Moving to work at Miami VA Hospital: places to live in Miami/Broward area with pitbull mix dog? (Hollywood: apartment complex, for rent)

[Jrv712]

Hello everyone! I will be moving to the Miami area in a couple of months. I will be working at the Miami VA Hospital, so I would prefer a short commute time and live in Miami. However, my dog, who some people immediately identify as a pitbull, although he is mixed, is probably not allowed in Miami (From what I hear). If I will be working in the Miami VA hospital, where is the closest town/city, etc. I can live in that is outside of Miami-Dade County and that is a nice neighborhood (very low crime)? About how long of a commute?

Thank you so much.

[compelled to reply]

I'm going to forward my reply from the other thread.

You should probably create your own thread to avert hijacking, but you might want to check out the Cooper City or Pembroke Pines area (stay west of Palm Ave for better neighborhoods) as those are some of the safer areas in South Florida (And the country, Pembroke Pines is one of the 50 safest cities and Cooper City is safer than the Pines). You commute would be pushing you in the 30-45 minute range, depending on what time you leave, although from what I understand I-95 is about to be a mess through Dade because of the construction of the new toll lanes.

Also, I'm pretty sure the VA Hospital is west of 95 near the Dolphin Expressway, but if not, give me an idea of where it is and I can recommend an area accordingly. A price range would also help .

[illini84]

I think you'll have to go up to around Miamar. The county boundary is NW 215th Street (to the north) I believe, and you'll have to go up to Broward County to have a pitbull. Pembroke Pines would be a great option, but I can't say much with regards to the commute. I'd guess about an hour.

[Jrv712]

Thanks for the suggestions. I am very slowly learning how to navigate these forums. I think this is a new thread I posted so hopefully I will not get removed for hijacking someone else's forum.. (oops).

So, the Miami VA is in downtown Miami, slightly west of 95 (you are correct). It is near the Jackson Memorial Hospital. I think I will not be able to live in Miami-Dade county because of the pitbull or pitbull mix bans. So, I will have to live outside of the county. However, I am trying to find an apartment for my husband, myself, and the dog. Minimum: 1 bedroom, but prefer 2 bedrooms. An apartment complex would be okay, but prefer a private home for rent. In terms of $$ range, we are somewhat limited right now (doctoral residencies do not pay very much) which is why we would be willing to downgrade to a 1 bedroom apt. We could probably go up to 1500/month, but prefer lower than that. Again, the most important thing to us is safety. Therefore, we are willing to live in a small apartment and drive a little further, as long as we feel safe AND can have our dog. Thanks for your help. I really appreciate it.

[compelled to reply]

1500 a month could get you a small three bedroom home (in Cooper City, look it up and you will see it's a good area) and a very nice 2 bedroom, you could probably find a 1 bedroom near the beach for that much nowadays...the price range is no issue in SW Broward, and it also helps that those communities are safer than most parts of Dade County. You could get a decent 1 bedroom in west Pembroke Pines for around 900 a month, and you will have many choices for 1000.

Miramar is decent (especially west of Palm Ave), but unless you go way west, it's too close for comfort to really bad areas like Opa Locka for me to live there. Not unsafe to pass through, but I have heard about a lot of property crime and some robberies in the better communities east of 75. I would only recommend Miramar west of 75, and heading south in Broward is generally easier than heading east, because you can just get on the turnpike and it's generally moving full speed 90% of the time until you get to the Golden Glades. However, the traffic on Miramar Pkwy usually isn't bad, but you have to take Pines/Hollywood Blvd to get to the turnpike which can be congested. From Cooper City, you can take Griffin Road, which is thin most times of the day ever since they widened it from 2 to 6 lanes.

Good move to avoid complexes. So many of them are very poorly managed and let in bad tenants. But also be weary of condo conversions due to the low quality of the units and also the type of tenants they let in. Pembroke Pines has tons of them especially east of Palm Ave, so be weary of them, especially east of that line but also all the way out of 75. I don't think Cooper City has any complexes or condo conversions.

[Jrv712]

Originally Posted by compelled to reply

1500 a month could get you a small three bedroom home (in Cooper City, look it up and you will see it's a good area) and a very nice 2 bedroom, you could probably find a 1 bedroom near the beach for that much nowadays...the price range is no issue in SW Broward, and it also helps that those communities are safer than most parts of Dade County. You could get a decent 1 bedroom in west Pembroke Pines for around 900 a month, and you will have many choices for 1000.

Miramar is decent (especially west of Palm Ave), but unless you go way west, it's too close for comfort to really bad areas like Opa Locka for me to live there. Not unsafe to pass through, but I have heard about a lot of property crime and some robberies in the better communities east of 75. I would only recommend Miramar west of 75, and heading south in Broward is generally easier than heading east, because you can just get on the turnpike and it's generally moving full speed 90% of the time until you get to the Golden Glades. However, the traffic on Miramar Pkwy usually isn't bad, but you have to take Pines/Hollywood Blvd to get to the turnpike which can be congested. From Cooper City, you can take Griffin Road, which is thin most times of the day ever since they widened it from 2 to 6 lanes.

Good move to avoid complexes. So many of them are very poorly managed and let in bad tenants. But also be weary of condo conversions due to the low quality of the units and also the type of tenants they let in. Pembroke Pines has tons of them especially east of Palm Ave, so be weary of them, especially east of that line but also all the way out of 75. I don't think Cooper City has any complexes or condo conversions.

Near the beach would be awesome... but where do you mean when you say near the beach? I hear that east broward county is VERY unsafe. We LOVE the beach, but assumed that Broward county east would not work due to the crime rates, etc.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by Jrv712

Near the beach would be awesome... but where do you mean when you say near the beach? I hear that east broward county is VERY unsafe. We LOVE the beach, but assumed that Broward county east would not work due to the crime rates, etc.

I wouldn't call it "VERY" unsafe, in fact east of US1 and on the barrier island (Where the beach is) it's plenty safe. When you go west of US1, it's a checkerboard of good, bad and ugly until you hit University Dr, then it gets better again. By near the beach I meant a couple of blocks in a decent newer building in Hallandale or Hollywood Beach, but that probably would not be pet friendly. You could look into some of the new buildings in the Youngs Circle area of Hollywood as well. Tons of freaks around there, but the police presence there is really heavy at night since they are trying to clean up downtown, so it's very safe. Some of the neighborhoods east of US1 also have charming Coral Gables-type homes and you might be able to rent a smaller home in the Hollywood Lakes area. But east Broward is definitely more inconsistent than the west half. You actually have to drive for quite a while before you hit any bad neighborhoods from Cooper City. In Hollywood you go west of U.S.1 or along the S.R.7 corridor, and it's the absolute pits. Some of the neighborhoods are blue collar neighborhoods that look worse than they are (thus the use of "ugly") while others are very bad, especially south of downtown and along Pembroke Rd. It's definitely not your staid, Anysuburb USA Cooper City but if you are young, childless, or empty nesters it can be a fun place to live if you pick the right neighborhood,but if you would of asked me about Hollywood 5 years ago, I would have told you not to go there if you don't like armed robbery, although this year was a record year for homicide in Hollywood, most of them taking place in transient motels along US1.

Anyway, if you live east of the intercoastal or in Hollywood Lakes you shouldn't have any problems and your a distance away from the bad parts. Your price range could cover east of the intercoastal. But in general, the area is not for the faint of heart.

[Jrv712]

Thank you for clearing that up for me. It is very confusing trying to figure out the good, the bad, and the ugly. I really appreciate everyone's responses and I am starting to gain a clearer picture of the miami/broward counties. Thanks a million!!

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by Jrv712

Thank you for clearing that up for me. It is very confusing trying to figure out the good, the bad, and the ugly. I really appreciate everyone's responses and I am starting to gain a clearer picture of the miami/broward counties. Thanks a million!!

I have nothing better to do at the moment (heh, but that's going to change in about an hour), so I'm going to find a map of some of the areas and maybe "Draw out" the good and the bad on a map, so you have something visual.

OK, I'm officially a loser, but I labeled dark green as "Good", brown as "Ugly", light green as "too close for comfort", and red as "bad", and gray as "too far/NA". That area I forgot is "bad". That area I forgot in Dania is "bad".

Anyway, as you can see you have more good than bad but like anywhere some neighborhoods are less desirable and a few are unsafe. There are definitely "diving lines" but the REALLY bad neighborhoods are really isolated off of the main streets and get that way at night, not so much during the day. You would have no reason to be in those areas.

Oh, and that "ugly" area in Davie off of 595 is just mobile home parks. Mostly good people live there and as far as mobile home parks go they aren't even bad, so don't get the impression that once you go north of 595 your in "Da hood" since that 817/ University Dr. boundary pretty much stays true.

[Jrv712]

WOW!!! that is REALLY nice of you to do.... thanks so much... I will take a good look at it and i'll post an update