Best places to live near Ft. Lauderdale (Miami, Fort Lauderdale: best neighborhoods, home)

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by Sharkey514

Does anyone have opinion about Bayview, Sea Ranch Lakes, Coral Ridge areas in Ft Lauderdale? Is Rio Vista safe or not? Thanks.

Bayview, Sea Ranch Lakes (very secluded and exclusive), Coral Ridge are absolutely gorgeous communities, nuff said. Rio Vista Isles is fine for safety, although I would bet there are a fair amount of burglaries in that area. I don't know if I like the idea of living so close to the power plant either, but it's a neat area, nice older neighborhoods. Out of those, I would pick Sea Ranch Lakes just because of how close it is to the water. Well, assuming you have an unlimited budget .

[Sharkey514]

Thanks for your information!

[rjmj]

I live in Hollywood Hills. This is a very nice area. Quiet at night, no HOA fees, alley in the back and big lot. Downtown Hollywood has spent alot of money rebuilding our city. Check it out online www.hollywoodfl.com, I'm sure there are many websites out there. Our home is near between 95 and the Turnpike. Very convenient to everything. 10 min to beach and 15 to airport. My husband and I are wanting to sell our home soon if he gets this job in KY. Keep in touch if you're interested.

[diade86]

I live in the neighborhood of Hollywood Hills in Hollywood. My sister goes to Hollywood Hills Elementary so if your children are still in elementary school, check it out cause it is the best school!

[randian]

What, in Hollywood Hills, qualifies as a hill?

[ant0nior]

Hi Valeria,

I notice you said you had insight on private schools in the Broward area. I hear good things about American Heritage and North Broward Prep. I currently live in Hallandale and am basing my next move around the school or school district. At the moment it seems (without further detailed investigation) that Parkland would be the best place to live if I wanted to go public school or an area that is closer to AH (Plantation/Davie) or NBP (Coconut Creek?/Coral Springs). It seems like a bit of a waste to me to live in a high-priced area e.g. Weston or Parkland and not use the public schools.
Anthony

[Sharkey514]

Hey, Anthony -- Do you need high school or elementary schools? In the Parkland area, the Stoneman-Douglas High School is highly rated among the state's public schools and in the nation. If you are looking at the elementary schools, there is some over-crowding at Pine Trails (this is also true of schools in Weston - but ask the other posters about those statistics). See if you can visit the schools in September. If you live up north, NB prep would not be too far to drive and it's a nice campus. You will probably get more house for the money in the older gated communities in Parkland, Coconut Creek, and north Coral Springs. Check out the property taxes in the different communities!

[ant0nior]

Hi Sharkey, that's great thanks. At the moment I do like the idea of Parkland but I do want to check out Coconut Creek and North Coral springs as you mention. More so because if I do go the Private School route I don't want to 'overpay' for good public school areas. I'll take a spin around Heron Bay also.
Do you know if there are safe communities in the Coconut Creek area? It's not an area I'd heard of before I saw that North Broward Prep was located there.

[Sharkey514]

There are some neighborhoods near NB Prep. Also, there are some nice gated commununities in your price range west of 441 along Hillsboro Rd as it narrows- good public school near there, also. It's not a very big neighborhood - but the prices are better for these homes than the new construction, close to schools, close to parks and shopping. Find a good realtor in the area who can show you some of the neighborhoods along Holmberg road, also. Lots of kids in the neighborhood.

[ant0nior]

thanks for the info Sharkey