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Old 07-25-2013, 11:13 AM
 
280 posts, read 602,087 times
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Anyone familiar with the schools down there as compared to the better NJ school districts? Please compare your experiences when it comes to daily activities, schools, and community feel. I am aware of the weather differences. Just really need help to hear from someone from NJ who lived down there with kids. Would you move down there if you could?

It shocks me to see the house prices in the Miami area with school districts 9 or a 10 on greatschools.org. Most houses start at 600K, if not higher. Here in NJ, one can still buy a house for 400K in a great school district. Wonder what the reality is like down there.

Looking for lots of comments from you all. Thanks!
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Old 07-25-2013, 11:31 AM
 
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Cliff Notes version:

Miami - better beaches, weather, models & no state tax.

Westfield - everything else.
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Old 07-25-2013, 12:06 PM
 
Location: Springfield, NJ
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I disagree about the weather. The summers in Miami are brutal.
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Old 07-25-2013, 12:21 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by msulinski View Post
I disagree about the weather. The summers in Miami are brutal.
True, but overall better.

A relative lived in Boca and said the schools there were not up to par with the avg. North Jersey suburban district. Can't imagine what their poorer districts are like.
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Old 07-25-2013, 12:29 PM
 
1,943 posts, read 3,300,898 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ResearchMom View Post
Anyone familiar with the schools down there as compared to the better NJ school districts? Please compare your experiences when it comes to daily activities, schools, and community feel. I am aware of the weather differences. Just really need help to hear from someone from NJ who lived down there with kids. Would you move down there if you could?

It shocks me to see the house prices in the Miami area with school districts 9 or a 10 on greatschools.org. Most houses start at 600K, if not higher. Here in NJ, one can still buy a house for 400K in a great school district. Wonder what the reality is like down there.

Looking for lots of comments from you all. Thanks!
I wouldn't raise a family in Miami. First, FL schools are not on the same level as NJ schools. You will likely have to send your kids to private schools. Second, Miami is VERY expensive. Hurricane insurance is obscene and you will likely have to live in a private community which will bring large HOA (homeowner association) fees. The weather is hot, but honestly the weather I think is worse in NJ in the summer. We have terrible humidty and no ocean breeze and the air is stale at night. The areas by the ocean in South FL are pleasant. Still hot, but pleasant. And in the fall and early spring, the weather is outstanding. My sister lives in Palm Beach Gardens and I have worked in Miami for years. Another thing about Miami to consider. It is populated with a lot of south Americans (Cuban, Venezuelan, Nicaragua, etc.) It is a big adjustment for you and your kids. My sister's kids went to Catholic school.

Are you targeting Miami for a job or you just want to be in South, FL?

There really aren't places like Westfield in south, FL. The closet that would come to that is Delray Beach (Atlantic Ave.). I love Delray and plan to buy a second home there because it is the most authentic downtown and I like the people (lots of Irish ).

Again, I would personally wouldn't raise a family in Miami. It is fun place to visit, but it super expensive and very corrupt. There are much better communities in south FL to raise your family. Check out Weston, FL. This is a very nice community west of Fort Lauderdale. If you want to be near the ocean then, Delray Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Juno Beach or Jupiter. However, you can't reasonably commute to Miami from those locations. You can commute to West Palm though. You could commute from Weston to Miami.
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Old 07-25-2013, 12:35 PM
 
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The move would be a potential job move. Location slightly north of Miami downtown. I am trying to understand how does a 9/10 district in FL compare to 9/10 district in NJ when looking at greatschools.org. Am I not comparing apples with apples? I guess I would need to dig deeper into statistics, which I was hoping wouldn't be necessary. I pinpointed Weston as well. How about Cooper City, Coral Springs?

We are not afraid of the weather. We are aware of the Spanish language being very common down there.
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Old 07-25-2013, 01:01 PM
 
Location: West Orange, NJ
12,546 posts, read 21,352,246 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EBWick View Post
Cliff Notes version:

Miami - better beaches, weather, models & no state tax.

Westfield - everything else.
i think this sums it up well.

but to make the point - if you were taking a NY Metro salary down to Miami, and could afford private school, then I'd consider it. It's not as cheap as people imagine. A number of my coworkers are relocating to Orlando and once you factor in the HOA fees plus private school tuition, you've wiped out much of your property tax savings. And once you start to factor in the consumption taxes in FL, you chip away at your income tax savings rather quickly. So if you're taking a pay cut, the COL differences actually don't differ that much.

Of course, the prices you'll pay for a house are the biggest savings.

Right after i posted this i read MiamiLIFE's post....guess he already covered what I was pointing out. Well said!
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Old 07-25-2013, 01:06 PM
 
Location: West Orange, NJ
12,546 posts, read 21,352,246 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ResearchMom View Post
The move would be a potential job move. Location slightly north of Miami downtown. I am trying to understand how does a 9/10 district in FL compare to 9/10 district in NJ when looking at greatschools.org. Am I not comparing apples with apples? I guess I would need to dig deeper into statistics, which I was hoping wouldn't be necessary. I pinpointed Weston as well. How about Cooper City, Coral Springs?

We are not afraid of the weather. We are aware of the Spanish language being very common down there.
I don't know how much I trust greatschools.org ratings in general, but I would be very wary of any school in FL ranking anywhere close to NJ's top school districts. For that matter, I'd be skeptical if there are more than a handful of FL districts that rival anything above the top 66% of our districts. Education is simply not a priority to Floridians. You've got the old retired crowd that hates paying property taxes, and think they shouldn't have to pay school taxes (they're everywhere, it's just that their the dominant population in FL).

As a young family with kids, Florida is completely off the table for us. My wife's cousins grew up outside of Tampa, and when I told her my company was relocating some jobs to FL, she simply said "not a chance".
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Old 07-25-2013, 01:29 PM
 
Location: NJ
12,283 posts, read 35,614,111 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ResearchMom View Post
The move would be a potential job move. Location slightly north of Miami downtown. I am trying to understand how does a 9/10 district in FL compare to 9/10 district in NJ when looking at greatschools.org. Am I not comparing apples with apples? I guess I would need to dig deeper into statistics, which I was hoping wouldn't be necessary. I pinpointed Weston as well. How about Cooper City, Coral Springs?

We are not afraid of the weather. We are aware of the Spanish language being very common down there.
I have a friend in Weston, her kids are in HS. The schools are very good (for Fl, it may be comparable to here, I really don't know) but the HS is absolutely MASSIVE. I think about 4500 students.
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Old 07-25-2013, 01:30 PM
 
Location: NJ
12,283 posts, read 35,614,111 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bradykp View Post
i think this sums it up well.

but to make the point - if you were taking a NY Metro salary down to Miami, and could afford private school, then I'd consider it. It's not as cheap as people imagine. A number of my coworkers are relocating to Orlando and once you factor in the HOA fees plus private school tuition, you've wiped out much of your property tax savings. And once you start to factor in the consumption taxes in FL, you chip away at your income tax savings rather quickly. So if you're taking a pay cut, the COL differences actually don't differ that much.

Of course, the prices you'll pay for a house are the biggest savings.

Right after i posted this i read MiamiLIFE's post....guess he already covered what I was pointing out. Well said!
and hurricane (homeowners) insurance....i don't know if this is norm, but i know a couple who pay $9k a year.
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