"They Paved Paradise, Put Up A Parking Lot" Weston by goingsolo

I must admit that I live in Weston. I list my address as Fort Lauderdale because few people have heard of this area, but, truth be told, my new home is in the suburbs of West Broward. Not that there's anything wrong with living in the suburbs. Its quite nice, actually. But, like the page title suggests, Weston came into being by paving over what may not have been considered paradise but what was once a protected area. The Everglades are not one of the most scenic areas in the United States. But they are protected because of the unique ecosystems that live there and no where else. So when a group of developers got the idea to begin destruction of an International Biosphere Reserve in order to create a series of communities with identical looking homes and artificially constructed prettiness, controversy ensued. Fortunately, they were stopped before the suburban sprawl took out already endangered species. Compromises were reached, Weston grew and then was halted. And, somewhat hypocritically, I now live here.

Weston is suburbia and not a tourist destination. I don't plan to build a huge page about a community whose purpose is living and not visiting, nor will I continue my rant about the 'glades (I'll try not to anyway.) I really can't hype this place because I've reached a compromise of my own in my opinion of it.

But, should you find yourself in this area, there are some things to do which may be of interest. I can assure you that you won't run out of choices for meals here either, as we have quite a large collection. There are several parks of passing interest as well, the famous Sawgrass Mills Mall is not too far away and the larger cities of Fort Lauderdale and Miami are not a bad distance from Weston either.

Its a nice, quiet place to live if you can get past the artificiality of it. I'm quite amazed that people describe a setting such as this as beautiful though, and can't help but wonder whether anyone who finds scenic beauty here has ever seen the sun rise over the Grand Canyon walls, the waves crash against the Pacitic Coast shoreline or the Rocky Mountains, even from an airplane.

• Pros:Pleasant suburban community
• Cons:A bit isolated and quiet, more for families than anyone else.
• In a nutshell:A good place to live, for now.