Opinions on Key Biscayne Please (Miami, Fort Lauderdale: condos, houses, neighborhoods) - Florida (FL) -Miami-Dade County - City-Data Forum

know2walk · 04-23-2013, 09:54 AM

Hi everyone,

Our family has been looking all around the country for a warm, friendly, safe and kid oriented town.
My husband will most likely work from home, so location is not really an issue.
We really like California and Hawaii but they are both too far from our families who live in the NE.
We recently just visited Key Biscayne and fell in love with it. It just seems like the perfect place for us; a place I had dreamed about for so long but didn't even think it existed. What impressed me the most was seeing kids rollerblade, skate and ride their bikes to school in perfect safety. The drivers were so respectful of these kids; no one was speeding. There were perfectly manicured lawns, clean streets, and the beach was wonderful. Bottom line: it SEEMED perfect..until I started doing a little research on demographics.

I'm technically white but have a pretty mixed background (my skin tone is a light-medium light olive, I look somewhat middle eastern to most people), my husband, however, is Indian--as in South Asian (skin tone is a light medium wheatish). We have kids and they look mixed---they have that wheat tone to their skin, they are also on the shorter side. I read a lot about racism, especially coming from white hispanics, so, I'm starting to think Key Biscayne will not be very welcoming to us. I was there during the week and when I went to the playground, ALL the kids were very light skinned, white latinos. I did not see one kid with darker skin except mine. I went on their private schools' websites and did not see a single darker skinned kid in their photos.

I don't want my child have problems making friends or to be made fun of just because of his skin tone or ethnicity. I am starting to think Key Biscayne is a bad idea. Can someone comment on my thoughts? If you agree that it's not the right place for us, could you help us find a similar neighborhood in South Florida? We prefer a neighborhood with single family homes vs high rises, good schools, very safe, and we must be walking/biking distance to the beach. I thought of Boca Raton, but I hear it's surrounded by bad neighborhoods, which makes me uncomfortable letting my kid ride his bike to school, for example.
Any suggestions are welcome!
Thank you!

ruski · 04-23-2013, 10:24 AM

I love visiting Key Biscayne, but haven't lived there, so I will let others chime in.

If you go to Boca near the beach, you won't be surrounded by bad neighborhoods.

If you are still concerned about safety AND diversity - check out Weston. It is not near the beach, but is one of the safest towns in South Florida, if not The safest. And it has great schools. No bad neighborhoods. And quite diverse.

Cubanchic · 04-23-2013, 10:28 AM

Key Biscayne area is really a expensive area to live in, your property taxes are really high. That might be why you didn't see that much diversity there. I would love to know where folks are getting this mis information about white Hispanics being racist!? Miami is a mix of many races and cultures, this town deals with a constant wave of new folks from Latin America, French Canadian, British, Caribbean, lately in west Kendall a more East Asian influence and of course the snow birds. No one here is going to judge you based on the color of your skin or your ethnic back ground. Based on the skin tone you mentioned you would fit right in.

Now in regards to areas that you would like to live, let us know your budget and then we can point you in the right direction. If you like Key Biscayne other areas are similar but not as close to the beach unless it is north Miami beach.

know2walk · 04-23-2013, 10:55 AM

Ruski,
I will look into Boca a little more...we really want to be close to the beach. To me diversity is nice, but even if the town is not as diverse, I will be ok with it, just so as long as people don't discriminate against my family due to the color of their skin or their ethnic background...
My husband is a very "white washed" Indian, by the way..haha. He grew up and went to school with all caucasians and never had a problem--but this was in a quite progressive town.

Cubanchic, I have just read quite a bit on racism coming from white hispanics, especially Cubans---I'm sorry to say that, I'm assuming you are Cuban. Obviously not everyone from one race is the same.
I don't think I would have problems fitting in. My concerns are with my husband and children, who are darker.
Our budget would be around 2M or less.

hurricaneMan1992 · 04-23-2013, 11:03 AM

Have you looked at whether houses in Key Biscayne are in your price range? If so, you might look in to Surfside, Normandy Islands, North Bay Village, and Bay Harbor Islands. Otherwise, you need to look at condos in order to be walking distance to the beach.

know2walk · 04-23-2013, 11:07 AM

Hurricaneman,
They seem to be doable. We wouldn't live in a huge home..but it's worth it....any opinions on the possible discrimination thing?

I will look into those other towns...thanks

ruski · 04-23-2013, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by know2walk

Ruski,
I will look into Boca a little more...we really want to be close to the beach. To me diversity is nice, but even if the town is not as diverse, I will be ok with it, just so as long as people don't discriminate against my family due to the color of their skin or their ethnic background...
My husband is a very "white washed" Indian, by the way..haha. He grew up and went to school with all caucasians and never had a problem--but this was in a quite progressive town.

Cubanchic, I have just read quite a bit on racism coming from white hispanics, especially Cubans---I'm sorry to say that, I'm assuming you are Cuban. Obviously not everyone from one race is the same.
I don't think I would have problems fitting in. My concerns are with my husband and children, who are darker.
Our budget would be around 2M or less.

South Florida is pretty far from being racist, there are many people from various parts of the world mixed here. Some of my good friends around here are Indian, or Guyanese Indian.

Having said that, I am not saying it is 100% racist free... I have seen some establishments in the backwoods that are passively racist.

ruski · 04-23-2013, 11:26 AM

I just would like to mention this in favor of Weston (I am Weston-biased

) - you can have a nice home in Weston and belong to a very nice beach club in Fort Lauderdale for $4K per year. Best of both worlds. Only 25 minutes apart.

Cubanchic · 04-23-2013, 11:32 AM

@know2walk yes I am Cuban but I guess that I and the folks that I know are very open minded and being a person that employed hundreds of folks that was never an issue for me. But with your budget the areas that you can afford would most likely be mostly white or white Hispanic. There is more diversity in poorer areas but I don't think that you or your children would be discriminated against.

But let's get back to your questions, with that budget you would do fine in key Biscayne although it is a snooty place at times. If not being right next to the beach isn't that big of a deal, you can try in the south, Pinecrest, the falls and areas around old cutler. Coral Gables is very nice as well. To the north, North Miami beach and the areas mentioned by hurrican man.

Boca Raton seems like it would not be that bad but I would let others chime in on that.

FlyMIA · 04-23-2013, 11:34 AM

I have no idea where you are getting this thing being so afraid of racsim. Key Biscayne is a very very nice neighborhood. All upper class people, very safe. If you can afford it, it is a nice place to live. I have never thought of that area being racist. I have never thought of most of Miami being racist. This is one of the most diverse and international cities in the world.