I’m thinking about taking a job there. I’ve been to Sarasota, Orlando, and the Cape, so I expect it’s just as hot and humid as those places, and I’m led to understand that it’s quite evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, but beyond that I’m clueless.
Are the public schools any good? What kind of people live there: rednecks, Cubans, rich people, rich redneck Cubans? What do people do for fun? Is it reasonable to go to Miami to shop, eat, etc.? What is the local government like? Have the school boards been taken over by the Pat Robertson brigade?
My mom grew up in Palm Beach, a small community(then) that was made up of mostly rich people(movie stars, senators) and their servants. I don’t know what it’s like now, but it is certainly rich in history. Wish I could tall you more.
My parents were retired there in a huge, mostly Jewish, condominium community. The town looked pretty pleasant when I visited. Miami is too far for routine shopping or eating.
I posed your question to my mother who replied that she had known rednecks, Cubans, and rich people who lived in W. Palm Beach, unfortunately she can’t answer the other questions.
There’s more than rich people there, that’s for sure. My buddy who’s a self-described redneck grew up there. I had to go there for jury duty, took a wrong turn coming from the courthouse and found myself in very bad looking neighborhood. Glad it was still light.
The downtown used to be pretty bad I hear, but it has since been revitalized. They have lots of cool stuff there now, in particular “Clematis by Night” every Thurday: http://www.clematisbynight.net.
I spent about a year total in Palm Beach working on a case, and did most of my socializing in West Palm.
It’s not particularly definable - about 15 years ago, it was a relatively small town largely populated by those who worked to keep the rich folks in Palm Beach in the lifestyle to which they were accustomed (servants, contractors, etc.) It was a rough town with some extremely poor parts.
In the past fifteen years, the place has exploded. A lot of money has poured in, as bankers, lawyers etc., realized they should be close to the rich folks in Palm Beach. There are actual skyscrapers, etc. The poor parts are definitely still there, but there is a significant middle-class and professional population now, as well. One other point - it’s extremely spread out. No idea the exact dimensions, but you can drive a long way and still be in West Palm. Overall, I liked the place.
The climate is better than Orlando, etc., because you are closer to the ocean, but the farther you get from the Intracostal Waterway, the hotter and more buggy it is. On the plus side, you know exactly what the weather will be every freaking day in the summer - high 92, low 80, thunderstorms at 4:30 P.M.
Don’t know jack about the school system, etc. If you have kids, one thing you should know about the place, it seems like every third business is a strip joint. Whether that’s a positive or a negative is up to you.
The West Palm Beach airport is a dream. Never very crowded, well laid out, easily accessible (I rarely left for the airport - about 5 miles from where I stayed - more than 1/2 hour before my flight was scheduled to depart), and with plenty of flights to major airports.
