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Fort Lauderdale area Broward County
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Old 03-08-2010, 09:47 AM
 
207 posts, read 535,808 times
Reputation: 90

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Hello Everyone,

I am a teacher who has been looking for positions all over the U.S. I have applied to 3 places so far, DC, New Orleans and Ft. Lauderdale

While DC is my first choice, if Broward County calls first, I'm going. But I've only been to Florida once, Orlando of course, so I know nothing about the area. Any info you could give would be great. I'm going to look up some apartments and the transit system on my own, but I love to get the perspectives of people who live in and around the area. You call can give a more authentic point of view.

As a teacher, my starting salary there will be around 47 grand, which would give me about a thousand a month to pay on rent. Now, I don't know the cost of living there, so I am so sure that I'll probably be living in a studio apartment, which is fine for me and the dog and I won't have a car right away, so I'll be bussing or cabbing it just until I can get a car.

I know this may not seem like a good idea, but my current car is so old, it won't last much longer and I don't want to bring it only for it to conk out on me in a few months. It is on its last leg.

I'm currently residing in Detroit and like I said, DC was my plan and hopefully still is, but at this point, first call, first GOOOOO!!

So, hook me up, restaurants, churches, grocery stores, malls, best parts of town, crime rates, best beaches, cost of living. You just hit me with whatever you can give me.

But what I need first is the best part of town to live in. Cause I will work anywhere, I won't live anywhere. No disrespect to my people, but I've had enough hood to last me a lifetime. I'll work and visit and even spend there, cause I gotta get my "do done" but live there again, nope. And I'm Black so please don't get at me cause I'm just saying I want to live someplace that my family would be proud to visit me.

Oh well, I'm sure I've offended someone by saying this but hey such is life.

Thanks everyone.
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Old 03-08-2010, 10:18 AM
 
3,910 posts, read 9,426,269 times
Reputation: 1954
Teacher>

First, I think you will like living here. There is plenty to do here; shopping, restaurants, the beach, plenty of nightlife, etc. But you will need a car to live here because there really is no public transportation to speak of. The best parts of Fort Lauderdale are not in Fort Lauderdale though. Ft. Lauderdale is crime-ridden and run-down except for Las Olas and the east side. But those areas are expensive for your budget. You can live in the surrounding suburbs and commute.

There is no "best area". There are a bunch of areas/suburbs you can live in that are close distance to Fort Lauderdale. In general, the closer to the beach you are the more nightlife there is. Since you are a single woman I would recommend living further east. Pompano Beach and Hollywood are two areas you might like, but you need to know which are the good neighborhoods. There are some parts of those 2 cities that are bad. If you want quieter suburbs, then you can live further west in Plantation, Davie, Sunrise, Coral Springs, Cooper City, Weston, and Pembroke Pines. But I should warn you might get bored living out there being single.

On your budget of $1000, you can find decent 1BR apartments for rent in some areas. In general, anything close to the beach is more expensive, but there are exceptions. The further west, the cheaper but you are more isolated. Check out a website called Rent.com and you can see all of the rental communities and prices that they are advertising with square footage, amenities, etc. Just make sure you are considering the costs of utilities, cable tv, and internet when you make a decision, as those items can add up to about $200/mo extra on top of your rent.

Public Transportation- almost non-existent. You will need a car to live here. I don't know your financial situation, but if you have some extra cash you might want to sell your junker and buy a used car down here. If you live east near the ocean, there are some semi-walkable areas where you can do basic shopping without a car, but you will still need a car to commute to work. You will be miserable here without a car. The only true walkable area where you don't need a car to live is Las Olas, but base rents there are well beyond $1000.

Crime- It is very complicated. Broward County is very patchy with good areas mixed in with bad areas. Much of Fort Lauderdale is bad. But there aren't really any super-bad neighborhoods here. Nothing like Miami, Detroit, Baltimore, etc. Just a lot of seedy/sketchy areas.
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Old 03-08-2010, 11:48 AM
 
207 posts, read 535,808 times
Reputation: 90
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nolefan34 View Post
Teacher>

First, I think you will like living here. There is plenty to do here; shopping, restaurants, the beach, plenty of nightlife, etc. But you will need a car to live here because there really is no public transportation to speak of. The best parts of Fort Lauderdale are not in Fort Lauderdale though. Ft. Lauderdale is crime-ridden and run-down except for Las Olas and the east side. But those areas are expensive for your budget. You can live in the surrounding suburbs and commute.

There is no "best area". There are a bunch of areas/suburbs you can live in that are close distance to Fort Lauderdale. In general, the closer to the beach you are the more nightlife there is. Since you are a single woman I would recommend living further east. Pompano Beach and Hollywood are two areas you might like, but you need to know which are the good neighborhoods. There are some parts of those 2 cities that are bad. If you want quieter suburbs, then you can live further west in Plantation, Davie, Sunrise, Coral Springs, Cooper City, Weston, and Pembroke Pines. But I should warn you might get bored living out there being single.

On your budget of $1000, you can find decent 1BR apartments for rent in some areas. In general, anything close to the beach is more expensive, but there are exceptions. The further west, the cheaper but you are more isolated. Check out a website called Rent.com and you can see all of the rental communities and prices that they are advertising with square footage, amenities, etc. Just make sure you are considering the costs of utilities, cable tv, and internet when you make a decision, as those items can add up to about $200/mo extra on top of your rent.

Public Transportation- almost non-existent. You will need a car to live here. I don't know your financial situation, but if you have some extra cash you might want to sell your junker and buy a used car down here. If you live east near the ocean, there are some semi-walkable areas where you can do basic shopping without a car, but you will still need a car to commute to work. You will be miserable here without a car. The only true walkable area where you don't need a car to live is Las Olas, but base rents there are well beyond $1000.

Crime- It is very complicated. Broward County is very patchy with good areas mixed in with bad areas. Much of Fort Lauderdale is bad. But there aren't really any super-bad neighborhoods here. Nothing like Miami, Detroit, Baltimore, etc. Just a lot of seedy/sketchy areas.
Great info. Hmmm, no good transportation huh, gosh, Detroit is like that and IT SUCKS. Car maintenance is just becoming way too much. The older the car, the more it needs, new battery last year, new tires this year, new shocks later this month, just a ton of crap. I think you're right. I'll sell mine and just buy a used one to get to work down there.

And hey there NOW, I'm a Detroiter and while some areas are pretty bad even in the day time, lot of nicer areas here too, THERE JUST AREN'T ENOUGH JOBS. Can't take it anymore. UGH....

Gonna write down the names of those cities you mentioned and look those up. I am seriously hoping I can go to DC, I loved it when I went there and felt like it would be a perfect fit for me. It's so "metropolitan" lol. Every walk of life and everything you could imagine exists there. Well it exists everywhere, but its more visible there. And it's not so far, only 500 miles. Florida is 900 but still only a 3 hour plane ride, so it should be okay.

Another reason I want to ditch the car is the price of car insurance. I can't take the fluctuations. It'll go up depending on where I end up and that's 2 grand a year I could allocate to something else. Hmmm, Again, the car is the big issue. I'm tired of it, I just am. I'm out of a car note and yet now it needs so much maintenance, I'm just done dealing with it.

Oh well, so I know if I choose Florida, keep the car. Okay. Anywhoo, I'm sure I'd like it. Might be fun living in a warmer climate all year round. Of course with the recent weather trends, that may be a thing of the past. LOL.

Sometimes having too many options is a big problem.
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