Tag: Ft. Lauderdale

Beverly Heights/Colee Hamock- Ft. Lauderdale’s best urban neighborhoods

Beverly Heights and Colee Hamock are small inner city neighborhoods just east of Ft. Lauderdale. Both  were built up between the 1920s- 1940s and share the Las Olas Blvd, a good urban biz district with lots of shoppings, restaurants and bars. Colee has a good array of cute historic homes and Beverly Heights is mostly newly homes that have been built pretty well into the existing urban form of the neighborhood.

Both neighborhoods have decent walkability, great cultural and retail amenities, convenient access to Dwtn, and pretty good vibrancy. But lots of urban holes remain here including so-so public transit access, low density, frequent missing sidewalks and ADA curb cuts, limited bike infrastructure, limited diversity, few parks, no schools, and expensive housing. There is certainly the potential here for a great urban district, but those important aspects to urban life would need to be improved.

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URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Great access to dwtn with decent public transit access. But for an inner ring suburb public transit is pretty limited.
* Good Tree canopy.
* Good cultural amenities including many restaurants, bars & cafes, several art galleries. Also convenient access to the Dwtn cultural amenities.
* Good retail amenities This includes a drug store, lots of clothing and boutique stores, some jewelry and home good stores, a post office, a couple of gyms, plenty of dessert shops, and also a hospital. A supermarket is nearby in Dwtn.
* Generally good architecture esp. modern. Modern infill is plentiful and generally with good urban form and of good quality. What exists of historic architecture is good but not a ton of it.
* Thanks to the many shops along Las Olas, there is decent vibrancy.
* Strong business district along Las Olas Blvd and a western border along Dwtn provides strong neighborhood imageability.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Density is pretty low for an inner city neighborhood.
* ADA and sidewalk infrastructure is decent but not great. Some streets without sidewalks and about 50% of intersection have modern ADA infrastructure.
* Dedicated bike infrastructure is limited to 1 dedicated bike station and a small dedicate bike lane along Las Olas.
* Racial diversity is ok. Limited economic and generational diversity. Lots of younger, childless households.
* Only two parks here. One small and the other medium sized.
* Walkable schools include a pair of quality elementary schools but not much else nearby.
* Rental hsg is pretty expensive. 1-bed generally lease in the 2 & 3 Ks but some in the mid 1Ks. 2-beds lease anywhere btwn 2K-4K, 3-beds lease in the 4Ks & 5Ks.
* For sale hsg is also pretty expensive but some modest priced condos. 1-beds sell btwn 150K-300K, 2-bed condos and homes sell btwn 400K-800K, 3-beds SF btwn 800K-1.5 M. 4-beds sell for a bit more.
* There doesn’t appear to be much affordable housing here.
* Missing retail includes banks, a public library.
* No schools within the neighborhood. A couple quasi-walkable schools in the area but of mixed ratings.

Sailboat Bend- an decent urban district just west of Downtown Ft. Lauderdale

Sailboat bend is a decent urban district just west of Downtown. Much of the pre-WWII housing is still in place here including some of the City’s oldest housing along Nugent Street. The eastern edge of Sailboat Bend feels more Downtown in character and hosts a food and beverage night life district along 2nd Street and several museums and performing arts theaters nearby. 2nd Avenue, however, has very limited non-food and beverage retail. The other business district along Broward Blvd is very auto centric. Most of the residential streets further west are line with heavy tree canopy and a mix of comfortable single family homes and small apartments and townhouses. Many residential streets, however, lack sidewalks and ADA compliant curbs. But due to its location next to Dwtn there is good public transit here and decent walkability in Sailboat Bend.

Click here to view my Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Great access to Dwtn with good public transit access.
* Decent bike access with one dedicated bike station and a dedicate bike lane on Broward St.
* Excellent economic diversity and decent racial diversity. Generational diversity somewhat lacking.
* Very safe community.
* Pretty good diverse for sale price points. Decent # of 1-bed condos selling btwn 200K-400K, 2-beds sell btwn 275K-700K, 3 & 4 beds sell btwn 350K-900K.
* Cultural amenities include many restaurants and bars, several cafes, several museums, a major performing arts center, a couple live music theaters, and several historic houses. Most cultural amenities are concentrated on the eastern edge near dwtn. The neighborhood also has convenient access to Dwtn amenities.
* Decent architecture. Some good historic homes throughout and quality urban in-fill along the eastern edge. Broward Blvd is a very auto centric biz district.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Many residents streets are without sidewalks. Those with sidewalks generally have ADA infrastructure.
* Park space is a bit limited. Esplanade Park is a nice waterfront park connected to a bike lane. A couple other pocket parked in the neighborhood.
* Rentals are pretty limited and expensive. 1-beds lease anywhere from the upper 1Ks to the 2Ks, 2-beds 2K-3Ks, 3-beds are even more expensive but also very limited.
* Non-food and beverage retail amenities are pretty limited in Sailboat. There is a drug store, a couple boutiques and pretty good access to dwtn amenities like a post office, public library, banks, and other shops. But that’s really only convenient to residents living in the eastern edge of Sailboat Bend.