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Life, Travel

What It’s Like Living in Fort Lauderdale, FL!

Is Fort Lauderdale a good place to live?

Yes – Fort Lauderdale is a great place to live. If you hate the bitter winters of the north, love sunshine, a world class beach with swimmable ocean waters, and a lush tropical landscape, then Fort Lauderdale is a great place to consider.

Is Fort Lauderdale safe?

I lived in Fort Lauderdale for 4 years and I very rarely felt unsafe. Granted – I did live in a desirable neighborhood, called Victoria Park.

If you are moving to Fort Lauderdale and want to know which neighborhoods are safe, I highly recommend you use this tool called Neighborhood Scout. I found it extremely helpful when I was first searching for a place to live. Also, download the Ring app called “Neighbors” so you can see what the latest crimes have been in the area you are searching.

The most common crimes in my neighborhood included front porch package theft, trespassing in backyards, and car theft. I never encountered any crime myself, but saw some of them occur on the Neighbors app.

If you are lucky enough to live in a plush area, you’ll be absolutely fine. However, since Fort Lauderdale is a small city, the boundaries of these “safe” areas aren’t as expansive as one might hope. Up and coming neighborhoods such as Flagler Village and Middle River are undergoing gentrification right now, so you’ll get a mix of safe areas and unsafe areas.

One thing that I did become aware of is that Fort Lauderdale is quite dangerous for bicyclists. Unfortunately I witnessed a bad bike crash on the 4th of July. It is very serious and should be taken into consideration if you are looking to use your bike as your primary transportation.

Is Fort Lauderdale expensive?

Fort Lauderdale can be quite expensive, but for the lifestyle you adopt, I believe it is a great deal. It would be quite difficult to find an equivalent quality of life in the United States for less.

For housing, you can find rentals of all different price points that are decent. Just take your time when looking to make sure you can jump on gems when they come on the market. In 2021 I was paying $1300 for a modest 1bed/1bath bungalow apartment in Victoria Park. It was simple living, but I greatly enjoyed my time there and I had a great landlord and neighbors. Not to mention it was in a luxurious neighborhood. Thus, it was a great deal to me.

The biggest challenge in terms of cost seems to actually be the low supply of housing in safe areas. As I mentioned, the nice areas of Fort Lauderdale are fantastic, but the other areas…not so much.

If you’re a first time home buyer, you may need to live in the edges of the nice areas. Not so bad, since Fort Lauderdale is exploding with new development and likely will improve in the future. However you may have to deal with higher crime and odd neighbors for a little while until the neighborhood catches up to its commercial improvements. Luckily, those “edges” are typically still very close to Downtown and the Beach. You can very easily find affordable housing within a 15 minute radius, if you are willing to live on these outskirts.

Should You Move to Fort Lauderdale or Miami?

Both Fort Lauderdale and Miami are fantastic cities – some of the best vacation destinations in the nation. But which would be better to move to?

In order to answer this, you must determine what type of lifestyle you’re looking for.

If you are the type of person who needs hustle and bustle, isn’t afraid of some crime, and loves cultural diversity, you must move to Miami. A downside to Miami is that it is more difficult to own a car there. Whereas Fort Lauderdale is a very car friendly city. The upside to this is that Miami is very pedestrian friendly. Especially in South Beach, where you can easily walk to many restaurants, grocery stores, and even the beach from your apartment.

If you like city living but get a bit overwhelmed by high-rises and riff raff that come with big cities, Fort Lauderdale would be more your speed.

One of the best things about Fort Lauderdale is that it combines city living with suburban comforts. If you live in the right location, you can walk to work, restaurants, and bars, but then you can easily access big box stores like Target and Best Buy within a 5 minute drive. (Keep reading to find out where the best neighborhoods to live are.)

Where to live in Fort Lauderdale

As a starting point for your housing search, I highly recommend the 33301 zip code. Especially north of the river, as it is easier to walk to Las Olas and Downtown.

Victoria Park is a highly desirable neighborhood to live in. It has the most gorgeous trees, a walking trail along the water, easy access to Las Olas (popular shopping/dining boulevard) and Holiday Park. It is also within walking distance of Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Flagler Village (FAT Village), and is just a 10 minute bike ride to the beach!

Downtown Fort Lauderdale is a bit further from the beach, but for walkable living, it’s quite nice. You can live downtown, be close to the Riverwalk, and near endless nightlife on both Las Olas (classier) and 2nd Street (more raucous).

Things to know before moving to Fort Lauderdale

Fort Lauderdale has all the modern conveniences you might need. You are within 25 minutes of a Target, Best Buy, Ikea, and Costco. Moving there and getting everything you need for your home is easy.

It is important to have a car in Fort Lauderdale. Though living in the right area can make things fairly walkable, the often hot and humid weather may make running errands a bit difficult at times!

It’s a great place to have a dog or cat. There are several great dog parks in the area, not to mention you can take your dog to the beach during certain days of the week. Cats roam all of the neighborhoods and love to chase lizards and get pets and treats from neighbors 🙂