Moving to West Palm Beach, FL Newbie, need advice!! (Port St. Lucie: apartments, rentals)

[Jono2614]

Hello!

I am in my late 20s and a working professional. My girlfriend and I are transferring from Lincoln, NE to WPB to experience the ocean lifestyle and be near city life. We have 3 little dogs (all combined less than 25lbs) that we can't live without and need to accomodate them as well. I already have a job on Northlake Blvd beginning Nov 1, my biggest obstacle is where to live. I am unfamiliar with how far is too far for commute times and must also consider that my girfriend could be working anywhere from Port St. Lucie - Boca Roton.

Our budget is a maximum of 1200/mos rent. We have moved many times in the last 3 years and have had many different living situations, looking for some specifics that will make us happy after many many uncomfortable moves.

I have 2 scenarios that we would enjoy - as long as we can make the dogs work.

1 - Near city life! Ocean not far

With this, we would love to find a cool apartement/townhome near a downtown type atmosphere. With that we really enjoy newer parts of town, the newer the area the cleaner it seems to be. We like to be near bars, restaurants and fun stuff to do. We usually spend our weekends outside, making day trips or having a night out drinking - checking out nice bars/restaurants.

2. Walking distance to the beach

I am searching for the best area to be within walking distance of the ocean/beach .. is safe to stroll at night and is not jam packed with tourists 24/7.

Any help providing the areas that would suit these preferences would be awesome! We are super flexible on the type of housing, we just have to work out the dogs.. that I believe will take me being present and talking to alot of landlords to sort out. So for now, recommendations on where I should start researching is what I'm looking for.

Thank you!!

[KoZmiC NinJa]

There is no place in the area you are looking at that fills
all that stuff you want for what you want to pay.
I might be wrong, cuz Im not too familiar with Boca, but I think
that are is very high for rentals. The drive from Boca to PSL is about
70 miles, one way too.....
There are some OK "in town" areas but in West Palm the monthly
HOA fee alone on some places is half of what you want to pay in rent.
In Lake Worth, there might be some crime issues for you, especially
being a Midwesterner. I came here for New England and was / still
am shocked at what I see. Northlake/NPB is sprawlburbia. If you lived
right off of Northlake, you could get a place with the rent you want to
pay but it is not walkable or nite lifeable.....Port St. Lucie is a loooong
way from there too.....You might want to look at Stuart in Martin Co.
Nice quaint downtown, some walkable areas, a little more affordable
and not a bad ride to Northlake for you, close to PSL for your G-Friend.
Just my 2¢

[TriMT7]

Are you open to single family home options?

Using your criteria, I searched for condos in Cityplace.... but most of the buildings there have pet restrictions. There are options just South of downtown, however, that you may like. For example, Flamingo Park and/or Grandview Heights. It's a historic (so not new) area, but close to the redeveloped Okeechobee/Cityplace downtown WPB core.

For example, this is a SFH in Flamingo Park: Charming House - all fenced - East of 95 (http://miami.craigslist.org/pbc/apa/1403326587.html - broken link)

Flamingo Park is one mile from Cityplace (bars, restaurants and shops), about two miles from the beach, two miles from Clematis Street (bars and restaurants and clubs) and a few blocks from the river (great place to jog). There's also a dog park at Howard Park.


The homes are also owned by owners, for more flexibility when it comes to pets. WPB gives you a central location as well, between PSL and Boca, and 15 minutes from Northlake Blvd.


Edit: For good "in town" neighborhood options, also check out option in El Cid, which is directly east of Flamingo Park.
Like Flamingo Park, El Cid is a nice neighborhood (big trees, sidewalks, etc.) and of very upscale homes closer to the water, with some smaller single family and some apartments mixed in. Here's an example: http://miami.craigslist.org/pbc/apa/1400258145.html (broken link)


Very clean, very close to downtown (again, about 1 mile) and about a mile and a half to the ocean on Palm Beach.

[BigBill810]

Here is the thing about living in the West Palm Beach area. Aside from maybe Greenacres, where the taxes are a little lower, Rental costs are high. Anything under the $900/mo area is usually lacking something. Especially in apartment communities. I live in a complex that charges $679/mo for a 1/1, but the floors are crap. You can FEEL your neighbors walking. The walls are "thin", and I really shouldn't include the quotes, because the separating walls are basically two pieces of drywall.

Also, aside from the higher rental costs, its the cost of everything else that makes it rough too. All our businesses seem to captialize on location...example being gas prices jumping 10-15 cents because they are right off I-95. Head another mile in, and they drop big time. I live in Jupiter, and work Downtown. Same grocery store chain charges more money for the same product, etc etc.

[TriMT7]

Originally Posted by BigBill810;

Also, aside from the higher rental costs, its the cost of everything else that makes it rough too. All our businesses seem to captialize on location...example being gas prices jumping 10-15 cents because they are right off I-95. Head another mile in, and they drop big time.

Really, do you think it is ANY different ANY where else in the country? Gas stations off the highway charge more because 1) they can, and 2) demand drives price.

Originally Posted by BigBill810

I live in Jupiter, and work Downtown. Same grocery store chain charges more money for the same product, etc etc.

You mean Cityplace Publix vs. regular Publix? When you're the only supermarket for miles, you charge a premium because you CAN. When a viable alternative opens up downtown, competition will occur. Basic capitalism 101.

[THX 1138]

Stay north of Northlake Blvd. and you'll be okay, Northlake Blvd. sucks during the day, heavy traffic and very commercial. There are plenty of nice places around PGA Blvd. and north.

As well I would not suggest commuting too far, not sure if you have been here before or visited? I95 is free but it's not a joy to drive on everyday. Turnpike isn't free and has heavy traffic as well but I take it since I live out west in Wellington. It cost me over $300 year in tolls with Sunpass just to drive to PGA Blvd. a year not to mention gas and etc. I use to work down near Boca and the drive was even worse.

Also avoid Riviera Beach and Magonia Park.

[TriMT7]

North of Northlake is new, but suburban sprawl. Not exactly the city life, not walkable, and not particularly exciting, being geared mostly to families. It's generic and whitebread safe, which is perfect for some.

[THX 1138]

Guess that explains why most of the nightlife, dining, shopping and etc. is located on PGA? There is no real city life here unless you live in downtown WPB which is a small city with one street of action (Clematis) and another area (City Place) that's a pretty far walk and nothing spectacular.

Also the area south of Northlake starts to skirt some seedy areas of Riviera Beach & Magonia Park which is perfect for some as well.

[TriMT7]

Originally Posted by THX 1138

Guess that explains why most of the nightlife, dining, shopping and etc. is located on PGA?

Actually, most of the nightlife for people under about age 35 is in downtown WPB. From about five or six proper nightclubs, a dozen bars, to proper playhouses and movie theaters, a comedy club, a soon-to-be blues club, soon to open hookah lounge/restaurant. The downtown WPB restaurants are also diversifying in tastes and options, providing everything from French to Middle Eastern, Greek to Venezuelan.

PGA Blvd. has no real nightlife for young people. Yardhouse is a gathering spot for young professionals, and Club Safari attracts a "slightly past prime" crowd. Ouzo Blue is replicated in Cityplace (Taverna Opa), and in downtown Lake Worth, which I also put above PGA Blvd. in terms of urban accessible living.

I'll give you better shopping at the PGA Mall and Legacy Place (I wish there was a Greenwise around downtown), though the stores I personally shop at for the majority of my wardrobe (like Banana Republic) are present at Cityplace. Worth Avenue, however, a mile over the bridge, provides everything and more for a well heeled shopper.

Originally Posted by THX1138

There is no real city life here unless you live in downtown WPB which is a small city with one street of action (Clematis) and another area (City Place) that's a pretty far walk and nothing spectacular.

See above. It's why I gave the OP options in the downtown neighborhoods area. BTW, you can get from Cityplace to Clematis very easily by walking.... or by taking the trolley that connects the two areas.

I live in a downtown WPB neighborhood, and consider everything East of 95 between the North Bridge of PB Island and about Forest Hill Blvd. to be "local" and accessible to me, including anything on Palm Beach Island. If it's bikable, it's local.

[skylinet]

The Gardens also has Waterway, and Rum Bar/Panama Hatties are decent as well. Square Grouper is supposed to be fun as well in Jupiter, and there are a couple bars in Abacoa as well. There's a few other decent spots, but the Gardens doesn't have a wild night life, but it is usually enough for late 20's professionals.
You'll have to give up walking to the beach though if you want a place that's in the middle of the rest of the action. It's easily bikable, or a three/four minute car ride though.

Jono, In WPB you could walk the intracoastal which would probably work for a stroll at night. The beach is about a half mile/mile from most of WPB, so you could easily walk there, but it would be a little longer to get there.

I guess if your gf took a job south I would go WPB if she went North I would go Palm Beach Gardens.

3 dogs will be tough for a rental.