Thoughts on Weston (Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Davie: apartments, rentals, condos)

[sbkim]

We are really interested in relocating to Weston for great schools, safety etc. but I was curious to hear more about pros and cons and other inside knowledge of communities in Weston. For example, are some areas more prone to flooding or other issues not readily apparent to new folks from out of state?



I also noticed that property tax rates are nearing 2% of property value for some of the newer homes during our search. I presume this is the norm around Weston or some parts higher than others?


Also, I don't see many new construction or communities in the area other than a small pocket North East.




Thanks

[City Guy997S]

I hate it........urban sprawl at its finest. On the commercial side they like to hide everything so it looks less commercial, literally can't see the HOME DEPOT from the road, but the Chick Fil A gets noticed from the 30+ cars in the double drive through, yet you can't see the sign.

Traffic is crazy in west Broward, but I get it..........West Broward 5000 sq ft McMansion is 1mm, east Ft Lauderdale gets you an 1960s 1500 sq ft shack for the same 1mm.

[sbkim]

Thanks for your thoughts City Guy997S. I've watched a few youtube videos and also noticed no commercial or retail stores other than the town center. Def feels like a bubble.




One question I have is how bad is mosquito problems? I see that homes are literally surrounded by waters.

[BNBR]

I'd pretty much ignore everything City Guy997S has to say. Go check out Weston for yourself. It's one of the only truly master planned communities, so flooding, traffic, etc... it's just a non-issue. And as if it's a bad thing that the excellent planning does a good job of hiding commercial properties? huh?

It's a fantastic place to live, which is why you hear so much good about it. And when you hear a lot of good about it, you'll get the haters who are just going to hate.

Outstanding parks, close to everything (yes, seriously), excellent dining, the best schools in the area, beautiful and well maintained all over the city, etc. Plus Weston is surrounded by highways that give you easy access to anywhere you want to go.

And you are right, Weston does feel a little bit like a bubble, and that's intentional. That's what people like about it. The mosquitos are there, but I wouldn't say it's awful or anything.

However, you are in the Miami forum. Are you working in Miami? The real question is how long of a commute are you talking about and is it worth it. I don't understand the people who live in Weston and commute to Brickell. That's crazy to me. What is your plan?

[wizrap]

I agree with BNBR; is there a reason you posted your question in the Miami forum? You would get more replies if you posted in Broward (Fort Lauderdale). We lived in Weston for more than 25 years (moved away about 6 years ago to retire in north central FL). When I go down to see clients, I usually stay in Weston so here's my take:

First, regarding communities, Weston was carefully planned to minimize flooding concerns. It used to be in a flood zone (the lowest rated) and then when the new FEMA maps were revised, it was removed from all flood zones. Weston was officially incorporated as a separate city from Fort Lauderdale back in the mid-90's, and was practically built out a few years later (primarily Arivida subcontractors did the building although a newer section, Emerald Estates was built by Lennar if I recall correctly. Every palm tree, berm, and commercial versus residential section was carefully designed and it's no coincidence that at the time Arvida owned Disney and the plan was to make the city Disney-esque.

An older section, built in the 70's/80's, called Bonaventure, voted to join Weston several years after it became a separate city. Bonaventure is primarily condos, townhouses and apartments (although there are some SFH's) and I would be concerned with some flooding there as it's older and was not as carefully designed as Weston. However, Weston has done a great job of bringing Bonaventure up to it's high standards and IMO, it looks beautiful and has improved throughout the years.

All the developments in Weston are nice--some have higher price points than others so you just have to see what fits into your budget. Practically all of them, except for Bonaventure and sections of Country Isles, are gated so you have that layer of extra security. Weston attracts a lot of people from South America, especially, looking for that type of bubble.

We lived in one of the gated communities and thought it provided enough of a deterrent for random petty crime. That being said, a community is only as good as its people, and in our development we did, for a while, have a couple of kids that seemed to be causing problems such as stealing stuff from unlocked cars and running around at night (two parents, working long hours, couldn't control them). We had a retired LEO who lived in our neighborhood and he tracked them down and put BSO on their tails and problem was solved. A couple of the homes that shared a fence with our backyard were rentals and the tenants threw loud parties a few times and the security guard refused to get involved -- kept letting people in. Some the security is good, but does have it's limitations. Again, see my comment about how a neighborhood is only as good as its members.

The schools are all good--Cypress Bay, the high school, is one of the top in the state, and although the alternative, Western High School in Davie is good, Cypress Bay garners the most attention. Bonaventure is zoned for Western and the rest of Weston is zones for Cypress Bay right now.

We never had a problem with mosquitos--the city was diligent about spraying for them. If you buy on one of the lakes, just be careful about gators.

Finally, we did have neighbors that commuted from Weston to Miami (we rented out house to someone who did that, and also finally sold our house to another person who would be doing that) but it is a long commute.

[sbkim]

@BNBR & Wizrap - thank you so much for your detailed reply. Extremely helpful. I am clearly a newbie to So FL and thought Weston was part of Miami! I'll continue to read through the forums to gather more info but nothing beats visiting one of these days.



I am reading there is a pretty decent Korean population in Weston? I noticed a couple restaurants in the town center. Are there specific parts of Weston that attract more Koreans/Asians?



Thanks again.

[BNBR]

Originally Posted by sbkim

@BNBR & Wizrap - thank you so much for your detailed reply. Extremely helpful. I am clearly a newbie to So FL and thought Weston was part of Miami! I'll continue to read through the forums to gather more info but nothing beats visiting one of these days.



I am reading there is a pretty decent Korean population in Weston? I noticed a couple restaurants in the town center. Are there specific parts of Weston that attract more Koreans/Asians?



Thanks again.

I am not sure I can picture seeing a single Korean in Weston other than at the Korean Tofu restaurant and the Tae Kwon Do studio. I never really see many Asians in the area. You definitely won't see any sort of prominent Korean sub-community that I'm aware of. Weston is mostly white and a ton of Spanish speaking. That said, it's a very welcoming area and you would have no issues with feeling out of place. There isn't a large Asian community, in general, in South Florida, but there are places to meet other Koreans, churches, and some really great Korean restaurants, too.

It may actually not be a bad idea to just call the Korean businesses and ask them about the Korean community in the area! Who better to answer that question? Maybe there is a more tight knit community than I'm aware of?

What area are you working/commuting, if at all? That makes a huge difference in quality of life. You likely won't want to live in Weston and make some soul crushing commute to downtown Miami.

I don't blame you for thinking Weston may be part of Miami if you aren't familiar with the area. On a map, it all kind of runs together. The general culture between Miami and Fort Lauderdale (Broward County) is quite a bit different in general, even though it just looks like one big clump on a map, they are really very different in many respects.

[sbkim]

Great suggestions! So far, I don't have a set commute other than being able to get to an airport. Based on google maps, looks like FLL is within 30-40min and MIA 40-50min?

Originally Posted by BNBR

I am not sure I can picture seeing a single Korean in Weston other than at the Korean Tofu restaurant and the Tae Kwon Do studio. I never really see many Asians in the area. You definitely won't see any sort of prominent Korean sub-community that I'm aware of. Weston is mostly white and a ton of Spanish speaking. That said, it's a very welcoming area and you would have no issues with feeling out of place. There isn't a large Asian community, in general, in South Florida, but there are places to meet other Koreans, churches, and some really great Korean restaurants, too.

It may actually not be a bad idea to just call the Korean businesses and ask them about the Korean community in the area! Who better to answer that question? Maybe there is a more tight knit community than I'm aware of?

What area are you working/commuting, if at all? That makes a huge difference in quality of life. You likely won't want to live in Weston and make some soul crushing commute to downtown Miami.

I don't blame you for thinking Weston may be part of Miami if you aren't familiar with the area. On a map, it all kind of runs together. The general culture between Miami and Fort Lauderdale (Broward County) is quite a bit different in general, even though it just looks like one big clump on a map, they are really very different in many respects.

[ruski]

Originally Posted by sbkim

We are really interested in relocating to Weston for great schools, safety etc. but I was curious to hear more about pros and cons and other inside knowledge of communities in Weston. For example, are some areas more prone to flooding or other issues not readily apparent to new folks from out of state?



I also noticed that property tax rates are nearing 2% of property value for some of the newer homes during our search. I presume this is the norm around Weston or some parts higher than others?


Also, I don't see many new construction or communities in the area other than a small pocket North East.




Thanks

Most of new construction stopped in 2005 when Centex Homes built The Isles at Weston.

Really, there is no more land to build on except the very expensive custom homes at Windmill Reserve (multi-million).

Plus they were able to repurpose some golf course land in Bonaventure and built the very modern Botanico with $2M homes.

Taxes are on the higher side, but it is all going toward good schools.

Most of Weston sits pretty high - when they planned the city, they poured quite a lot of rocks and dirt. You can see how much higher Weston sits when you drive on Griffin road. The other side of Griffin is Southwest Ranches and that town looks low compared to Weston side.

Weston can have some flooding if the authorities (South Florida Water Management) don't lower the lakes and canal levels and a surprise storm hits and dumps an unusual amount of water. This happened once in 20 years that I remember. And even then - none of the Weston homes got flooded in that event.

[ruski]

Originally Posted by City Guy997S

I hate it........urban sprawl at its finest. On the commercial side they like to hide everything so it looks less commercial, literally can't see the HOME DEPOT from the road, but the Chick Fil A gets noticed from the 30+ cars in the double drive through, yet you can't see the sign.

Traffic is crazy in west Broward, but I get it..........West Broward 5000 sq ft McMansion is 1mm, east Ft Lauderdale gets you an 1960s 1500 sq ft shack for the same 1mm.

Haters are gonna hate.

There is no traffic in Weston to speak of.

It is beautiful with all the commercial signs neatly tucked away.

Use your GPS and you will find that Home Depot.