21 year old single female planning to move to west palm beach (Miami: crime rate, home)

[Pimpy]

Originally Posted by cfbs2691

Agreed!
A young woman, new in town, needs to be in a safe area and less than $1,000.00 will NOT be safe.

Even in Broward where rents are a little higher you can find something safe for under $1K. In Palm Beach, you easily can. There are even nice complexes in Palm Beach Gardens and Jupiter in the $800-1,000 range. And I still stand by my comment that the Village Blvd corridor is plenty safe.

[cfbs2691]

Originally Posted by Pimpy

Even in Broward where rents are a little higher you can find something safe for under $1K. In Palm Beach, you easily can. There are even nice complexes in Palm Beach Gardens and Jupiter in the $800-1,000 range. And I still stand by my comment that the Village Blvd corridor is plenty safe.

I guess it's all relative as far as what we each consider safe.

[Pimpy]

Originally Posted by cfbs2691

I guess it's all relative as far as what we each consider safe.

I agree... but someone would have to be pretty paranoid if they didn't consider Palm Beach Gardens (north of PGA) and almost all of Jupiter safe.

I will concede that the Village Blvd area that I also recommended may not be everyone's cup of tea... but I wouldn't feel the least bit uncomfortable if I had a girlfriend or young female relative who decided to rent there.

[TriMT7]

Originally Posted by cfbs2691

Agreed!
A young woman, new in town, needs to be in a safe area and less than $1,000.00 will NOT be safe.

That's so not true.

As someone mentioned above, there are plenty of nice complexes off Village Blvd. I know at least three people who live in the Villages with no problems. A couple of the complexes I would probably not like to be in, but for the most part it's just a regular area. The crime is comparable to most normal US cities.... especially when you consider that 50% of the total crime in West Palm Beach happens in one section of the city (that ISN'T the Villages!)

As for businesses leaving the Village shopping center, that Outback was one of the worst I had ever been to. Five Guys' leaving had nothing to do with crime, and I have no idea why Moe's went away, as at lunch time there was a line streaming out the door. Maybe nearby Chipotle was too much competition.

The one end of the center, with John Bull, Panera, Duffys, Saffron, Cold Stone seems to be doing just fine. That's my lunch Panera.


There's also housing around Palm Beach Atlantic University, and in the historic areas south of downtown as well for less than 1000 bucks. Lots of young people rent guesthouses behind larger homes as well.

[THX 1138]

I don't feel unsafe when I go over to Saffron or John Bull, but some people do, even say they won't go to the new Target on PB Lakes out of fear which is totally ridiculous...I know some people that use to live off of Shenandoah years ago, sold their condo and moved out and said they would never go back....crime is much higher than other locations, a lot of theft, break-ins and burglaries. Is it Riviera Beach, nope...but I would rather live downtown personally.

Problem with Village Blvd, is it leads to 45th Street and all points east...

SpotCrime Crime Map

[cfbs2691]

Originally Posted by TriMT7

50% of the total crime in West Palm Beach happens in one section of the city

I was not aware of this.
What area is it?

[TriMT7]

Originally Posted by cfbs2691

I was not aware of this.
What area is it?

The "north end" - AKA, that part of the city that abuts Riviera Beach..... which means the remaining 50% of crime is split between the various other sections of the city - downtown, the south end, the western communities...

[cfbs2691]

Very interseting!

[whitmeyer]

I moved to South FL without a job and it ended up working out for me in the end, but it's a risk. Don't do it unless:

1) You have significant savings or have someone to back you financially or;
2) Are able to land a job fast in the service industry to at least pay your bills

I would agree that you need to plan to spend 900-1k in rent, and that does not include utilities. When we lived in a 2,300 SF town home our electric bill could go as high as $240 a month in the summer (of course it's significantly cheaper 8 months out of the year).

[flagirl28]

Originally Posted by Pimpy

Agree on the job but not the apartment. You can get something at one of the million apartment complexes off Village Blvd in WPB for $700/month, sometimes less. It's a safe area for a single female, too, and five minutes from downtown.

It's NOT a safe area for a single female. Do not believe that!