Looking for advice on where to live in So. FL
 

I’ve had it with commuting...have been doing it way too long. So I’m very seriously looking to buy a house and move the family to South Florida. Seems like there’s endless options, but what I’m currently contemplating is the Jupiter/Tequesta area. Also looking at Stuart, Port St. Lucie, and Palm City. Probably can’t afford to be on the water, and no immediate plans for a boat. But would love to be able to ride bikes from my house to waterfront parks and restaurants/bars.

I would really appreciate everyone's advice/input on the following issues, or any other suggestions about where to live....

Do home prices generally decrease as you go further north of FLL?

How is the commute on I-95? Is it super-congested?

Google Maps says about 1:15 driving time from Jupiter to FLL airport....is that reasonably accurate?

Are the schools better/worse in any particular area? My two kids are 11 and 13.

Any other issues I should be concerned about?

I looked around in those areas last year. Jupiter and Tequesta would be the nicer areas if you can afford it (and a few minutes closer). I don't know much about Stuart except lots of senior citizens. Looked in PSL last summer and found several single family homes at just under 300k brand new and in nice areas. Most of them were not in any kind of HOA structure though, which is good and bad depending on how you look at it. A couple of the places we looked at had Bahamian neighbors who literally painted their houses gold and purple amongst other really tacky looking things...

Any time you move inland it will be less expensive, but also much hotter.


Traffic on 95 is miserable. The Turnpike is slightly better, but not by much. If you are driving in before sunrise your commute will be ok. But anytime during daylight hours will contain "slit-your-wrist" traffic. Also, half the people down there are from New York, the other half can't read the street signs. It makes driving a very dangerous proposition.

Not all people from NY can read the street signs.....

You are looking at good areas. The traffic is crazy and that stretch of I95 is probably one of the most dangerous roads in the country. In Jupiter you’d have to leave about 2hrs minimum to show time and more the further north you go. The FLL employee lot situation is about the most rediculous, nausea inducing, smelly, time suck you’ll ever encounter. Most of the guys that live close just uber because the lot is so absurd.

South of Jupiter the public schools are pretty much all bad with Boca Raton being the exception with as good or better schools than Jupiter but very comparable. Boca is nice and has a great park system, but congested and lots of New York attitude. Jupiter and north is much more laid back and imo preferable but the drive will kill you. 4 days no problem, but shorter trips or tail end red eye would be rough.

Aside from the areas mentioned south Florida is an absolute cesspool and you’ll have to send your kids to private school.

Imo Dallas is the best bang for your qol buck with also some great public schools in the right area. Flower Mound is always rated one of the best places to live in country. Just a much different lifestyle than Florida. Also a smaller base and kind of stagnant last I checked.

DTW is good too, Plymouth, Canton, Northville, Novi, Ann Arbor are all less than 30 minutes to the airport and excellent schools.

Re:South Florida
 

Do you like heat, traffic, crime and crappy schools. I lived in Florida for twenty-two years and finally moved out. I grew tired of people that can not drive and eight months of summer. Schools are tough because you may find a district with a good grade school but then have a bad high school. I know commuting sucks but ask yourself if you would rather live somewhere that you do not have to worry about your family when you are on a trip. I miss saltwater fishing terribly but not the rest of the garbage I had to deal with. There is no sense of community in Florida because everyone is from somewhere else. Driving in Florida is outright dangerous. Hurricanes seem to be getting worse every year. It is no fun having to get home and trying to board up and evacuate when the weather is going downhill. It was an adjustment getting used to winter again after moving but at least I do not have to do yard work in the winter. There is no income tax in Florida but property taxes, homeowners, and car insurance is expensive. South Florida has the highest rate of car theft in the country. These are facts of life living anywhere in Florida. Good luck with your decision. I try to look at things on the positive side but these are things you will deal with living there.

Greatschools.org has changed some ratings recently. Weston has good schools. Jupiter slid a little. Palm city and Stuart are hit and miss. Boca has a couple slide but still good. I think most everywhere else in SE FL is pretty bad in terms of schools.

Since Weston wasn’t mentioned before, I know we have a bunch of guys that live out there. Traffic I think is tolerable. It’s west so it’s hot and it rains a lot in the summer (more so than the coast). I think it has a decent suburban feel but like Orlando, is there really a point to living in Florida if you don’t live near the water. Better qol value in other bases if the ocean isn’t important to you.

I’d say Weston is the outlier in Broward or Dade county if you are raising a family and want public schools. The norm is private school in those counties.

Also, some good places on both coasts further north with decent schools, less congestion, less attitude, and only eight months of summer instead of 10 or 11 that would be easy drives to an MCO base if we ever open one.

There are a bunch of us in PSL. I'm 1:20 from the lot via 95, which I prefer to the turnpike unless it's rush hour. More lanes and exits on 95 but yeah, the driving can be dicey south of Jupiter. Palm City, Tequesta, Stuart, Hobe Sound, all good areas so check out the housing and you'll find something that works for you.

I disagree, there are some really nice places in Florida that are even affordable. But nowhere in South Florida is nice and affordable. Maybe the west coast is a bit less expensive though.

I disagree with your assessment that half of the people down here are from NY...... more like 75%[emoji12]

Seriously though, it’s sux

J


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Again, depends on what part of the state you are in. The farther north you go in Florida the more South you get.

I’m enjoying all the information guys...the good AND the bad. Please keep it coming. It’s a real eye-opener!

I'm looking at moving down there also, but I wouldn't even think about the east coast. If you're looking at Jupiter and Tequesta, you may as well look at the west coast. Straight shot across Alligator Alley and the traffic isn't nearly as bad. It looks like you can get more for the money too.

For sure. There are some good schools in the Naples area. Affordability becomes an issue unless you live inland. I think same goes for just north of Naples and ft Myers. Drive becomes an issue not so much because of traffic just distance but that’s a personal preference. Last thing I want to do after a red eye is drive across the alley. West coast though has much less riff raff. Should be a strong contender if you are considering north of Jupiter on the east coast. Fish and boating on both coasts are great in their own right but very different from each other if that’s something you’re interested in.

Everyone is getting a little carried away with talk of driving these long distances which really is just a bad idea especially with the employee lot situation. I don’t understand why people talk about moving to base and then give themselves a multi hour drive. Yes summers are hot but it’s not “11 months of summer.” The rule for south fla is absolutely stay out of miami dade county. There are options in broward county (FLL’s location) that are not bad which others have mentioned. You need to know you won’t get a mansion for dirt cheap here so don’t run away when it does not happen. If you do drive a long distance plan for much more time than what the mapping app says. The crime I don’t think is much different than any other large metro area. And the schools I’ll give you that one. Plan for private schools in most but not all areas.

Traffic on 95 Jupiter to Ives dairy,dade area
 

As for traffic on I 95....it's only bad in the rush hour times (7-9am, 4-6pm) just like any other city. If you are exiting I-95 1 hr before OR entering I-95 1 hr after those times then you would have had a somewhat pleasant journey compare to what it would be in those time bracket. Unless accidents of course.

Going south in rush hour, traffic normally starts around just north of the boca area. Highly suggest turnpike in rush hour.

Isn’t there ALWAYS an accident. If it’s raining all bets are off.

And that's the real issue lol

I live in a small town called Sebastian and love it. There's no traffic. I have a large house that cost me peanuts compared to what it would cost in South Florida. There are parks and families everywhere, not just snowbirds and tourists. It's about 2 hours north of FLL check it out.

Look In naples, Ave Maria, Bonita Springs and Ft meyers

Way better schools, more affordable and better for family life.

Yeah there might be less traffic but, aside from your other good points, you'd still have to go south to FLL where traffic begins atleast 20 miles north from the airport. So going further north due to traffic is just delaying the inevitable, making your driving commute time even longer in rush hour.

So if Traffic is the issue, why not live north of FLL and take the tri rail?

We moved from Texas to SE Florida 19 years ago. Worked for 3 different airlines in those 19 years, mostly MIA based but also some JFK basing.
My house is 10 mins from FLL, perfect location and on the water.
Got a 75’ dock, renting half of it to a sailboat and the rent pays my property taxes like clockwork.
A canal home in this ‘hood starts at about $500k.
About half that for a no-canal home, also 10 mins from FLL. Uber is the solution, tons of them around here.
I-95 in rush hour is a pain, Tri-Rail can be good, but you better have a back-up, seen them delayed now and then.
Fort Lauderdale gets more and more high-rise condo buildings along the New River with more congestion and traffic have noticeably increased the last 5-6 years.
The best part of this are boats and the Bahamas next door.
Getting tired of hurricanes, the easy part is the house, installed impact doors and windows 10 years ago, but securing boats and prepping neighbors and friends boats before a ‘cane is 3 days of exhausting work.
Yes, expensive to live here, but overall the benefits outweighs the disadvantages, so far.
Feel free to send PM with any questions on the area. (No I don’t sell Real Estate)

Tri rail has reduced schedule off peak on weekends and holidays and the station isn’t at the airport so you have to transfer to a shuttle. Some stations also don’t allow you to leave a car overnight. It can work for some folks but I haven’t seen a time advantage.

Unfortunately in a good school district the party starts at about $500k and I’m not talking a very big house. Boatable waterfront is north of a million.

Uh, did you read my blurb above....?:confused:
I live in a nice neighborhood, on the water, 10 minutes drive from KFLL, no fixed bridges to the ocean and excellent hurricane hole.
This is a pilot ghetto, we are bunch of guys on the canals here and we get together frequently, usually we pick up dudes on a boat, with a 6-pack of beer and have a blast cruising around, getting away from wife’s and *****ing about work.
On Every street and canal we are 3-4 pilots, and we all think alike.
Prices starting at $500k on the water in this ‘hood, called the Citrus Iles, ever street has a fruit name.
I am on Guava Isle, FL 33315.
SWA guys, UAL guys, Spirit, JetBlue, Corporate, all good.

Hanging out with other pilots and picking up dudes on your boat, in soflo of all places...uhhh yeah no thanks 😂

That’s his story, and he’s sticking to it. ;)

Uh, I tried to describe a tiny bit of fun and camaraderie in the neighborhood, if you girls don’t get it..:rolleyes:

I read it. What I said was boatable water IN A GOOD SCHOOL DISTRICT is north of a million. Anywhere 10 min from FLL is in a very poor school district. The OP has kids and seemed to want to be in an area with good schools.

It's ok, pilots are good neighbors

Yikes... many of these houses are tiny, and ancient... not to mention utility lines are above ground.


https://www.google.com/maps/place/Fo...!4d-80.1596041


How much do you pay for home owners insurance? In a hurricane I don't imagine any of those places would survive a direct hit or serious storm surge. :confused:


Also, most of those houses are well above $600k

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sal...t/16_zm/0_mmm/

Sweet King Kamehameha, that's a selling point?

Just my .02 but I wouldn’t raise kids in South Florida, Dade/Broward area. It’s a great place to live as an adult, plenty to see and do, but I wouldn’t have raised my child here.

That’s the long and short of it.

As you probably have heard about parkland from the news, I’ll add, it is a pretty nice suburban lifestyle out there just not near the water. Good schools as well. Hot as balls though like Weston.

Wow
 

This should be nominated for the biggest lie anyone has ever told on the internet. Haha. I’ve never seen such a negative post. As a 12 year south Florida resident, I love it. Great people, great weather, no state tax, and unless you want to live in a Mansion, property tax isn’t that high at all (they reduced taxes when the housing market crashed in my county.... Palm Beach County). Kids getting a good education is more a function of parenting than the actual school. Don’t believe the hype of school ratings. Jupiter is a very nice area, as well as Wellington or Royal Palm Beach. Check out DelRay beach as well. No area or location is perfect. Yes there is a lot of traffic. Driving is dangerous everywhere by the way. I love the endless summer, the beach, outdoor life. It’s just awesome.

Not selling anything, not a realtor. Pilots like their toys including boats.

Homeowner’s insurance $1,400 a year. (Hurricane Insurance is more, i cancelled it 17 years ago)
Not in a flood zone, no flood insurance required.
We had a few direct hits around here, Irma last year and Wilma 2005.
My fence blew down, other than that, no damage. Concrete roof, impact windows and doors. No storm surge, we are a few miles inland, boat owners close to the harbor come up the river to inland neighborhoods before hurricanes to avoid the storm surge.
Some small houses here, some big ones, but big waterfront houses get pretty expensive.
Not for everybody. No kids, school district not a factor. Friends use private schools. Coral Springs have a good reputation for schools.

The areas you mentioned in northern palm beach county are definitely better from a people perspective than further south.

No state tax is great but we do have other bases that offer that.

I would agree that property taxes aren’t bad. DFW has worse property taxes and let’s not even talk about ACY. Assessed value for taxes is usually well under the homes actual value in Florida and if it’s your primary residence your taxes cannot increase more than 3%/yr. This is to prevent old people from losing their homes because of taxes when values increase quickly like the early 2000’s or now.

I would agree that parenting is the largest factor on a child’s education but the school ratings are very important. Right now it has to do with test scores in that school vs other schools in the state but greatschools.org is adding things to their criteria. Either way, the score speaks to both the teachers at those schools as well as the types of kids and families at the school. A school with high ratings typically has kids that come from good families that take an interest in their children’s education like you said. When your kids are surrounded by other kids that are accelling it helps them accel. It also means there are less behavioral issues which correlates to safety. Constant ghetto fighting is not what I would want my kids around everyday.

Delray is awesome if you don’t have kids and live very close to Atlantic ave. Really great for bachelors or married professionals. I would say there or downtown FLL would be top choices for people that are kid free. The schools though are a non-starter. Delray more than a couple miles from the AVE is pretty ghetto.