Twenty-two years ago my family and I moved from Mexico to Florida.

For the first year we rented at Tower 41 in Miami Beach.

When looking to buy, we wanted three things:

Only a condo. Because for the first several years I was traveling each week, safety and security were a priority. Additionally, because I wasn’t around, I needed something that didn’t require my being there to oversee workers when repairs were required.

As close as possible to a shul.

A Jewish community that was vibrant and active 24/7/365.

When I saw my condo in Surfside at 95th & Collins, I wrote a contract for purchase on the spot!

Here’s why: lifestyle. Within a two-block radius there are five shuls, nine of the best kosher restaurants (soon to be 11), a kosher grocery store, kosher bakery, Starbucks, Publix grocery store, post office, the Shops of Bal Harbour and a $5 million water park, free to Surfside residents.

One can live in a condo or house. On the ocean, dry lot or on the bay with dockage. Prices range from $100,000 to $27 million. Imagine!

The two most prominent shuls in Surfside are the Shul of Bal Harbour, which is under construction to double in size to include additional children’s classrooms for its school and a catering hall for 700 people and the Young Israel of Bal Harbour. Both shuls offer catered meals for the first two days of Sukkot. This year the Young Israel even arranged to even have air conditioning in their sukkah!

Every building between 94th Street and 96th Street has a Shabbos elevator, except one.

Founded in 1935, Surfside has the largest public park, tennis courts and community center in the area.

One of the most distinctive Surfside features was almost its downfall. Surfside has a 12-story height restriction on ocean-front condominium buildings. While the city’s intention was to maintain a small-town-community feeling, as the city grew, the city public service needs grew exponentially. But because of the height restriction, developers shied away from building in Surfside. As a result, the real estate tax base couldn’t keep up with community need for public improvements. What saved Surfside were the new hotels: The Grand Beach, The Marriot and the Four Seasons Hotel & Luxury Residences.

While there are four new condominium projects south of 90th Street, there are only two new buildings north of 94th. The good news is most of the older buildings have been upgraded and contemporized.

In short, the thing I most like about Surfside is the lifestyle. One doesn’t need a car. Everything one needs is just footsteps from one’s home!

What a life!

Come join me. You deserve it!

By Leon Weinschneider 

Leon Weinschneider is a licensed real estate broker with OptiMar International Realty in South Florida.