Lauderdale Lakes

“Life in full color” is the Lauderdale Lakes’s motto, and in pockets like Oakland Estates, it couldn’t be more apparent why. “It’s a very multicultural area,” says Andre Barrett, a local Realtor with EXP Realty. “But you really see a lot of Caribbean culture there. Jamaican, Trinidadian, Haitian… all that brings lots of delicious cuisines, like curry chicken, curry goat, beef patties and braised oxtail, which, if you’re not eating braised oxtail… What are you doing?” Ackee, mango and avocado trees bring the area even closer to the Caribbean, as does its tropical landscape. Oakland Estates is full of waterways and riverside properties, thanks to its location on the Middle River. This suburb is located in Lauderdale Lakes, a small city about 8 miles from downtown Fort Lauderdale and less than 5 miles west of Interstate 95. Oakland Estates is solely a residential community, but shopping and dining are moments away along U.S. Route 441. This main north-south thoroughfare is studded by strip plazas with locally owned eateries and stores. Caribbean Best Market and Oriental Food Market are both less than a mile from the neighborhood and have ingredients that are not sold at Publix farther up the road. Singh’s Roti Delight offers “a taste of Trinidad and Tobago.” This local favorite is popular for its reasonably priced roti meals. Protein options range from curry and stew chicken to conch and kingfish. Next door, Silver Pond is another popular haunt featuring authentic Cantonese dishes and lazy Susan tables. Oakland Estates comprises two main sub-communities. Along the north side is an ungated 55-plus community of Minimal Traditional single-family ranch-style homes built in the 1960s and 1970s. The rest of the neighborhood is architecturally similar. It’s also home to stucco-sided midcentury ranches on small but verdant lots. However, these properties are completely HOA-free and, therefore, not age-restricted. List prices range from $269,000 to $463,000. “There’s a more suburban feel on this side of Lauderdale Lakes compared to the east side,” says Lucile Massenat, a local Realtor with La Rosa Realty Beaches. “It’s also a bit more expensive. However, compared to how prices have soared everywhere, this is a more affordable neighborhood in the Fort Lauderdale area.” Broward County Public Schools serves Lauderdale Lakes. Students living in Oakland Estates can begin and finish their K-12 careers less than 5 miles from home, starting at Park Lakes Elementary, rated C-plus on Niche. From there, they’ll attend Lauderdale Lakes Middle, rated C, before graduating from Boyd H. Anderson High, rated C-minus. The high school was the first in Florida to instate the Health and Wellness Magnet program, in which students interested in medical and health fields can get a leg up on their future careers and higher education. Students in this program can even take certification courses, including the Emergency Medical Responder course. While Oakland Estates does not have parks, Mainlands Park is a quiet green space nearby. It features scenic walkways, outdoor exercise stations and a fishing dock on the canal. Vincent Torres Memorial Park is close by, too. It’s a much more recreational spot, with facilities for tennis, pickleball, basketball, baseball and soccer, as well as a shaded playground for kids. This park is also the site of Broward County’s oldest multicultural festival, Unifest. This staple, late-May event just celebrated its 30th year with the theme “culture meets cricket,” which added a cricket clinic and live broadcast of a West Indies cricket game to the event’s usual list of festivities. The usual festivities include dominoes, local marching band competitions, live shows, food trucks and an expo for local businesses. The nearest ramp onto Florida’s Turnpike is about 4 miles from the heart of the neighborhood. Convenient for carless commutes, Broward County Transit bus stops are right on U.S. Route 441. As for farther trips, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is 13 miles away.