Davie, Pembroke Pines, Weston, Miramar, or Hollywood? (Miami, Orlando: 2014, HOA)

[ohiotennis]

Relocating for a job. New to the area. Which of these suburbs would be best for family with 2 middle school kids from the midwest? Catholic schools most preferred...any recommendations? How are the public schools in these areas, as well? Safe neighborhoods in the 400-500k range? Help please!

[proud to be American]

Ohiotennis,

Out of the five towns you mentioned i really like Weston.But, you should also include Cooper City.Located just north of Pembroke Pines and just South of Weston.Take Miramar off your list.The rest of the towns are good in certain areas.But, all of Weston and Cooper city are good towns for families.
Great public schools in Weston And Cooper City.

If you're looking for Catholic schools you need to check St.Thomas and Chaminade maddonna.St.Thomas is located in Ft.Lauderdale and Chaminade is located in Hollywood ane both are excellent schools.My ex-girlfriend is a graduate of Chaminade and my best friends Dad is the head Baseball coach at Chaminade.

A handy County website is WWW.bcpa.net. it is the county tax collectors office and will help you when investigating for a new home.

For $400,000 to $500,000 you should find a suitable home. Prices in this area have gone thru the roof in the last few years.Insurance is a killer along with property tax.Just a heads up.

I hope i answered some of your questions.If you have anymore just let me know.

[ready2move]

We just moved from Cooper City. It is a nice small kid friendly community. Lots of sports programs. It also has St. Marks Catholic and feeds into the catholic high school right next to it. Sorry the name escapes me now. My son went through the Cooper City public school system starting from Kindergarden through 12th. The schools in Cooper City are decent, not great, and are the better of all the evils in terms of public schools. I was a very involved parent. Be aware that the public schools throughout the state of Florida are very FCAT orientated. They will spend a majority of the year planning for those tests, whereas the catholic schools do not..

As far as Pembroke Pines, Miramar, Hollywood & Davie, it depends if your are looking at east or west. There is a big difference between the two. Eastern sections are older, western is tons of subdivision with cookie cutter homes. Lots of people moved to the western areas after hurricane Andrew in 1992. There is a big latin presence in all the western areas including Weston. Weston is a very self contained community with shopping, dining, cars dealerships and was home to Dan Marino of the Dolphins at one point.

Good luck on your search!

[Crew Chief]

I grew up in Hollywood and retired in Dayton, Ohio. We like it here much better...

[PBCboy]

I would have to say Weston, but it's pricey.

[missypach]

Are there re locators that can help us out with these kind of things like telling us about each neighborhood. We're looKing for more of a spanish vibe that we can speak spanish often, have our cultural foods nearby and social activities. Would like to have a nice circle of friends with things in common. My husband also is an avid domino player and participates in tornoments here in Ny. So that would be a major factor in looking which neighboorhood to choose. I know, many will say go to Orlando but ,though we are Puerto Rican, we are not looking to live next to those particular Puerto Ricans. I hear it's rough over there. Any town or village that has that caribbean vibe feeling of being back home. The restaurants, homes the way they constructed, interact with neighbors, non- cookicutter homes, tropical looking resort, domino clubs my husband can join. I'd appreciate any help you can offer this Boricua! Thanks! :-)

[Mr. Lee]

Weston and Cooper City bring up lots of choices in the $400,000 to $500,000 range, I believe either would be a good choice for schools and a good life, I suggest trying to find the most for your money in a home of the type that you like and then be sure to have a home inspection by a qualified inspector before buying and get a wind mitigation report to give to your insurance company to possibly save you some bucks on your insurance.

In Florida it is going to be important for insurance and safety purposes to find a home that meets hurricane standards, so a newer home that comes with most of those or an update older home would be the way to go. Monterra in Cooper City IMO might be a nice place to look where you will find newer homes in your price range.

[OptimusPrime69]

Weston, Davie, and Cooper City are prob the nicest areas.
Hollywood, in my honest opinion is not nice. Granted if you're east of US1 is it nice, but most everwhere is nice by the water.... western portions of hollywood are just nothing to write home about. Older 60s style homes...and kind of crappy area along 441

[ruski]

Originally Posted by missypach

Are there re locators that can help us out with these kind of things like telling us about each neighborhood. We're looKing for more of a spanish vibe that we can speak spanish often, have our cultural foods nearby and social activities. Would like to have a nice circle of friends with things in common. My husband also is an avid domino player and participates in tornoments here in Ny. So that would be a major factor in looking which neighboorhood to choose. I know, many will say go to Orlando but ,though we are Puerto Rican, we are not looking to live next to those particular Puerto Ricans. I hear it's rough over there. Any town or village that has that caribbean vibe feeling of being back home. The restaurants, homes the way they constructed, interact with neighbors, non- cookicutter homes, tropical looking resort, domino clubs my husband can join. I'd appreciate any help you can offer this Boricua! Thanks! :-)

Start with Weston

Kid-friendly vibe draws house-hunters to Weston | MiamiHerald.com

[rkumar3]

Weston is an excellent choice... however, I personally prefer Cooper City or western parts of Davie since I try to avoid the cookie cutter weston homes that are located inside HOA governed sub-divisions. Just a matter of personal preference