OT: Advice for gardener relocating to South Florida

15 years ago

Hello from DC/Maryland!

I am starting a new job in downtown Miami in September. Any advice on good places to live with (1) a relatively easy commute; (2) a safe, family friendly neighborhood with good schools and mature landscaping (trees!). I grew up in West Palm, my husband grew up in Jacksonville. I think we have decided against living in Dade county for now, mostly because we want to avoid the congestion we live in now. Some friends suggested south Broward county, but we don't know anything about that area. Help! Realtor recommendations would be great, too. Thanks a bunch!

Stephanie

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Comments (6)

coffeemom
15 years ago
I had to laugh at your post because I knew you weren't going to find any of those things in Dade unless you can afford Coral Gables or Coconut Grove.
HOWEVER I do live in S Broward and can tell you W Pembroke Pines and W Miramar are great communities. You can buy close to the expressway but it would still be an hr communte during rush hr. The Eastern parts are older but are nice also.
Email me at
sjkdavis at bellsouth dot net if you need more.
rascy
15 years ago
Doral is very nice I like it here nice size yard and lots nature with cows,horses plus built up areas if you like that .
I am new here but must say the single worse drivers I have ever seen in my life. I was stationed in Afghanistan for a yr and found the drivers there better than here as far as common courtesy goes lol .
I work in Doral but the traffic here is brutal takes me 30 minutes what in NY suburbs would have taken me 1o to 15 minutes .
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Hi, I’m in Palm Beach Gardens (Zone 10B) There are three varietals in this bed, the two taller ones are Mammoths. The one on the right is 10ft. This is my first try at Mammoths but, I’ll share what I did and what I think worked well. Planting Time: Direct sow in February, thin out slow growers to prevent crowding. Two seeds every 30”. Soil Prep: Dug a 2ft deep trench, 1ft wide. I have sand as well so I amended the soil with a compost/top soil mix from HD and granulated fertilizer for shrubs. Next go around I‘m going to add bone meal earlier, probably around thinning. Watering: Water in the morning daily until they get about 1ft tall, then I typically water every other day if there’s no rain. Important to make sure soil dries a bit between waterings and very important to give them a slow deep soak to encourage good root growth. These just survived a severe storm with 40mph+ gusts and hail. I think the care to the root system helped them. Feeding: Liquid fish fertilizer heavy nitrogen every 14 days. Added an inch of manure on the surface when they got about 2ft tall and dug out a 3” deep moat, 1ft radius around the stalks. This really helped to direct the fert and water to the roots. Added bone meal to the surface around the stocks in mid April, I’m going to do this earlier next time. Although it seemed to really help with producing new buds on the Autumn Sun varietal. I applied neem oil at night a couple times early on, soak the leaves on top and bottom as well as spray the soil surface. Also I had to apply copper fungicide early on to fight leaf rot. Got a little lazy and the Jerusalem Golds suffered. These get great morning light, slight shade in midday from a palm. The shed in the background blocks a significant portion of direct afternoon light and there’s a row of Autumn Suns on that side as well. I think they’d be taller with more light but, that’s a guess. I also, didn’t apply liquid fertilizer as regular as I could/should have. I think they could’ve benefited from a couple more feedings. Next go around, I’ll experiment with the feedings. I hope this helps.
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tetrazygia
15 years ago
Hi Stephanie, I'm in the South Miami area and would recommend moving into Dade if you're going to be working in Downtown Miami. If not, you're going to face horrible congestion daily with your commute, because the areas of Dade north of downtown that you will have to travel through are VERY congested. The same goes for Doral, just because of how far West in Dade it is.

Coral Gables is definitely the nicest part of Dade (unless you can afford a truly exclusive area), with matching high prices, but Coconut Grove and Key Biscayne are equally attractive areas (depending on which part of Coconut Grove, that is). If those are out of your price range, then the parts of South Miami that surround Coral Gables are also very nice. Keep in mind, however, that there has been a HUGE drop in house prices, and you might be able to find something quite nice.

These areas (Coral Gables, Brickell, Key Biscayne, Coconut Grove, and parts of South Miami) will afford you the best commute, since there are lovely back roads leading directly into downtown and are all pretty close to it. They do get traffic during rush hour, but I guarantee you will be better off on Old Cutler Road for a half hour than for at least an hour on the highway between Broward and Downtown. Not only that, but these areas are pretty much the only areas that are almost entirely covered by mature live oak and banyan (various ficus) trees that line the streets and give you a scenic, shady drive... in either Dade or Broward. Well, not Key Biscayne, but Key Biscayne has its own appeal.

But do you have the opportunity to take a trip down to these places before you decide on where you move? Only you know your price range and exactly what you're looking for.

Good luck!
coffeemom
15 years ago
I've heard that Kendall offers an easy commute downtown if you use Metrorail. Forget driving.
cxjr25
15 years ago
In addition to Coral Gables, Coconut Grove and South Miami, I would highly recommend Pinecrest. This neighborhood has arguably the best public schools in Miami-Dade and plenty of greenary. It is the farthest from Downtown Miami though As the other poster mentioned, prices have dropped dramatically, so it is a great time to buy.

Overall Miami-Dade COunty has very little greenary, so be prepared for that.

I am in the process of buying a home in South Miami and have a great realtor. Let me know if you would like his info.
rascy
15 years ago
Yes I heard pine crest is very nice I havent been there . South Florida does have a huge problem that I didnt find to be the case in NY and I am an Independent and thats the politicians.

Doesnt matter what political party you are as party here makes no difference just a tittle . If your involved in community like to help people get ready for the shock of a lifetime with the south Florida bunch

OT: Advice for gardener relocating to South Florida

Comments (6)

coffeemom

rascy

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