Opa-locka, FL

With its famous neighbors being Miami, Hialeah, and Miami Beach, Opa-Locka may not be the first place you consider for your Miami area apartment, but this small city provides everything you'd want in a South Florida location and then some: access to the beach, a tropical setting with plenty of palm trees and beautiful parks, and those warm ocean breezes. Opa-Locka is roughly 12 miles northwest of downtown Miami and about six miles west of the Atlantic Coast beaches.

Of course, life in Opa-Locka isn't all sandy toes and surfboards -- this city is directly north of Miami-Dade College-North Campus, adjacent to Miami Opa-Locka Executive Airport, and home of Amelia Earhart Park. You may notice a variety of decorative spirals and domes on many of the buildings in Opa-Locka -- that's because the city's founder, Glenn Curtiss, decided he wanted a theme for his city, and he chose a Moorish theme. The streets feature names like Sultan Avenue and Ali Baba Avenue, and the Moorish architecture is the largest collection of its kind in the Western hemisphere. Many of these buildings, which date back to 1926, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.