Fort Lauderdale vs Pompano Beach vs Boca Raton (Miami, Delray Beach: big house, buy)

[MarcAmblard]

Hello florida friends,

I'm a fifties and I arrived in Miami 15 months ago from France with my family (younger wife, Son 18, daugther, 13).

We are understanding Miami is too crowded and too latin for us. So, we planned to move to the North in few months.
Although, we're constrained by the high school for our daughter.

So, we have the choice among Fort Lauderdale, Pompano and Boca Raton.

I work mainly from my house. So, It's not necessary to take every day my car to go to work.

I went few times at Fort Lauderdale and I love this city, its yachts, the ubiquitous water ... But to live there all year long, I'm not sure (crowd, trafic, tourists ...).

Concerning Boca Raton, to be honest, I'm a little afraid of being bored in Boca Raton. I love listening to musicians in pubs, cheap restaurants, cinema, shops not snobbish ...

Otherwise, I appreciate a lot the calm and especially the cleanliness. I know, it's not always compatible

As for Pompano beach, we do not know absolutely but we had bad echoes. I don't know why.

Our budget for a house is about 1.5 M$ and we'd like to have a little boat in front.

Finally, we hesitate ... Difficult choice. Thank you very much for your advices. All the Best. Marc.

N.B. Sorry for my english

[TreeZoo]

Of the three, here is my advice:

Go to east Ft Lauderdale and spend a little less than $1.5 Million on your house and invest the rest on private school for your kids. IMO, it is false economy at that budget level, to get free (public) education and buy expensive housing.

[Mattr82]

Marc,

I think you should consider a few areas: Lighthouse Point which is a bit North of Pompano Beach. Highland Beach which is in the Boca area. Also, Ocean Ridge.

If you're willing to go North, there are some great choices in Jupiter, Juno Beach and Palm Beach Gardens. What size house are you looking for? How many beds/baths?

Best,

Matt

[cfbs2691]

East of Federal in Pompano is decent or consider Lighthouse Point.

[City Guy997S]

Originally Posted by MarcAmblard

I went few times at Fort Lauderdale and I love this city, its yachts, the ubiquitous water ... But to live there all year long, I'm not sure (crowd, trafic, tourists ...).

Concerning Boca Raton, to be honest, I'm a little afraid of being bored in Boca Raton. I love listening to musicians in pubs, cheap restaurants, cinema, shops not snobbish ...

There are very few "cheap restaurants" in any of the three areas you mentioned.

Look in East Delray Beach......... Atlantic Ave and Lake Worth will surely have your musicians and cheap pubs/restaurants with a better beach than the other 3 you picked.

[MarcAmblard]

Originally Posted by TreeZoo

Of the three, here is my advice:

Go to east Ft Lauderdale and spend a little less than $1.5 Million on your house and invest the rest on private school for your kids. IMO, it is false economy at that budget level, to get free (public) education and buy expensive housing.

Treezero, It's an option to consider, indeed! Thanks.

[MarcAmblard]

Originally Posted by Mattr82

Marc,

I think you should consider a few areas: Lighthouse Point which is a bit North of Pompano Beach. Highland Beach which is in the Boca area. Also, Ocean Ridge.

If you're willing to go North, there are some great choices in Jupiter, Juno Beach and Palm Beach Gardens. What size house are you looking for? How many beds/baths?

Best,

Matt

Hi Matt, I don't want to live too far from an airport. Sometimes, I have to go to France for my job.

Otherwise, We don't need a big house. 2400 sqf and 3 BR are enough.

Thank you for your advices. Marc.

[Mattr82]

Hi Marc,

If proximity to FLL airport is top priority, some areas in Ft Lauderdale would meet what you're looking for. In no particular order: Bermuda Riviera; Harbor Beach; Bal Harbour; Lauder Gate Isles; all of isles adjacent to Las Olas Beach.

Lighthouse Point (Coral Key, Venetian Isles, Lake Placid) is really nice and shouldn't take much over 25 minutes to FLL airport so long as you're not going during rush hour.

Best,

Matt

[skylinet]

Tropic isles in Delray.
Still get Boca high school, close to downtown Delray and not far from downtown Boca. If you're on the North side you can walk to a few cheap restaurants and trader Joe's /bike to the beach.
In between PBI and fll.
They'll be a new Ipic cinema open next year I think.
For 1.5 you'll get around a 2800-3000 sqft house and most of them have 90 ft of frontage.
Still active but not as busy as ftl.

[cfbs2691]

Originally Posted by skylinet

Tropic isles in Delray.
Still get Boca high school, close to downtown Delray and not far from downtown Boca. If you're on the North side you can walk to a few cheap restaurants and trader Joe's /bike to the beach.
In between PBI and fll.
They'll be a new Ipic cinema open next year I think.
For 1.5 you'll get around a 2800-3000 sqft house and most of them have 90 ft of frontage.
Still active but not as busy as ftl.

Definitely something to check out OP