Affordable communities around Palm Beach, FL??

[time+space]

My cousin just graduated from culinary school and accepted a job as a pastry cook at the Four Seasons in Palm Beach, FL. It's a fantastic steppingstone position for her however she will only be making about $12/hr (I learned this is actually pretty average starting salary in the culinary industry. She turned down a position in Vegas who'd pay her only $9.50/hr! :-o ). She is looking for affordable places to live around there and I thought I'd ask Cyburbians familiar with the surrounding communities there for any input that I may be able to pass on to her. She is starting around the third week of March and needs a place quickly.

Any ideas? Where do "regular" people who work in ritzy Palm Beach live?

hope this is the right place to post this thread.

 

[hilldweller]

My cousin just graduated from culinary school and accepted a job as a pastry cook at the Four Seasons in Palm Beach, FL. It's a fantastic steppingstone position for her however she will only be making about $12/hr (I learned this is actually pretty average starting salary in the culinary industry. She turned down a position in Vegas who'd pay her only $9.50/hr! :-o ). She is looking for affordable places to live around there and I thought I'd ask Cyburbians familiar with the surrounding communities there for any input that I may be able to pass on to her. She is starting around the third week of March and needs a place quickly.

Any ideas? Where do "regular" people who work in ritzy Palm Beach live?

hope this is the right place to post this thread.

I think they live in central and southern Palm Beach County in places such as Greenacres, Lake Worth, Boynton Beach and Delray Beach. Others commute from Indiantown and St. Lucie County. Northern Palm Beach and Martin County real estate is ridiculous.

 

[crisp444]

My cousin just graduated from culinary school and accepted a job as a pastry cook at the Four Seasons in Palm Beach, FL. It's a fantastic steppingstone position for her however she will only be making about $12/hr (I learned this is actually pretty average starting salary in the culinary industry. She turned down a position in Vegas who'd pay her only $9.50/hr! :-o ). She is looking for affordable places to live around there and I thought I'd ask Cyburbians familiar with the surrounding communities there for any input that I may be able to pass on to her. She is starting around the third week of March and needs a place quickly.

Any ideas? Where do "regular" people who work in ritzy Palm Beach live?

hope this is the right place to post this thread.

There are plenty of very nice apartment communities throughout Palm Beach county that are affordable. Although she is not going to be able to live in Palm Beach itself, there are hundreds of decent, affordable apartment complexes throughout the entire county that are probably within 30 minutes commuting distance of her job. Some communities you may want to consider are West Palm Beach, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Lake Worth, Lantana.. pretty much all of that area is safe and nice. Check Craigslist (follow the link to West Palm Beach) for apartment listings - it will give you a good idea of how much typical rents are in the area. Good luck!

 

[The One]

Run!

Cost of living is CRAZY down here.....tell her to run, not walk away....$12 hour...try a Belle Glade studio apartment at the Bandito Arms (and they are really armed there:-c ) :-D :-o

Mapquest says its not too far of a commute:
Total Est. Time: 53 minutes Total Est. Distance: 44.60 miles







By the way, don't do this!

 

[time+space]

Cost of living is CRAZY down here.....tell her to run, not walk away....$12 hour...try a Belle Glade studio apartment at the Bandito Arms (and they are really armed there:-c ) :-D :-o

Mapquest says its not too far of a commute:
Total Est. Time: 53 minutes Total Est. Distance: 44.60 miles

By the way, don't do this!

I know it's very expensive but she seems to be very optimistic about the career potential down there (year-round fresh produce, working at a bigger establishment, etc.). She's already planning her own venture as a personal chef/caterer and figured people with disposable income will gladly pay someone to cook for them.

Thanks for the comments!

 

[crisp444]

I know it's very expensive but she seems to be very optimistic about the career potential down there (year-round fresh produce, working at a bigger establishment, etc.). She's already planning her own venture as a personal chef/caterer and figured people with disposable income will gladly pay someone to cook for them.

Thanks for the comments!

Please disregard that negative comment about her having to live all the way in Belle Glade. Not true. Not true at ALL! Yes, it's expensive to live here if you want to buy a large house in a luxury gated community or an apartment directly on the ocean. However, it is possible to get a BEAUTIFUL three bedroom apartment in Palm Beach County for $1500/month - she's young and won't mind having roommates, right? Just to prove that living down here CAN be affordable, I have attached three recent apartment listings:

1) West Palm Beach 2/2 apartment in a gated community with pool and clubhouse - $1200
http://westpalmbeach.craigslist.org/apa/132962058.html
2) Boca Raton 3 bed apartment with a golf course view and pool - $1600
http://westpalmbeach.craigslist.org/apa/133349314.html
3) Hypoluxo 2/2 newly renovated apartment near beach in gated community with pool and tennis - $1300
http://westpalmbeach.craigslist.org/apa/132310588.html

Are rent shares of $600, $533, and $650 extremely expensive and out of the price range of a working professional? At least I don't think so, try to get comparable apartments in NYC, LA, SF, Boston, Chicago, and DC for those prices..

Good luck, and wish your cousin good luck with her exciting new career!

 

[time+space]

Are rent shares of $600, $533, and $650 extremely expensive and out of the price range of a working professional? At least I don't think so, try to get comparable apartments in NYC, LA, SF, Boston, Chicago, and DC for those prices..

Good luck, and wish your cousin good luck with her exciting new career!

She pays 500/mo plus util now in the East Village neighborhood of Chicago (west side) and has a rommate so she is def. looking to share a place rather than live by herself. She won't mind commuting either although she may consider cost of gas versus living a little bit closer and paying a little bit more for rent.

Looking at those pics on craiglist (sun, beach)... I can't wait to have a place to crash when I visit her! ;-)
Although seems to be tons of ads for places in gated communities...

 

[hilldweller]

Cost of living is CRAZY down here.....tell her to run, not walk away....$12 hour...try a Belle Glade studio apartment at the Bandito Arms (and they are really armed there:-c ) :-D :-o

Mapquest says its not too far of a commute:
Total Est. Time: 53 minutes Total Est. Distance: 44.60 miles

By the way, don't do this!

[ot]Did you hear the story about how the Belle Glade Police Dept. evidence building was robbed of all its drugs and guns? :-c The showed the supposed evidence building on the news and it was basically a crack house.[/ot]

I agree that the situation is pretty bad for affordable housing but PBC still has some affordable condos- check http://www.buyowner.com.

 

[Jen]

Cost of living is CRAZY down here.....tell her to run, not walk away....$12 hour...try a Belle Glade studio apartment at the Bandito Arms (and they are really armed there:-c ) :-D :-o

Mapquest says its not too far of a commute:
Total Est. Time: 53 minutes Total Est. Distance: 44.60 miles

By the way, don't do this!

I moved away from So Fla in 1996, today Im checking real estate in my hometown of Pembroke Pines, fixer uppers under 1200sf are starting at 260,000! :-c

It is too bad the Four Seasons doesn't have employee housing eh?

 

[crisp444]

I moved away from So Fla in 1996, today Im checking real estate in my hometown of Pembroke Pines, fixer uppers under 1200sf are starting at 260,000! :-c

It is too bad the Four Seasons doesn't have employee housing eh?

Yeah, Pembroke Pines / Miramar is really booming, and are gaining reputations of being upper middle class communities. Pembroke Pines has actually surpassed Fort Lauderdale as the most populous city in Broward County. It's really becoming known as a desirable place to live. Everything built within the last ten years in West Broward seems to be gated, have a state of the art gym and community pool, man-made lakes, and fountains and lush landscaping at the entrances. It's a really nice area, but it is very dense (when compared with other sububan areas in this country) and because of that the traffic can be a nightmare. I-75, which used to be a 4 lane "rural" interstate highway when you lived here, is now a 8-10 lane expressway where traffic crawls during rush hour. I guess that what happens when an area develops quickly due to its desirability..

But back to PB county..
Yes, it's expensive. A lot more expensive than the national average. But this is for home SALES. This young woman is not planning to buy a 3000 square foot home in Boca. She doesn't need $750,000. She wants to RENT, and because of that, she is going to be able to afford a great apartment within her price range. Renting in PB county really isn't ridiculously expensive, especially when you consider how many amenities the majority of apartment complexes in PB county HAVE - they are gated, have pools, fitness centers, tennis courts, some of them are waterfront.. You can find a 2 bedroom apartment with all these amenities in PB county for $1200-1300/month. Check Craigslist, the Sun Sentinal, or the Palm Beach Post if you don't believe me.

About that comment about most of the apartment listings advertising themselves as gated...
We can all try to be urban idealists and trash gated communities, but the bottom line is that in South Florida, they are desirable. NO CONTEST. Every apartment complex or housing development advertises itself as being gated because that is what most people in South Florida prefer. This is an enormous metropolitan area - try driving around the newer suburbs and count how many major developments AREN'T gated - you can probably count them on your two hands. Even many of the 40-50 story highrises on the beach are like their own little gated communities (some of them have guard gates!!) with their own pools, gyms, spas, etc. People just love the "exclusiveness" of entering their development through a guard-gate flanked with flowers, palms, and fountains, and I see no end to this trend in suburban South Florida.

 

[time+space]

About that comment about most of the apartment listings advertising themselves as gated...
We can all try to be urban idealists and trash gated communities, but the bottom line is that in South Florida, they are desirable.

I don't recall saying anything bad about gated communities. My apologies, if I had rubbed you the wrong way. Just an observation and a realization from the abundance of these ads on Craigslist that this DOES appear to be the norm (or the ideal) down there. And that perhaps "gated" communities--as much as they are marketed as "luxury homes" and with this exclusivity attached to them could very well be places that someone making $12/hr could afford to live in--as a renter!

Oh and by the way, she did finally find a place (on craigslist). She is sharing a three bedroom with two other professionals in "gated luxury townhome" in Boynton Beach for 600/mo including utilities. Not bad at all...;-)

BTW, The Four Seasons won't even give her a hotel room while she looked for places. Sheesh!

 

[hilldweller]

But back to PB county..
Yes, it's expensive. A lot more expensive than the national average. But this is for home SALES. This young woman is not planning to buy a 3000 square foot home in Boca. She doesn't need $750,000. She wants to RENT, and because of that, she is going to be able to afford a great apartment within her price range. Renting in PB county really isn't ridiculously expensive, especially when you consider how many amenities the majority of apartment complexes in PB county HAVE - they are gated, have pools, fitness centers, tennis courts, some of them are waterfront.. You can find a 2 bedroom apartment with all these amenities in PB county for $1200-1300/month. Check Craigslist, the Sun Sentinal, or the Palm Beach Post if you don't believe me.

About that comment about most of the apartment listings advertising themselves as gated...
We can all try to be urban idealists and trash gated communities, but the bottom line is that in South Florida, they are desirable. NO CONTEST. Every apartment complex or housing development advertises itself as being gated because that is what most people in South Florida prefer. This is an enormous metropolitan area - try driving around the newer suburbs and count how many major developments AREN'T gated - you can probably count them on your two hands. Even many of the 40-50 story highrises on the beach are like their own little gated communities (some of them have guard gates!!) with their own pools, gyms, spas, etc. People just love the "exclusiveness" of entering their development through a guard-gate flanked with flowers, palms, and fountains, and I see no end to this trend in suburban South Florida.

I've seen two bedrooms in PBC for cheaper than 1000/month. And it is still possible to purchase condos for less than 200k. A lot of whites are afraid of minority neighborhoods down here and the crime is overexaggerated in some places (except for Belle Glade ).

Great points about gated communities, which could probably be a whole new thread as it is an interesting topic. I think the most overlooked aspect of South Florida gated communities is that they are not just exclusive to those with money. There are lower/middle class gated communities just as there are wealthy ones.

What it comes down to is landscape maintenance. Landscaping in Florida is highly desirable because so much land has been cleared or is covered with invasive exotic species. And because of the climate in South Florida you can grow pretty much anything, and a lot of it looks really cool. Maintaining it all is quite a task and condo associations fare better at it than governments (the city I work for has brazilian peppers in our parks:-$ ). I agree with crisp444 that gated communities are a living arrangement that a lot of folks in our profession despise. IMO most people don't understand the advantages/desirability of them and simply believe the only motives for them are fear and racial segregation.

 

[crisp444]

I've seen two bedrooms in PBC for cheaper than 1000/month. And it is still possible to purchase condos for less than 200k. A lot of whites are afraid of minority neighborhoods down here and the crime is overexaggerated in some places (except for Belle Glade ).

Great points about gated communities, which could probably be a whole new thread as it is an interesting topic. I think the most overlooked aspect of South Florida gated communities is that they are not just exclusive to those with money. There are lower/middle class gated communities just as there are wealthy ones.

What it comes down to is landscape maintenance. Landscaping in Florida is highly desirable because so much land has been cleared or is covered with invasive exotic species. And because of the climate in South Florida you can grow pretty much anything, and a lot of it looks really cool. Maintaining it all is quite a task and condo associations fare better at it than governments (the city I work for has brazilian peppers in our parks:-$ ). I agree with crisp444 that gated communities are a living arrangement that a lot of folks in our profession despise. IMO most people don't understand the advantages/desirability of them and simply believe the only motives for them are fear and racial segregation.

Thank you for the interesting commentary. You have some great points too. On this site in general (I am not referring to anyone in this thread, so no one take offense here) there is an intense hatred for the suburban gated community. They have this incorrect image that gated communities are 100% full of ultra-wealthy, white people with motives of racism and class hate. What they fail to understand, is that in South Florida, like you have said, there are different kinds of gated communities. In a place where pretty much EVERYTHING built within the last 15 years is gated, there is something gated for everyone:

For the working class and lower middle class, there are many nice, rental communities that just happen to be gated. Yes, I said working and lower middle class. I'm talking about young roommates that work as waiters and single moms who work as secretaries. Even they can afford gated down here.
For the middle class, there is an array apartment, townhome, and single family home communities that are gated as well. I cannot tell you how many straight-up middle class families live in gated communities in this area.
For the upper middle class and upper class, there are gorgeous, ultra-equipped gated enclaves in the suburbs and state of the art oceanfront buildings in the beaches.

About the whole class hatred thing, I don't think it's a surprise to anyone that we all want to live in the most desirable neighborhoods we can afford. Let's not even pretend that we would choose to live in lower income neighborhoods even if we had lots of money. Whether you live in the city or the suburbs, we all desire to live in the neighborhoods that are perceived to be the nicest and the best. Again, it should be no surprise to anyone that the rich usually inhabit the "best" and "most desirable" neighborhoods. Don't we all want to live in the Upper East Side, Brooklyn Heights, Greenwich, Beverly Hills, South of Fifth (a nice area of Miami Beach for those of you who don't know the area), Bal Harbour, Golden Beach, or Boca Raton?

About the whole racial and ethnic element, there are plenty of racial and ethnic minorites in South Florida gated communities. There are hundreds of gated communities in Miami-Dade county alone, and I would bet money that almost all of them are majority-Hispanic (even though most of those Hispanics are white - but most Hispanics in Miami-Dade are white, so that would make sense). Hispanics have great representation in Broward gated communities too. Although I'll agree that on the whole, blacks are a bit underrepresented in gated communities of owner-occupied homes (except for some areas of Miramar, Pembroke Pines, and NE Broward), gated rental communities appear to have great black representation. And Asians? One of the highest concentration of Asians in the entire state is located in Southwest Broward - upper middle class, gated community suburbia. Clearly, the whole "gated communities are for wealthy WASPs" idea can be thrown out the window when applied to South Florida.

Although I absolutely love walkable, dense, pedestrian friendly places like South Beach, I'm not going to join the crowd of haters on this site and trash gated communities. When I am ready to buy a house, I will take amazing, post-card quality landscaping, fountains, and beautiful and well-maintained recreation facilities anyday over graffiti, car break-ins, agressive panhandlers, and trash in the streets. I live in an urban neighborhood now and love it, but when I'm ready to have a family, I will not think twice about moving into a gated community. I wish some people would actually recognize that gated communities do have some positive aspects. It's not all class hatred, people!!!