Young Professional Considering WPB (Miami, Fort Lauderdale: transplants, real estate, to rent)

[KingSpring85]

Hello all,

I am considering a long-term move to WPB or somewhere else in SoFlo in the near future (within next year). I am a 23 year old white male. Between my Masters degree and nursing home admin. license I am confident I can find a good paying job in the area.

Now to the semantics. As a state I love Florida, having always visited during winters in my youth years. I want you to put yourself in my shoes for a moment, being a 23 year old white male looking for the following in FL:

- Modern, developed area, at least somewhat safe
- Young professional populous (which hopefully include good looking girls)
- Good nightlife (doesn't have to be world-class)
- Good beaches
- Golf courses

My biggest withholding on South Florida is the "fakeness" of the women I constantly hear about. I am looking for an area with women who hold their own. Is WPB my best option or would FTL be better (Miami is out of question)? Thanks for the feedback!

[Galan]

Don't move here until you have a job first. Healthcare is one of the economic stalwarts down here, but competition for jobs is fierce and employers generally like applicants to have at least 3-5 years of experience. Not to discourage you, but this place is littered with people who moved here with expectations of a better life and found out the hard way that FL isn't all sunshine if you know what I mean. Drive up and down Congress Ave, Military Tr, or Okeechobee and you'll see all the people panhandling on the street corners. This is why I'm telling you to have a job first before you move here.

A run-of-the-mill house will cost about about $175-$200k, but prices are going up fast. If you're looking to rent be prepared to spend about $1100 per month on average.

Hate to break it to you dude, but this isn't a young town. Yeah, there are young people living here, but they're all transplants who moved here to work the service jobs; they're not the ones who are buying real estate out in Wellington, Palm Beach Gardens, or Jupiter and working in the corporate world. I'm not saying they don't exist, but you won't find them in plenary supply if you buy a house and move to the burbs.

There is fabulous nightlife here - just head over to Clematis Street and/or City Place to find it. Atlantic Ave in Delray Beach is another great place you can go.

The bars and restaurants here are expensive. Expect to pay $12-$15 for a cocktail and at least $5 for a crappy, light beer. They're also obsessive about cover charges on weekends. If you're bar hopping on Clematis on a Saturday night expect to pay $10 for every bar/club you enter. It gets annoying fast.

If you're looking for good looking girls, just hang out at City Place. That's where you'll find them all.

[Galan]

My apologies for only focusing on West Palm Beach. I don't get to Miami very much, but I can tell you that Fort Lauderdale is (in my opinion) a younger town. While there are plenty of young women here in WPB, you'll find even more of them in the Fort Lauderdale area. It's more expensive there and the crime is worse too in my opinion. You'll also have to put up with a lot more annoying tourists than we do here in WPB. The worse part about WPB is dealing with all the annoying New Yorkers and New Englanders in general. But then again, Northeasterners are everywhere in FL; if they all left at once the population would drop by 50%... but I'm getting off topic so I digress.

Los Olas is the party district in Fort Lauderdale. The nightlife there is very good.

[TriMT7]

OP:

If you're wondering whether South Florida has young people, it most certainly does. Frankly, wherever you find your job (Broward County or Palm Beach) you will be able to find adequate nightlife, young people etc.

So focus on the job search in both and then if it's a dilemma of which you should pursue, then it will be a matter of bigger city (Ft. Lauderdale) vs. smaller city (West Palm Beach).

[THX 1138]

The population of the USA is aging on a whole but it's no joke that you will see more seniors here, but not near as bad as other parts of Florida. Only difference here is the seniors and retired baby boomers are more active, so your going to see them out in public more often. The early bird types are in bed by 9PM.

[KingSpring85]

I appreciate all the replies I guess I will let the job decide where I end up between WPB and FTL. Thank you

[WhatUpFLA]

Originally Posted by Galan

Don't move here until you have a job first. Healthcare is one of the economic stalwarts down here, but competition for jobs is fierce and employers generally like applicants to have at least 3-5 years of experience. Not to discourage you, but this place is littered with people who moved here with expectations of a better life and found out the hard way that FL isn't all sunshine if you know what I mean. Drive up and down Congress Ave, Military Tr, or Okeechobee and you'll see all the people panhandling on the street corners. This is why I'm telling you to have a job first before you move here.

A run-of-the-mill house will cost about about $175-$200k, but prices are going up fast. If you're looking to rent be prepared to spend about $1100 per month on average.

Hate to break it to you dude, but this isn't a young town. Yeah, there are young people living here, but they're all transplants who moved here to work the service jobs; they're not the ones who are buying real estate out in Wellington, Palm Beach Gardens, or Jupiter and working in the corporate world. I'm not saying they don't exist, but you won't find them in plenary supply if you buy a house and move to the burbs.

There is fabulous nightlife here - just head over to Clematis Street and/or City Place to find it. Atlantic Ave in Delray Beach is another great place you can go.

The bars and restaurants here are expensive. Expect to pay $12-$15 for a cocktail and at least $5 for a crappy, light beer. They're also obsessive about cover charges on weekends. If you're bar hopping on Clematis on a Saturday night expect to pay $10 for every bar/club you enter. It gets annoying fast.

If you're looking for good looking girls, just hang out at City Place. That's where you'll find them all.

^ What this guy said ^