I'm considering moving to the Miami-Dade area in the next year, and was curious regarding what is considered a good area in regards to low crime, nice homes, etc etc. Basically looking for a nice suburb!

How are the following cities: Coconut Grove, Coral Gables, Miramar? Any other recommendations.....

Thanks

 

I've lived in South Florida all of my life, 33 years. Primariliy I have lived in the Coral Gables/South Miami area, but have spent time in Fort Lauderdale and Pompano Beach.

There is no easy answer to your question.

The South part of Miami is nice, but it is expensive relative to Miramar. My Father-in-law just moved to West Miramar, which is newer developments, and is not bad. It is similar to Weston and Pembroke Pines.

It all depends on how much you want to spend to rent or buy, and what you are looking for.

I will be glad to talk to you further about the different characteristics of the neighborhoods, if you like.

 

Andymi, send me an e mail, and we can talk offline!

Thanks

Zack

 

Fairly recently incorporated Village of Pinecrest is probably considered THE hottest suburb of Miami right now. Similar to Andymi, I've lived in S. Miami & now Pinecrest my whole life. Very low crime (own very aggressive police force), best public schools (high school #17 in country), large lots (most 1/2 acre & up), large homes (most 4BR/3B & up), major emphasis on sports, parks, landscaping, etc., accessible gov't (unlike unincorp. Miami where you have NO voice).

This comes at a high price though. Homes range from $250K (for a fixer upper) to infinity and are selling sometimes ABOVE asking which is hard to believe. Rentals are even more ridiculous. Many are buying the fixer uppers and bulldozing them just to get the land and then build their Taj Mahal (acre plots go for $400K & up).

As Andymi offered, I would be willing to correspond offline if interested. Good Luck!

Mark

 

you may want to try and talk to Sean2001 and VStella..they're down that way

Mark

 

Thanks for the info mdsmith!

MeanGreen, I'll get in touch with vstella and Sean!

I was looking at some real estate sites online, and pembroke pines looked pretty appealing as well!

Thanks again

Zack

 

I can help you! I need more info though.

From what you said so far Western Broward County is where you want to be. There are many nice communities here. All are close enough to the cities of Fort Lauderdale OR Miami if you want to visit.

Try Weston, Plantation,Coral Springs,Parkland. Any wone of them will be real nice.

You may e-mail me and I will help you focus on specific likes and dislikes.

 

My advice, if you can spare the time, is to make a 2-3wk scouting trip to visit the areas. Communities here cover the spectrum from Paradise to the Pits so you've really got to be careful. Sounds like you're already thinking wisely.....settle on the community first, dwelling second.

 

I just moved down here from St. Louis last November and ran into the same problem you are, in that it is difficult to get any good information on about where to live down here. So let me give you a little advice and opinions coming from a non-floridian perspective.

Do not live in Miami-Dade county if you can avoid it. If you can't speak Spanish, then you don't speak the local language. Once you leave Broward county and enter Dade, you will all of a sudden notice bars on the windows of all the houses. That is not a good sign. I worked in downtown Miami for three months, and it is war zone. Crime is ridiculous and all the safe areas cost way to much and are surrounded by demilitarized zones. If you are a corvette nut like myself, you will cringe anytime you take your baby into Dade. Not to mention, property taxes are outragous compared to Broward.

Now I live in Pembroke Pines, more of a Ft. Lauderdale type of subberb. Now Broward does have areas to avoid such as Hallendale Beach, Mirimar and all areas within about 1 to 2 miles west and along I-95. Now affordable housing, decent crime rates and lower property taxes can be found in areas such as Pembroke Pines, Wheston, Cooper City, Davie (this area still has a lot of empty fields with a lot of room for future growth) and if you can live further north, take a look at the Boca area. As for school districts, I am unable to provide you with any decent information (no kids), but have heard from others to forget about using public schools down here (drugs, violence & ignorance).

If you are looking for a job, try to focus in on Ft. Lauderdale and avoid Miami. If you drive your vette as an everyday car, expect people down here not to care about your property and to ding your car every chance they get. I have received three door dings and huge scratches in 10 months while attempting to park as far away from people as possible.

Sorry to sound down about the area, I did not mean it because the weather and outdoor activities down here offer a great lifestyle. I am just trying to inform you that there are many people down here that can't afford to have such a lifestyle (as owning a nice car) and tend to take their frustrations out on those who can afford it. That is why you need to watch where you live, because poverty and crime are incredible in some areas.

If you have any questions, feel free to call me at home 954-712-2663

Scott

 

I don't live in Miami but being a native of South Miami Dade for 42 years, I take offense to comments about my community that are inaccurate, unfounded, ignorant and obviously ethnically and racially biased.

Dude, you have no clue!! You have lived in South FL less than a year and you are an authority??? First of all, the Spanish comment is uncalled for and totally inaccurate. Just because you don't speak a SECOND language, don't vent your inadequacies towards others that do and deny your ignorance. Your comment just reinforces how ignorant you ARE! Have you ever been to LA, NY, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta and other culturally diverse municipalities? Guess not!! I'm a pure GRINGO but I speak SPANISH and ENGLISH and have friends that speak a of couple other languages out of the the desire for personal development not necessity. Those folks you speak of are typically very hard working, inner city residents that do not have the means or the need to venture too far out of their communities that ARE predominantly spanish speaking. So of course the dominant language is Spanish, duh!

By the way, Ft. Lauderdale has a HIGHER crime rate than Miami, genius! Check the facts before you speak OR just watch the local news.

Property taxes are outrageous because homes in Southern Miami-Dade County, OUTSIDE of the INNER (Miami) city to which you refer, are worth more than those in Broward (including Pembroke Pines, the poor mans Kendall).

Regarding public schools, my kids go to public school by CHOICE. Their school was rated the #17th best high school in ALL of the United States (in academics not sports, although thats good too.). Again, another ill-informed comment by Scott, the authority on South Florida living.

Sure there are PARTS of Dade (including the CITY OF MIAMI) that I would not live in but to paint the entire county with the same brush is just wrong. City of Miami has under 500K population, the county has over TEN times that! All large metropolitan areas have the bad AND the GOOD. You obviously haven't visited Coral Gables, the Grove, Old Cutler, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest and other nice suburbs of Miami. None of those areas have any gates or ANY demilitarized zones. Lots of trees, lakes, parks and homes not planted on a zero lot lines like your town. On the contrary, zero lot lines and gated communites are pretty much the rule in newer areas of Broward.

Get a clue, SCOTT!



[Modified by mdsmith, 11:12 PM 8/8/2001]

 

I respect your opinion of your area, it is natural for one to defend his home when his pride has been hurt. I apologize for offending anyone with comments, but made the comments based on moving here from another major metropolitan area and going through the process of obtaining information from insurance agents, real estate brokers, the internet, friends, contacts and other sources.

I am sorry you took offense to my comments regarding the Spanish language. I did take offense to your comments stating in not so many words that I am racist. This is far from the truth. I just believe everyone living in this nation should speak ENGLISH, the adopted language of the country. When traveling in Dade, it is a daily occurrence to run into people asking questions in Spanish and are unable to communicate in English. Unfortunately looking back to my school days, I should have taken Spanish instead of French. But French does come in handy in Hollywood when the Canadian snow birds return in the winter.

I did make one inaccurate comment regarding the schools. You are definitely on about your children's school. Saw that information in the paper. Unfortunately, that tends to be the exception to the general rule.

As for crime, Dade is worse than Broward. Talk to your insurance agent. My cars have a higher insurance rate just because Pembroke Pines is so close to Dade. It is an approximately 20% premium for car insurance.

As for statistics, I was not able to find any on Pinecrest in my real estate package nor on the internet, probably because it was just incorporated as mentioned in one of your earlier emails. The statistical average of crimes per 100,000 people was as follows for the following areas:

Pembroke Pines (Broward)
Violent Crime 282, property crime 3,818.

Cooper City (just to my north in Broward)
Violent crime 158, property crime 1,895.

Coral Gables (one of the best areas of Dade)
Violent Crime 630, property crime 8,531

Kendall (the dangerous version of Pembroke Pines in Dade)
Violent Crime 519, property crime 6,368

Miami Springs (contains a street called Pinecrest, is this you in Dade?)
Violent Crime 485, property crime 5,880

Sir, I respect your opinion, but you my friend are the one that needs to discover the facts. I do not. I have been through the process of obtaining the facts, and Dade county is a more dangerous place to live.

My good friend's family lives in Kendall, they have a lot of money and live in a nice area, and they have specifically said it is not safe to walk around the area at night down there. What kind of recommendation is that? Houses cost twice as much down there for the same thing and worse crime. Does not make sense.

Other friends have once lived in Dade county, now they refuse to even go into it because of crimes committed against them. Again, not a good recommendation.

My real estate agent highly suggested that I not live in Dade county (where houses are more expensive=bigger commission) for personal safety reasons and schools "in general". Again, not a good recommendation.

Most of the professionals I work with do not recommend it. The few that do live in Dade all live on the water in guarded communities. They all admit that once you leave the gated community, it is not safe. Not a good recommendation.

Of course, I do admit that Coral Gables was a beautiful area. The trees are absolutely fantastic looking. But, as with other areas down there, your comment is correct in that $250,000 gets you a fixer upper. You can buy a great large house for that brand new in many areas of broward where you don't have the crime problems.

Yes, some communities do have gates in Broward. However, they are more for security of mind of the residents than an actual necessity. Though I do agree that the small plots of land in Broward, lined trees, etc. do not look as nice as some of the older established areas of Dade.

I apologize for offending you if my statements were shocking. But my statements are very towned down compared to most of the comments I have heard about Dade. Yes, there are exceptions to the rule. However, I would recommend to people to live in a county where safe areas are the general rule, and not the exception.

You are the first person I have ever heard defend Dade county!!!!!

Regards

Scott

 

come to BOCA RATON.
The best place in S FL.

 

As someone who has lived in S. Florida for over 29 years I agree w/ Sgerh 110%