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Originally Posted by salshine  Thank you so much for your suggestions! We've returned from Ft. Lauderdale to our home in Lake Ozark, MO; just to turn-around soon and go back and look some more. We really liked the immediate area we were staying in...we stayed at the Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach on Ft. Laud Beach Blvd. We loved how you have the sidewalks along the ocean to walk your dog or jog or whatever. My husband is leaning towards the Pembroke Pines area, but I want to be near the water and especially loved Delray Beach (of course need mucho $$$ for that)! I'm excited to pass on your suggestions to my hubby and we'll take a look @ on our next visit. Yes, I've heard about your area (Coco Creek) and have heard nice things about it and the Coral Springs area. I have a strange question...how far do you have to drive to hit the seedy parts of town? One thing we noticed about most of Ft. Laud - is that you'll be in a very nice area one minute and then a mile down the road - you're in a less-than-desirable area (to put it lightly)! Thanks again for your detailed info...very helpful! |
I grew up in Chicago, so I'm used to the sprawling, pretty suburbs that are miles away from anything considered a bad neighborhood. But, having lived in a very nice area in Miami as well, I'd say that it's pretty common down here to live in a very nice area, while not living far from something that would be considered not as nice. For us, the closest "seedy" area is maybe four to five miles south (I don't want to offend anyone by giving names)...but it's not that it's a bad neighborhood in terms of crime, violence, etc., it's just that the properties aren't as well taken care of, and they're smaller, older homes. Ft. Laud beach is really nice, we love going down there and taking Stella (you need a weekend or yearly permit to use the doggy beach, but it's definitely worth the $35 dollars yearly/$7 weekend). But even in Boca Raton or Delray Beach there are some areas that don't fit in with the rest of the surroundings.
Pembroke Pines is a nice area, they just built a new outdoor shopping/entertainment complex on the far west side (along I-75) that's really nice. But, Miramar (directly to the south), while most of it is nice, has some bad areas. Regardless, when my fiance and I were looking for a place to live a few months ago (we looked at about 20-30 because there are so many on the market right now), we saw places in both Miramar and Pembroke Pines. Also, Weston is a REALLY nice suburb near Pembroke Pines, and even though real estate there can be pretty pricey, we found some things in our starter home budget when we were looking recently. Weston is a beautiful community--one of the best in the Fort Lauderdale area. Coconut Creek/Coral Springs/Boca is also nice (I wanted to be closer to the beach too, but we were having a hard time finding a condo we liked in downtown ft. laud) and we're only 20 minutes from the beach (and we probably wouldn't get storm surge from a hurricane because we're far enough inland). Lighthouse Point is another nice area, closer to the beach, with lots of nice shopping and restaurants.
I'm no expert, I've only lived in S. Florida for five years now, but I hope that helps. It was really hard for us to pick a place to live, so I hope you have an easier time (especially when you have to travel from out of state to look!). If you need more advice, PM me, my fiancee's father is a real estate agent down here, he helped us find our place. Good luck in your search!