Where to live? Working in Opa-locka and wife working Downtown (Miami: condos, low crime)

[steeltalons]

Hello,
I am moving to Miami in the next month with my wife. I need some help trying to figure the best place to live. My wife is working downtown in Brickell and I will be working in Opa-locka. We would like to try to keep the commute to about 45mins or less.

We are looking in the Miami Shores area, and between Coral Gables and the turnpike. Not looking further south then 72nd st. It looks like if we live farther then that the commute would be pretty long.

How are these areas and what would the commute be like?

Any help would be great.

Thanks

[Coconut1]

The closer you live to Downtown, the better. Although it will mean a longer drive for you and shorter drive for your wife, you'll be going against traffic (provided you're working normal hours) whereas she'll be smack dab in the middle of traffic (unless she takes the local roads which would be a real pain) if coming from Miami Shores.

I recommend checking out The Roads or Shenandoah (roughly south of SW 16th Street, east and west from there don't really matter... west you'll hit Coral Gables and east Biscayne Bay after Brickell) She'll be very close to Brickell then and as I said, you'll be going against all the traffic. I'm not sure if you have a desk job or what in Opa Locka, but if so you could even consider taking Metrorail from Vizcaya, Coconut Grove or Brickell, then transferring to Tri-Rail. Tri-Rail has a stop right in Opa Locka; however, if your place of work isn't close to it I might not recommend doing that since Opa Locka is a somewhat dangerous place to be.

[steeltalons]

Thanks for the info. I will be working at the Opa-locka airport. I will be working normal hours most times with some night shifts.

[Coconut1]

That's a little bit of a hike from the train station. I would only do it if I had a bike with me and certainly not at night.

Driving won't be bad. It's only about 15 miles from Brickell to Opa Locka and so if you're in The Roads you'll only be about 17 miles or so. Since it's mostly on 95 it'll be really quick. The night shift could be the only problem if you leave during rush hour. The evening rush hour will be most traffic going north

What is your price range?

[steeltalons]

$300,000 is our price range. Not looking at condos though. We have been able to find some houses. What area is considered the Roads?

[boxus]

You should be able to find a nice place in Opa Locka for that much.

[hurricaneMan1992]

Miami Shores would be a great option. They seem to have a nice little "downtown" area budding on NE 2nd ave. The only "iffy" aspects are proximity to some sketchy neighborhoods and schools may not be the best. Coming out of downtown on I-95 the traffic generally gets bad starting at around 79/82nd st, and you'd only be riding the brakes up to 96th or 103rd, which is really not that bad. Morning rush will be tougher though, as it's often stop-and-go from the Golden Glades down to the Dolphin. Still, it's a relatively short distance. Commute to/from Opa Locka is against traffic, and if there's an accident on I-95, there are a number of alternate local roads you can take.

[nicsma2002]

Another happy medium is Miami Springs. Easy commute to both places.

[steeltalons]

How is the Miami Springs are for crime and schools?

[nicsma2002]

Low crime, is like a small town, very family-oriented. There are 2 public elementary schools that are very good to excellent. There's one public middle school & one public high school that are borderline to okay. There are a couple of pre-k to 8 private schools that are excellent and relatively affordable.