I’m moving to from New York to Fort Lauderdale for school in January. I’ve been to South Florida many times, but I haven’t spent much time in this area, so I’m reaching out to my Dopers to enlighten me. Tell me anything and everything about Fort Lauderdale. More specifically, I’m interested in:
-culture
-the people
-restaurants
-nightlife
-public transportation (buses and the tri-rail)
-recreation
and anything else you want to tell me.
I lived there for a few years in the early 90’s. Loved it and hated it. Feel free to e-mail me if you have specific questions. Keep in mind, back then I was fresh out of college, a struggling young and inexperienced editor, and had no money to speak of. What I did for fun was go to clubs and see bands like Adam Ant for $5. Or whatever I could find that was free or cheap.
Culture - Very diverse and interesting. Plenty of Cubans and Hispanics around, more of other cultures than you’d be aware of just from visiting or watching the news. If you like Cuban, Spanish, Creole or Caribbean food, this is a great place to live.
Do not watch Channel 7 (Fox) news every evening unless you want to be afraid to leave your house. We called it, “Doom and Gloom” news – they don’t cover it unless it’s gory, appalling or shocking in some way. We used to like to scare visiting tourists by making them watch the news, then taking them to see the sights in Miami.
There’s lots to do, including the beach, theatre, fine arts, galleries, shopping, fine dining, not-so-fine dining. It’s all there and at all levels of quality and price ranges.
People – In general, not much different from anywhere else in S. Florida. Not always openly friendly. I found it tough to make new friends. Most of mine came from my co-worker pool and they were friends with whom I had very specific interests in common. Remember that a lot of people move to Florida to get away from something some place else. Try not to ask lots of prying questions when you first meet people. Or watch America’s Most Wanted and note how many fugitives go hide out in South Florida. Then be very, very careful. There are lots of really great people there; just as there’s lots of really sketchy dangerous people there too. Use good judgment and don’t let the New Yorker in you let down your guard. There’s tons of New Yorkers, so you should fit right in. You’ll meet all kinds of people who are from someplace near where you’re from.
Restaurants – There’s a ton of 'em and most of the ones I went to no longer exist, so I can’t really make any recommendations. There’s a restaurant for every imaginable dining preference and if you love seafood, you’ll have a great time. I take that back: I love diners and have two recommendations, and I think both places are still in business. Lester’s Diner – on S.R. 84 – outstanding diner food, also offers some good Greek food. And The Floridian – on Las Olas Blvd, near 15th Avenue – more classic diner food. Clientele is pretty diverse. Lots of gay people, artsy-fartsy types and businessmen/women, and really really rich people who have nothing better to do than travel around to different places.
Nightlife – I went to clubs that are no longer in existence now. Especially now that Grunge died, right about the time I left Ft. Liquordale. There are a lot of 'em and it’s not difficult to find whatever it is you like to do. There’s always Miami, which is a mere 30-minute drive (not during rush hour), and the possibilities there are endless.
Public Transportation – I wouldn’t recommend trying to rely on public transpo. in that town. I know they have a bus system, but I have no recollection of ever seeing a bus – and I lived right downtown, near Federal Hwy. & Broward Blvd. (I lived about two blocks off Las Olas.) The Tri-Rail really just runs North to South and connects West Palm with Miami. In Miami, you can transfer to the Metrorail and get around downtown Miami fairly well. But FTL is a driving town. If you want to go east or west of I-95, the Tri Rail will not help you. I found it the best way to go to Miami – no traffic headaches, easy to use, inexpensive, clean, & safe. Relatively.
Recreation – I was a beach bum and since I lived downtown, my weekends were spent on doing free stuff: I rode my bike about a mile to the beach and had the best tan you’ve ever seen. They have an air show once a year at the beach, in May I think, which is pretty cool. Lots of suburbs out west but it all looks like one giant strip mall to me. They’ve re-done the beach so it’s this glitzy Coco-Walk kind of place, with expensive boutiques and overpriced tourist bars and restaurants. There’s also a park downtown by the river (New River) which has a little riverwalk. Kind of nice to stroll along and look at the rich people’s boats. No tellin’ what development has taken place in that area since I left, but I understand it’s totally different.
I found FTL overall, a nice place to live. Plenty of resources, jobs not hard to find at the time, very near other large cities. In fact, if you aren’t paying attention, you’ll find yourself in Deerfield Beach or Hollywood and not even notice you’ve changed municipalities. It all looks exactly the same. It’s also fairly easy to navigate as the streets are well planned and in a logical grid-like pattern. Once you figure out the main axes, you can take any address and find the place without directions. I also thought the cost of living was outrageous and my sticker shock has since worn off: that’s the cost of living in a major metropolitan area. I live in N. Florida now because it’s less crowded, less expensive, less traffic and much more green here.
Oh, and it’s only a few short hours’ drive to Key West, about 20 minutes to the Everglades – lots of things to do within a couple hours drive.
YMMV. What school, btw?
Evidently, I’m the only one who cares to tell you about Ft. Lauderdale.
I thought of the one thing I really, really miss from there. WKPX. It’s a bitty radio station that broadcasts out of Sunrise High School. Yes, it’s a high school radio station. And one of the best radio stations in the country, (not on satellite) if you’re at all into alternative music. There are no commercials, since it’s a not for profit, but the kids – who do all their own DJing – write and produce PSAs, some of which are hilarious. The DJs in general are terrible – that’s the only place I heard the word “indicted” pronounced, “In-DICK-ted”. Too funny. But the programming was excellent, at least up until 1995 or 96. Sunday morning is blues until 1, then a really great show called The Uncommon Groove, where I learned about all kinds of really great new bands.
Good stuff. I had to get satellite radio to find anything comparable.
WKPX is still pretty good, but I think the SDMB hamsters moonlight there powering the transmitter. I don’t think “The Uncommon Groove” still exists, though, or I happened to haven’t been listening at that time for a very long time.
I lived in Ft. Lauderdale for a little over a year back in 2000. I don’t think I took advantage of that nearly as much as I should have. The area really does have a lot to offer, much of which I’m sure I never discovered (case in point: I thought the Tri-Rail existed solely to make me stop at railroad crossings). Some things I remember:
Dogzilla reminded me of the riverwalk. It really is very cool.
The aforementioned Air & Sea Show was the coolest airshow I’ve ever been to. Despite the crowds it’s well worth the trip to the beach that weekend.
Speaking of beaches, the beaches themselves are pretty damn good.
If you like diner food, the Starlite Diner is worth the trip. I believe it’s on the northwest corner of Cypress Creek Rd. and Andrews.
The Everglades airboat tours are a little touristy, sure, but you do get to see some cool stuff.
If you like wildlife, check out Flamingo Gardens.
If you’re looking for a good bar, I highly recommend Howl at the Moon in downtown Lauderdale.
Now for some bad news: the stretch of I-95 between West Palm Beach and Miami is one of the most dangerous stretches of highway in the country. Ignore this at your own risk and for chrissake, be careful if you have to drive on it. Also, I had a bit of “traffic shock” when I first moved there. There’s just so much traffic all the time, the roads are very wide, and people drive like freakin’ maniacs. It took me about 3 days to get used to it, but people who have driving phobias and the like might never adapt.
I really miss Ft. Lauderdale, and southeast Florida in general. I live in west central Florida now (Hernando county) and it’s very different. It’s a hell of a lot cheaper to live here, but I still miss southeast Florida.
I remember good bagel shops in the Ft. Lauderdale area. You can put them to the test 