Which area is better for families-West Boca or Wellington? (Coral Springs: houses, neighborhoods)

[Jillybean2]

My husband and I looking to a buy a house. We currently live in Coral Springs and we do not like the Coral Springs area at all. His job is in Boca, we have a lot of friends there, and love that there are many family activies and decent schools. Also, we want to be close to shopping and restaurants. We would love to live in central Boca but there is not much in our price range (around $300K) except older 1 story ranch style houses which we dislike. So that leaves us looking in West Boca (around Mission Bay, Boca Winds, etc) which has more newer, larger, 2 story houses that we like. However, in West Boca we would still be far from places we like to eat like Mizner Park and Atlantic Ave. And I schools seem good but not as good as central Boca. We are also considering Wellington, I am not very familar with the area. His commute would be about the same as it is now. And we have family in Palm Beach Gardens so it would be nice to be closer to them. The houses and community in Olympia look very nice and exactly what we are looking for (newer houses, mall close by). But I have heard some negative things about Wellington and Olympia in particular. Can anyone give me some more insight on these areas??

[skylinet]

Wellington is going to give you more homes to choose from in your price range/style that you are looking for. There's 3 homes on the market in Boca that meet your criteria where you have around 20 in Wellington.
There are a few other nice neighborhoods that have larger two story homes (isles, lakefield, oakmont, etc) so you won't necessarily have to be in Olympia.
Both areas are known for good schools and have fairly similar amounts of restaurants/shopping etc.

[Jillybean2]

I agree, many more options for us in Wellington. I will look at other areas in Wellington also. I am actually going to look at a few properties in Olympia this week that is why I am curious about other peoples opinions on that neighborhood. The stability of the area and schools there concerns me a little. There are so many shortsales (which there are in West Boca too) and I have heard that the olders Wellingotn neighborhoods are zoned for better schools

[Swimmom32]

WE looked in both places and wound up in West Boca when we 1st moved down here, We liked the Feel of Boca better than Wellington as well as the schools but again that was just our Opinion at the time. Go look at properties in both areas and talk to people who live there with school aged children...that will give you a better understanding of the Areas...

Good Luck

[ruth311]

What is the zip code (or maybe just the street boundaries) for West Boca, and which are the communities there that may be similar to the feel and price ranges found in Wellington? Also, I've looked at the information for both Wellington High School and Palm Beach Central High. The ratings are similar but the comments I've read seem to lean more toward WHS as being the better school overall. What is the high school for the West Boca area? We're considering a move to the area in the summer of 2012 and have two kids currently in middle school. Schools and a nice, safe community where we can find a pool home in the $350-400k range are our top priorities.

[Swimmom32]

it depends...My kids went to Waters Edge Elem and West Boca High School at the time.....We moved to Central Boca for the Schools as they have been attending...Our daughter went to Calusa Elem however I would have chosen Del Prado at the time..She is now in Omni Middle School and We are So Happy with the School..Our Son Attends Spanish River High School Excellent Experience we have had Academically with this school than opposed to West Boca HS....West Boca zip Codes, 33498 and 33428....
Omni Middle School and Spanish River HS are 33496, 33434, 33433 and there is one more that attends Spanish River but goes to Boca Middle....that is in East Boca..
the zip codes are funny here regarding schools so you always need to call the School District to make sure....
West Boca Schools: 33498 and 33428
Waters Edge Elem/Sandpiper Elem, Sunrise Park Elem
Loggers Run Middle School/Eagles Landing Middle School
West Boca High School, Olympic Heights High School

Hope this helps...

[DaniellaG]

Wellington to me has a younger more family oriented feel then Boca. I also felt that way about Jupiter. Have you looked into Jupiter? Though I am wondering where is the job located?
I am not familiar with Coral Springs but maybe you can state more what you don't like? It may give you some feedback if any of these areas have similar. Also have you called a realtor who works in Central Boca to see if maybe they know something not on the listings yet?

[Swimmom32]

I need to find new demographics of Boca a new one that is....to the OP there is 1500-1600 kids in West Boca High School alone Spanish River Has 2480 from what I was told last and Boca High has 3000 Kids...this is not including Olympic Heights and the Middle and Elem Schools....so to the poster, there are a lot of young families here in Boca and in West Boca as well...this is also not including those kids that attend Private School here in Boca as well as Most of them are Local Kids too...good luck
Its all about finding that "right" sub division where there are younger people and kids unfortunately Realtors really cant tell you that so best thing would be is go out with a realtor go onto Bocaexecutives.com and you look by zip code and write down what you like and go take a look and then talk to the people that live there...If your looking for a nice development in West Boca I would try Boca Falls....you can get a house for 350k-400 for that Poster that was looking in that price range..also remember a Price is just that and everyone is Negotiable.....Finding the Right sub division and taking your time is Key...Had We knew then what we know now we would have not Moved to West Boca and would have moved to where we live now.....

[Jillybean2]

Thanks everyone so much for the feedback!

@Ruth- feedback I have been getting from people has also been the Wellington HS is the better of the two

@ Swimmom- what is it that you perfer about central Boca? Is it mainly the schools?? What did you not like about west Boca? We have been looking in the Waters Edge/Sandpiper district but I WOULD perfer Del Prado or another elementary school that goes to Spanish River. We are just having a hard time finding something that is right for us in that district. We are debating if it is better to compromise on the house/price range we want to be in the Spanish River district.

@Danielle- we have looked in Jupiter and really liked the area but decided that it was just too far from my husbands work. There is nothing wrong with Coral Springs, it's just not for us. Some schools are ok, some are not. We do not like the shopping/dinning options within Coral Springs and places that we do like are about a 20-30min drive away. Although there are still some nice areas there, I personally feel that Coral Springs was a better family area 10-15 years ago but it now going downhill. Which is one of my fears with Wellington-that the area may go downhill as well. I guess I see Boca as more established. But Wellington=nicer house.

[FloridaHawkeye]

Have there been any issues with students from Belle Glade going to the Wellington schools? I heard that word of mouth but not confirmed.