Where are the best neighborhoods in South Florida? (Hollywood, Pembroke Pines: city hall, landscaping)

[Lost in Translation]

Originally Posted by Ginger_beauty

Would any recommend Miramar?

Ditto to Compelled's comments on Miramar. Actually, we are looking to buy in Western Miramar ourselves, and we find that area to be what we are looking for. Despite some of the fear-mongering you hear about 'avoid Miramar at all cost', we actually went out and did our own research by visiting the area, talking to people who live there and looking at the stats for schools, crime, diversity, etc. We like what we have heard and read, and we really welcome the diversity of the area as well as the affordability of homes. We were pleasantly surprised to see hispanic, white and african american children playing together in the streets and all of the homeowners out and about taking care of their properties in the evenings after work.

I think Western Miramar is a good place to live and raise a family, and I actually like it more than Pembroke Pines (too congested), Davie and Cooper City (both lacking in diversity).

[Ginger_beauty]

Originally Posted by Lost in Translation

Ditto to Compelled's comments on Miramar. Actually, we are looking to buy in Western Miramar ourselves, and we find that area to be what we are looking for. Despite some of the fear-mongering you hear about 'avoid Miramar at all cost', we actually went out and did our own research by visiting the area, talking to people who live there and looking at the stats for schools, crime, diversity, etc. We like what we have heard and read, and we really welcome the diversity of the area as well as the affordability of homes. We were pleasantly surprised to see hispanic, white and african american children playing together in the streets and all of the homeowners out and about taking care of their properties in the evenings after work.

I think Western Miramar is a good place to live and raise a family, and I actually like it more than Pembroke Pines (too congested), Davie and Cooper City (both lacking in diversity).

This is great, thank you, thank you all once again.

I'm certainly thinking of moving to a less diverse area... racism though quite serious, is also a great interest of mine. If I'm able to break stereotypes simply by being myself around a bunch of people who thought I was the opposite of who I really am, then so be it. I'm up to the challenge.
The cause of a lot of racism (not all) is when an individual NEVER was around an educated/proper/well behaved black person, but their perceptions and hatred were soley derived from the media, the ignorance of certain persons of color, etc, therefore, they assume we are all like that. I know I can't change the world, nor will I strive to, but I know I can set the example and live comfortably whether an individual wants me there or not. That's their issue, not mine But it is most certainly an issue that I can diffuse with a few good examples.

Things like this make me more aware, but they do not stop me:
Ku Klux Klan calling cards dropped off at Davie restaurant -- South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/community/news/davie/sfl-ku-klux-klan-davie-b040709,0,5210874.story - broken link)
It doesn't matter to me that much how few blacks live in a certain area, I have black relatives who live in Port St Lucie, FL and they're getting by just fine. So will I. It only takes one person to start things (positive things in my case). But if an area is less than 3% black, I won't live there by any means (Unless we're talking Beverly Hills or something). :P

I'm finished rambling, heh.
The areas I've settled on searching for real estate are:

#1 Weston
#2 Davie
#3 Coconut Creek
#4 Coral Springs
#5 Pembroke Pines
#6 West Miramar

Nice homes and nice areas. <3

[Lost in Translation]

Originally Posted by Ginger_beauty

This is great, thank you, thank you all once again.

I'm certainly thinking of moving to a less diverse area... racism though quite serious, is also a great interest of mine. If I'm able to break stereotypes simply by being myself around a bunch of people who thought I was the opposite of who I really am, then so be it. I'm up to the challenge.
The cause of a lot of racism (not all) is when an individual NEVER was around an educated/proper/well behaved black person, but their perceptions and hatred were soley derived from the media, the ignorance of certain persons of color, etc, therefore, they assume we are all like that. I know I can't change the world, nor will I strive to, but I know I can set the example and live comfortably whether an individual wants me there or not. That's their issue, not mine But it is most certainly an issue that I can diffuse with a few good examples.

Things like this make me more aware, but they do not stop me:
Ku Klux Klan calling cards dropped off at Davie restaurant -- South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/community/news/davie/sfl-ku-klux-klan-davie-b040709,0,5210874.story - broken link)
It doesn't matter to me that much how few blacks live in a certain area, I have black relatives who live in Port St Lucie, FL and they're getting by just fine. So will I. It only takes one person to start things (positive things in my case). But if an area is less than 3% black, I won't live there by any means (Unless we're talking Beverly Hills or something). :P

I'm finished rambling, heh.
The areas I've settled on searching for real estate are:

#1 Weston
#2 Davie
#3 Coconut Creek
#4 Coral Springs
#5 Pembroke Pines
#6 West Miramar

Nice homes and nice areas. <3

I think your reasoning and list of preferred areas are good, although I would personally scratch off Coconut Creek and Davie (both areas are fine, just not my cup of tea). Weston is a great choice, and our family will probably relocate to that area once our little ones get closer to middle school. Western Miramar has some really good elementary schools, but its middle and high schools are lacking. Good luck with your move to So Flo!

[Ginger_beauty]

Originally Posted by Lost in Translation

I think your reasoning and list of preferred areas are good, although I would personally scratch off Coconut Creek and Davie (both areas are fine, just not my cup of tea). Weston is a great choice, and our family will probably relocate to that area once our little ones get closer to middle school. Western Miramar has some really good elementary schools, but its middle and high schools are lacking. Good luck with your move to So Flo!

Thank you!
What is wrong with Coconut Creek and Davie in your opinion?

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by Ginger_beauty

#1 Weston
#2 Davie
#3 Coconut Creek
#4 Coral Springs
#5 Pembroke Pines
#6 West Miramar

Nice homes and nice areas. <3

That sounds about right, but I would modify the list only slightly (if the list was in order)

#1 Weston
#2 Coral Springs
#3 West Davie (lets make the dividing line University Dr)
#5 (tie) West Miramar (lets make the dividing line Red Rd)
#5 (tie) West Pembroke Pines (none of it is bad, but the further west the better, the biggest difference is west of University Dr)
#6 Coconut Creek

[Lost in Translation]

Originally Posted by Ginger_beauty

Thank you!
What is wrong with Coconut Creek and Davie in your opinion?

Both are okay, I just haven't 'clicked' with them the way others do. Davie has always seemed a bit too 'country' for me, although the western part is decent enough. Coconut Creek seems to have a lot of property crime.

[compelled to reply]

There is nothing wrong with Coconut Creek, it's just my least favorite of the list. There is hardly any violent crime in Coconut Creek and property crime is acutally among the lowest in South Florida, so I wouldn't cite that as a reason. There just isn't much there to me except for a bunch of houses, and it seems a little congested for being a relatively empty area. East Davie has some rough patches, while west Davie is more consistent.

[Ginger_beauty]

Originally Posted by compelled to reply

That sounds about right, but I would modify the list only slightly (if the list was in order)

#1 Weston
#2 Coral Springs
#3 West Davie (lets make the dividing line University Dr)
#5 (tie) West Miramar (lets make the dividing line Red Rd)
#5 (tie) West Pembroke Pines (none of it is bad, but the further west the better, the biggest difference is west of University Dr)
#6 Coconut Creek

Hmm, wow, this certainly does present a difference, west eh? Alright, west is good ^_^

So would East Davie be considered a country redneck area? Or is that all of Davie? Or is that only a small part of Davie?
I hear this famous hip hop guy has an estate in Davie and even I'd like to live there, the homes are gorgeous.

And is Coconut Creek extremely congested? I saw some really beautiful homes there as well...

[compelled to reply]

Rick Ross has a McMansion in Davie, in a community called Long Lake Ranches. Coconut Creek isn't "extremely" congested (less so than Pembroke Pines actually), just a little bit. Still, most of the homes are pretty much standard issue, so you may have acutally been in nearby Parkland if you saw a lot of drop dead gorgeous homes. As far as east Davie vs west, I am strictly talking about things like neighborhood quality and crime rates. There are some very nice parts of east Davie (between Stirling and Griffin, west of the Turnpike is nice), but yes, the whole area can me somewhat country-ish, but only a few parts could be considered country-redneck, which do tend to be concentrated towards the east, although not entirely.

[Marlin331]

Originally Posted by compelled to reply

Skip most of Hallandale, as that's a very segregated area for Broward with a historically poor black population, and a lot of the "white" areas suck too. East of US1 it's nice, but I can feel some of that 1950s Miami-Dade vibe in the air there. Still, you will probably be fine in the good part of Hallandale and it's changing into a younger area which helps.

What is the "1950's Miami-Dade vibe" of which you speak? Just curious.