Master Planned Community (Miami, Kendall, Deerfield Beach: houses, schools, gated community)

[turbokaos]

What are some of good master planned communities in South Florida?

[TannerMan]

A more historical planned commuinity is Coral Gables, but more modern master planned communities are Miami Lakes and Weston. Apparently Opa-Locka was also one but it has panned differently, Miami Springs too.

[kevinkagy]

Coral Gables for old 1920's master planning is my favorite of all the master planned areas, but Miami Lakes is very nice as well as Miami Springs. Weston is like the Stepford Wives, but the actual planning is very nice. I'd also like to add in Parkland, just west of Deerfield Beach, is another big master planned area.

[compelled to reply]

I actually think Coral Gables is more stepford than Weston although any decent planned community is going to show a resemblance. I guess that's the consequence for relative peace of mind and a good location. When I sold my place in Weston I decided staying right here would be the best for now because of the convenience to all of the highways. Miami Lakes and Parkland offer a similar convenience although they are more centralized to different spots. Coral Gables isn't as convenient but that's probably due to it's age, and I think the charm that it offers is well worth the headache of having to take Le Juene Rd or US1 anywhere, since that's an asset that Parkland and Weston will probably never offer.

Wait, Parkland is master planned? I don't think it's any more master planned than the whole of west Broward. It just fits into the grid pattern with various infill. It's very nice but I don't think it's a defined master planned community like Miami Lakes or Weston. It used to be pretty rural and they just started building houses...

[Marlin Darlin']

I like how you classify how well planned an area is based on how 'stepford' it is. Aren't white picket fences against the code in Coral Gables? Pickup trucks, RV's, men's toys are all illegal in that snob factory.

[illini84]

If it passes, Parkland will be the newest one. It's a 1,000 acre development proposed just outside of the Urban Development Boundary, near the Kendall-Tamiami Airport. It will include 3 schools, a hospital, and all types of housing.

[PBCboy]

I can hear Tallrick cringing right now... and he's right for doing so, as master-planned communities are making South Florida boring and generic.

Well, don't forget about the City of Atlantis, which is an entirely gated city.

[kevinkagy]

They just need to stop building suburbs not just here in Miami but throughout the U.S. How many cookie cutter homes do we need in this country?!

[compelled to reply]

Cities have "cookie cutter" homes too (ever been to Chicago or NYC?), and some suburbs in other countries look more like our cities. Also, some of our own suburbs aren't "cookie cutter" either in architectural styles. Don't jump on the typical anti-suburb bandwagon, think deeper, because without development around a core, there would be no core in the first place. We can't all just live on top of each other "downtown" with nothing else surrounding it. What we NEED to do is starting moving away from the post-WWII style development and towards more efficient or sustainable development. The way that we do it is flawed.

[Marlin331]

LOL Compelled knows my anti-sprawl rant; I think Palm Beach County (Palm Beach Gardens, Wellington, etc.) is unsustainable development at its worst! Coral Gables is sutainable, Wellington is not. Also, notice that older, established areas like Coral Gables tend to have more old money and are overall LESS ostentatious than places like Weston and Doral, where people love to show off their bling (no matter that their $800,000 home looks like all of the other 1,000 homes in their gated community). Coral Gables is the most beautiful suburban city in Florida and I am pretty confident that nothing will match it in my lifetime. THAT is a nice planned community.