Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Fort Lauderdale
Hi. I live in NJ now, but I have an interview for a new job in Fort Lauderdale and would seriously consider taking the job if it is offered and moving there.
I don't know anything about the area and have never been there other than flying into the airport once when I was younger.
Can you please tell me a little bit about the different neighborhoods in Ft. Lauderdale and how much apartments cost to rent in those neighborhoods? What is the night life like there and where is it? Can you give me names of hot spots to drive by or neighborhoods to look at while I am down for my interview?
Does anyone know anything about the Ft. Lauderdale Jewish community?
Where do the young people hang out? I'm 23
Are there any neighborhoods that you think I should avoid looking to live because they may not be so safe?
You can post back or email me at mkaplan725@yahoo.com.
Thank you so much in advance.
Re: Fort Lauderdale
Hey - congrats and good luck on the job interview. DH and I moved from northern FL to the Fort Lauderdale area last May and really like it. We live just outside of Ft. Lauderdale in Plantation (about 10 to 15 minutes away). We live in a rental townhome which is centrally located (I can walk to the Publix Grocery Store a block away and there is a beautiful Central Park for free exercise) and there are plenty of rental communities in the area.
Davie is also a great place to live. AudioSlave, one of our nesties, has lived there for a while. Nova University and Broward Community College are located right next to each other in Davie. There are lots of rental apartments/townhomes near that university atmosphere.
As for places to avoid (great question), I'm still learning the area. When I was moving down here, I was told that Tamarac, Lauderhill, and Lauderdale Lakes (all west of Ft. Lauderdale) have some questionable areas to avoid. After driving through that area, I can agree. Maybe the other nesties can fill you in on other areas.
As for going out, the majority of the party action is in Miami (about a 40 minute drive south). However, when we have friends in town, we go to the Hard Rock Casino (about a 15 minute drive) which has lots of clubs and restaurants. We always have a great time out there and it's not as expensive as some of the Miami clubs/bars.
If you have any more questions, feel free to email me at ecoclaire at hotmail.com
Ft.Lauderdale is def. filled with lots to do.
There are many (MANY) nightclubs (from really classy to bars). The downtown area has a plethora of sidewalk cafes and restaurants. There is the museum, planetorium, the beach, riverside..etc,etc...
I am no expert in the area but from what I've seen and heard. You will want to stay away from the west part of I-95 (Oakland). Although it is beginning to develop, most of it is not very safe. Wilton Manors (another place I haven't been to) also has a reputation of not being so safe. One place that I love is Plantation (Lived there). It is a 15-20 min drive from downtown Ft.lauderdale and it is a beautiful area with reasonable prices. When I lived there I rented a 3 bedroom Apt. in a really nice community, it was about 1,200 (which is an excellent price for S. Florida). It has lots of trees and the people are not as aggressive.
Regardless, you should scope out the scene while your here, because like I said, most of that area is developing. So a community that might have a bad reputation may just have built a gorgeous area that suits your taste.
Hope this helps, GL!
What are you looking for in a neighborhood? Close to bars/clubs or a more suburban feel? There is a big difference down here.
Since a few other people touched on the lifestyle I will say there is a huge south Florida Jewish community. b'nai brith and hadassah both have pretty sizable 20s groups down here. There are also lots of synagogues. If you decide to come down here I can definitely help point you in the right direction as far as Jewish life is concerned.
Hi there!
I live in the Sunrise area where the Sawgrass Mall is (it's the biggest outlet mall in the south I think). We really like it here, it's very central to everything and busy with the hussle and bussle of the mall. There are single family homes, and apartment/townhome communities. Plantation is also a really nice area, especially the area known as "Old Plantation" because of the big trees. Pembroke Pines is also a nice area, it has a lot of shops too. Weston is a really nice community, a bit pricey, but they also have apartments and townhomes. All of these areas are about 15-20 minutes from the beach. If you wanted to move by the water, there are alot of really pretty communities that you could look into. I don't know their names specifically.
Ft. Lauderdale has a lot of fun night life, but it's a little bit more laid back than Miami. HTH! Best wishes!
Thanks so much for all of your advice. I hope this interview goes well and then I can move down.
I'm sure I'll have a lot more questions for you all.
Thanks again!
I have to stand up for Tamarac! My family and I live in Tamarac near Coral Springs (so the Western part of Tamarac, near the Sawgrass Expy) and the area is really nice. We are close to Coral Springs which has lots of great restaurants and stores and parks.
In my neighborhood (Westwood by McNab Rd & Nob Hill Rd), I'm pretty sure rent is around $1000 or so for a 2-bedroom, but I could be wrong since I haven't needed to look in a long time as I've owned for a few years. My area is pretty safe, affordable, and is convenient to drive to other areas. It's just a nice place to live and I really enjoy it.
While the nightlife in Tamarac is pretty craptastic since it is mainly a community of older people, if you don't mind the 25 minute drive downtown, it's not too bad and will be much cheaper to live in suburbs rather than closer to downtown. Areas like Sunrise and Plantation are very similar and beautiful communities and all 3 (plus the slightly more expensive Coral Springs & Parkland) are awesome Jewish communities!
As others said, Davie is also a nice area if you want to live a little further south and a little closer to downtown. It is closer to the universities, also has a nice Jewish community. Actually most of the Fort Lauderdale area is pretty accessible to a good Jewish community, especially if you are in northwest part of Broward County - lots of nice synagogues up here.
Lauderdale Lakes, east Lauderhill and East Tamarac are all parts to avoid. North Lauderdale also has a few questionable areas. I think that if you move here you'd probably want to either be downtown if you like to party, or be in one of the suburbs like Plantation, Sunrise, Coral Springs, or Tamarac, which all have nice Jewish Communities and fun, young Hadassah groups.
My Blog: SIREN.ORG!