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Also, I forgot to add that from Weston via highways, it takes around 20 minutes to get to the FLL airport and 25 minutes to get to both Fort Lauderdale Beach and Hollywood Beach. 15 minutes to the Hardrock Casino and 15 minutes to the Sawgrass Mills Mall. Around 30 minutes to Aventura and 45 minutes to South Beach/Downtown Miami.
Those estimates are with average traffic, of course.
Thanx for the encouragement, two households?! Sounds like a big move. How was your experience with the move and settling in to S FL life? Do you live in the area? I don't know anything about the lifestyle in S FL at all. I've only visited S FL once this past April for 5 days and it was strictly for research, and 2xs prior to that and it was for Kids Disney trips.
I'm interested in knowing how easy it is for a family from the N East to settle into S FL life and make friends. The family we have down there are scattered and they are all my husband’s family. Personally I won't have any family down there, unless I convince my parents to move with me...
So far I realize that traffic may be a problem. Still, not sure how much different it is than traffic on GW Bridge, Lincoln T, 1-9, RT 3, 46, and 280 here in Jersey. I think I can get past the traffic, and now wondering about the rest. The people, the friendliness, basically the S FL Culture.
We moved to South Florida to Weston in 2000. It helped that we found Weston. I am not just drumming up the town because I am a realtor. It is genuinely a very nice place to live and softens the cultural shock a great deal.
Blueheron, the city limits of F Lauderdale is in what area exactly? How would I go about researching places to live in the nicer part of F Lauderdale?
Everyone,
What is the cultural diversity of my choices for potential places to live? I have read lots of posts with negative things to say about both the more crowded areas and the nicer areas? Living in NJ and a skip and a hop away from NY City, my family and I are used to living around people from all walks of life and we very much welcome that. Although we are not interested in living in a bad area, we are absolutely interested in being a part of a diverse and welcoming community.
Last edited by Namaste88; 05-08-2014 at 10:12 AM..
Thank you. We do want good schools and Private school is not our first choice.
We’ve decided we want to be in Broward County. And our possibilities are narrowed down to:
Weston, Miramar, Pembroke Pines, Coral Springs, Parkland, and Fort Lauderdale. Now it’s a matter of where within that area is best for us. Very Grateful for all the help.. less than 24 hrs, and we were able to at least narrow it down to the County.
Shamrockfisher, You are right. I think lifestyle, comfort, and the ability to live as close as possible to how you envision plays a big part in a successful move and settling in. We are absolutely committed to getting as close to what we want as we can when it comes to lifestyle.
We do not want to be so far from water that it becomes a mission and a plan just to get there. The Jersey Shore is not close to us and it’s a ride and lots of Pkwy traffic in the summer just to get there and back. 30 minute Drive or less is what we are looking for as far as lifestyle and proximity to water and activities.
Do you or does anyone on the forum have any opinions on Miramar, Pembroke Pines, Coral Springs and Parkland? I like what you mentioned about Fort Lauderdale. Not # 1 on our list, but definitely a contender. It would be nice (if we are lucky) to find an affordable place closer to the water.
I have read that Aventura has good schools, but not really looking to move there.
I’m curious about the warning on Hollywood and Hallendale? Are those bad areas? We stayed at the Westin Diplomat and visited Hollywood Beach. Seemed laid back and family friendly. We drove over a drawbridge and visited the neighborhoods in that area, not sure it they were still considered a part of Hollywood...
Also, as we drove around we came to this neighborhood that had a weird gate that has to come up for you to drive in. My brother in law was driving, and he told (what seemed like guards) that we were driving around looking at houses. They didn’t have any questions and just let us in. Very nice homes with lots of vegetation, a few modern art deco looking homes in there.. Does anyone know where that was?
We also drove through a beautiful neighborhood with nice homes that were a bit larger, many 2 Floor homes, wide streets, large trees.. no idea where we were. WE were on our way to F Lauderdale airport…
You may have been driving near or through Victoria Park on the way to the airport or even Rio Vista. Beautiful areas but you may have sticker shock. One of my favorite east areas is Coral Ridge between the intercoastal and beach and extending from Sunrise to Commercial. Awesome area, dry lots are around 500k. Best elementary school in the county, Bayview Elementary. Sunrise MS is fine for the gifted program but okay for the rest of the school. You would not use the public high school there but Cardinal Gibbons is a great private HS nearby that runs about 10K per year.
Hollywood and Hallendale are not bad areas and I enjoy the beaches they have and you would certainly frequent them as well but you may find smallish homes for a family. Lots of good prices on 2 bedroom homes. Schools are not as good as out west.
You will find in Broward that a 30 minute drive from out west to the beach is doable. Weston or Pines is quicker than Miramar. Coral Springs/Parkland is further north and puts Deerfield Beach and Pompano beach within 20 minutes. They have just updated the pier at those beaches and the beachfront. Pompano Beach in particular has jumped way up on the list as an easy and enjoyable beach as they have added brand new playgrounds and water features for kids. Really impressive for what it had before. They also have a live reef a couple hundred yards offshore in Pompano that people swim out from the beach with snorkeling equipment and dive gear. Certainly the best beach access to a coral reef in the US and possibly top quartile in the world.
I also find parking with the meters at the beach a breeze and a nice mix of families, snowbirds and surfing teenagers.
Blueheron, the city limits of F Lauderdale is in what area exactly? How would I go about researching places to live in the nicer part of F Lauderdale?
Everyone,
What is the cultural diversity of my choices for potential places to live? I have read lots of posts with negative things to say about both the more crowded areas and the nicer areas? Living in NJ and a skip and a hop away from NY City, my family and I are used to living around people from all walks of life and we very much welcome that. Although we are not interested in living in a bad area, we are absolutely interested in being a part of a diverse and welcoming community.
You would probably not be disappointed with any of the choices depending upon where in FTL you mean. If you are comparing western suburbs and acknowledge all of the pros and cons of living in a true suburban community, Weston is by far the nicest. Great people, fantastic parks, wide thoroughfares, isolated from cross-through traffic from other communities. Flat out beautiful suburb. Latin flair for sure compared to Parkland which feels more country and is certainly more white non-hispanic but it is not Miami where you would feel out of place by not speaking spanish in some areas like, Doral, a somewhat similar suburb.
Very friendly, active families in Weston. Pines will give you more bang for your buck and Miramar is fine as well. Nearby Southwest or Sunsine Ranches will provide you with more open space and homes with an acre of land if you find you do not want to be in a gated community in Weston.
There is one small neighborhood, Executive II, near Country Isles ES in Weston that is not gated and seems to have nice homes and affordable Weston prices.
I am not a realtor, though, so I do not know anymore but I have driven through it before because it was not gated and it was nice.
Interesting, I did not realize until now how suburban Weston was... food for thought for sure.
I like the idea of the Latin flair (I speak fluent Spanish) and I love the thought of living in a community with great people/neighbors. Not too sure how I feel about being in a very suburban community. However, after reading the info on the Weston city website, it is still at the top of my list. Just hope there are a sufficient amount of choices outside gated communities….
"With a culturally diverse population, Weston is comprised of the finest residential neighborhoods, and a diverse corporate, commercial and retail environment. We are a safe community with A-rated public schools, superior parks and recreational facilities, a progressive government that is financially strong and a community-wide appearance that cities around the world wish to emulate."
We were originally looking for a town that was not too suburban or isolated, and that was progressive, inclusive, closer to having a more "city like" vibe.
I noticed when checking out places that we would definitely get more for our money in Pines.
Still considering Pines, whatever the nice part of F Lauderdale may be, and West Miramar if possible. Especially since the job offer I have yet to accept is in the Miramar area.
We are looking to move the first week of July or last week of June, given that I was told school starts in August.
Any idea how far in advance a rental can be held with a deposit? I know some places allow for this type of arrangement unless the rentals are very sought after…
We are in our mid 30s and early 40's, our twins are 11 and would like to have the opportunity to socialize other families. Since I've read/heard that some places in FL tend to have a larger retired/older population without kids, I'd like to khow if any of these areas are like that?
Blueheron, the city limits of F Lauderdale is in what area exactly? How would I go about researching places to live in the nicer part of F Lauderdale?
Everyone,
What is the cultural diversity of my choices for potential places to live? I have read lots of posts with negative things to say about both the more crowded areas and the nicer areas? Living in NJ and a skip and a hop away from NY City, my family and I are used to living around people from all walks of life and we very much welcome that. Although we are not interested in living in a bad area, we are absolutely interested in being a part of a diverse and welcoming community.
Keeping in mind that your commute to work should take precedence over the beaches, I would stay exclusively South of I-595. This should eliminate Parkland/Coral Springs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by shamrockfisher
Parkland which feels more country and is certainly more white non-Hispanic
South Florida (as a whole) is very culturally diverse but there are some areas that are not as much. Parkland has wonderful schools, but a feeling of isolation and exclusivity based on its location and how expensive it is to live there.
As far as Ft Lauderdale is concerned, if schools are a top priority -- I would not exert too much effort trying to find that 'needle in a haystack'. School boundaries in S. Florida are not as well defined by zip codes and/or city-town limits. They usually take into account population size in order to keep the teacher-student ratio levels where they need to be. Take a look:
There are many instances where you could be living in one town (like Miramar) and go to school in another (like Pembroke Pines) or vice versa. There is even a section of Sunrise that gets to enjoy Weston schools.
Quote:
Originally Posted by shamrockfisher
You may have been driving near or through Victoria Park on the way to the airport or even Rio Vista. Beautiful areas but you may have sticker shock. One of my favorite east areas is Coral Ridge between the intercoastal and beach and extending from Sunrise to Commercial. Awesome area, dry lots are around 500k. Best elementary school in the county, Bayview Elementary. Sunrise MS is fine for the gifted program but okay for the rest of the school. You would not use the public high school there
So you can better understand what shamrock was saying, some of the nicer/exclusive areas of Ft Lauderdale fall within that school boundary, but if you look at the map,... some of the VERY WORST parts of Ft Lauderdale also pertain to that school (thus greatly affecting its quality) The boundaries for the High Schools are even more spread out.
As you go about tinkering and refining your list, there is one other town/city that you should add and quite frankly, I would put it at #2 behind Weston.
Quote:
Originally Posted by shamrockfisher
Cooper City is another area that is centrally located with preferable schools
Namaste, the better parts of Fort Lauderdale, two minutes to the beaches, downtown, Las Olas, etc are going to be Rio Vista, Colee Hammock, Victoria Park, and Lauderdale Harbours.
Pretty much anywhere between 17th Street and Sunrise (North of Sunrise is a very nice gayborhood, Wilton Manors) from Federal Highway to the beach.
Sailboat Bend and Himmarshee are outside that boundary but still very nice.
These are older neighborhoods with very pretty older houses or rehabbed, or tear downs that have been replaced by 5000 sfua of house.
Of course you can also find a 25 million dollar house on the water in this area.
Interesting, I did not realize until now how suburban Weston was... food for thought for sure.
I like the idea of the Latin flair (I speak fluent Spanish) and I love the thought of living in a community with great people/neighbors. Not too sure how I feel about being in a very suburban community. However, after reading the info on the Weston city website, it is still at the top of my list. Just hope there are a sufficient amount of choices outside gated communities….
"With a culturally diverse population, Weston is comprised of the finest residential neighborhoods, and a diverse corporate, commercial and retail environment. We are a safe community with A-rated public schools, superior parks and recreational facilities, a progressive government that is financially strong and a community-wide appearance that cities around the world wish to emulate."
We were originally looking for a town that was not too suburban or isolated, and that was progressive, inclusive, closer to having a more "city like" vibe.
I noticed when checking out places that we would definitely get more for our money in Pines.
Still considering Pines, whatever the nice part of F Lauderdale may be, and West Miramar if possible. Especially since the job offer I have yet to accept is in the Miramar area.
We are looking to move the first week of July or last week of June, given that I was told school starts in August.
Any idea how far in advance a rental can be held with a deposit? I know some places allow for this type of arrangement unless the rentals are very sought after…
We are in our mid 30s and early 40's, our twins are 11 and would like to have the opportunity to socialize other families. Since I've read/heard that some places in FL tend to have a larger retired/older population without kids, I'd like to khow if any of these areas are like that?
You would probably like Weston very much. It is mostly gated, however. Most areas are going to feel suburban in South Florida to anyone coming from the northeast. There is not the traditional city center with mass public transportation and walking atmosphere like northern cities. People can make the claim for Downtown Miami and South Beach but it is still not the same. Car-based society in Florida and things are spread out. You could at least feel more closely related to a vibrant city feel if you are all the way east and within 5 minutes of Las Olas (FTL restaurants/shops) and the beach.
West Miramar is just like Pembroke Pines and your money should go far. There are excellent principals in place at Glades MS and Silver Trail in Pines so check to see that you are zoned there.
You have not mentioned any retirement communties except for possibly Hollywood/Hallendale.
Being fluent in Spanish and possibly based in Miramar you can also look at Doral in Miami-Dade County. It's right off the turnpike and very family oriented with LOTS of businesses headquartered there.
I prefer Broward but Doral would fit your needs, has great schools and parks and family based events and activites and may better fill your need to be in a more city-like, bustling area. As close to Miramar as Weston and 20 minutes from Coral Gables, Downtown Miami, Miami Beach and just as close, 35 minutes is my guestimate, to Aventura.
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