Large-ish Family moving to MIA (Miami, North Miami: for rent, neighborhood, catholic schools)

[FlyMIA]

Originally Posted by Smokey1961

Also if you do move to one of those areas, avoid 395 and 195, the traffic is frightening on those two bridges.

Besides for the evening rush hour or a big event I have never had problems on either bridge. 79th street or Broad causeway are better but they also have the draw bridges so its hit and miss.

[LeftCoaster206]

I will most definitely update after we go look around! Thank you again for all of the really, helpful tips.

Oh yes, one last quaestion; what is the deal with Doral...that looks to be pretty convenient yet no one has suggested it...bad place?

[MiamiRob]

Doral isn't a bad place it's just drab suburb! For some reason Venezuelans and a lot of South Americans love it. The traffic is horrible too.

[LeftCoaster206]

...and we like it, so far. we've been staying at a hotel on miami beach. the ocean is gorgeous. way nicer than the pacific.

apparently the rental market is crazy. every house we call on from hotpads or craigslist is already gone. According to the r.e. agent showing us houses there are only 6 available in the miami-palm h.s. boundary. she said she could not rec. the north suburbs as the commite would be awful. any ideas anyone? the top priority for us us good schools.

she suggested miami shores, bit we are driving around here and it looks a little ghetto (bars on windows, etc).

thanks in advance!

[LeftCoaster206]

sorry. that is "commute" not commite

[grandcentraluk]

she suggested miami shores, bit we are driving around here and it looks a little ghetto (bars on windows, etc).

Miami Shores proper is lovely but the neighborhoods around it vary and some are definitely not great. The public schools zoned for Miami Shores, however, are not good, especially at the high school level. If you cannot get something in the Palmetto High district, I suggest trying for the Killian district just to the west of Pinecrest/Palmetto Bay.

[ray1945]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster206

...and we like it, so far. we've been staying at a hotel on miami beach. the ocean is gorgeous. way nicer than the pacific.

apparently the rental market is crazy. every house we call on from hotpads or craigslist is already gone. According to the r.e. agent showing us houses there are only 6 available in the miami-palm h.s. boundary. she said she could not rec. the north suburbs as the commite would be awful. any ideas anyone? the top priority for us us good schools.

she suggested miami shores, bit we are driving around here and it looks a little ghetto (bars on windows, etc).

thanks in advance!

Frankly, I don't think the commute from Miami Lakes would be that much longer than that from Miami Shores. RE agents can be wrong - check out the Lakes.

[Smokey1961]

I do not recommend living in Miami Beach, as it is not a quiet place to live. Also bars on windows is a rather common thing in Miami, as Miami is a very large city and people do not apreciate having their homes broken into. Also to make sure you were looking at the real Miami Shores, Miami Shores is located north of the canal located at NE 79th Street and located south of the canal at NE 105th Street and located east of Interstate 95. I mentioned this as it can be sometimes easy to by mistake wonder into the ghetto neighborhoods of Pinewood and Little Haiti.

[valicky]

I wouldn't venture to Miami Shores if you're going to have kids in the public schools. Stick to Palmetto. Maybe try driving around the area. Sometimes individuals will have For Rent signs on a house. Have you checked the Miami Herald and the Flyer as well? Glad you're liking Miami so far!

[valicky]

Also, while bars on windows are common, I wouldn't want to live in a neighborhood where that's what I saw. It tells me that there is a problem. Even in my "lowly" area of West Kendall, my neighborhood does not have window bars. I don't live in a neighborhood that has a HOA so that's not it. You won't see bars in the Palmetto area either.