a feel for living in Wellington.. (West Palm Beach, Jupiter: section 8, rental, HOA)

[CravenClan]

I have already posted about Wellington in general and the schools. But would like some input on day to day living there. Things like....

-The people, if they are friendly or rude?
-Are there a lot of young Families?
-If you live in a neighborhood there, do you find the people to be nice, like hang out with eachother outside?
-Are there parks in the neighborhoods?
-If you have kids in elementary school, are you allowed to volunteer in your childs class? Do the moms seem friendly?

I am trying to get a jump on it, before we visit, although my husband willbe there next week. He actually works in West Palm Beach, but has never been to Wellington. I have heard on the beach it is beautiful, then as you get away from there, towards Wellington, it is ghetto, and then it turns nice again?

I guess my concern would be if it is a safe area to live? The last thing we want to do, is move there then regret it in a year!

[Bobstar]

I have lived in Wellington for over 3 years and like it alot. We moved from up north and have no regrets.

"-The people, if they are friendly or rude?" I have found that people are the same no matter where you live. Some are nice and some are rude. Wellington is no different.

"-Are there a lot of young Families?" Absolutely.

"-If you live in a neighborhood there, do you find the people to be nice, like hang out with eachother outside?" Where I live, yes. Results of others may vary.

"-Are there parks in the neighborhoods?" My community has a park. The Village has more parks then your kids can play in.

"-If you have kids in elementary school, are you allowed to volunteer in your childs class? Do the moms seem friendly?" Yes and yes.

"I am trying to get a jump on it, before we visit, although my husband willbe there next week. He actually works in West Palm Beach, but has never been to Wellington. I have heard on the beach it is beautiful, then as you get away from there, towards Wellington, it is ghetto, and then it turns nice again?" You just described the entire state of Florida. Nice areas are surrounded by not so nice areas. Wellington is a very safe and comfortable place to live. It has been ranked very high on Money Magizine's best places to live list numerous times.

[CravenClan]

Thank You Bobstar...I appreciate your response...

It is easy to find thingson the internet, and all looks Great in Wellington, houses, schools, close to the beach...but it makes me nervous to read all the negs about ghetto, section 8, gangs, break ins....we just want to mak the right choice, and we had by moving to Texas, until my husbands business has more opportunity there, to grow in Florida. (which is a good thing, i am not complaining about that part!) Ijust don't want to be raising my kids alone 2 weeks out of the month, if we were to stay in Texas, that would be our life, and already has for the last year!

That being said, us all living together is best for me, and our kids, i can deal with HOT weather, it is different than where we are from in CA, but I would rather say I can go to the pool or the beach, than sit in my house when it is cold!!

[Bobstar]

You will find a lot of negativity on these boards. People like to complain and this board and others provides an outlet. Florida is by no means perfect, but what is? If your family has secure jobs in toe, you will be happy and do well. Good luck.

[llong]

Bobstar...thanks for your input on Wellington over the year I tried to PM you...could you tell me about the pros and cons of your neighborhood. Also...coming from NY...what has been the hardest thing to get use to living in Florida? Which do you feel has been a better environment for raising children. We have interviews coming up in March.

Craverclan....we maybe moving this summer to Wellington too....I would love to keep in touch with you through this process....we have 3 young girls ages 6, 4 and almost 1. We have the same concerns as you!

[CravenClan]

llong...we have 3 kidos, 8 yol boy, 7 yol girl and a 4 yol girl...we cam efrom So. Cal, born and raised, and leaving there was the best thing we could have ever done, looking back on it now, i don't know why we stayed so long! I would love to stay in contact w you.

I am a stay at home mom, and my husband is self employed, we do have a job, so that is not a factor.

Bobstar i believe you said you live in Versailles? i have looked and seen a few houses for rent there, but i wondered about your HOA, someone said $600 per month? (ouch) Also I was told by a realtor, that even to get in a rental there, that there was some crazy amount for application fee? again like $600? Really?

Thanks for the input...my husband will be there all week, working and looking...I hope it goes well!

[Bobstar]

HOA dues in Versailles ranges from $440 to $500 a month. I do not know the costs for application fees. Try calling them directly. The HOA covers lawn care, security system, cable and internet, some pest control, all the common areas, staffed security gate. It is higher than other communities but also covers more.

[CravenClan]

Thanks Bobstar, nice to hear what it does cover and that is good! So how does the cable and internet work? Do they pay for a certain package and then you can more or less?

[mayorhaggar]

I grew up in Wellington. By and large it is an affluent bedroom community. A lot of people there work in downtown WPB or other areas closer to the coast, and used to live near WPB, but moved to Wellington in the 80's and 90's as crime and schools got worse. Also there was always the horse-riding and polo thing, which I think was a bigger part of Wellington in the 80's and 90's and while it's still big it became less of a dominating factor in the town as more and more development cropped up. I think Wellington was kind of unique back then, it had good schools, low crime and property was fairly sensibly priced but still came at a bit of a premium. I think now that there's been a lot of development in PBC in the late 90's and the 00's Wellington is less unique, areas like Palm Beach Gardens and Jupiter and other areas have really grown. But Wellington still has pretty good schools and nice housing and low crime compared with a lot of areas in central PBC like Royal Palm Beach and much of Lake Worth and West Palm Beach.

A lot of homes in the "older" and more central parts of Wellington were built in the 80's so they aren't exactly new, but you find more grocery stores and shopping in those areas. There's been a lot of new development in the outer areas of the town in the last 10 years, which means newer houses if you want them.

Overall things are a lot more convenient than they used to be, in the 90's there were only a couple of grocery stores, and the closest real mall I think was the Palm Beach Mall, and going to the Gardens or Boynton malls was a real drive. Wellington definitely felt a bit isolated. Now there's a real mall nearby and there's always more and more shopping around 441 and other areas. Going to WPB or the beach was about 30 to 45 minutes, I think with the new flyovers it's faster, people say it is anyway.

The people are the same as anywhere in South FL. Lots of people from the NYC and other northern areas, a few southerners and native Floridians, quite a few Jewish people with roots in the NYC area. Mostly white, not many minorities. Honestly it's not really a neighborhood-y kind of place, people often don't talk to their neighbors unless they become friends, but I find that to be really common in suburban Florida. Plus people in Florida don't really spend much time outside when it's hot, unless they're in the pool. Young families? I don't know, I think probably most parents have kids when in their late 20's and early 30's rather than earlier. People are older in Florida and probably in Wellington as well compared with other states but there's still plenty of young families with kids and the schools have large enrollments. You'd see higher home ownership for younger people than somewhere like coastal California because it's so much cheaper, though wages in FL are still not great so I think somewhere a little expensive like Wellington people would move there a little later in life--maybe have kids when living in WPB then move to Wellington when the kids are like 8 or 10 and the parents are making enough to buy a house in Wellington, which is what my family did.

[CravenClan]

Thank You...Funny reading your post and mine, I said young families...I guess in my mind we are still young, I am 37 and my husband almost 41, I guess we are not that young..lol..Maybe I meant w young kids....

This is very difficult, and another MAJOR life change in a short period of time, for ourselves and our kids.While I do like Texas, the area we are in is very small, and a great thought of having your kids grow up in a small town, I mean small football town, things are wwwaaaayyyy slower and That is ok. I wish the school was better, but that just comes in growth, which I do not forsee here for a few years, and by then, my kids won't want me to help in their class!

But really, even if it was perfect, it is not perfect if our business is in Florida, and my husband is gone 2 weeks out of the month...

I am just afraid of making the wrong choice, so it is scary....all over again.

I used this forum and Great Schools, and everything worked out...which is a good thing...we will see how it goes when my husband is there next week...

Thanks!