Broward vs Dade quality of life (Orlando, West Palm Beach: rent, house, neighborhoods)

[INeedAChange]

I'm interested in any opinions, good bad & ugly. Does Broward have less of the problems than Dade? Is there more of a mix of differerent people there? Is one county more affordable than the other (leaving out all slum areas and ghettos)?
I know I'm talking about two large counties but I don't know enough about the specific towns to get down to that level.


thanks!!

[CiXeL]

we were up in broward last weekend playing tourist.
did lion country safari, butterfly world and an indian food place (the place we ate at the ramada in tampa was still better though)

looks MORE like america but not as much as orlando did. more variety of foods and stores.
still crazy drivers though.

[logybogy]

You really have to cross the county line to Palm Beach for things to start looking like "America."

The demographics are changing very very fast with all the immigration into Broward.

[INeedAChange]

Leaving aside the whole Spanish thing, is the reason some people complain about Broward the costs and because it's too built up? too many people? I'm confused because some people here seem to think Broward is good, others hate it.

[CiXeL]

its a gradient. your tolerance level of the mayhem based on how south you live. in 5-10 years broward will be at miami's level. 10-15 years palm beach, 15-20 orlando. places turn ghetto, americans move north and are replaced by ghetto people from further south. repeat endlessly

had an interesting talk with a friend's mom when we visited orlando.
her name was eunice, old school southernor and wonderful old lady
said that a long time ago they used to call miami 'jerusalem' because it was all jewish before the latins took it over. now she hears about how crazy it is down there.
she was having trouble getting someone to work on her house because they all were incompetant spanish-speaking people and if you hired a large company they would hire the local labor anyway. so it seems even in orlando the same sort of miami stuff is just beginning.

a friend of mine who moved from fort lauderdale to orlando had this to say:

"Orlando has its good points and bad points, all depending on where you live. I live outside of town, in the suburbs, and really like it a lot. Since I don't have to drive I-4, my drive to and from work isn't that bad -- even if it is 45 min each way. The people driving around me drive fairly normal, though like all of Florida, at excessive speeds.

The neighborhoods here are pretty good, at least where I'm at. I've been told that my area is like an island of just really nice people. I know my neighbors and they're all really nice. However, if you go down to the Kissimee area on a Friday night, there are tons of kids of all ages just wandering around... I wouldn't consider it a bad thing, but it just reminds me a little much of S. Fla. Housing is less expensive down there, so it's understandable that it would be like that I suppose."

[PBCboy]

Originally Posted by logybogy

You really have to cross the county line to Palm Beach for things to start looking like "America."

The demographics are changing very very fast with all the immigration into Broward.

What the hell are you talking about? Areas of Palm Beach such as West Palm Beach, Lake Worth, Latana, and Palm Springs have much higher percentage of hispanics than the cities in Broward. There are many illegal immigrants in Lake Worth especially, Broward does not have as big of a problem as this. Most of the Hispanics in Broward are legal ones or have moved there from Dade. By crossing the line if you mean rich and high class Boca Raton are you are right, but if you mean Palm Beach County as a whole you are dead wrong buddy.

Also, the gang problems in Palm Beach County are worse than anywhere in the state, and it is now considered the most dangerous county in the state (Dade is #2 though).

All it takes for you to feel like a minority is a trip to the local Palm Beach Mall, where barely anyone is white non-hispanic.

[INeedAChange]

thanks Cixel--I am considering Orlando as well. Actually I would prefer it for various reasons, although I'm considering south Fla as well if a job works out there--I figure I could rent in So. Fla for a year or two and if it's intolerable try to move to some other part of Fla. Everyone on here seems to say Orlando has some nice suburbs, but not to live near the core of Orlando.

Originally Posted by CiXeL

its a gradient. your tolerance level of the mayhem based on how south you live. in 5-10 years broward will be at miami's level. 10-15 years palm beach, 15-20 orlando. places turn ghetto, americans move north and are replaced by ghetto people from further south. repeat endlessly

had an interesting talk with a friend's mom when we visited orlando.
her name was eunice, old school southernor and wonderful old lady
said that a long time ago they used to call miami 'jerusalem' because it was all jewish before the latins took it over. now she hears about how crazy it is down there.
she was having trouble getting someone to work on her house because they all were incompetant spanish-speaking people and if you hired a large company they would hire the local labor anyway. so it seems even in orlando the same sort of miami stuff is just beginning.

a friend of mine who moved from fort lauderdale to orlando had this to say:

"Orlando has its good points and bad points, all depending on where you live. I live outside of town, in the suburbs, and really like it a lot. Since I don't have to drive I-4, my drive to and from work isn't that bad -- even if it is 45 min each way. The people driving around me drive fairly normal, though like all of Florida, at excessive speeds.

The neighborhoods here are pretty good, at least where I'm at. I've been told that my area is like an island of just really nice people. I know my neighbors and they're all really nice. However, if you go down to the Kissimee area on a Friday night, there are tons of kids of all ages just wandering around... I wouldn't consider it a bad thing, but it just reminds me a little much of S. Fla. Housing is less expensive down there, so it's understandable that it would be like that I suppose."

[PBCboy]

I have noticed a lot of people from around Palm Beach County are moving up to the Orlando area. Many of my friends have moved there recently so there must be something nice up there that I'm missing here

[INeedAChange]

It would seem attractive to me because a) it's at least in theory more shielded from the hurricanes than coastal areas b) it's central so you can travel easily to other parts of the state

Originally Posted by PBCboy

I have noticed a lot of people from around Palm Beach County are moving up to the Orlando area. Many of my friends have moved there recently so there must be something nice up there that I'm missing here

[logybogy]

I'm familiar with boca, delray beach, boynton beach, wellington, Jupiter, Palm Beach Gardens.

All are nice areas. Obviously, every county has ghettos and undesirable areas that you don't go to. I wouldn't recommend living in Riviera Beach for instance or many parts of West Palm Beach.

But in my experience Palm Beach county has more nice areas than Dade or Broward as a whole.

Maybe your perspective is skewed cause of where you live in PB County?