Moving to PBC in January, and not sure where to go. (Port St. Lucie: section 8, apartments)

[sathlin]

My wife and I are coming down middle of december to find a place to rent. We are planning on moving there a few weeks later in time for the 2nd semester of schools to start on jan 5 for our son.

We initially had lake worth in mind, because it is close to the beach and because it is in the middle of the county itself.

I like the idea of being in the middle of the county, that way it is 15-20 mins up to palm beach gardens, and 15-20 mins down to boca raton.

Reading some of these forums, maybe lake worth isn't the best place to rent. I know some will say part of it is ok, and that is fine, but I will not be able to ascertain that when i travel down for 3 days to find a place to rent.

So, question is, what are your suggestions for a place, near the beach(15mins away max?), decent high school for my son, and not all the way north like jupiter, or all the way south like boca(too expensive anyways)

Thanks for all the help.

[lilred0005]

I would recommend the Villages area by Bear Lake C.C. on Village Blvd or Brandywine Rd., both off of Palm Beach Lakes Blvd., west of I-95 in West Palm Bch. I have lived all over Palm Bch. Co.(Boca, Boynton Bch, Delray Bch, West Palm) and I liked this area best. It's close to everything, has a good vibe, and is a haven for 20-40 yr olds. I could walk my dogs around the Brandywine loop at night and feel very safe as ppl were out jogging, rollerblading, walking their dogs, ect. It is about 10 min. to the beach and downtown, Clematis St. and CityPlace. Feel free to message me if you need more info. Good luck! -lil red-

[SAKIRAV]

Is that considered wpb?

[sathlin]

Originally Posted by lilred0005

I would recommend the Villages area by Bear Lake C.C. on Village Blvd or Brandywine Rd., both off of Palm Beach Lakes Blvd., west of I-95 in West Palm Bch. I have lived all over Palm Bch. Co.(Boca, Boynton Bch, Delray Bch, West Palm) and I liked this area best. It's close to everything, has a good vibe, and is a haven for 20-40 yr olds. I could walk my dogs around the Brandywine loop at night and feel very safe as ppl were out jogging, rollerblading, walking their dogs, ect. It is about 10 min. to the beach and downtown, Clematis St. and CityPlace. Feel free to message me if you need more info. Good luck! -lil red-

Great post, thanks for the information.

Would this area, and i do see it on google maps, be considered west palm beach area?

Just wondering, so when i do searches for rentals, i know what city to list.

[twowolves]

I would avoid LW. Way too many sketchy areas.
Same with WPB.
Boynton Beach Blvd (out west) any place off of Jog Road or west of that, in between Jog and 441 is VERY nice.
Same with Gateway Blvd, west of Military Trail and west to Jog Rd, very nice. Family neigborhoods.
You would def want to make sure that you are in the PARK VISTA COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL zone though.
The Gateway section I mentioned above would cover that for sure.
If you are looking off of Boynton Beach Blvd at Jog Rd or west, it's a different HS, could be either Olympic Heights-Boca (GOOD) or Boynton Beach HS (NOT GOOD).
Park Vista is an excellent HS.
You're right, Boca is pricey.
If you lived off of Gateway or BB Blvd out west by Jog....your max drive to the beach is 10-12min.
East to I95 ~7min and west to the Turnpike ~5-6min.
Yes, mid PB county would be LW-ish or maybe WPB, but I'd stay away from there....also schools are sub-par.
One exception would be the Lake Charleston neighborhood off of Jog Rd and Hypoluxo which is right on the LW/Boynton line, that is a good area. And also in the PVCHS school zone.
Do you wish to rent a home or an apt?
HTH!
Feel free to ask more ?'s!

[twowolves]

Originally Posted by rvchat

Is that considered wpb?

yes, it is.

[twowolves]

Originally Posted by sathlin

Great post, thanks for the information.

Would this area, and i do see it on google maps, be considered west palm beach area?

Just wondering, so when i do searches for rentals, i know what city to list.

I could be wrong here, but I'd stay away from renting in WPB.
Lots of pockets of drug areas, even out west off of 441.
We are closing on our home in west Boynton tomorrow and have just moved into a rental home in Nautica Sound, we spent a month searching and looking at rentals. I found a townhome rental up off of Southern Blvd and 441, well it turns out that it rents out to section 8 families (poor, on welfare, so heavy drugs likely). Drove thru it one day and no thanks! Thought for sure it'd be nice, safe, esp since it's a new development and out west, SO NOT SO!
Just be careful....
what is your rental price range by the way?
There are some neighborhoods off of Lawrence Road in between Gateway and Hypoluxo where you could rent and the HS is Santaluces. It's an ok HS, much better than Boynton Beach HS. We live in a subdivision that I mentioned above that's in this vicinity, it's gated with a manned guard house and we pay $1350/month (which is a DEAL), for a 4/2 1700+sf home.

[sathlin]

From what i've gathered from many of the posts in this forum is to stay away from the middle of the county?
Either way up north in jupiter, juno, or pb gardens, or down south in boca, delray beach and maybe boyton.
or west like wellington.

Looking to rent around 1100 max.. i know that is going to be tough in some of those areas, we are looking for rental homes, which may or may not be easier to rent and maybe bargain down if they have been sitting empty for a while.

Initially i was thinking, we would rent wherever, then we'll learn the county and buy in 6 months to a year. But now i'm thinking it might be better to rent in a nicer area initially because we will just not REALLY know what is nice or not on forum posts, until we actually live there. And so maybe renting in a nicer area, paying a little more if needed, but then living there, learning the county and then buying.

There are a lot of smaller cities, that people don't mention on the posts. I was wondering if someone can mention these and their opinions. Like green acres, royal palm beach, royal palm estates, etc..

[Reedsmit]

Originally Posted by sathlin

From what i've gathered from many of the posts in this forum is to stay away from the middle of the county?
Either way up north in jupiter, juno, or pb gardens, or down south in boca, delray beach and maybe boyton.
or west like wellington.

Looking to rent around 1100 max.. i know that is going to be tough in some of those areas, we are looking for rental homes, which may or may not be easier to rent and maybe bargain down if they have been sitting empty for a while.

Initially i was thinking, we would rent wherever, then we'll learn the county and buy in 6 months to a year. But now i'm thinking it might be better to rent in a nicer area initially because we will just not REALLY know what is nice or not on forum posts, until we actually live there. And so maybe renting in a nicer area, paying a little more if needed, but then living there, learning the county and then buying.

There are a lot of smaller cities, that people don't mention on the posts. I was wondering if someone can mention these and their opinions. Like green acres, royal palm beach, royal palm estates, etc..

"I could be wrong here, but I'd stay away from renting in WPB.
Lots of pockets of drug areas, even out west off of 441. "

The problem is that some areas look very nice, have nice apartments and condos, but they are very close to areas that higher crime. An unfortunately the crime spills over to the nice areas.

I use to work in Vista Center (near the Turnpike & Okeechobee Blvd.) living in Jupiter, I use to take I-95 to 45th St., to Haverhill & than to Jog Rd. After awhile, I did not feel comfortable driving through part of this area, so I opped for taking the Turnpike.

Palm Beach Gardens have some nice neighborhoods, is not quite as far north as Jupiter. But the beaches of Jupiter and Juno are only about a 15 min. drive on weekends.

Another thing that you may not be aware of is Palm Beach Co. has a lot of Magnate Schools. These schools offer specialized programs in areas of the students interest. ie: Engineering, Music and Arts. Some of them also have IB Programs - International Baccalaurate (students actually earn some college credits while in high school. All of these Magnum schools are open to all students and bus transportation is available to get the students there, but the student must apply and qualify for the program.

My children attended Elementary and Middle School in Jupiter, and each went to a Magnate School for High School. My son graduated from Suncoast and my daughter from Dreyfoos School of the Arts. Both of these schools have placed very well nationally. As an added benefit you may find that some of the Magnate Schools may have less trouble with their students, the students worked hard to get there, and do not want to jeopardise that.

I can not speak to some of the other areas of the county other than to say Lake Worth seems to have a lot of problems. Boca is very nice and housing may be a bit pricey. Delray seems to be very proactive as to family activities, but I don't know the reputation of the schools.

Good luck.

[twowolves]

Originally Posted by sathlin

From what i've gathered from many of the posts in this forum is to stay away from the middle of the county?
Either way up north in jupiter, juno, or pb gardens, or down south in boca, delray beach and maybe boyton.
or west like wellington.

Looking to rent around 1100 max.. i know that is going to be tough in some of those areas, we are looking for rental homes, which may or may not be easier to rent and maybe bargain down if they have been sitting empty for a while.

Initially i was thinking, we would rent wherever, then we'll learn the county and buy in 6 months to a year. But now i'm thinking it might be better to rent in a nicer area initially because we will just not REALLY know what is nice or not on forum posts, until we actually live there. And so maybe renting in a nicer area, paying a little more if needed, but then living there, learning the county and then buying.

There are a lot of smaller cities, that people don't mention on the posts. I was wondering if someone can mention these and their opinions. Like green acres, royal palm beach, royal palm estates, etc..

Finding a rental for 1100 might be hard, unless you only need a 2/1 w/no garage. Go on Realtor.com and click on search for rentals. You can usually get the landlord down a bit like maybe $50 or so, especially if the rental has been sitting.
You're accurate on your first paragraph. Those northern county areas are better and then the southern ones as well. Although Boca is going to be pricey, period. Plus, the demographics there, well are/can be a bit snobby. Which is not my cup of tea.
Wellington also may be higher priced.
Royal Palm Beach, you will likely find a rental there for your range. The area is far west though, farther from the beach and if you work in the eastern areas, your drive and thus, gas will be lenghthy and expensive.
Greenacres, stay away. It's in and around LW and is mostly lower to middle class.
Perhaps, Palm Springs? I lived there but many eons ago.
Never heard of Royal Palm Estates.
What about Port St. Lucie? The housing mkt there is/has been awful. You could likely get a rental for 1100 and then when you're ready for a home buy, I'm SURE you could get a killer deal.....good luck.