east side of town and then there are also plenty of nice condos and homes right on the ocean, with 70k a year you should be able to afford rents in most areas.

[Matches Malone]

Originally Posted by Mr. Lee

Most of Broward county is considered Fort Lauderdale, as an example I used to live in Davie yet the mail came addressed to Fort Lauderdale, so there are good areas and bad areas even within some nice cities, it will depend on the zip code of your job as to where you might wish to live. In Fort Lauderdale itself there is the Las Olas area 33301 which is a nice area and the 17th street Causeway area 33316 which is also nice, then there are nice parts of Davie, Plantation, Sunrise, Pembroke Pines and Cooper City to name some, and a lot of people like Weston and Parkland but you might not wish to live in any of those west side cities if you are going to be working on the east side because the commute might take an hour each way during rush hour.

Crime in all the upper cost areas will be fairly low whereas crime in some of the low cost areas usually is higher.

Best thing for you to do would be to come down for a vacation for a few weeks to see what area best fits your way of life, the suburbs out west or city life on the east side of town and then there are also plenty of nice condos and homes right on the ocean, with 70k a year you should be able to afford rents in most areas.

Thanks for your response. This is probably going to sound very ignorant but being from the midwest, all I hear about is alligator infestation. I'm deathly scared of them. How bad is it there?

[Mr. Lee]

Originally Posted by Matches Malone

Thanks for your response. This is probably going to sound very ignorant but being from the midwest, all I hear about is alligator infestation. I'm deathly scared of them. How bad is it there?

You will not see any alligators in any of the populated areas until you get farther out west, possibly in and around Weston or west of there. I had lived in Davie for many years and on a lake and never saw even one in all those years but we did get snakes from time to time in our bushes, not the kind that can hurt you but they did show up every now and then. Also raccoons and possums as well as big bull frogs, so if you do not like wildlife then best to live on the east side. Gators do not attack people but they will eat a dog or cat if the opportunity presents itself for them but again, that is only very far west.

[ruski]

Originally Posted by Matches Malone

I will probably be relocating soon to the Fort Lauderdale area due to a job.

I will be moving from the midwest. Salary is $70,000. I'm single.

How is the area? Is there a lot of crime?

What are some good, safe places to live?

How's the standard of living?

Traffic?

I'm just trying to get a feel for the area. I've never been to Florida before.

Where will you be working?

[wizrap]

Originally Posted by Matches Malone

I will probably be relocating soon to the Fort Lauderdale area due to a job.

I will be moving from the midwest. Salary is $70,000. I'm single.

How is the area? Is there a lot of crime?

What are some good, safe places to live?

How's the standard of living?

Traffic?

I'm just trying to get a feel for the area. I've never been to Florida before.

Did you check the sticky which is the 2nd thread in this forum? Color-coded map of neighborhoods according to safety.

That standard of living question is rather broad, especially for someone moving from the Midwest. If you're making the same salary where you are right now, odds are your money won't go as far here. Generally, a $70k salary is higher then the median here--just checked a Broward County website and as per HUD figures, median income in Broward is $61k.

Traffic? Lots of it, especially during snowbird season. Hopefully you can find something close to your new job--makes life easier.

[MrKnight]

Congrats on your move! I recently relocated to this area from the Northeast. With your salary as a single person you will be able to live very comfortably in this area. As far as places to live, I strongly recommend Las Olas or Flagler Village (Downtown Fort Lauderdale) both very vibrant areas, lots of young professionals, great restaurants, bars, nightlife, arts, etc.

The standard of living really depends on your income and lifestyle, you can live a very luxurious lifestyle in the Las Olas area with access to every type of service you could possibly need. The overall vibe in this area is very different from other parts of the country, you can find both good and bad, it really depends on what you make of it and what you look for..

IMHO, traffic is very manageable, some people complain that there is too much traffic but those people clearly have not experienced traffic in larger cities..

Please let me know if I can answer any other questions for you! Best of luck!

[Matches Malone]

Originally Posted by ruski

Where will you be working?

I don't know exactly where yet. All I know is that it's in the Fort Lauderdale area. My best guess is Hollywood, Miramar etc.

[Matches Malone]

Originally Posted by Mr. Lee

You will not see any alligators in any of the populated areas until you get farther out west, possibly in and around Weston or west of there. I had lived in Davie for many years and on a lake and never saw even one in all those years but we did get snakes from time to time in our bushes, not the kind that can hurt you but they did show up every now and then. Also raccoons and possums as well as big bull frogs, so if you do not like wildlife then best to live on the east side. Gators do not attack people but they will eat a dog or cat if the opportunity presents itself for them but again, that is only very far west.

Thanks. That gives me a little reassurance. Regarding snakes, are they the venomous types. Do they show up in your house or is it something that you will only see in the bushes outside?

[Matches Malone]

Originally Posted by wizrap

Did you check the sticky which is the 2nd thread in this forum? Color-coded map of neighborhoods according to safety.

That standard of living question is rather broad, especially for someone moving from the Midwest. If you're making the same salary where you are right now, odds are your money won't go as far here. Generally, a $70k salary is higher then the median here--just checked a Broward County website and as per HUD figures, median income in Broward is $61k.

Traffic? Lots of it, especially during snowbird season. Hopefully you can find something close to your new job--makes life easier.

Thank you. I just checked out the map. What is the legend for it? I'm guessing green are the good areas. Red are the bad areas. Yellow is lukewarm. I can't figure out the rest. Blue is really safe?