Thinking of moving to West Palm Beach area

[casebolt1985]

im thinking about moving to west palm beach and i was needing to know the areas to stay out of and what areas are good and affordable.we're coming from a town population of 10,000 so advice would be appreciated

[THX 1138]

Originally Posted by icorvidae

I am in my fourth summer here now...moved from New England. I spent a lot of time gathering intel on this site! Thought I'd give you my ideas.

South Florida is a Tropical Paradise. Warm year round, breathtaking beaches, super cool flora and fauna. Then comes the crap. Mind boggling stupidity, horrific drivers, extreme overpopulation (which isn't stopping anyone from building new housing communities), there are more 'Bodegas' than grocery stores, utter congestion on the roads (plan on about 1/4 of your waking hours being spent at stop lights--there's one every twenty feet or so), neighborhoods where people don't give a crap about the noise they are making, absurd car insurance rates, and I'll mention it again--get used to stupid people. Oh, and I've been counting, it's 9. The number of times I've seen people literally stop in the middle of the road WHILE driving.

With that said, it really is beautiful here and the level of entertainment you can take advantage of is just about limitless. Want to go see a rodeo, ok, want to go to the Opera, ok, want indian food, ok, italian, french, burgers, microbrews, greek, gastrocrap, OK! It's all here within 30-60 minutes of driving wherever you are from. Which, if you want land is going to be out West giving you an effective 45+ minute drive to the beach which I think is silly if you are moving to Florida. (East to West traffic blows, btw. Soooooo many lights)

Hope this helped a bit.

I do not understand why your saying east to west traffic blows, well if you do not live near Southern, it's going to be painful...otherwise it's a breeze. I can get from Wellington to downtown WPB during the weekend in 15 minutes.

I agree with you on a lot of what you stated, and I heard it from someone else before..."it's a nice place to live if you do not have to work and drive."

[THX 1138]

Originally Posted by casebolt1985

im thinking about moving to west palm beach and i was needing to know the areas to stay out of and what areas are good and affordable.we're coming from a town population of 10,000 so advice would be appreciated

Do you have a job lined up?

If not do you have 6-12 months of income to afford the bills? The COL is very high here, rents, car insurance and etc.

"Affordable" is subjective based on your current bank account numbers or salary potential.

[cfbs2691]

Originally Posted by THX 1138

Do you have a job lined up?

If not do you have 6-12 months of income to afford the bills? The COL is very high here, rents, car insurance and etc.

"Affordable" is subjective based on your current bank account numbers or salary potential.

[kmbjbb]

As much as I do not like it here, I have noticed one very big positive thing. I think it had to do something with those hurricanes that came through, or at least that's what MIL tells me. Most of the East/West roads were widened and can actually handle the traffic unless there is an accident. When you live in a city this big, you must expect traffic. I drove on
Okeechobee Blvd from Downtown WPB out to 441 in the 5pm rush hour and still, the trip only took about 25-30 minutes. Not bad at all. Southern scares a lot of people, but it makes a lot of sense to me. I just tell myself it's an interstate with left turn lanes here and there and I can handle it and I hate driving anymore.

What boggles my mind is the total lack of whatever when an ambulance or fire truck have sirens blaring and lights going and nobody, but nobody moves out of their way. Got my car almost hit yesterday because I saw a fire truck coming from my left (I am deaf and do not hear anything) and so I stopped on the green light to let the truck through. Horns blaring (according to son in car) and people flipping me off, but hey, I let that truck through without getting slammed in the driver's door.

[cfbs2691]

Originally Posted by kmbjbb

What boggles my mind is the total lack of whatever when an ambulance or fire truck have sirens blaring and lights going and nobody, but nobody moves out of their way.

So true!
I thought I was the only one extremely bothered by this.

[brittransplant]

I have lived in Palm Beach Gardens since 1990 and have never come across all of the problems other people have been talking about. But I have lived in 2 separate gated communities for all of those years. Parts of Palm Beach Garden, like anywhere are unsafe and have problems with crime just like anywhere else. The places to avoid are those in certain areas of WPB or Riviera Beach. If you go through a realtor they will tell you. You will not find a cheap house in a 'good area' The cost of living is high...for instance I am a teacher and on my salary I could not afford to buy a house if I was living on my own. Many young teachers have to live at home or share with a friend to make ends meet. However if you are coming with a good job and a 2 income family you should be fine. For those who find $4 gas expensive...try UK at about $9-10 a gallon!

The schools in Palm Beach County are as good as the area you live in.....we have state testing and schools are rated. Check out that you are not looking in an F or D rated area. That is a good indication that the housing around that school may be low income families and a title 1 school that gets Federal Funding. However many title 1 Schools are excellent (my school has been A rated for the last 7 years and it is Title 1.

Like anywhere there ups and downs. Yes the traffic is busy but heck it is a lot better than Jacksonville or Miami! And most of the traffic work is completed on the I95 - at least in my area.

if you want land but closer to the I95 than the acreage or loxahatchee try Square Lake or Steeplechase just off Military Trail in PBG.