Best and Most Affordable Places to Live Around Miami/Monroe County Area? (Cape Coral: apartments, rentals) - Florida (FL) -Miami-Dade County - City-Data Forum

rachelleanita · 04-16-2013, 11:30 AM

Hello,

My boyfriend plans to work in Monroe county for the state (close access to everglades and wildlife) but I had my heart set on Cape Coral because the housing is so much more affordable. If he wants to be in Monroe county I don't think that is doable, isn't it like five hours away? He doesn't mind an hour commute each way if necessary and we really don't know anything about Florida in that area. What would be the cheapest town to live in the Miami area that would be somewhat closer to Monroe county? He also works nightclub security and would like to be able to continue that in Miami, so somewhere in the middle maybe? I'm looking for the most affordable houses (not apartments or condos) and in an area that is safer. If this even exists in there, I really have no clue. I would personally like living the laid back life of the keys, but from what I've found, the houses are quite expensive. Any recommendations at all? He will be heading out there about a year before I will, so he will also be looking for rentals, preferable houses but he isn't too picky. I'm open to any and all advice about neighborhoods, housing, living, moving, etc, even if it's not related to my original question! Thanks!

***Is Homestead nice? The houses seem nice and pretty cheap, kind of like Cape Coral. Any opinions about this town?

hurricaneMan1992 · 04-16-2013, 12:03 PM

In general, the newer gated communities around Homestead are nice and relatively affordable. Commuting to Miami during rush hours would be horrendous, but I suppose during club hours it's more bearable (Google Maps gives you around 40 minutes without traffic). Another option closer to Miami would be west Kendall down to Country Walk.

JacobMAX · 04-16-2013, 12:53 PM

Country Walk (and neighboring Three Lakes) are pretty nice neighborhoods, they're not as well kept as a few years ago, but still properly nice and safe. And the Turnpike is just east of it. The areas in Homestead that are reasonable are the Keys Gate and in its NW End, already Unincorporated Miami-Dade, near the Redlands west of the US-1.

straight shooter · 04-16-2013, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JacobMAX

Country Walk (and neighboring Three Lakes) are pretty nice neighborhoods, they're not as well kept as a few years ago, but still properly nice and safe. And the Turnpike is just east of it. The areas in Homestead that are reasonable are the Keys Gate and in its NW End, already Unincorporated Miami-Dade, near the Redlands west of the US-1.

Why do you think that is? Could it be lack of money due to the economy or do you think there is another reason for it.

JacobMAX · 04-16-2013, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by straight shooter

Why do you think that is? Could it be lack of money due to the economy or do you think there is another reason for it.

That's obvious, it goes without saying.

doggiebus · 04-18-2013, 06:12 AM

OP what part of Monroe county is his job located? If the job is in Marathon or Big Pine Key in or south you'll need to live in the keys. If the job is in Tavenier or Key Largo you can commute from Kendall in an hour.

rachelleanita · 04-18-2013, 07:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by doggiebus

OP what part of Monroe county is his job located? If the job is in Marathon or Big Pine Key in or south you'll need to live in the keys. If the job is in Tavenier or Key Largo you can commute from Kendall in an hour.

It would actually be a government job where he would cover the whole county, so he will be doing a lot of driving. Is it possible to live on the west side of that area, like south of Naples? Or do you need to be on the east side like Homestead to access it? It's hard just going off of maps, where everything looks green with one road.

doggiebus · 04-18-2013, 08:03 AM

Yes he would need to live on the east coast, if he is going to be driving a lot in the keys. Its an hour, to an hour and a half from Naples to Miami just to get across the state. Monroe county is spilt if you see on a map. Monroe county has two parts, one part is near Naples on the West Coast which is mostly Everglade and it has the Keys, Ocean Reef to Key West which you enter from Homestead. You may want to find out how much of the western part of Monroe County (in the Everglades near Naples) he will be working in. Because if most of his work will be in the Florida Keys you might want to live some place in the center of the Keys. It takes 20 minutes on the 18miles stretch (US1) of roadway between Florida City to the northern most bridge in Key Largo (Jewfish Creek) to give you an idea of how much time things take int the Keys. The keys is mostly a two to four lane roadway, slow driving under 50 mph most the way in the keys. Cops there are strick on speeding ...

FlyMIA · 04-18-2013, 09:37 AM

Will he have a take home state government car where he can just go straight to work or will he have to report to an office/station in the Keys first? And if so where is that office/station. I think you are really really underestimating how long the keys are and how long drives would be. Naples to East coast is over an hour and the most Northern Key to Key West is over 2 hours of driving. So if his job requries him to go to Key West every morning you will have to live in the Keys. If his job requries him to be in Key Largo or mainland Monroe County then you can live in Southern Miami-Dade County.

Mainland Monroe County is all swamps. I don't think there is a person living there. Maybe some ranger stations and dirt roads but thats it.

Does he have this job lined up yet? If not I would wait and see where he needs to report every day.

rachelleanita · 04-19-2013, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlyMIA

Will he have a take home state government car where he can just go straight to work or will he have to report to an office/station in the Keys first? And if so where is that office/station. I think you are really really underestimating how long the keys are and how long drives would be. Naples to East coast is over an hour and the most Northern Key to Key West is over 2 hours of driving. So if his job requries him to go to Key West every morning you will have to live in the Keys. If his job requries him to be in Key Largo or mainland Monroe County then you can live in Southern Miami-Dade County.

Mainland Monroe County is all swamps. I don't think there is a person living there. Maybe some ranger stations and dirt roads but thats it.

Does he have this job lined up yet? If not I would wait and see where he needs to report every day.

Yeah we don't really know exactly if he would be checking in at a certain place every day or not, we'll have to wait and see like you said. He will probably spend a lot of time in the swamps (animal related job, and he would probably be in there in his free time too), but they will probably send him to the keys as well. He will have a car issued to him. Thanks for clarifying about mainland Monroe County, that's what it looked like according to the maps but I just couldn't tell. All I know is that he would cover the whole county so I think he's going to be stuck driving long distances some days regardless, but if you think Southern Miami-Dade County is a good middle ground versus west coast area then we'll stick to that. Thanks for your help!