Is FL a good place to raise children? (Boca Raton, Boynton Beach: buying, magnet schools)

[KrissyfromMA]

I hear the schools are not really good. What areas if any, have good schools? What are the best areas to raise a family that are not too expensive?

[valgalfl]

i'm born and raised in west palm beach... if i could choose, i'd have rather grown up in more rural area. people are mean and shallow. just my opinion...

[StreetSmarts]

^^^ That's pretty accurate. Mean and shallow describes a lot of people in S FL.

[SAKIRAV]

I do not agree. Ny city, yes mean and shallow. Not in SFlorida.

[Reedsmit]

I am sorry that people have bad experiences but there are mean and shallow people everywhere. I have lived in S. Florida for over 30 years; and have raised three children here. None of my children have ever been arrested or involved in drugs. My children went to elementary and middle school in Jupiter. They were involved in Scouting, Sports and their church. The chose Magnet Schools for high school (Suncoast & Dreyfoos School of the Arts) these schools have both placed in the top 100 schools in the country in recent years. They all got part time jobs in High School and kept their grades up. My daughter started at 16 without telling anyone; taking some of her earnings and taking an Angel from the Salvation Army Angel tree, and buying Christmas Gifts for a needy child, and has continued every year since. While in college she volunteered and in schools to help teach children to read, next month she will Graduate for FSU with honors. January she heads to MT to work for one year with AmeriCorp Vista program. My oldest son is a Fire Fighter Para-medic. My youngest son was an Eagle Scout, and when he was 17 was named the VFW"s "Eagle Scout of the Year for FL", he graduated from UCF in August.

Yes you can raise good children in FL. But you have to spend time with them. Keep them busy with things like sports, Scouting and a church. They will learn a lot more that how to run a base or how to tie a square knot. Make sure they stay in school and do their homework. Sit down at night have dinner with them. Don't be so busy with your job, your toys, your life, spend time with your children.
You won't regret it ever.

[Tracimoore937]

I moved to S. Florida in 1991 from MA and have lived in a few different cities here in Palm Beach County. Currently living in western Boca Raton, My job has me traveling all over Palm Beach County daily. To me the western communities are the nicest. I do like all of Jupiter, western Boynton Beach, and western Boca Raton, Wellington, and western Lake Worth. Check the schools in the areas you are looking, most are good. I agree with reedsmit this is a good place to raise children.

[SKB]

Originally Posted by Reedsmit

I am sorry that people have bad experiences but there are mean and shallow people everywhere. I have lived in S. Florida for over 30 years; and have raised three children here. None of my children have ever been arrested or involved in drugs. My children went to elementary and middle school in Jupiter. They were involved in Scouting, Sports and their church. The chose Magnet Schools for high school (Suncoast & Dreyfoos School of the Arts) these schools have both placed in the top 100 schools in the country in recent years. They all got part time jobs in High School and kept their grades up. My daughter started at 16 without telling anyone; taking some of her earnings and taking an Angel from the Salvation Army Angel tree, and buying Christmas Gifts for a needy child, and has continued every year since. While in college she volunteered and in schools to help teach children to read, next month she will Graduate for FSU with honors. January she heads to MT to work for one year with AmeriCorp Vista program. My oldest son is a Fire Fighter Para-medic. My youngest son was an Eagle Scout, and when he was 17 was named the VFW"s "Eagle Scout of the Year for FL", he graduated from UCF in August.

Yes you can raise good children in FL. But you have to spend time with them. Keep them busy with things like sports, Scouting and a church. They will learn a lot more that how to run a base or how to tie a square knot. Make sure they stay in school and do their homework. Sit down at night have dinner with them. Don't be so busy with your job, your toys, your life, spend time with your children.
You won't regret it ever.

Congratulations, it sounds like you are very proud of them.

[Reedsmit]

Originally Posted by SKB

Congratulations, it sounds like you are very proud of them.

Thank you, I am.

[didee]

As a former resident who moved to FL when I was in 7th grade from NY, I will say that south FL is very different from the north. The people tend to be very transient. There is a lot of money; where it comes from is sometimes a mystery. If you have a choice, I would suggest staying or going elsewhere until your kids are grown. Otherwise, keep a close eye on them. There are good and bad kids and influences everywhere, but south Florida has a disproportionate amount of bad influence factors in my opinion.

[exlexisnexis]

I am from mass and I have lived in both Florida and Arizona , I have lived through 15 Florida summers and my opinion is that the summers in Arizona are better because of the low humidity factor.
You cannot do weeked 6 hour trips from S Florida because it is much to far to travel in a weekend to get out of the state,in AZ you can do weekend trips to Vegas, N AZ , CA and mexico if you want a change of scenery,from S Florida you cannot. I suggest you do a mapquest search to see how long it will take to drive from S Florida to Georgia or North carolina which are the 2 closet states from S Florida. It will take you almost 12 hours to get to NC and 9 hours to get to Georgia which makes a day trip almost impossible.
Over 1/2 the population from S Florida are from New York where in Arizona they are from the Midwest and my 15 years of S Florida experience tell me New York City people do not have the same mentality or values as people from the midwest.

AZ is better than Florida because
I
[1. better weather(7 months are better than Florida and the summer is more bearable than Florida)
2.closer proximity to weekend vacation areas(california,vegas,mexico and N arizona)
3 less bugs
4 friendlier people( more people with core family values live in Az)
5 better housing available in AZ (newer and cheaper)
6 cheaper food costs due to having over a dozen different food stores in AZ as opposed to 1 major monopoly in Florida (Publix)
7 This is the reason I moved (no natural disasters in Arizona where in Florida you never no when life or property will be ruined by a hurricane or a tornado)