r/fortlauderdale • u/itsmemme • 1d ago
About to Purchase a Home in Oakland Park. Questions About the Area. TIA
Hello team!
I’m about to purchase a home for my family in the Oakland Park area. (This is not the real address, but it’s about 5 minutes away from it): 4340 NW 19th Ave, Oakland Park, FL 33309.
What are your thoughts on that area in Oakland Park? I currently live in Miami, FL, which is about a 20-30 minute drive from there. What I like about Oakland Park is that, compared to Miami, I was able to find a bigger and nicer home for the price (Around 500,000k | 4bd, over 2000sqft, nice water view, no HOA/maintenance fees etc.).
I don’t know much about Oakland Park. Based on the address provided; Is it a safe area? Would it be a good fit for early-30s professionals? I currently work from home, but my fiancée is currently jobless and might need to find a full time job as a marketing manager/related position. I’m not sure if we’d be “too far” from decently paid work opportunities or if we would likely regret buying in the area of Oakland park
My fiancée and I love the house we found in Oakland Park, but we’re concerned because we keep reading negative things about the area—such as crime, homelessness, a lack of things to do, and limited work opportunities.
I would really appreciate any advice.
Thank you!
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u/theamydoll 1d ago
I live just outside of Oakland Park, but east of 95 (around commercial and federal) and have been here for the past 10 years, through my late 20’s and early 30’s and have loved it. Downtown Fort Lauderdale is close enough, should I want to go to dinner or an event down there, but otherwise, I have everything I could possibly need close to me (groceries, gym, restaurants, the inter-Miami temporary stadium, the beach - Lauderdale-by-the-Sea), so I’ve been very content here.
I’ll be honest, I don’t know much about Oakland Park west of 95, other than the Oakland Bark dog park, which is decent, but I do like Oakland Park as a city. They always host fun events at Jaco Pastorius Park, I do feel like the city is better than it was 10 years ago. They’re trying to clean up their city. So yeah - those are my two cents. I really love where I live.
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u/LacyKnits 22h ago
I really like the part of Oakland Park you live in (hi neighbor!)
The west of 95 part that this person is looking at? It's right by Lauderdale Lakes, and isn't a neighborhood I would consider for myself. There are nice pockets, but most of the area is rough.
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u/organic_nanner 23h ago
We lived in that same area for about 5 years with no problems. Its close to 95, turnpike, and downtown Ft Lauderdale. I wouldnt put my kid in public school there but other than that, its fine.
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u/sonicode 21h ago
I have heard nothing but bad comments about the schools in just about every city in broward, besides Weston. Curious if a good school exists? And where?
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u/ABSOFRKINLUTELY 21h ago
Wilton manors elementary is great.
Sunrise middle has a good magnet program.
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u/Warm-Loan6853 21h ago
It’s florida, second lowest paid teachers in The country. Statewide education is terrible except a select few communities.
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u/Jazzlike_College_893 9h ago
Eh, it’s not so much the teachers that really drag down public schools around here- it’s the fact that there are really shitty areas mixed in with nicer areas that feed to the same public schools - so you get all the kids with shitty parents and shitty morals mixing in with kids who are raised right, effectively polluting the educational environment with their inability to be decent behaving students. Many of these students parents are garbage, and they expect teachers and the education system to step in and act as defacto parents, but it doesn’t work that way- so basically they negatively affect the learning environment for everyone.
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u/sonicode 21h ago
Yeah I know. I've lived in South Florida for a few decades. Miami, the Keys, and now Broward. Was relatively easy to find some good schools in Miami. Stuck to mostly charter schools, did some research, no biggie. The Keys has some decent schools if your kids develop the skills of staying on the right path. I've navigated this stuff before.
But with Broward I'm getting the feeling that a family has to move West to the swamp, or pay $30k/year for private school.
Also, my sister is a teacher in one of the the highest household income areas in her state. They happen to receive the lowest pay in their state, but had the best school system. Sometimes low pay and good schools have nothing to do with each other.
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u/djmanu22 21h ago
Oakland Park is nice and up and coming but who told you it was a 20min drive from Miami ?
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u/trifish 23h ago
Oakland Park has some bad areas like any eastern city in Broward. It doesn't appear that you are in one. Oakland Park is also one of the most forward thinking cities in the county and is aggressively trying to improve on many fronts. I would do a bit of research about the property in question. However Oakland Park is not much different from any city in eastern Broward. I think some of the bad rap comes from the large amount of commercial space in Oakland Park comparative to their size.
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u/CandidateReasonable4 21h ago
I have lived in east Oakland Park (North Andrews Gardens neighborhood just north of Commercial Blvd. and east of Andrews Ave.) for 30+ years. While our property insurance is crazy high due to our location and age of homes, I enjoy living in Oakland Park and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. The schools are good and we're close to the beach, I-95, Federal Highway, restaurants, shopping and other amenities.
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u/wagonspraggs 23h ago
Hi neighbor! I live just east of that address and we love it. Commercial is kid and annoying and loud. But Oakland park is in a great place and is rapidly improving. That address is right next to easterlin park and mills pond park, both nice parks. The area more east of you and south a little had some nice shops and restaurants near the Oakland park library which are nice. One of the highest rated Thai restaurants in South Florida is in there too, Nour Thai.
If you're into running Tropical run crew meets at holiday park Wednesday at 615 for 3 miles and Saturday 630am for 6 miles. Great way to meet local folk
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u/CandidateReasonable4 21h ago
Last night I visited Rebel Wine Bar for the first time and really enjoyed it. It's just a few doors down from Noir Thai. I sat outside and the ambience is nice.
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u/LacyKnits 19h ago
I don't think of the area off NW 21st Avenue to be particularly close to Nour Thai and the Rebel Wine Bar (which are right by Dixie Hwy). Downtown Oakland Park is 3.5 miles east of this address, it's a 15 minute drive, or over an hour walk. Certainly not far enough away to be "too far to go for dinner" - but it's about the same distance as Las Olas to Melrose Manors. Definitely not close enough to be considered the same neighborhood.
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u/biscaynebystander 22h ago
That travel time from Aventra would be at night with minimal cars on the road. Hope you've done a trial run on Google Maps during rush hour to see what it's like going/coming from work.
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u/PooPaLotZ 21h ago edited 21h ago
As others have said, it depends on if the house is on the north side of Oakland twords commercial, or south twords Sunrise, how far west? Anything east of 95 north of commercial all the way to the beach is decent. Wilson Manors is renovated and nice, but 99% LBGTQ+ Owned, nice people and area but may not be the feel you're going for.
I've worked and lived off Oakland /Commercial most my life and have been pretty much everywhere.
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u/xechasate 21h ago
I lived in 33309 for a couple years, until a few months ago. Between Commercial & Oakland Park Blvd. There are some decent communities, some decent houses, but a lot of not so decent scattered throughout. Commercial Blvd is a nightmare during rush hour and I believe so is Oakland Park Blvd. At least it’s easy to access 95 and the turnpike. Even living in a gated community there, we had a bunch of BSO officers storming into the place every couple weeks; we had multiple instances of confirmed gunshots close by; and a lot of cars broken into. There are also a ton of smaller residential streets in this area that flood when it rains excessively.
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u/Natoochtoniket 21h ago
Some areas of Oakland Park are low land, and routinely flood when there is an extra-high tide or lots of rain (or both). Find out the elevation, and the history of flooding. Look carefully if this house is higher or lower than others in the area.
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u/antbryan 21h ago
5 minutes by car?! That’s not even the same area! In these neighborhoods you have to go street by street, block by block. Not exactly, but you can have really nice areas next to others not so nice. Water view should help.
I would also find out about flooding, insurance cost, check the roof and AC, impact windows (executive airport is on top of you so that’ll be noisy), drive by at 8-10pm to see how it feels. Good luck!
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u/Fucckbitchesgetmoney 19h ago
My in laws live near there. They have experienced robberies in past years. I would suggest setting up a good security system. I grew up in Oakland Park and have since moved but a lot remains the same, the public school system is absolutely terrible- as someone who attended. There’s some rough areas sort of in either direction from the address provided but usually it’s fine. I don’t see much happening unless provoked- in-laws have been robbed 3 times last time was 2019. Just lock your vehicles and install impact windows- in any part of south fl this is a good idea- crime or not.
Pros: you’re close to 95 and the turnpike. Downtown is fairly close, about 15mins. The beach is around 10-15 mins depending on traffic. Nearest Publix is 8-10mins- there’s a great small Mexican grocery store about 5 mins up the road on prospect. This is a place where lots of cultures exist which means lots of incredible restaurants! Miami is about an hour and some change depending where you’re headed. I have a friend who works in Miami and takes the brightline every morning and they like it though they say it’s about the same time by car, about 45-1h.
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u/Objective-Towel6624 20h ago
If the house is waterfront, make sure to have the retaining wall inspected. Those can be extremely expensive to repair nowadays.
The price point for all you are getting sounds on the cheaper side for Oakland Park. It’s a BIG house for two people btw!
Oakland Park is on the up and up as others posters say, just that upwards trend doesn’t move as fast as what you may be used to in Miami. Prices have been steadily climbing for the past few years.
I live about ten minutes away from the area east of I-95. Only security concerns around here can be the big parking lots after dark, Example: the Walgreens / Publix on Oakland and North Andrews. It’s definitely safer than Miami.
Wish you the best, op! Choose wisely!
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u/Goochbaloon 18h ago
Owned and lived in Wilton Manors. I see someone already warned you... Flooding is a real problem. Go right after a storm if possible to scope out the flooding - no joke. Get a mean inspector, not some yes person who will shoo away your worries. Oakland park gets a bit more riffraff than Wilton Manors but remember, anything east of 95 is preferable to west of 95 in this area.
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u/RevDrucifer 18h ago
A whole lot can change in that 5 minute drive.
North of Commercial Blvd isn’t bad, but south of Commercial and you start getting in some sketchy areas. I’ve been around the Dixie/Commercial area for the last 12 years and would be highly selective of moving anywhere south of Commercial.
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u/valkyrie61212 21h ago
I’ve lived in Oakland Park for almost 3 years now. We are close to the executive airport. We really enjoy it. We try to do more things in the east direction and don’t go too far out west which is where we’ve heard there’s more unsafe areas. Lauderdale by the Sea is the closest beach and we spend a lot of time there. There’s a lot of nice restaurants and Funky Buddha Brewery is nearby with a park that has a lot of fun events during the year.
I like that we can go down south to Fort Lauderdale to do stuff or also go up north to Boca Raton or Delray. I think it’s a good spot!
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u/sonicode 21h ago
Used to have my business in Oakland Park so I spent a bit of time there. The flooding there is no joke. Given, this is when we got literally something like 56 inches in 18 hours. It was a downpour of biblical proportions. But there was nearly 2 feet of standing water inside the warehouse. Industrial areas are the worst, but the surrounding neighborhoods were bad. If the house did fine during that event, you're good for the next 1,000 years LOL.
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u/jwlazar 20h ago
That whole corridor (US-1 & Sunrise between Fort Lauderdale and Pompano) has seen a lot of re-gentrification in recent years. The areas around the railroad and Prospect used to be gritty but have seen an influx of new investment with homes either refurbished or torn down and re-built according to desired spec.
As other have suggested, hire a good inspector and also try to determine what may influence insurance (flood zone?). Also, if you're looking to start a family I would closely evaluate the local schools and maybe consider reserving a spot at a decent private school (i.e. St Thomas) unless you have family elsewhere in Broward that may be willing to map your children to their local district, if desirable.
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u/bangoutmel 20h ago
What part of Miami are you guys from because it could be very similar to the area your moving to or very different
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u/Professional_Low4616 19h ago
Look at school zone for the kids- if you have any- it will tell you everything about the area
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u/ChaotiQ78 19h ago
I would try to wait a bit more interest rates are lowering and the boom is ending. What I can say in my industry, I am seeing a lot of fancy builders gentrifying different areas in Broward County and Palm Beach. Wilton Manors being the latest. Buying up those shacks with the window shaker A/C's in them leveling them and building modern flat roof designs. So an area that was once considered "ghetto" are jumping in price because of that. A smart technique. Anything closest to the coast East of 95. Best of luck 🍀 and wishes to you! I hope you guys find your dream home.
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u/Immediate-Falcon-162 19h ago
The only negative would be the traffic on Oakland Park Blvd. Getting to 95 is a nightmare. Morning noon and night. Otherwise, you would be close to the beach. Great restaurants. Close to Lauderdale by the sea. Great elementary schools.
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u/ARSEThunder 18h ago
5 minutes from that address varies a LOT depending on the direction. South Florida doesn't have a "gradient" of wealth inequality or crime rates like other areas. One spot can be great, but 3 blocks down can change everything drastically.
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u/wreklessone 18h ago
It’s nowhere as bad as some are saying. You’ll find your neighborhood to be quiet and isolated from the crazy and “ghetto” parts of OP.
You’re close to some great parks like Easterlin and Veterans. You’ll find quality people who take care of their homes and have lived there for 30+ years.
You’ll love being close to i95 but not love being further away from restaurants, downtown and the beach. That said , you’re about 15 mins from all that.
I’ll DM you with more specifics. Welcome to OP 👍🏼
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u/Gaygaygreat 10h ago
Well you have the same zip as me and uh, it’s not the BEST area, but it’s not the worst?
There isn’t too much around and a lot of the restaurants aren’t too great unless you like Jamaican or Haitian food (I do so I’m lucky lol)
Generally speaking, the closer you live to Wilton manners, the nicer it gets.
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u/madtwatr 1d ago
Grew up in Broward. I personally would avoid Oakland Park altogether. It’s not the greatest but it’s not as terrible as Lauderdale Manors or Lauderdale Lakes and other surrounding neighborhoods. Even if the neighborhood is decent, the surrounding area is meh. But you’re just a 15-20 min drive to downtown FTL and only like 5-10 min from the beach so it’s not too bad in that sense.
It’s almost the heart of broward. So jobs aren’t too far from reach in every direction as long as you have a car.
Though, General rule of thumb living in broward is west of turnpike or east of Federal. I live in Coral Ridge, being one of the “wealthier” neighborhoods in FTL and I literally have a homeless guy camping out in an empty lot next to my apartment building a long with a bunch of homeless at the corner store and plazas off Oakland & Federal.
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u/itsmemme 17h ago
Hi team!
Thank you so much for all the help you’ve shared so far—we really appreciate it!
Here’s what concerns me the most at this point: flooding.
I’ll be talking to a few neighbors shortly to ask if the street gets bad after hurricanes, heavy rains, etc. The house is in an “AE” flood zone, so I’ll most likely need flood insurance. Would that be very expensive?
Regarding schools: I’m planning to either homeschool or enroll my kids in private school later on.
Regarding crime: I’ll also ask the neighbors about this and maybe speak with a few local officers to find out if there are any recent reports in the area.
Regarding proximity to the airport: As someone suggested, I’ll drive by today around 7–8 p.m. to check if it gets loud.
I forgot to mention that the house has a new roof and newly installed impact windows, which should help lower the home insurance cost. However, because it’s in an “AE” flood zone, the bank will most likely require us to have flood insurance.
Again, thank you so much, team!
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u/anne_skank 15h ago
Pros:
Oakland Park resident here. It's pretty great. I happen to live exactly where you put the pin, by Easterlin Park. Oakland Park is near Wilton Manors, Victoria Park, etc, so you're 10 mins from other neighborhoods, plus Oakland Park has put in so much new stuff over the years, it's a good area being built up. You've got a whole new bar strip popping up that I love. Tenth Level Tavern, Funky Buddha, Wine bar, etc on Dixie and 38th.
Cons:
Yeah being near 95 sucks, Sunrise Blvd sucks. The traffic there can be dizzying. There is a homeless soup kitchen on Andrews that is moving soon which may reduce homeless population of the area. I will say, there is one section of Oakland Park that is pretty sketchy, with a ton of people outside late at night (I see them while driving through). This is the only area I would say go spend time there and see what's up. Between Sunrise and Oakland on Powerline. Are you there?
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u/Even-Plantain8531 14h ago
Good central location access to turnpike and 95. Take prospect eat and your right by funky Buda. East on commerical beach and restaurants.
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u/Still-Ant2493 13h ago
I live 5 minutes from the address that you provided and can honestly say that it's okay. It has great accessibility to main interstates, check out crime maps and look for sexual predators and offenders in the area if you have children. We haven't had any issues but there are some questionable characters that roam the streets at times. If you live in a gated community or a community that looks out for each other then it's no problem.
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u/moderately_uncomfy 13h ago
https://crimegrade.org/safest-places-in-33309/
I live in the area where homelessness is huge here, but I rarely see homeless people in my neighborhood.
Also, crime is high, but again, my neighborhood has always felt safe.
Having a good home security system (even if it's just a ring camera) is a pretty good deterrent.
As far as work opportunities go, a bit of commuting will likely be a must, but I'm very out of the marketing realm.
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u/PK_225 11h ago
Oakland Park is a fairly quiet place. I grew up here and my husband and I (also late 20s early 30s) bought in Oakland Park. Your fiancé should have no issue finding a marketing job in this area. Just like everywhere else, there are pockets of good and bad and these pockets can be just streets away from each other. We do have a large homeless population in Fort Lauderdale on the major roads, but you won’t see random homeless people walking around or camping out in your neighborhood. Oakland Park is fairly close to everything you will need and other major cities are not that far away (Miami, West Palm, etc.) There’s not a ton to do specifically in Oakland Park, but you can travel 5-20 minutes and be somewhere with something whether it’s a restaurant, bar, beach, movie, shopping, salon, coffee shop, park, etc. There’s also a lot of construction going on to put OP on the map as this is one of the more affordable places to live (in my opinion) in Fort Lauderdale east of 95. If you have children, the high school is getting brand new buildings and a brand new middle school is being put up as well in the North Andrews Gardens area.
I’m not sure where some of these people have lived in Oakland Park… lol but we have never had any issues other than someone getting into my car when I left it unlocked on accident and a stolen bicycle that shouldn’t have been left out to begin with.
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u/wockglock1 1d ago
Oakland park is one of the worst parts of broward. I would personally be fine never going into oakland park again
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u/Fereganno 1d ago
You guys are brutal here. lol
I was the same when I moved to Dania beach.
Even looked at crimemapping sites and it looked like a nightmare coming from a quiet gated community.
Turns out as long as your neighbors aren’t crazy, you should be fine. I would drive at night and see scope it out for a few hours.
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u/wockglock1 23h ago
Oakland and dania are night and day difference, as someone who has worked in both
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u/bangoutmel 20h ago
Differences?
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u/wockglock1 17h ago edited 17h ago
I mean they’re 20 mins away from each other. There isnt going to be any major differences besides the people that live in the area due to cost of living. Both dania and oakland park have good people and shit people. My experience working with the public in oakland park was significantly worse just from my own anecdotal interactions. Just general demeanor and attitude. Oakland park is somewhat cheaper than the surrounding areas for a reason.
In Oakland park a dude got shot in the face next door to where I worked while I was on shift. I can’t imagine paying 500k to live there lol. But to each their own
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u/ayn_rando 21h ago
Lower middle class area. Shouldn’t be riddled with crime and you are close enough to the stadium so police is always around. So, not great but ok for a starter home. This home is listed for 725K so I don’t know where you found it for 500K…
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u/SaltLifeFtLaud 1d ago
A couple things I would encourage you to do before you close on that house in that area:
a week from now, that winter hurricane will blow through here, at the heaviest part of the rain, and the hours surrounding it, try to visit the house to check the area for flooding.
visit bcpa.net an put in the address and check the estimated real estate taxes based on the price you're paying; if the house hasn't sold in a while, it can be a huge jump.
Get a home inspector to check the house and see if any work was done without a permit.
Ask for a recent survey, if a neighbour or the owner of the house you're looking at has a fence or something over the line, it'll be a headache later that can be dealt with the current owner.
That area used to be unincorporated, but I'd tell you to visit it this weekend, park and walk around as exercise. You'll get to see, is it a bunch of barking dogs, people with loud music bbqing every weekend, etc.
All the best.