Looking for Info on Miramar Florida

[Chip126]

Once again, I am turning to the DIS for some opinions

My DH might be taking a job transfer to Miami in the upcoming months. We are looking to purchase a house in Miramar Florida.

If anyone lives there or has lived there I am looking for any information I can get! (keep in mind - I will be moving from CT). My main concern is the school system. I have one DS who will be entering 9th grade and another DS who will be going to Kindergarten in about 3 1/2 years!

Does anyone know what the school system is like? I would also like any other information that anyone would like offer!

Thanks so much!

Kim

 

[Mom21]

I live just north of Miramar so I am not sure what school's there are like. I would suggest you look for houses in West Miramar. There are new developments and just generally a nicer neighborhood than east. Look around I-75 and west. They have some very nice homes. Here is the website for Broward County School http://www.browardschools.com/index.asp

Also my husband and I looked at this development (Riveria Isles) before we decided to buy elsewhere. It is very nice.
http://www.carmenandski.com/Communities/Miramar/Riveria Isles Floorplans/RiveriaIsles.htm

That realtor has some info from the school system but it is from 2003.

Good luck and feel free to ask me any questions.

 

[Martha7]

Miramar, like so much of South Florida, is crowded and has a large Hispanic presence. That's OK, but there has been so much building just West of I-75, that the traffic to get on the highway is terrible! We lived a short ways North in Weston, which I would recommend that you check out. (Dan Marino lives there!) You're going to find that all of the schools are crowded, no matter where you go. We loved living for 6 years in Weston, and have only been gone for a little less than two years. The drivers are terrible, and car insurance is expensive. The advantages are that you'll still have plenty of New Yorkers around, and you're only 4 hours South of Disneyworld! All of our neighbors were friendly and there are tons of great shopping and terrific restaurants. There is a great outlet shopping mall, North of Miramar, called Sawgrass Mills. There's a Disney Character Premiere store there, (great for cheap pins, clothes, gifts!) Sawgrass has a Cheesecake Factory and many other good restaurants. Another disadvantage is the occasional hurricane scare, but at least with a hurricane, you have a week to prepare! Publix supermarkets are very good. You'll find that the baggers will follow you to your car, so that they can load your stuff up and get a tip! There's a good movie theater in Miramar, called Muvico. I think you'll enjoy it very much, but you have to get used to the fact that it'll be a bit congested in school for your kids. They also are way into the "No Child Left Behind" stuff, and lots of emphasis is placed on the tests. Your child has to pass them at certain ages, in order to advance. High schoolers must pass the 10th grade test in order to graduate. This isn't a big deal if your kids don't have trouble with tests. Feel free to PM me for anything else! We'd love to move back! I left so many good friends there!

 

[ducklite]

I think there is a Legal Seafoods in Sawgrass Mills.

Publix baggers are NOT supposed to accept tips and can be fired for doing so. One was given a formal reprimand for this at the store my son works at a few weeks ago (he's a friend of DS's). They will almost always offer to help with your groceries--I had two bags last night and they wanted to carry them out for me! (I declined...the lady making the offer was about 70 years old LOL!)

Anne

 

[Martha7]

There is a Legal Seafoods in Sawgrass Mills! I had forgotten about that one! Yeah, I made the mistake of starting off with the tipping the baggers thing, although it was always a great opportunity to practise my Spanish skills! I was also glad to have the help to get everything packed in the car quickly, so that it didn't melt in the parking lot! I really miss the Publix stores. Here in Michigan, we can choose between crummy and snooty when it comes to our markets. (I usually go with the crummy one, since it's closer to my house.) Publix has fresh produce and meat, nice, wide aisles, great wine department, and friendly staff. It's terrific! Also, I've been reading the unofficial website for Weston, and it seems that the housing market may be slowing down a bit. Lots of open house signs have been observed, so that may help the OP, should she end up relocating there. This may hold true for Miramar as well.

 

[Chip126]

Thank you, Martha7, for suggesting Weston! I am now looking into homes there. I looked into the school systems and they are graded an "A" in Weston.

It looks beautiful there and the school system looks good, too! My DH will probably be meeting with a realtor in about 3 weeks after we take our next trip to Disney.

After this decision is made I will need to find a job Is there a hospital anywhere close in this area? I have worked from home for 10 years and I would really like to find a job in Florida where I can work from home. Preferably a medical transcription job, but I guess I'll have to wait and see.

Thanks for all your input!

 

[CEDmom]

Hi, I don't know anything about living in that area but I do have a great website for checking out schools - http://www.greatschools.net It'll give you all kinds of details and you can compare different districts. Good luck.

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

There is the Cleveland Clinic in Weston.. VERY nice hospital. Hollywood Memorial West is out there too.

(ps - Dan Marino sold his Weston House)
We lived in SW Ranches..very nice area.

 

[Mom21]

We lived in SW Ranches..very nice area.

Hi. Small world. We now live in Southwest Ranches.

We are about a mile from Cleveland Clinic. Also there is the Dan Marino center which is nice. There is a huge Memorial Hospital that just opened in Miramar. Memorial Hospital West in Pembroke Pines (someone already mentioned). There are lots of doctors offices in that area. I am sure you will find something. There are several roads that are all drs. Weston is a nice area. If you want to PM me your price limit for a house maybe I can help you more in your search.

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

We lived at Stirling Rd and Volunteer

 

[Martha7]

Southwest Ranches is really nice too! I was the PTA President at Falcon Cove Middle School, and I loved the schools that my kids attended in Weston. My DH worked in Miami, right off of the turnpike, and usually left the house early to beat the traffic. We had a great realtor, Dave Magua with Coldwell Banker. He's so professional and is a pleasure to work with, so if you end up relocating there, you might give Dave a call. He's from South Africa and has that great British accent, but reminds me of Liam Neeson! Please feel free to PM me with any further questions. Oh yeah, the unofficial Weston website is www.notcrap.com, which is a lot of fun to browse on. You'll see what everyone complains about in the "Rants" section, as well as what's going on in general in the "Community Chat" section. There's also a "Retail, restaurant, shopping review" section, which you can check out!