Chicagoan just returned from Miami/PBC - was exploring relocation-too many or too few ppl-Are my impressions correct? (Orlando: real estate, lease)

[dreamer312]

Just visited Aventura to Jupiter--

FYI, I am a 45 yo SWF professional from Chicago living in a full amenity highrise with stunning views of our park and lakefront considering relocation because I would like warmer weather. However, I won't move if I cannot duplicate some of what I value here in Chicago --

Though it rained daily in Fla last week of May, I liked the warmth. And yes, it was un-g-dly humid, but I guess I would learn to deal. I like when it is warm in the morning and warm at night (unlike CA) And, I stayed in Boca Beach Club and Resort (very nice), so that was all good. Also, FLA is so easy to learn and highway 95 gets you everywhere! Fabulous! In researching potential relocation options, here is what I found:

Aventura/Hollywood/Hallendale:

Aventura looked pristine and manicured, lovely highrises and
mall but still told in midst of many Cubans and Russians (not
that there is anything wrong with them, but that I would need
to learn Spanish).
o learn Spanish). Also, surrounding areas of Hollywood and
Hallendale very mixed real estate and communities. Not enough
consistency for me. Lots of hubbub and hotels, overwhelming
touristy feeling just outside of lovely Aventura. I have friends
in both Hallendale (she is not as picky and I would never live
where she does - amenity highrise with nice views but OLD
bldg) and Hollywood (friend has house and says many men she
has met do not have college degrees...? This surprised her.)
Both (from Chicago) say they like their overall lifestyle but
have given up a lot.

Sunny Isles: Again, lovely highrises from exterior and interiors. However,
Collins is WAY too busy for me. Doesn't have any neighborhood
feel. On a positive note, all of the mini strip malls across the
street from all of the high rises on Collins that once looked
so old have all been undergoing facelifts by a big developer in
town -- looks MUCH IMPROVED from 5 yrs. ago.

FT Lauderdale:
Loved Las Olas (YOLO for drinks (get the martini flight) and
Bova for dinner -yum!), but getting there one passes some
riff raff. Could live on LO, but then too loud? And what else is
there? Still, 2 miles from Ocean -- bummer! Wanted to be on
water and then when I saw the water, jogging path, hotels
and high rises on A1A, I was so excited. That is until I saw A1A
on the weekend - hordes of tourists - total bummer!!! OMG, it
was like being in a crazy vacation zone. Still, it has a super
sweet path
for walkers/cyclists, etc. along the ocean, but can't live there.

Boca: Nice, but like a suburb. If not living on the water there , i could
be in Arizona or whereever, just sub Palms for cacti. Since
I live in downtown Chicago, it just wasn't exciting beyond
Mizner park and it was soooooo quiet. Kind of vanilla. I
did meet very nice people in Boca and beyond all who told me
Boca is for me, given
my situation and background. However, I learned I can live
by Mizner but then I am about 12 blocks from ocean. Yet, if I
live on ocean for my view and dream of a running path (which I
think does not exist?), I have to get in my car to do anything
(not like Chicago where we can walk out our door to
everything) and if on the ocean, I have to board up for
hurricanes. I learned that folks on ocean in Boca have to leave
their homes a lot. On the plus side, Boca was pretty,
manicured, and buildings on ocean were on a quiet street
(private-like), not anything like Collins Ave. Did I miss
something? West of the highway, is it just a lot of gated
communities, families, country clubs and strip malls? Or, is
there more? And again, where was everyone?

Delray Beach:
Atlantic Avenue is nice, but that was it. One street of cute
shops and good restaurants. That would take me a day to
peruse.
Had a good time at night at a good restaurant, but not much
exciting real estate, not on water and tiny to me. What's up?

WestPalm:
OK, when I first pulled up with the realtor into West Palm, I was
psyched as it looked like a mini downtown with high rises,
commercial buildings etc., Clematis looked fine and City Place
shopping area was great. I even looked at units in
highrises on the intracoastal with stunning views of the
intracoastal, (and my dream running path along the water that I
am used to in Chicago), Palm Beach and the ocean. Yippee! I
thought. Great views, nice little downtown in the sun. Hmmmm,
that is until I drove back the next day. It was a
Sunday, and it was NOT raining. I saw many folks at City Place
Shopping area, but not a soul anywhere else. It was bizarre. It
was like a ghost town. And just beyond City Place, eeks! Tons of
undeveloped land, not safe! I met a well-known female doctor
who has lived there for 20 years and she told me I
could not even live in a high rise on intracoastal and walk 3
blocks west to City Place Mall by myself as it would not be
safe. And, I'd trust her! She told me "Go to Boca."
We agreed maybe in 15 years WPB will be built up, "but
Boca is done," she said, "Why wait?"

Palm Beach:
I enjoyed driving through and saw nice homes, men in green
pants, 90 yo ladies coming from church all dressed up in suits
(God love'em), and Worth Avenue. Yet, here was not a soul on
Worth Avenue and all the stores were closed! ??? What is up
with that? Where is everyone in WPB and PB? Hellllllooooooo!
No comprende.

Juno Beach/Jupiter:
OK, so I drove my last leg up to Jupiter. Don't miss the exit or
you have to drive 8 miles before you can turn around! Are we in
the country? OY! Then I drove from highway (95) to the
Ocean (about 15 minutes) and passed a ton of strip malls, chain
restaurants, etc all looking on the newer side but again, like any
other vanilla suburb. When I hit the water, there was a nice 2
lane quieter, smaller drive along the water (not crazy like Collins).
I also saw a ton of high rises facing the ocean and so I was
getting excited. There were folks with their kids, joggers, etc.
and many sets of stairs about every half block going down to what I think
is the ocean. I park and check it out. And yes, there is mile and
miles of ocean. So picture this. About 15' feet above the sand
and ocean, Jupiter and Juno build a sidewalk so all of the strollers
could stroll down the ocean drive. Great, right? NO! They planted
bushes and trees so dense on the sand level butting up against
the sidewalk so that all along the walkway, when you are
running, biking etc. and alll along the ocean drive when you are
driving you cannot see the water! What? This is crazy! How did
they block their most precious commodity? This went on for
miles from all thru Jupiter Beach down to Juno Beach. Then I got
a ticket form a cop (undeserved, of course, but no way to fight
it). So, again, a town not set up like I would like and a waste
of what could have been the greatest access to fabulous water
views. WHY?

[Lilybeans]

Originally Posted by dreamer312

Just visited Aventura to Jupiter--
They planted
bushes and trees so dense on the sand level butting up against
the sidewalk so that all along the walkway, when you are
running, biking etc. and alll along the ocean drive when you are
driving you cannot see the water! What? This is crazy! How did
they block their most precious commodity? This went on for
miles from all thru Jupiter Beach down to Juno Beach. Then I got
a ticket form a cop (undeserved, of course, but no way to fight
it). So, again, a town not set up like I would like and a waste
of what could have been the greatest access to fabulous water
views. WHY?

Dune preservation, or course. The ocean isn't lake Michigan, and when the hurricanes com, we need something to help preserve the dunes.

[dreamer312]

Oh, thank you for your response. Being from the Midwest, naturally, I am not familiar with that.
Too bad about losing your view. Just wondering why they didn't build the sidewalk or concrete path over part of the sand below? Sidewalk preservation (no joke)?

[stars99]

Just an FYI, if you want to be around other Chicagoans, there seem to be a lot more of them on the west coast of Florida and in some areas near Orlando.

As for having to use the car to do anything or get anywhere, that's what most of Florida is like. But you get used to it.

[PBCboy]

That was quite an interesting write up that I enjoyed reading.

However, I'm just wondering... what did you get a ticket for?

[parle75]

Very interesting observations. What you saw is the way it is here in South Florida and don't bank on it changing any time soon should you choose to live here. I am a Miami native and have lived in West Palm Beach for 10 years.

As for West Palm:

"I saw many folks at City Place Shopping area, but not a soul anywhere else. It was bizarre. It
was like a ghost town. And just beyond City Place, eeks!"

THIS is one of many reasons why it's a wrap for me and West Palm next year when my lease ends. I have lived here almost 10 years and I honestly can't tell you where else you should hang out besides CityPlace. The mall in West Palm has gone to all hell so you can't go there now. I don't know what people here did for entertainment before CityPlace. It's to the point where I have turned down invitations to hang out because I'm tired of going to CityPlace. You can hit Clematis but it's not all that, really. I actually prefer Lake Worth's downtown to any downtown in the county.

Also, comparing Boca and West Palm is truly comparing apples and oranges. Boca IS a suburb and all you're going to get in Boca is a bunch of developments, gated and ungated, shops and restaurants (some found nowhere else in the county but Boca or maybe Wellington), and more strip malls on top of strip malls.

Right there I just described pretty much the whole county. Heck, all of PBC is a suburb. There is no bustling city life here. There's no real city in PBC. And West Palm doesn't count as a real city.

I am going to Chicago later this month to get a taste of real city life and quality restaurants and other venues. Good luck to you!

[TriMT7]

West Palm Beach's population is roughly 100k people. For a city of its size, it's got more than most "going on."

[Manny561]

Ok, dude from chicago, you were about 87.67% right. especially from a visitors point of view who is from chicago. at least on the palm beach county part, i dont know much about aventura(i could tell about miami[which is alot more like chicago])And ft lauderdale and sometimes pompano are the only reasons i ever go to broward.

Originally Posted by parle75

Right there I just described pretty much the whole county. Heck, all of PBC is a suburb. There is no bustling city life here. There's no real city in PBC. And West Palm doesn't count as a real city.

I am going to Chicago later this month to get a taste of real city life and quality restaurants and other venues. Good luck to you!

Ok, true, but not true. just the other night i was on belvedere and lake at 3:30 in the morning coming back from downtown, and i was at the convience store. and there is a line, and cars, and people, and lots of people on the road. you dont find that in the suburbs. ill put it this way, if there is something to do in west palm beach(festival, concert, holiday, etc...) everybody goes, everybodys out, even on a friday or saturday night there are lots of people out. just not north of banyan blvd. and if you do see people outside, you probably would have no interest in conversing with them. Boca on the other hand is a different story. Worst and most boring "city" in the United States. Lake worth is ok for about 2 or 3 blocks north and south of lake ave and lucerne ave east of dixie hwy and thats about it. delray about the same. and lantana is dead, along with palm beach gardens, greenacres, wellington(for the most part), royal palm beach, loxahatchee, jupiter, tequesta(who the hell lives in tequesta?), and muck city(belle glade, pahokee, and south bay) is nowhere you would ever wanna go(in fear that your car breaks down, that would be the worst moment of your entire life).

[Manny561]

I also might add that the crime(and there's lots of it, don't let people fool you, even in boca or wellington, there is crime) that causes over exertion of the police force(city & county, full of corrupt cops) are two reasons why there aren't alot of people out all the time.

[Native51]

Originally Posted by Manny561

I also might add that the crime(and there's lots of it, don't let people fool you, even in boca or wellington, there is crime) that causes over exertion of the police force(city & county, full of corrupt cops) are two reasons why there aren't alot of people out all the time.

The downtown areas are not packed because the population is so spread out. Most folks are unwilling to drive 30 minutes for dinner and drinks. That's why the downtown areas generally cater to locals and the young.

This isn't Chicago (which is also my favorite big city), nor will it ever be. We just don't have the density or transit system to have a large vibrant downtown area at this point.

And in terms of crime, if people are genuinely afraid to leave their house at night because they feel they'll get shot or robbed then they really need to move north because that's no way to live life. Stay away from the high crime areas that have been mentioned ad nauseum on this site and you'll be fine 99% of the time.