Some information on (West) Miramar (Miami, Pembroke Pines: section 8, real estate market, apartment complex)

[BG0508]

Hello all: I am moving to the area in July with my elementary age daughter. I've heard that West Miramar is a nice area. I have a few specific questions:

1. Does anyone have any information on Dolphin Bay Elementary? It has a pretty good rating on greatschools..., but I'd ideally like to hear from parents whose kids are going or who have gone there.

2. Can anyone recommend an after-school program where enrichment classes are offered (i.e., karate, dance, art, etc.)?

3. Does anyone live in the Windsor apartment complex on 160th avenue? I'm looking into renting there and would love some feedback from residents

4. Is there a farmer's market or grocery store where local/organic produce and quality meats are available (other than "Whole Paycheck" would be nice but not necessary)?

5. How's the commute to West Palm/Boca/Boynton Beach?

Any other advice or info about the area would be very helpful and appreciated. I will likely be working in Miami so, while I understand many areas north of Miramar are nice or nicer, they aren't practical from a commute perspective.

[vr2]

Miramar is an African-American city. Moderator cut: offensive

If you are concerned about a commute, West Pembroke Pines is 2 minutes up the road and generally a much nicer area.

I don't think there are any farmers markets over there, the only one I know about is in Tamarac off University, but I'm sure there are others.

The commute to West Palm/Boca/Boynton isn't too bad. You are looking at a 35- 45 minute drive for Boca/Boynton.

[rkumar3]

I beg to differ with the above poster..... West Miramar is very diverse and you will see people from all races and colors.. If anything, I think it is more Hispanic than African-American. I don't know anyone who lives in that complex but know many folks who live around 160th Ave and it is pretty nice part of the town. Also I have heard good things about Dolphin Bay since my nephew and niece go there.

I don't think there is any authentic local super market out there... and commute to Boca/Boynton is bit of a stretch but doable (35 min to an hr) depending upon the exact location and time of the day.

[hollyinhollywood]

Agree, west Miramar is more Hispanic. The majority of people there are working people, but due to the housing crash, many took to renting out their properties to less than desireable, working class types, and that's the problem with west Miramar. A friend lives in east Miramar, and the neighborhood is far more quiet and stable. Some say "ghetto", but it's just a typical working class area to me.

I noticed that 160th north of Miramar parkway is much more stable feeling than south of the parkway. Not that it's that horrible, and most of it is owners renting to anyone and everyone to stave off foreclosure. I have walked past Windsor, and I think it looks pretty nice. I think they are selective about who they rent to, so you should be just fine there.

Though it looks nice, there is a lot of crime in the area. A woman I used to work with was mugged in the Publix parking lot in broad daylight just down the street recently. Don't be lulled into a false sense of security by the nice surroundings.

I'm just curious why you would live in Miramar and commute to Palm Beach County. The commute won't be awful, but it's pretty long.

[BG0508]

Thank you for your responses. I am more concerned that the people I live with and around are quality people who can live and let live, and I don't want to share the despair of quality people in lower income neighborhoods who are being held hostage by sociopaths since I have a choice in the matter. I'm not someone who believes that just because a person has less money or lots of melanin that s/he is a person of poor character but I understand that many people have these beliefs. I also don't quite understand how a nice area two minutes down the road from another nice area makes a difference in the commute to Miami. If W. Miramar and Pembroke Pines are neighboring communities and both in the same "nice" area, what's the big deal other than one's perception of the people who live in either one?

Miramar sounds great to me so far and I'm happy to hear some anecdotal support of Dolphin Bay's good rating. I'm also encouraged by rather than put off by ethnic diversity. I can't understand why a person would move to or live in South Florida and have a problem with ethnic diversity, but to each his own. There are lots of places in the country where one can avoid interaction with "those people," whoever they are.

I also don't think Miramar is an "African American" area, even if the notion is that 50%+ people who live there are of sub Saharan African descent (something I don't believe is true). There are too many Haitians, British West Indians and Afro-Latinos from the Caribbean and South America running around for that to be the case. Every blond haired blue eyed person running around isn't "European American" either.

[BG0508]

Originally Posted by hollyinhollywood

Agree, west Miramar is more Hispanic. The majority of people there are working people, but due to the housing crash, many took to renting out their properties to less than desireable, working class types, and that's the problem with west Miramar. A friend lives in east Miramar, and the neighborhood is far more quiet and stable. Some say "ghetto", but it's just a typical working class area to me.

I noticed that 160th north of Miramar parkway is much more stable feeling than south of the parkway. Not that it's that horrible, and most of it is owners renting to anyone and everyone to stave off foreclosure. I have walked past Windsor, and I think it looks pretty nice. I think they are selective about who they rent to, so you should be just fine there.

Though it looks nice, there is a lot of crime in the area. A woman I used to work with was mugged in the Publix parking lot in broad daylight just down the street recently. Don't be lulled into a false sense of security by the nice surroundings.

I'm just curious why you would live in Miramar and commute to Palm Beach County. The commute won't be awful, but it's pretty long.

HIH: I don't like but have to accept that living in South Florida means that I'm more likely to be the victim of a robbery or burglary. So I'm not lulled into a false sense of security moving down there, especially since the smarter criminals go to neighborhoods where they can rob and steal from people who have more to take. But that's true virtually everywhere down there. I don't think one can escape it.

I have family in WPB and will be visiting them a lot, so I was curious about the drive. I'd rather live up there, truth be told, but the commute to Miami would bring me to tears on a daily basis.

[heydade]

stay AWAY from Miramar....you have been warned.

[BG0508]

Originally Posted by heydade

stay AWAY from Miramar....you have been warned.

I'm not one for euphemism. I have been told that Miramar is an "African American city" and the moderator removed what was likely some sort of racist and unnecessary addendum to the comment. Two posters shared anecdotal accounts supporting their points of view. You are providing some sort of oblique "warning." Rather than guess your intent, are you warning me because:

1. The proportion of "Black" people who live in Miramar isn't to your liking
2. The crime stats in West Miramar vs. Pembroke Pines are higher
3. The proportion of "working class" people who live in Miramar isn't to your liking

You haven't addressed a single question I asked, and your one-sentence warning isn't informative or useful to me. If you are trying to be helpful (as opposed to reactionary) by all means explain what you mean.

[compelled to reply]

West Miramar and west Pines (west of I-75) are pretty much exactly the same. The crime rates, demographics, schools, etc are no different. The only difference is that most development on the Miramar side is about 10-15 years newer. Both are "above average" if not "top choice" places to live, and are completely fine if the right neighborhood is chosen. Miramar does have a higher proportion of black people east of 75 (in many areas a majority). These are generally working class to well-off blacks from both West Indian and AA descent who mind their own, and even east of 75, there are a lot of safe areas and the crime issues that are present are generally spillover from other areas.

[hollyinhollywood]

The working class people aren't the issue, regardless of income. The issue is that there are a few communities, mostly townhomes, that now have a very high proportion of people living there not because they are working people, but because the government has chosen to give them entitlements. Many of them feel entitled to create crime in nice communities, and there is more of it than there should be in west Miramar.

My friend walked away from her townhome in Nautica. She felt threatened by her new neighbors who took over her assigned parking and had endless streams of "visitors" at all times, and the amount of trash strewn around. The home wasn't worth the mortgage owed on it, and she chose to go into foreclosure rather than gut it out. I don't agree with walking away, but what happened to owners in that development was a pretty hard thing to have to accept. You buy into a nice place, and two years later it's crap, you have a property that's plummeting in value, and you are living in an up and coming section 8 housing situation.

That's my complaint about the area. Renting in a nice community like Windsor shouldn't be a problem for you, and the drive to Miami is close.

Oh, but getting from 160th Ave onto 75 in the morning can take as much as 15-20 minutes. That corner is a real beast.

Hopefully, the real estate market will turn around, and the communities will turn back into owner occupied properties. I just spoke with a friend in RE who says it's picking up.

I personally don't like the area, feel it's transient, feel there is too much crime for a nice, family oriented area, but will concede that violent crime isn't a problem there as far as I know.

Regarding ethnic diversity, I agree with you. However, you may find the poeple who are most intolerant of diversity come from other countries than the US. I too wonder why they move here.