Palm Beach Gardens or Boca Raton (Miami, Fort Lauderdale: crime, houses, landscaping)

[TriMT7]

Originally Posted by PBCboy

I would go with Palm Beach Gardens. Palm Beach Gardens High School is supposed to be bad, though. Check the school boundary list for yourself when deciding to move:

High School Boundary Maps :: Palm Beach School District

Isn't that because they ship in a lot of kids from Riviera Beach?

I would agree though... live where your kids will get into Dwyer. Or move to Jupiter.

[PBCboy]

Originally Posted by TriMT7

Isn't that because they ship in a lot of kids from Riviera Beach?

I would agree though... live where your kids will get into Dwyer. Or move to Jupiter.

Yes, kids from both areas go there... the good and the bad.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by Newyorker2

Thanks for the replies. A concern about PBG is the fact that it is so far north ( on the map) I am concerned about getting around town, for networking our small business. Can any one give me an idea of this, or suggest a place in lower PB or Broward county that would also offer an upscale lifestyle (close to the beach) good schools and flexibility to travel to/from Miami? My husbands job may require for him to drive a lot.

thanks

Yeah, Boca Raton. Anything nice in Broward is 20 to 30 minutes inland with regards to school districts. Weston has an especially central location in terms of distance to Miami/FTL/WPB and offers an "upscale" lifestyle but that's about as far inland as you can go down here. How far inland would you be willing to go in exchange for a compromise between better schools and proximity to Miami? I think Boca Raton is probably your most well rounded option, but that really is a lot of driving.

[Momma_bear]

Originally Posted by Newyorker2

I accidentally posted this on the miami forum, so here goes the rest of FL--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok, this is the second thread that i have ever posted on this site so I hope it works out right! My husband and I, both in our 30s, are entertaining the idea of a move to South Florida, we have 2 children so good schools are a must. Jobs are not an issue .. not yet at least.. we are hoping to start our own business though we will probably need to work/commute for at least a year ( Husband is in the automotive industry and can probably get a transfer to a West Palm Beach office).

My question is, where would you consider the better town to be for raising children, we will probably rent first. I saw a condo community online called Legacy Place in Palm Beach Gardens and totally fell in love, I love the medditerrenean(sp) theme and definitely would like some place upscale. I need to be somewhere comfortable, where we can get out and network easily, that is good to raise children and close to a beach and ammenities as we are still young and very active. Any advice on these two locations posted, or suggestions on better locations are also appreciated.

thanks in advance for your help, I have found/read some really

There really are no good public schools in south Florida. Some are better than others, but none of them are really good.

Definitely PBG over Boca. Jupiter is nice also. I don't think any of the 3 are really high crime areas, although they may have some bad neighborhoods.

PBG is really pretty, nearly new, and very upscale. Boca is also upscale but there are many many retirees there, making it less desirable (IMO) to raise kids.

[FHMullane]

PB Gardens... NOT Boca....

[compelled to reply]

Guys, the OP has updated with some important information. While I agree that Jupiter/PG Gardens is nicer, this needs to be considered.

Thanks for the replies. A concern about PBG is the fact that it is so far north ( on the map) I am concerned about getting around town, for networking our small business. Can any one give me an idea of this, or suggest a place in lower PB or Broward county that would also offer an upscale lifestyle (close to the beach) good schools and flexibility to travel to/from Miami? My husbands job may require for him to drive a lot.

thanks

He might even *god forbid* need to be even further south!

Also, there are more retirees in PB Gardens than there are in Boca. The average age is higher by 3 years there.

[5FLgirls]

OP: Have you thought about looking into Parkland, Coral Springs, Plantation or Weston. Friends live in Parkland and they love the schools. It's only about 15 minutes from the beach (I think). My husband drove to Miami (University of Miami in Coral Gables) every week for grad school for two years and it would take him about 1.5 hours door to door (driving very fast). Like other opinions, you should think about staying in Central or South Palm Beach County or go down to Broward if you want to be more centrally located.

[compelled to reply]

Plantation=pretty looking, lousy schools. Just a warning. Coral Springs is nice, but more middle class than upscale. Parkland is very upscale, and I would take it over Boca or PB Gardens, and now that I think of it, 15 minutes is about right to the beach, and it's Deerfield which is nice now. Weston is upscale, light on traffic and crime, and central to the major centers but we are waaaaaaaay out west.

[Newyorker2]

Parkland sounds great, but the cost of living seemed out of this world. Are there any good rentals in Parkland? I have seen this city come up over and over in this forum. Anything to do? I want a town good for kids, but also good for adult activities as well.

And yes I am more than willing to compromise proximity to the beach for good schools as that is most important. I was just hoping to rent within viewing distance of the beach, since i will probably not be able to afford a beach house down the road, renting one seemed the closest to realizing my dream. (LOL)

Can anyone tell me more about Broward towns?

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by Newyorker2

Parkland sounds great, but the cost of living seemed out of this world. Are there any good rentals in Parkland? I have seen this city come up over and over in this forum. Anything to do? I want a town good for kids, but also good for adult activities as well.

And yes I am more than willing to compromise proximity to the beach for good schools as that is most important. I was just hoping to rent within viewing distance of the beach, since i will probably not be able to afford a beach house down the road, renting one seemed the closest to realizing my dream. (LOL)

Can anyone tell me more about Broward towns?

Now keep in mind that Boca Raton is the only city south of PGA Blvd that has decent all-around schools all the way to the coast. If you look into Broward, you are going to have to go pretty far inland for better schools, but as a plus, you WILL be closer to Miami.

The #1 rule to follow in Broward is to either stay west of University Drive or east of Dixie Highway. Once you go south of 595, stay east of U.S.1. That in between area has a lot of inconsistencies, while areas within those other two boundaries do not, although school quality does vary significantly (I.E. Sunrise/Plantation is a nice looking area but the schools flat out suck).

Parkland is basically a newer, very upscale suburb of 20 thousand in a "park like" setting with a decent amount of equestrian areas mixed in. There are actually real live forests in the city limits. At times, for better or for worse, you forget you are in South Florida when you are in Parkland. It's a VERY pleasant atmosphere, but it doesn't have as much of that tropical "Florida" look. There is little shopping and dining in the city limits, but you are close enough to Boca Raton and Coral Springs that it doesn't matter. It really feels like your "in the suburbs" there.

Coral Springs was mostly built in the past 40 years (a lot of areas in the past 15 years) and is known for it's low crime rate, large amount of ethnic diversity, and has a reputation for good schools. However, the school quality has gone significantly downhill in parts of Coral Springs, so keep that in mind. Stay in the Taravella Innovation Zone. It also feels more like "any suburb USA", but with more shopping and dining in city limits, including the "restaurant row" which has a variety of dining. There are also a lot of activities for families with children, and there is an active performing arts center in city limits. Coral Springs has a couple of scuzzy areas along Sample Road and Coral Ridge Drive, but the rest of the city is fairly clean. Traffic on the streets ranges from light to heavy.

You have a huge gap over there between Coral Springs and Davie where save for some elementary schools, the schools are not good. Tamarac, Sunrise, Plantation are decent looking areas, but won't meet your criteria.

Davie is getting closer to Miami. The entrance to the city is a somewhat unattractive line of mobile home parks in many areas. This tends to scare a lot of people off, but save for 1 or 2 parks, these places have a very strict background check process and don't let scum in. It's just a place for priced out middle class families to go. As you drive further south, it becomes a mixture of clean middle class family neighborhoods, equestrian areas, and a few McMansion developments. There is a distinctively "Rural" flavor in much of the city, and traffic on the streets is light.

Weston is immediately due west of Davie. It's a planned, resort-like community largely built by Arvida over the past 15 years. The streets are thin on traffic, crime is very low, and an underground power grid means power interruptions due to storms are rare. Most streets have a barrier of lush tropical landscaping separating developments as well as some very fantastic landscaping in the median. The city has a very green, upscale appearance that can certainly be called "plastic" at the same time. There are basically no dirty areas in the city limits.

Cooper City is directly south of Davie. Save for a couple gated communities, the city is dead-center middle class with some small shopping centers and a rarely-found sense of community. A lot of neighborhoods actually feed into each other versus having traffic constricted subdivisions, and there is a little bit of a country atmosphere in the city. It's an unusually sturdy area where neighbors tend to know each other. Traffic is light.

Getting very close to Miami-Dade county line, the west Pembroke Pines/Miramar area is mostly built in the past 5-10 years. It's known for a very mixed population (including a large east Asian population that is rare in Florida) and spotless gated communities. Stay west of 75 for better schools.