Best neighborhoods in Fort Lauderdale

Wife and I are moving back to south Florida soon and spent 8 years in Miami. We know Fort Lauderdale vaguely but are open to buying a home there if it means nicer home for the money, we have our first kids,twins on the way and condo life isn’t in the cards for us anymore. We’re looking at $2m budget and sadly Miami Beach doesn’t offer much in the way of homes unless you go really far south like coral gables which is fine too just interested in what Fort Lauderdale has but not sure where to look, our realtor is a Miami specialist and she doesn’t know much about Fort Lauderdale. I could spend more if the public schools are good, the ones in south beach are awful, I’m not opposed to public schools if they’re good ones so our budget on home could increase quite a bit if we’re not looking at $35k/year per kid elementary schools like miami

 

Hawks Landing in Plantation. Wish I never sold it. Off Las Olas is very nice as well and Harbor Isles.

 

If you want good public schools, you’ll have to live in Weston. Two nice neighborhoods there are Windmill Reserve and Weston Hills. I believe Weston is the only place in the greater Fort Lauderdale area with A rated schools throughout. You’d have to go north to Parkland for the next place with similar schools.

Otherwise, live wherever you want in Broward but plan on sending your kids to American Heritage or Pine Crest.

Scott

 

I moved from the Shady Banks neighborhood, just south west of Las Olas, to Plantation. We really liked being in Ft. Lauderdale, but love Plantation. Chose Plantation over Weston for lots of reasons, mostly because Weston feels like one big resort, and Plantation has neighborhoods where kids play in the streets etc. My kid goes to Heritage, and we really like the school.

 

It depends on what you want. I lived in FLL for more than 50 years, 30 of those in Rio Vista. If we were to move back there it would be to Rio Vista. I wouldn't buy waterfront...too expensive for what you get (unless you have a boat) and the associated bump in taxes.

 

How are the mosquitos out there, i looked at some homes now online, they're all on creeks and the everglades are right there. Miami Beach is on the ocean and its funny but when you live on the ocean like I did, there were absolutely no mosquitos, you could sit on the balcony and enjoy it without getting eaten alive.

 

They spray regularly for mosquitoes in Weston which helps a lot but it’s not the same as being near the beach where there’s a constant ocean breeze. I can comfortably be in my pool and spa at night without any problems. But if I’m sitting outside in a chair, one or two will show up. Not sure if that’s how it’s like in every neighborhood here though. I’m not directly on a canal or the Everglades. FYI, when I lived 9 blocks from the ocean in Hollywood, the mosquitoes were horrendous. Couldn’t be in the pool at night under any circumstances. When I moved to Weston, my plan was to buy a drum fan for the outside to keep the mosquitoes away but I haven’t needed one.

 

You can find nice waterfront and dry lot homes from Lighthouse Point down to Rio Vista. All in your price range. All greater Ft Lauderdale. Just plan on private school.
Coral Ridge has Bay view elementary public school which is highly regarded. All private after elementary.
I guess you could call it the intracoastal corridor.

I like living east near the ocean. Living on the west side of the county is a different vibe. I grew up near, what is now, Weston and couldn’t believe how different living east is. The west side is very nice, just different. Depends on what you like.

 

I’ll second what the above poster said. Completely different vibe living out west compared to the beach. I miss the beach a lot. Only moved west because of schools and my commute. The west is hands down suburbia. Bigger houses, bigger lots, soccer moms, etc. Living east is more of the typical beach/nightlife/high energy kind of place. My wife and I regularly discuss moving back to the beach when our daughter graduates high school (she hasn’t even started kindergarten yet, lol). But it was the right move for us now given our commute, schools, budget, etc. It all depends what you’re looking for. YMMV.

 

The commute will be bad for me in the mornings driving back to south beach where my office is, but the problem is the only homes in south beach are palm island,hibiscus island,venetian islands and no offense to the owners of those homes but you get utter crap 50-60 year old homes on the inside, sans garage for $1.5-2m. I feel like if you pay that price you should have a nice pool,basketball hoop,etc for the kids to enjoy as well as a boat dock. I'd love to find that in south beach but its just unrealistic unless you want to spend $4-5m at least.

 

I sent you a PM before reading this. If you are living anywhere in Broward and commuting to south beach, your commute will suck balls. I wouldn’t do it. For example, if it’s raining badly or there’s an accident, your commute will take an easy 1.5 hours one way during rush hour. I’ve had to do it many times. It’s even more stressful if you need to get home to help take care of or see your young children.

 

Please everybody stay away from Plantation..

 

Wow, commute to SoBe. Brutal. I’d need a helicopter to do that. You may have to look at the Gables or the Grove.
Although, the I95 express lane makes the ride not soooo bad. You’ll want to make sure and leave before both rush hours.

 

Like above, driving to SoBe from FLL would be out of the question for me. Going south of Sunny Isles on 95 is crap during the week. Move closer to work otherwise you WILL be selling that house very soon if you have to take that commute.

 

I live in Las Olas Isles and commuted to Coral Gables 2 days a week for a couple of years. Don't do the commute. I was able to leave at 6AM and return about 3:30 and it was still bad. I saw a bad accident almost everyday and started to think it was just a matter of time.

Good advice above on the schools.

 

The Broward County school system has been a mess for years. If you have school age kids definitely budget for private school.

 

I just moved out of Broward for this very reason. Lol, that and it has become to much like Dade for my taste.

Unfortunately schools are a nightmare if you are east. The cheapest option is Cardinal Gibbons or St. Thomas at @$13-15k per kid. American Heritage and Pinecrest are in the 30's. Your only option for public schools are west and or north. Palm Beach has much, much better public schools.

You are getting good advice regarding the commute. I took a job in the Design District and only made it a week before I quit. Life is too short to spend two plus hours a day in a car surrounded by the rudest, most ignorant people on the planet. Some people can handle it but I would have snapped. Common courtesy and decent human behavior are just some things you don't see much of south.

 

Uh, your not using Zillow for answers to these questions?

(Not being punitive but attempting to illustrate a point that real estate professionals over online tools can provide the answers you need to complete a residential purchase).

 

As to private vs public, i always vote for private, and preferably faith based ones. They teach morals and ethics.

 

I drive from Plantation to Coconut Grove everyday and have been for the last 3 years. It is not ideal but there is no way I'd move back to Dade county. I have a family member who lives 13 miles from the Grove, in Pinecrest. In the afternoon, it takes me the same amount of time to go that 13 miles to Pinecrest as it does to get home to Plantation. I can't afford Coral Gables, and it is too congested for me anyway. Round trip commute on a typical day is 2 hr 10 minutes. In the three years I have been doing this drive, I've only had two 90 minute commutes - both accident related.

 

Another thing to be aware of if you do look in FTL is the make up of the neighborhood. Rio Vista has lots of kids and neighborhood type of things. It really is a community where people tend to know each other. My street on Las Olas Isles has almost no community feel at all. Probably 25% of the homes are rarely occupied second homes. 25 houses on the street and I think there is one kid <15yo. I know maybe 5 people on the street after 8 years.

 

Look in Lauderdale by the Sea. Specifically Terra mar Island. Gated community off A1A and you cross a bridge to get in. The entire neighborhood is surrounded by ICW and canal. You can find houses on ICW in your range and others for less that will need work. Always plenty of kids playing in the street there. I have a condo on the ocean and walk in that neighborhood everyday and my wife and I always say that when we get sick of the condo we’d love to live on that island.

 

My issue is I lived in south beach, south of fifth for the last 8 years. I work south of fifth but we used to live oceanfront a block from work and recently sold our 1 br for $1.5m. The price to go up to a 3br same area is $2m more at a min but I just don’t think condo life will be fun for the kids. Many of my memories are playing with the neighbors kids, pool parties, basketball in the yard,etc. We have a realtor, she’s a good friend of ours but the suburbs of Miami are not her thing so she’s of no use to us, but as her husband is a good friend of mine, I won’t use anyone else. So I’m trying to gather the info from those with experience and then I’m going back to her after I find the places online so she can set up showings. As I said we’d like to stay at $2m or less but that won’t get you a decent home close to work

 

That’s why I’m not opposed to good public schools, in Miami you only have country day and fisher island day school close to south beach both are $30k+ per kid at 3 years old and were having twins....I went to private schools my whole life and aside from networking it’s not really worth the money imo. Yes smaller classes are great but if you do a good job at home the kids learn most there imo.

 

I lived 1 block from work for the last 6 years, i would love a 3br condo but it’s nuts bc you need $2m MORE to move up from the 1 br we had to the 3 br same building, so out of our budget