Looking for a good neighborhood (Miami, Fort Lauderdale: renting, condominium, high crime) - Florida (FL) -Miami-Dade County - City-Data Forum

Eebs · 12-30-2009, 08:46 AM

My fiance and I are moving to Miami in a few months, but we're not familiar with the area. We're both medical professionals and need to be within a 30 minute on call radius from Jackson Memorial Hospital. I'm 28 and he's 31. We want to find a single family home in a safe neighborhood that isn't just a bunch of condo high rises. No kids - so schools isn't an issue. It would be nice to be able to walk to a few restaurants, but not too crowded. From what I've read here so far it sounds like Aventura, Miami Shores, Brickell, Coral Gables might be areas we would be interested in. Is Fort Lauderdale too far?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Bjorn_Ironside32 · 12-30-2009, 02:11 PM

I recommend Coral Gables.
it has alot of restaurants

.

FlyMIA · 12-30-2009, 04:22 PM

Ft. Lauderdale is just about too far. At night the drive could be done quickly since you would basicaly be allowed to speed being medical professionals and everyone goes 70mph on the highway anyway.

The most important question is price range. A decent house in those areas you mentioned wont be lower then $400,000 if you are lucky. Other very nice areas are Bay Point and Morning Side and Miami Beach and some of the Islands on Biscayne Bay in-between Miami and Miam Beach. But these areas run from $700,000 and up. The same with the Gables homes are not less then $400,000 even in a bad market. When the market was good it was hard to find anything under $600-700,000 in those neighborhoods even small homes.

So what is your price range and then we could give you good suggestions. These neighborhoods you mentioned are nice and safe.

Eebs · 12-31-2009, 10:23 AM

Thanks for the info!

We don't want to spend too much. It's our first house. We're thinking maybe an upper middle class neighborhood. Around $400K maybe for a 2 or 3 br.

What about Pinecrest or Surfside? Are they nice? I have to say that some posts on this site have scared me a little. We don't mind and actually invite diversity. We've lived in LA so I think we can deal with the traffic. It's the posts about crime and the overall rudeness of the residents that worries me.

I'm trying to stay positive and focus on finding a neighborhood that will be a good fit for us. So any suggestions would be great!!!

Steam · 12-31-2009, 07:23 PM

Just wanted to mark the post as we are looking in the same areas although we are planning on renting rather than buying.

StilltheSame · 01-01-2010, 07:04 AM

Look at Coral Gables, Brickell or the Roads. Problem is a 10 mile drive could be more than a 30 minute commute in the area near Jackson.

Marlin331 · 01-01-2010, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eebs

Thanks for the info!

We don't want to spend too much. It's our first house. We're thinking maybe an upper middle class neighborhood. Around $400K maybe for a 2 or 3 br.

What about Pinecrest or Surfside? Are they nice? I have to say that some posts on this site have scared me a little. We don't mind and actually invite diversity. We've lived in LA so I think we can deal with the traffic. It's the posts about crime and the overall rudeness of the residents that worries me.

I'm trying to stay positive and focus on finding a neighborhood that will be a good fit for us. So any suggestions would be great!!!

Pinecrest is nice, but you'll be lucky to find even a small fixer-upper for $400,000. It's very much a family suburb and you won't find many young professionals there.

Surfside is great - it's a quintessential middle/upper-middle class beach town. Many of the 2-3 bedroom homes do sell for around $400,000 nowadays, and the neighborhood is very quiet. Moving from out-of-state, you will probably like the proximity to the beach and the constant ocean breezes.

You will be able to find 2 bedroom (and a more limited pool of 3 bedroom) homes in Coral Gables for $400,000. Coral Gables is a beautiful town due to its strict laws pertaining to the preservation of its lush, historic Meditteranean feel. It has a great downtown full of dining and shopping, as well, so you will not always have to go into Miami or Miami Beach for a night out.

You might want to try your luck with Coconut Grove (which is the southeastern-most neighborhood in the City of Miami) as well. Though it will be hard to find single-family homes that aren't fixer-uppers for under $400,000, it's worth a try. You could probably find an attached home (townhome/townhouse) within that budget, though. Coconut Grove has shopping and dining like Coral Gables, but has even more nightlife due to the bars and the movie theater there.

Regarding diversity, all of the places I have named are pretty white, but the white population comes from the US, Cuba, South America, and to a lesser extent, Europe. Even the most affluent of Miami areas have an "international" feel, at least compared to the majority-WASP affluent areas in most of the country. You'll find some Latin Americans "of color" in all of the neighborhoods I have mentioned, and in Coconut Grove, a substantial black population in the western part of the neighborhood.

Brickell is a nice neighborhood but to get one of the few single family homes on the neighborhood's southern fringe you will have to pay far more than $400,000. Aventura is mostly highrise and midrise condominium buildings, and most of the homes in Highland Lakes/Oaks (the areas west of US1 where the single family homes are) sell for $500,000+. Miami Shores is a decent option as well, and I know there are some homes available there for less than $400,000, but I don't know that area well enough to really comment on it in detail. The commute wouldn't be bad, though.

And yes, Fort Lauderdale is too far for a pleasant commute to Jackson Memorial. There are too many nice areas closer to the hospital to justify a drive to Fort Lauderdale and back every day!

Let me know if you have any more questions, and best of luck with the anticipated move.

FlyMIA · 01-02-2010, 04:59 PM

Surfside is a good area right by the beach on the Barrier Island and the drive to JMH will be easy any time of the day 20mins.
Do not worry about crime too much. If you are looking into neighborhoods that are in the $400,000s you wont have any crime problems. Miami does have crime like any other large city but the crime stays in the high crime areas. All the neighborhoods you have mentioned are pretty good. I suggest spending a week here driving around and getting a feel to each one.
If you lived in LA you should have no problem with Miami. IMO Miami is just a smaller version of LA without the mountains.