moving to wellington, Fl. any advice? (Pembroke Pines, Coral Springs: homeowners insurance, crime rates, buying a house)

[T27taylor]

We are thinking of moving to wellington, fl. I've done some extensive research but I still want more input on what it's like to live there. I'm coming from Nevada and I do like humidity so that's not a problem. I know about the property taxes and high insurance. I am a healthcare professional with young kids so the schools look good in that area. Is there anything else I should know about before scoping it out? I'm coming out in October of this year. Any advise is appreciated.

[compelled to reply]

All of the schools have great standardized test scores, but the two High Schools have low graduation rates (I believe both around 73 percent) and are not that safe. The aren't terrible, though, and still have a good reputation in Palm Beach County. Wellington HS is considered more desirable than Palm Beach Central HS out of the two high schools. Elementary and Middle should be top notch, though.

They built an upscale mall a couple years ago out there, The Mall at Wellington Green, and there is plenty of shopping and (chain) restaurants, so you don't really have to leave Wellington for much, and even so, you are 20 minutes from WPB. The traffic can get to be a pain on 441 and when taking Southern Blvd or Lake Worth Rd. to the turnpike, but overall its not bad at all. The city has an equestrian flavor to it, which makes it rather pleasant. Overall, a good, solid choice.

[saralyssa]

Wellington is one of the more affluent, still decent areas of PBC. You already know about the cost of living and have heard about the schools. What you hear/read about the high schoolsis true - my neighborhood is zoned for Palm Beach Central High which in the 4 years it's been around (it's new), the swat team, PBSO, have been there numerous times for gang fights, drugs, even a disabled female raped under the football field bleachers. There are still some drug and gang problems in Wellington but not as prevalent as most areas of central PBC (read the Palm Beach Post for some examples). A good friend of mine works for the Village of Wellington. He agrees that the quality of life is good but most of the outskirts of the area aren't as impressive. There are plenty of medical facilities, shopping, restaurants, parks, community activities, etc. in the area - I doubt you or your family would get bored. One thing to consider is the threat of hurricanes. Not only has this impacted our homeowners insurance but safety factor overall when they do strike the area. This is something to consider when buying a house - does it have hurricane shutters, good windows, good roof, etc.? When you narrow down a specific neighborhood, I suggest contacting PBSO (Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office) and ask for a crime report to make sure you're not getting yourself into a questionable neighborhood. Good luck!

[compelled to reply]

I would still recommend locating in Boca Raton. Its a better overall bet, as is south Palm Beach County in general.A lot of Boca Raton is older, but its still just a little better and more established. The high schools are also fantastic in Boca. Neighborhoods east of Wellington are among America's most dangerous, though, and in general Boca is good for safety because to the south, you have super affluent Parkland, west is everglades, east is ocean, and Delray to the north has bad pockets, but its not crazy overall.

[THX 1138]

Originally Posted by fort lauderdale

I would still recommend locating in Boca Raton. Its a better overall bet, as is south Palm Beach County in general.A lot of Boca Raton is older, but its still just a little better and more established. The high schools are also fantastic in Boca. Neighborhoods east of Wellington are among America's most dangerous, though, and in general Boca is good for safety because to the south, you have super affluent Parkland, west is everglades, east is ocean, and Delray to the north has bad pockets, but its not crazy overall.

Again another biased view, when you say east of Wellington meaning what? Your talking 10-15 miles east to Downtown WPB. Same can be said about Weston. Can't say it's better overall, that's based on what you desire.

Boca is more expensive, bigger then Wellington with more congestion, (just take a drive down Glades sometime), closer to Delray which has it's fair share of problems not to mention closer to Broward's problems and the float overs from Dade.

Boca is more upscale overall and older, the mall suits deep pockets, but Wellington is not short of money either, the equestrian events, polo and etc are big business there during season. Wellington also has a better park system, the main Village Park Complex is huge and they offer many programs for kids that are devoid of elsewhere. They are also in the planning stages of building another park off of SR7/441.

If I had a family I would choose Wellington over Boca for many reasons. Also being located in Western Central PBC gives you an easy drive to go North or South, easy access to the Turnpike or SR7/441.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by THX 1138

of problems not to mention closer to Broward's problems and the float overs from Dade.

I guess you are biased too, but Palm Beach County had a higher overall incidence of crime than Broward. I base on nothing but facts, and please tell me anything east of Jog is safe.

Palm Beach County-4,953.3 crimes per 100k.
Florida State Average-4,632.0 crimes per 100k
Broward County- 4,295.9

Broward is not to blame for your "problems" up there in Boca. Look at this south of Boca.
Crime in Parkland by Year
Type 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Murders 0 1 0 0 0 0
per 100,000 0.0 7.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Rapes 0 0 0 0 1 2
per 100,000 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.6 9.9
Robberies 0 0 3 0 2 1
per 100,000 0.0 0.0 21.1 0.0 11.2 4.9
Assaults 0 2 14 14 10 33
per 100,000 0.0 14.6 98.6 96.8 55.9 162.5
Burglaries 137 96 43 89 93 53
per 100,000 1095.1 698.5 303.0 615.2 519.6 261.1
Thefts 71 60 281 243 229 233
per 100,000 567.5 436.6 1979.8 1679.7 1279.4 1147.7
Auto thefts 23 9 8 16 18 9
per 100,000 183.9 65.5 56.4 110.6 100.6 44.3
Arson 0 2 0 1 0 1
per 100,000 0.0 14.6 0.0 6.9 0.0 4.9
City-data.com crime index (higher means more crime, U.S. average = 325.2) 114.1 89.1 131.0 138.5 114.6 109.6

Coconut Creek

Crime in Coconut Creek by Year
Type 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Murders 0 0 2 1 1 2 0
per 100,000 0.0 0.0 4.5 2.2 2.1 4.1 0.0
Rapes 6 10 1 17 7 12 17
per 100,000 15.8 24.1 2.2 37.3 14.4 24.4 34.0
Robberies 16 15 17 19 16 31 28
per 100,000 42.2 36.2 38.0 41.7 32.9 62.9 56.0
Assaults 80 66 76 92 88 76 74
per 100,000 210.9 159.3 170.0 201.9 181.1 154.3 148.0
Burglaries 261 254 222 249 205 168 201
per 100,000 688.2 613.1 496.7 546.6 421.9 341.0 402.1
Thefts 662 624 656 733 703 740 831
per 100,000 1745.5 1506.2 1467.7 1608.9 1446.9 1502.0 1662.2
Auto thefts 195 134 163 125 119 159 119
per 100,000 514.1 323.4 364.7 274.4 244.9 322.7 238.0
Arson 3 2 3 7 2 2 1
per 100,000 7.9 4.8 6.7 15.4 4.1 4.1 2.0
City-data.com crime index (higher means more crime, U.S. average = 325.2) 226.6 191.1 178.8 211.7 168.8 187.1 187.3

And now in Palm Beach County to the north
Crime in Delray Beach by Year
Type 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Murders 2 3 1 1 1 3 6
per 100,000 3.7 5.2 1.6 1.6 1.6 4.6 9.1
Rapes 24 15 22 22 15 24 26
per 100,000 44.2 26.2 35.7 35.1 23.7 37.1 39.6
Robberies 165 130 131 139 125 155 132
per 100,000 303.8 227.1 212.7 221.5 197.1 239.5 201.2
Assaults 516 445 490 429 380 490 494
per 100,000 949.9 777.5 795.8 683.5 599.3 757.0 753.1
Burglaries 814 746 753 698 683 633 595
per 100,000 1498.5 1303.4 1222.9 1112.1 1077.1 977.9 907.0
Thefts 2,910 3,055 2,884 2,870 2,952 2,626 2,293
per 100,000 5357.1 5337.5 4683.7 4572.7 4655.3 4057.0 3495.5
Auto thefts 578 472 458 506 401 346 319
per 100,000 1064.1 824.6 743.8 806.2 632.4 534.5 486.3
Arson 9 14 7 7 13 10 10
per 100,000 16.6 24.5 11.4 11.2 20.5 15.4 15.2
City-data.com crime index (higher means more crime, U.S. average = 325.2) 728.1 625.8 587.3 559.6 513.3 535.7 503.2
I am only biased towards facts.

Ok, east of Wellington

Crime in Lake Worth by Year
Type 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Murders 4 5 1 8 5 8 4
per 100,000 13.6 16.3 2.8 21.8 13.8 22.0 11.0
Rapes 9 21 16 24 22 22 14
per 100,000 30.5 68.4 44.4 65.3 60.7 60.4 38.6
Robberies 165 173 216 223 284 266 276
per 100,000 559.4 563.3 599.3 607.0 784.0 730.7 760.6
Assaults 178 198 172 234 189 211 246
per 100,000 603.5 644.7 477.2 636.9 521.7 579.6 677.9
Burglaries 841 622 675 705 697 810 919
per 100,000 2851.1 2025.1 1872.8 1918.9 1924.0 2225.1 2532.7
Thefts 1,851 1,695 1,732 1,841 1,896 1,850 1,843
per 100,000 6275.2 5518.7 4805.4 5011.0 5233.8 5082.0 5079.1
Auto thefts 340 309 330 389 294 282 321
per 100,000 1152.7 1006.1 915.6 1058.8 811.6 774.7 884.6
Arson 6 2 9 9 8 9 8
per 100,000 20.3 6.5 25.0 24.5 22.1 24.7 22.0
City-data.com crime index (higher means more crime, U.S. average = 325.2) 882.8 828.2 712.8 824.8 824.7 848.4 867.9

East of Weston, just for you

Crime in Davie by Year
Type 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Murders 2 1 0 5 4 1 2
per 100,000 3.2 1.4 0.0 6.3 4.9 1.2 2.4
Rapes 14 4 5 11 13 20 19
per 100,000 22.2 5.4 6.4 13.9 16.0 24.3 22.5
Robberies 74 53 73 77 94 89 71
per 100,000 117.4 72.0 94.0 97.2 115.6 108.3 84.1
Assaults 214 230 198 224 244 260 206
per 100,000 339.4 312.5 254.9 282.9 300.1 316.5 244.0
Burglaries 580 562 639 702 580 701 556
per 100,000 920.0 763.6 822.6 886.6 713.3 853.3 658.4
Thefts 2,488 2,359 2,385 2,313 2,326 2,315 2,293
per 100,000 3946.4 3205.1 3070.2 2921.1 2860.5 2818.1 2715.4
Auto thefts 506 432 423 367 357 310 311
per 100,000 802.6 586.9 544.5 463.5 439.0 377.4 368.3
Arson 16 14 11 12 28 6 14
per 100,000 25.4 19.0 14.2 15.2 34.4 7.3 16.6
City-data.com crime index (higher means more crime, U.S. average = 325.2) 413.7 319.8 308.3 325.5 316.8 320.4 280.9

Northeast of of Weston
Crime in Sunrise by Year
Type 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Murders 3 2 3 4 1 0 1
per 100,000 3.7 2.3 3.4 4.5 1.1 0.0 1.1
Rapes 23 30 38 11 23 19 22
per 100,000 28.3 34.5 43.2 12.3 25.5 20.9 23.8
Robberies 116 126 137 145 145 104 128
per 100,000 142.5 145.0 155.7 161.6 160.9 114.1 138.7
Assaults 173 207 269 280 255 249 230
per 100,000 212.6 238.2 305.7 312.1 283.0 273.3 249.3
Burglaries 687 538 690 551 513 471 554
per 100,000 844.1 619.0 784.1 614.3 569.4 516.9 600.5
Thefts 3,451 3,367 3,353 2,896 2,857 2,517 2,288
per 100,000 4240.1 3874.1 3810.1 3228.5 3171.0 2762.4 2479.8
Auto thefts 570 500 482 403 392 310 306
per 100,000 700.3 575.3 547.7 449.3 435.1 340.2 331.7
Arson 9 5 17 6 3 19 4
per 100,000 11.1 5.8 19.3 6.7 3.3 20.9 4.3
City-data.com crime index (higher means more crime, U.S. average = 325.2) 400.0 367.7 400.3 337.7 329.0 279.5 280.5

Oh, ok, and Weston itself


Crime in Weston by Year
Type 1999 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Murders 0 3 0 0 0 0
per 100,000 0.0 5.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Rapes 3 5 3 3 5 4
per 100,000 11.4 9.9 5.8 4.8 7.9 6.2
Robberies 4 10 6 9 25 18
per 100,000 15.3 19.8 11.6 14.4 39.3 27.7
Assaults 45 43 41 68 92 109
per 100,000 171.6 85.0 79.5 108.5 144.6 167.8
Burglaries 129 88 117 75 123 141
per 100,000 491.9 174.0 227.0 119.6 193.3 217.0
Thefts 395 383 333 326 585 599
per 100,000 1506.1 757.5 646.1 520.1 919.4 922.0
Auto thefts 75 66 63 53 65 33
per 100,000 286.0 130.5 122.2 84.6 102.2 50.8
Arson 1 3 4 6 6 10
per 100,000 3.8 5.9 7.8 9.6 9.4 15.4
City-data.com crime index (higher means more crime, U.S. average = 325.2) 165.6 95.6 75.6 65.8 105.5 102.9

She should still check out Boca. The schools are better, and that is a fact, not "bias".

I only base on facts, not "Bias". We could of moved to Palm Beach County, but we chose not to because this was a better place to live after doing some research. We have no attatchment to Broward at all. It's not like its anything special here, it just happens to be a good place to live. In fact, most of our family is in PBC.
Also, a safe Broward city is signifigantly safer than the safest Palm Beach County city. Look up Coral Springs, Tamarac, Weston, Parkland, even Pembroke Pines on CD. Also, West Palm Beach is among Americas top 25 most dangerous cities. Broward has no such honor. We used to with Pompano Beach, but not anymore.

On top of that, I happen to think that most of north Palm Beach County and a lot of areas west of Millitary Trail south are quite fine places to live. I don't look at Broward as being the almighty standard of a good place to live, since that it certainly is NOT!

To the OP, Addison Mizner in Boca Raton is one of the best elementary schools in South Florida, and the middle and high schools that way are very good.

[urbandeco]

I second Boca. Although, it is not as new as Wellington, we have a great mall, fine shopping, many restaurants (lots of non-chains in East Boca) and very safe. Wellington is nice but it is way out west.

[rkumar3]

Southern Palm is the best the choice. If schools are no.1 priority go for Boca, else you can save some money by moving to Boynton or Delray. There are more jobs in Boca and it is very central to commute down to Broward and go north to WPB.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by rkumar3

Southern Palm is the best the choice. If schools are no.1 priority go for Boca, else you can save some money by moving to Boynton or Delray. There are more jobs in Boca and it is very central to commute down to Broward and go north to WPB.

Shes looking for good schools. Delray and Boynton are some of the worst past elementary. Downtown Delray is a cool place for her to go to from Boca, though.

[THX 1138]

Originally Posted by fort lauderdale

I guess you are biased too, but Palm Beach County had a higher overall incidence of crime than Broward. I base on nothing but facts, and please tell me anything east of Jog is safe.

Palm Beach County-4,953.3 crimes per 100k.
Florida State Average-4,632.0 crimes per 100k
Broward County- 4,295.9

Broward is not to blame for your "problems" up there in Boca. Look at this south of Boca.


She should still check out Boca. The schools are better, and that is a fact, not "bias".

I only base on facts, not "Bias". We could of moved to Palm Beach County, but we chose not to because this was a better place to live after doing some research. We have no attatchment to Broward at all. It's not like its anything special here, it just happens to be a good place to live. In fact, most of our family is in PBC.
Also, a safe Broward city is signifigantly safer than the safest Palm Beach County city. Look up Coral Springs, Tamarac, Weston, Parkland, even Pembroke Pines on CD. Also, West Palm Beach is among Americas top 25 most dangerous cities. Broward has no such honor. We used to with Pompano Beach, but not anymore.

On top of that, I happen to think that most of north Palm Beach County and a lot of areas west of Millitary Trail south are quite fine places to live. I don't look at Broward as being the almighty standard of a good place to live, since that it certainly is NOT!

To the OP, Addison Mizner in Boca Raton is one of the best elementary schools in South Florida, and the middle and high schools that way are very good.

Apples to Apples comparison, Boca vs. Wellington:

Crime Rates----Wellington, Florida------Boca Raton, Florida-----United States
Violent Crime----------2------------------ 4--------------------3------
Property Crime--------2-------------------6--------------------3------

The crime indices range 1-10. A higher number corresponds with more crime.
Source Sperling's Best Places

Although overall crime in Broward declined, the murder rate rose similar to Palm Beach County.

"Coral Springs saw a nearly 11 percent increase from 2005 to 2006"

"Pembroke Pines saw an 8.5 percent increase in its crime rate."

Murders increase in Broward County; overall crime drops (broken link)

I already stated that some areas east of Jog Road are not the safest, look at my other postings. Wellington is a long way west of Jog Road.

Again Lake Worth, the statistics are in the city limits of Lake Worth which is a long way from Wellington, your talking east of I-95 for the most part.

"We could of moved to Palm Beach County, but we chose not to because this was a better place to live after doing some research. "

Again that's your opinion but remember the infamous term from the 1990's in Palm Beach County... "Browardization".

Browardization, a noun, is a pejorative term for the development of western Palm Beach County. It is typically accompanied by a rebuke of overcrowded schools, congested roads, and increased taxes.