We lived down there for a little over a year. Being originally from Clearwater/St. Petersburg, it was still a shock moving there (and we had been in Dallas/Ft. Worth for 4 years prior). My husband worked at MIA, but we decided to rent a home up in Western Pembroke Pines, just south of Southwest Ranches/Weston. There's a LOT of stuff there...everything you need is nearby (unlike where I live in rural SC now!!). I had a 2.5 y.o. and a newborn at the time and that was super helpful.
We struggled a lot with the people and lack of community. We never found a church that we really connected with, but there are a lot of options and it probably depends on your background and how far you will drive. I think that if you can put more of an effort into finding mom's groups, playgroups and the like you will be fine. I wasn't able to get out with my newborn and postpartum complications, so it was very isolated for us. I did take my daughter to a MyGym before I had the baby and that was a nice time out...but I realized that I would have had to be more forward if I wanted to actually spend time with those moms outside of the class. Coming from Texas where everyone is super friendly, it was just an all around shock and difficult transition. Plus, we knew that we were only going to be there for a year or two (based on the nature of my husband's job) so that made it harder for me to put myself out there.
I loved the preschool I found for my daughter in Weston (A Children's Carousel), loved our pediatrician's office (West Broward Pediatrics) and the fact that you have access to many world class doctors in the miami/ft. lauderdale area. My OB for my 2nd was amazing!! Growing up in Florida schools (on the central gulf coast) I didn't have a negative experience with my education, but now as a parent, I would be hesitant about public schools in South Florida. They do have a charter school system as well, which would probably be something to check out right away if you weren't going to do private school. (But seriously, for your 3 year old, I'd check out A Children's Carousel!)
The beaches were okay, but we are used to gulf coast beaches with different sand, water, etc. There were also some pools and several parks in the area to take your kids to.
I'm not specifically familiar with Parkland, but Weston was always kind of an odd bird for us. It's a tad pretentious. People who live there make a lot of it, so that made it kind of interesting. Every time my mom visited, she would be so amazed at the way people drove and treated you in the grocery stores (running her down with their carts). Everyone is in a rush. Everyone thinks they should be first. And the closer you get to MIami, the worse it gets. That being said, many places do have good service (spas, shops, restaurants). (And now being in the land of "take your sweet ol' time South Carolina", sometimes I miss the urgency. :-))
I would definitely rent first and if you can check out the area for a weekend, that would help. When we first moved there, we lived in central Miami in a hotel for a month. I was able to explore a little on my own one day and came upon that general area (though a little further south in Miramar). I had found one of my favorite Florida restaurants, Tijuana Flats, and it seemed that it was a sign. :-)
I can understand your hesitation based on the internet research...those boards do kind of tear it up. But it's not all bad. Honestly. They even just opened a new Whole Foods in Pembroke Pines right off of I-75! (I used to drive to the one in Plantation or Coral Springs.) Oh, and one other thing about the housing that drove me nuts is that everyone has tile!! Ugh. I hate it. But it's such a big thing down there. I always worried about my kids...they ended up being fine, but I lost a lot of dishes in that kitchen. :-)
