Boca - East of 95 good for families, any crime??? (Pembroke Pines: appointed, sex offenders)

[floridabound1234]

Hello all! Thank you in advance for your guidance! I have searched this topic on the forums but haven't gotten quite the answer I am looking for.

The area of Addison Mizner Elementary looks very appealing to me, i have a young family and we are looking to plant roots for the long term, 15+ years. Close enough to the beach and is within the Boca city limits, which sounds like better services from what i read on the forum. The only thing that worries me is the southern border with Deerfield Beach. I did a registered sex offender search and WOWZA . The place is crawling with sex offenders, and those are the ones who are actually registered!! Many people told me i have to live in a gated community to be safe in South Florida. Are there burglaries in these neighborhoods or are people just paranoid? I'm not one to bury my head in the sand, if it is a concern i will look elsewhere. Anyone send their kid(s) to Addison Mizner? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!!!

[So FL Guy 1289]

Following thread

[City Guy997S]

There is only ONE gated community that has Addison Mizner as a designated school (Boca Racquet and Sailing). Boca Square/Palm Beach Farms are nice older neighborhoods. I lived there in the 80's. Please visit a gated community and decide if the $10 an hour guard is going to make a difference in your personal security. I have found that they are a joke, "social security" usually comes to mind.

Research Addison Mizner, I think that school was scheduled to be torn down/rebuilt.

[john-staten island]

Originally Posted by floridabound1234

Hello all! Thank you in advance for your guidance! I have searched this topic on the forums but haven't gotten quite the answer I am looking for.

The area of Addison Mizner Elementary looks very appealing to me, i have a young family and we are looking to plant roots for the long term, 15+ years. Close enough to the beach and is within the Boca city limits, which sounds like better services from what i read on the forum. The only thing that worries me is the southern border with Deerfield Beach. I did a registered sex offender search and WOWZA . The place is crawling with sex offenders, and those are the ones who are actually registered!! Many people told me i have to live in a gated community to be safe in South Florida. Are there burglaries in these neighborhoods or are people just paranoid? I'm not one to bury my head in the sand, if it is a concern i will look elsewhere. Anyone send their kid(s) to Addison Mizner? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!!!

It's a fair question you've raised but of all the small cities in Florida I'd rate Boca as very safe. As you know the registered sex offenders didn't register because they wanted to, they're all post conviction cases.The parole or probation agencies house them usually in the same building for supervision so it skews the numbers. I know the area you're referring to on the Deerfield line, it's a fairly nice location.I'd be more concered about the ones who haven't been caught yet. Boca PD is very responsive to any complaints so the need for a Gated Community may give a false of security.Most of the theft crimes I see in Boca involve car break-ins involving purses, phones, etc. All in all despite the character from Venice who rips Boca every chance she gets.. it's a great area...

[newtovenice]

Boca has good and bad like everywhere else. Do your homework. Go visit. CANNOT STRESS THAT ENOUGH.

You don't need a gated community. I've found, esp at the lower pricepoints, the guards don't do anything, and the thieves are more rampant as they *think* people have better cars, etc., in the gated communities, so it seems like the gated communities have more crime. This is generally speaking. Gated does not mean safer.

That being said, street to street can change dramatically. You may drive through a bad area to get to a good area. You may have a street that is wonderful right next to a crapper of a street. SoFL is weird that way.

Visit. Visit multiple times. Tour the school. Get a sense of what the neighborhoods are like. Look at what will be developed in the next 15 years that will change the way it looks NOW.

[newtovenice]

Also, when getting advice from posters, ask how long they have lived there, how many kids they have and if they are snowbirds or ... oh .. actually live and work yearround in the area.

It changes the advice you will get. Kinda like being on vacation is very different than working FT.

[drewnick]

When we first were looking at Boca, I was mostly convinced that we wanted to be in East Boca. We looked at Camino neighborhoods, Boca Square, Palm Beach Farms, etc. etc.

We ended up in Central, near the mall, off St. Andrews. We like it here a lot and I've worked in E. Boca pretty much the entire time but for family living the homes here are generally bigger and the area has better roads, etc. IMO.

We rented 2 yrs before we bought, and I learned SO much in that time, highly recommend.

[floridabound1234]

All great information, thank you so much to all of the replies! I googled the school, and you are dead on City Guy, it sounds like the elementary schools are getting over crowded and they have plans to build a new one near the Tech High School by 2020 and either expanding Addison Mizner or demolishing. This seems to be contradictory to the "Boca is filled with old people" demographic that I constantly hear. Overcrowded schools makes me believe a lot of young families are moving to Boca. However, I am disappointed at the price of housing in the area, as a single income family, i foresee being "house-poor" to ensure my child gets the best education possible. The myth that Florida is much cheaper than the northeast does not apply in South Florida, at least if you want a solid school district.

It's good to hear Boca PD is very responsive. I can only imagine how many calls they get for everything under the sun, i have a feeling some of the luxury homes have some "high maintenance" homeowners. It's really sad the direction this society is headed in terms of the lack of respect/appreciation for the police departments who protect us every day.

I will be visiting for about a week and driving all over Boca, Palm Beach County and NW Broward. I am open to any suggestions you folks have. I promise you this is going to be a long term move and i will be a good neighbor!!! I lived on the Gulf Coast for many years but my business has taken me to South Florida. I am not afraid of hurricanes, bugs, snakes, hot summers, humidity, and all of the stuff discussed ad nauseam on the forum.

To the older/wiser folks who have lived down in the area I pose this question to you: If you were in my shoes, with a young family and you were starting over today, where would you move to ensure a safe community with the best public schools available from kindergarten to high school?? The folks who have lived there the longest have no doubt seen a lot of change over the years and may have some insight on where the counties are headed in terms of development/change over the next decade.

Thanks again everyone, i really love reading everyone's opinions!

[City Guy997S]

Originally Posted by floridabound1234

All great information, thank you so much to all of the replies! I googled the school, and you are dead on City Guy, it sounds like the elementary schools are getting over crowded and they have plans to build a new one near the Tech High School by 2020 and either expanding Addison Mizner or demolishing. This seems to be contradictory to the "Boca is filled with old people" demographic that I constantly hear. Overcrowded schools makes me believe a lot of young families are moving to Boca. However, I am disappointed at the price of housing in the area, as a single income family, i foresee being "house-poor" to ensure my child gets the best education possible. The myth that Florida is much cheaper than the northeast does not apply in South Florida, at least if you want a solid school district.


To the older/wiser folks who have lived down in the area I pose this question to you: If you were in my shoes, with a young family and you were starting over today, where would you move to ensure a safe community with the best public schools available from kindergarten to high school?? The folks who have lived there the longest have no doubt seen a lot of change over the years and may have some insight on where the counties are headed in terms of development/change over the next decade.

I lived in Boca for 17 years. I think the neighborhoods you are considering look run down compared to when I lived there. Heck Boca Square is over 50 years old now! Camino Gardens probably looks the best but those houses are ridiculously overpriced for 2K sq ft houses (and 50 years old). I really don't like what has become of the area, downtown is a disaster and the traffic is gridlock. I still like Royal Palm Yacht and Country Club (it appears gated but you can certainly drive right in, public streets) and Sun and Surf (neighborhood by Red Reef Golf Course/Beach). That being said, I would never move back.

You don't mention a price point but I would assume 300-350K is what you want to spend. I would look at Parkland, Coconut Creek as an alternative. Yes Parkland just had the high school shooting but that wouldn't deter me.

If you wanted to be ahead of the development curve, look to the north (Palm City area). I would not consider Port St Lucie but the houses are cheap!

[floridabound1234]

Thanks for the input City Guy! I should have mentioned my job will bring me to Pembroke Pines. So Palm City might be a little too much of a commute for me. Although i do have a friend who lives up there and he loves it.

I should have also mentioned my budget is in the 400k to 450k range. Not looking for anything crazy, 3+br, around 2,000 sq feet. Since you moved out of Boca, where do you live now? What made you want to leave the area?

Any other members of the forum have any advice?

Thanks for your help!!!