College graduate w/ job in Coral Springs (Miami, Fort Lauderdale: car insurance, high crime)

[bostonsox2904]

Hey everyone,

I'm moving to Coral Springs this July to start my new job. I'm a recent college graduate, so I'm wondering if you have any recommendations on where a young man could live. Is commuting from eastern Florida near the ocean feasible? How is the traffic around Coral Springs? Thanks for your help!!

[THX 1138]

Surprised to see people moving here with jobs, since the job market is not too stellar here at least high paying jobs.

Coral Springs is in Broward County, you would best get answers to your question in the Broward/Fort Lauderdale forum.

If you want to go to the beach a lot, you definatley want to live closer to it, Coral Springs is further west, problem with Broward is the area between Coral Springs and the beach is not so desirable, you would want to live east of that area which makes it pricier. Avoid Lauderhill, parts of Pompano Beach, high crime areas.

[Swimmom32]

THX we thought the same thing but I have to tell you, the amount of people moving here and with good paying jobs amazes me...although the economy in South Florida is getting a little better still no where near where it should be, and Salaries are still on the lower side but I will say we noticed alot of more "young professionals" moving and those in the Florida Universities are staying put too...

[wizrap]

What can you afford? That is going to determine whether or not you can live near the beach. If you can afford Delray then that would be nice. Depending on your office hours, you may be looking at a 45 minute or so drive.

[bostonsox2904]

Thanks for your responses! I'm told $1000-1200/month is what my co-workers pay and I would be very reluctant to exceed that. I'm only looking for a studio or 1br and the closer to the ocean the better! Delray seems nice and I was considering Pompano Beach. What would be your choice between say Delray, Boca Raton, Deerfield, and Pompano??

South Florida's economy may be sagging but hey people love visiting!

[wireyourworld]

Just to mention, going from east to west and vice versa during rush hour, or mostly any time, is time and traffic intensive. Coral Springs is west, the beach is east. You might want to think about how much you care for idiot drivers speeding, cutting in and out of traffic, and ignoring red lights, while being stuck at red lights and traffic much of the time, before you decide that closer to the beach is better.

Even getting around the coral springs area can be annoying with rude, inept drivers and traffic. You might want to have a shorter drive for your daily commute, just to get home faster, then head out to the beach.

Whatever you look at this time of year and summer, will be tripled in traffic and inept drivers during season.

[THX 1138]

Originally Posted by Swimmom32

THX we thought the same thing but I have to tell you, the amount of people moving here and with good paying jobs amazes me...although the economy in South Florida is getting a little better still no where near where it should be, and Salaries are still on the lower side but I will say we noticed alot of more "young professionals" moving and those in the Florida Universities are staying put too...

The malls are packed, restaurants are packed too, Wellington is building more restaurants and adding more low wage service jobs but I do not see a lot of professional jobs being created in the county on a whole. One of my friends got a notice of salary freezes and his job might be in jeopardy.

Most employers here will not pay for relocation, I think a lot of people move here because they have family or know somebody. Once they get their fill of it and find out how bad salaries are in relation to the high cost of living, they are in a U-Haul Truck going north on the Turnpike or 95.

What's funny is when I ask the question about "Jobs" the original posters never answer, leading me to believe many move here for other reasons. South Florida is Party Central...

[THX 1138]

Originally Posted by bostonsox2904

Thanks for your responses! I'm told $1000-1200/month is what my co-workers pay and I would be very reluctant to exceed that. I'm only looking for a studio or 1br and the closer to the ocean the better! Delray seems nice and I was considering Pompano Beach. What would be your choice between say Delray, Boca Raton, Deerfield, and Pompano??

South Florida's economy may be sagging but hey people love visiting!

$1K for a 1 bedroom is about average, but even that can vary. For a newer place it could be even more.

Also don't forget to get car insurance quotes, not sure where your moving from but car insurance is quite expensive here.

Avoid Pompano, like I already said.

[bostonsox2904]

THX 1138 thanks for your advice. I'm a Finance major coming from Virginia and I got a job in Finance/Accounting at a manufacturing company. Although the economy may be weak for say housing, manufacturing isn't really affected by the Florida economy because most of our products go elsewhere. I'm not a huge partier either to be honest, I'm here for the fishing!

[THX 1138]

Originally Posted by bostonsox2904

THX 1138 thanks for your advice. I'm a Finance major coming from Virginia and I got a job in Finance/Accounting at a manufacturing company. Although the economy may be weak for say housing, manufacturing isn't really affected by the Florida economy because most of our products go elsewhere. I'm not a huge partier either to be honest, I'm here for the fishing!

I am amazed you found a job here from elsewhere, it's not very common and most companies that are here are small, cannot afford to pay relo and tend to not pursue out of state applicants since they do not want to pay for interview expenses, the larger companies that do are rare here so it's not unheard of just not common so consider yourself very fortunate, especially right out of school. Broward has the lowest unemployment rate.

Current unemployment rates in South Florida:

Broward 5.7%
Palm Beach 6.9%
Miami-Date 9.2%

Manufacturing tends to be a small industry here made up of small businesses aside from the few aerospace firms out there like Pratt and Sikorsky.