What's it like living in West Palm Beach?

[P Andrews]

Originally Posted by allhavoc

I think it really depends on the person moving and the income. If you are young (late 20''s, 30's) and you can afford at least $800/month in rent, you'll enjoy the place. There's a lot to do in the city of WPB downtown area, including free shows and a generally nice city center atmosphere. Most of the other cities in the county also almost always have something going on.

I can't really argue with the people who grew up here and think it has gone to sh*t; I only moved down here about three months ago. I'm not so sure about the whole locking your doors when you are on Tamarind - maybe at some point it was really bad, but the city of WPB has done a really good job cleaning the downtown and adjacent areas up. People walk freely downtown until 4/5am in the morning no problem. Besides the downtown area, there are plenty of decent places to stay off the main thoroughfare (Okeechobee RD), again if you can afford at least $800/mo in rent.

I moved here from Tampa, and before that, Tallahassee, and West Palm Beach beats those two cities hands down. That is not to say some people would not prefer the sprawl of Tampa or the 'nothing to do' of Tallahassee, but if you are looking to move to an urban area that doesn't have anywhere near the crime rate of places like Chicago, Atlanta, or even, Miami, you can do worse than WPB.

My 2 cents (or dollars).

Your input is actually $$PRICELESS$$ KODOS to you

[flagirl28]

There were a lot of growhouses in Port Saint Lucie about 5 years ago. A growhouse in January doesn't bother me. That area isn't in my neighborhood anyway, it's on the other side. I know there is some crime everywhere, but when a city ranks three times higher than the national average always, then that is a problem. Port Saint Lucie ranked the safest city in Florida more than once. I don't believe West Palm Beach ever has or ever could. The question isn't really about Port Saint Lucie, though, it's about West Palm Beach. I could've sugar coated my answer and said that West Palm Beach has a "diverse" background, beautiful palm trees, and sandy beaches with clear water. It does, I love the beach on Singer Island and Jupiter, the water is much nicer than Jensen Beach's. I just didn't feel safe at all living down there, I hated the traffic, and I wanted to move out for a long long time. I finally did and I am glad I did. It was a stressful place to live for me and I didn't like having to be on guard all the time. Getting robbed and pistol whipped with a gun, my car broken into, getting my apartment broken into, and being rear ended only to have the driver haul butt afterwards all within a 2 year timeframe was plenty enough for me. This happened in the supposedly nicer area too, not downtown, not in Riviera Beach. Some people might like that area or that enviroment, the person thinking of moving there might be perfectly happy down there as well, who knows, but if I asked what is it like living in West Palm beach I would want honest answers. I simply told him or her what it was like for me living in West Palm Beach....that's it.

[faithfulFrank]

Discuss issues, NOT other posters. Be respectful. This thread is close to being closed. Warning.

Frank

[crystal75]

My uncle lived in Flamingo Park. My cousin got into a lot of trouble from living there. It is super close to Tamarind Ave and the houses are really old. I would advise if you move to WPB not to live east of Jog Rd.

[8635angelvalley]

The old houses are what makes it cool.How did your cousin get in troublr from living in FP?

[Pimpy]

Originally Posted by crystal75

My uncle lived in Flamingo Park. My cousin got into a lot of trouble from living there. It is super close to Tamarind Ave and the houses are really old. I would advise if you move to WPB not to live east of Jog Rd.

Jog Rd is way the [expletive] out there. Does anyone under 80 live WEST of Jog Rd (excluding Wellington residents)?

[8635angelvalley]

(BTW --- at this stage in my life it would take a LOT to make me live west of I-95!!)


East of Dixie-all the way.

[TriMT7]

Originally Posted by crystal75

Because he was a teenager and there were a lot of thugs that lived over there. He just got into the wrong group of kids...

Hey, no need to make excuses. Sometimes kids just don't receive proper home training. Hopefully he stopped being a troublemaker when removed from the evil influence of historic west palm beach!

Originally Posted by Crystal75

The farther East you go the dirtier and older and more ran down it is. Don't go too too far West though, because then it will bring you to Belle Glade. Wow....gotta love all the name calling from TriMT7.

Yes. The further east you go, the dirtier it gets:

http://services.palmbeachpost.com/content/R3175519i1.jpg (broken link)



http://services.palmbeachpost.com/content/R3156478i1.jpg (broken link)

http://services.palmbeachpost.com/content/R3057599i1.jpg (broken link)

[8635angelvalley]

There is no need for that.

[P Andrews]

Originally Posted by flagirl28

There were a lot of growhouses in Port Saint Lucie about 5 years ago. A growhouse in January doesn't bother me. That area isn't in my neighborhood anyway, it's on the other side. I know there is some crime everywhere, but when a city ranks three times higher than the national average always, then that is a problem. Port Saint Lucie ranked the safest city in Florida more than once. I don't believe West Palm Beach ever has or ever could. The question isn't really about Port Saint Lucie, though, it's about West Palm Beach. I could've sugar coated my answer and said that West Palm Beach has a "diverse" background, beautiful palm trees, and sandy beaches with clear water. It does, I love the beach on Singer Island and Jupiter, the water is much nicer than Jensen Beach's. I just didn't feel safe at all living down there, I hated the traffic, and I wanted to move out for a long long time. I finally did and I am glad I did. It was a stressful place to live for me and I didn't like having to be on guard all the time. Getting robbed and pistol whipped with a gun, my car broken into, getting my apartment broken into, and being rear ended only to have the driver haul butt afterwards all within a 2 year timeframe was plenty enough for me. This happened in the supposedly nicer area too, not downtown, not in Riviera Beach. Some people might like that area or that enviroment, the person thinking of moving there might be perfectly happy down there as well, who knows, but if I asked what is it like living in West Palm beach I would want honest answers. I simply told him or her what it was like for me living in West Palm Beach....that's it.

I am so truly sorry for your tragic experience. After what you have gone through for your own sanity, you have to put yourself into what ever place allows you to feel safe.
But like you said, your incident occurred in an area not deemed likely to have such random crime. These things unfortunately are part of today's society, and because we are more populated, and have a broader and more diverse population, we of course are going to expect to have more crime. And unfortunately random cases such as yours, are not something you can pin point to a neighborhood, or even a town. That's why when what you went through was a horrific experience it was not something that is an everyday occurrence. It could've happened in Anytown, USA.