Sandalfoot – Page 5 – West Boca News

Reader Photos (and our own)

Readers send us photos and from time to time we publish them. But first, we took a few shots of a gorgeous sky tonight over the Sandalfoot Square parking lot (after dinner at Thick and Thin).
Click on any photo to see a larger version.
Update: New reader photos added. Three here, with the first from Island Lakes, and several more at the bottom.

Sunrise from Boca Winds:

Rainbow shots from a reader in Boca Falls:

Here’s one from a friend of West Boca News, Art Graham:

And here are a couple of reader shots from earlier in the week:

West Boca Crime Map

Thanks to CrimeMapping.com, readers can get a sense of where crimes occur in West Boca. The map above gives a big picture and we’ve got close-ups below. These images cover August and September.
It’s important to note that arrests by Boca PD are not included in these maps. They only show arrests by the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office (PBSO), which covers most of West Boca. But the Woodfield and Broken Sound country clubs are inside the city limits so no arrests would show there if there were any.
The biggest concentration of arrests is in the southern half of West Boca:

The red oval in the image above shows a concentration of arrests in the Sandalfoot area, mostly west of 441 but also on the east side. There’s also another group, in the purple oval, east of the Turnpike on both sides of Glades Road
Then there’s the northern half, with the city areas grayed out:

We noticed two more focal areas in this map. The blue oval shows a number of crimes along 441, and the red oval shows a bunch along Glades Road between 441 and the Turnpike. A lot of these are in stores and shopping plazas, or traffic arrests on the main roads. The incidents are not as dense as the ones in the southern area, but they’re still noticeable.
Despite the reputation for high crime in Sandalfoot, it’s not as bad as it looks. Other places are much worse. Here’s an example in the northwestern corner of the county, with large crime numbers in Belle Glade and South Bay despite small populations:

We’ve reported in the past that crime rates in West Boca are actually lower than East Boca, and both are much lower than the county average. Those articles are:
How Bad is Crime in West Boca?
Boca Crime Rates – 9 Zip Codes
And the third part in that series – Crime rates in Palm Beach County by zip code.
The good news is that if you live outside of the ovals, the crime rate is very low. And they’re really not that bad even inside the ovals.

Watergate Burglar: A Repeat Offender from West Sandalfoot

The west end of Sandalfoot Boulevard is home to many arrestees and we have another one from Thursday. Alicia Anderson, 24, whose reported address is in the Watergate Estates trailers, was charged with burglary, larceny, fraud and dealing in stolen property.
This is not Ms. Anderson’s first experience with our court system. County records show a few traffic tickets, a misdemeanor, and two previous felony cases. In 2009 she faced felony drug charges which were dropped by prosecutors. In 2010 a minor marijuana offense was also dropped. However an incident in 2012 led to a case that made the Sun-Sentinel, calling her a “vacuum thief.”
If we read the record correctly, she pled guilty to multiple counts including felony grand theft and was sentenced to 2 years probation. That didn’t go well, her probation was revoked in January of this year and she served a few months in county jail.
If that’s not enough, there’s this classy photo of her:

3 New Gyms in West Boca and Parkland

There are three new gyms opening off 441 in and near West Boca. Yesterday we popped in to see the new Crossfit West Boca, in Boca Greens Plaza. It’s toward the north end of the plaza near Bruce’s of Great Neck.
Crossfit seems to inspire a following, as can be seen in this interview with Jordan Nicolosi.

Crossfit seems to be the high end of the spectrum of private gyms, with unlimited coached group training included and a cost of $150 per month or more. Nicolosi told us they’re offering a pre-registration special right now at only $59 for the first month and $125/month after that. They’ve had their soft opening already with a grand opening planned on October 4th. Hours are 5:30 – 10:30 am and 4:30 – 8:30 pm weekdays with more limited hours on weekends. Classes are an hour long.
The interior is definitely a different look from other gyms we’ve seen:

They also have a kids room in the back where members can leave their kids during workouts.
On the less expensive side Youfit West Boca will be opening any day now in Sandalfoot Square (near Western Beef). The “standard” membership is $10/month. A “lime” membership at $19.99/month includes some additional privileges like half-price beverages and access to other Youfit locations. They’re offering a $1 signup for those joining before the opening.

Competing on the same rough price level as Youfit is Crunch Parkland, which will be opening on the west side of 441 a little north of Hillsborough in the Riverstone Shoppes plaza. Their base membership is $9.95/month with a $30 fee to enroll, and their pre-opening deal is 25% off that enrollment fee. For $19.95/month there’s no enrollment fee and you get more privileges. There may also be an additional $40 annual fee but that wasn’t clear from the website. West Boca Chamber members are eligible for discounts as well.
Update on that from Crunch Parkland:

I just saw the post regarding the new gyms in the area and wanted to send you some corrections on the information you reported for our facility. Our enrollment fee is normally $40 on either membership. It is currently 25% off (which brings it to $30) for the $9.95/month Base membership. We are currently waiving the enrollment fee for the $19.95/month Peak membership which includes group classes, it allows you to bring a guest for free during every visit, ability to use all of our franchise locations nationwide, free hydromassage, and free tanning. Like Youfit and other low cost gyms, our memberships carry an annual club maintenance fee of $39.99. For your convenience, I also attached a picture of the facility.

Iguana Poachers at Sandalfoot?

If you think the Sandalfoot area hasn’t gotten enough negative publicity, here’s another one for you. A reader reports that some “thugs” were poaching Iguana’s near the Sandalfoot Publix.

I just wanted to report that I just saw iguana poachers by the Sandalfoot Plaza. The guy claimed to work for the city but considering the car they were driving they looked more like thugs. Not sure if this is legal or not but I thought it was cruel. I hop hope the police can do something about this.

This really doesn’t look like a city car, and the area in question is not inside any city.

If anyone has more information or comments, we’d love to hear from you.
And of course, we wonder about the age-old question – do they taste just like chicken?