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I've been lurking around this forum for a while. Since I've lived in the same place all of my life I've never really had cause to join, but now it appears that I'll be moving this summer and I'm eager to learn as much as I can before my move. Sorry if this is the wrong subforum or if something similar has already been discussed.
I'm from Boulder, Colorado and have lived here all of my life. I'm graduating high school in a few weeks and will be going to the University of Miami next fall. I'm very excited, but at the same time, I'm a little apprehensive because I've never spent any significant time outside of Boulder.
I'd be really appreciative if anyone could tell me about how Miami (Coral Gables) compares to Metro Denver (or Boulder, specifically) just generally and in these areas:
-Overall Feel of Area
How does the "feel" of South Florida/ Miami compare to that of the Front Range/Boulder?
-People
What are the people like? Not just in terms of race/ethnicity but what sort of attitude do they have. Are they friendly, reserved, rude,etc.?
-Crime
I've heard Coral Gables is very nice/safe, but are there any precautions I should take while out and about or specific areas to avoid?
-Politics
Boulder is generally extremely liberal. I'm used to that but consider myself to be a little more conservative than the average Boulderite. What is the political situation like in South Florida?
I've been lurking around this forum for a while. Since I've lived in the same place all of my life I've never really had cause to join, but now it appears that I'll be moving this summer and I'm eager to learn as much as I can before my move. Sorry if this is the wrong subforum or if something similar has already been discussed.
I'm from Boulder, Colorado and have lived here all of my life. I'm graduating high school in a few weeks and will be going to the University of Miami next fall. I'm very excited, but at the same time, I'm a little apprehensive because I've never spent any significant time outside of Boulder.
I'd be really appreciative if anyone could tell me about how Miami (Coral Gables) compares to Metro Denver (or Boulder, specifically) just generally and in these areas:
-Overall Feel of Area
How does the "feel" of South Florida/ Miami compare to that of the Front Range/Boulder?
-People
What are the people like? Not just in terms of race/ethnicity but what sort of attitude do they have. Are they friendly, reserved, rude,etc.?
-Crime
I've heard Coral Gables is very nice/safe, but are there any precautions I should take while out and about or specific areas to avoid?
-Politics
Boulder is generally extremely liberal. I'm used to that but consider myself to be a little more conservative than the average Boulderite. What is the political situation like in South Florida?
Thanks!
Overall Feel of Area: Can't compare - never been to Boulder
People: Very very open and friendly. I mean that. People will say they're rude and materialistic and all this other crap - they're not. The tourists on South Beach are but outside of there Miami is just really really laid back and open.
Crime: Can get a little bad on South Beach with just car break-ins and then a few parts of downtown namely Overtown and Liberty City, also some areas just outside of Coconut Grove. I've never even been to Liberty City and you won't really have a reason to. The others I've been to plenty of time at day and night and never had any issues.
Politics: Its a very different feel from what I know of Boulder. It's very open and liberal about certain things but also very reserved about other things. It also is not at all hybrid driving, organic food eating, yoga going type of people. They exist there but its not a common personality type. End of the day religiously speaking its very Catholic and Jewish compared to most other places in this country especially in terms of percentage of population.
-Overall Feel of Area
How does the "feel" of South Florida/ Miami compare to that of the Front Range/Boulder?
About as different as it could be. Everything from architecture to weather to landscape is completely changed from one place to the other. In CO you might see the occasional blizzard. In Miami, every single summer and fall you are looking down the barrel of a gun w/ hurricanes. In Boulder, you will see four clearly-defined seasons all year. In Miami, you get 'hot' and 'not quite as hot.'
Quote:
-People
What are the people like? Not just in terms of race/ethnicity but what sort of attitude do they have. Are they friendly, reserved, rude,etc.?
They are far less reserved than they are in Boulder. You're essentially making the transition between a rather down-to-earth location in which people generally aspire to basic things like home ownership and getting their kids into school to one of the most South Americanized urban areas in the nation -- IE, slums, lots of people with no ambition other than getting famous or laying prone on the beach all day, rampant drug use, a large community of minorities that are disinterested in integrating... yeah... it's just not the same. It's not even close.
Quote:
-Politics
Boulder is generally extremely liberal. I'm used to that but consider myself to be a little more conservative than the average Boulderite. What is the political situation like in South Florida?
Thanks!
Any major city is going to be more liberal than the surrounding areas. Florida is just about split 50/50 down the political landscape (leaning slightly conservative), but Miami is, naturally not that balanced. Also, let's not just toss two forms of liberalism in Boulder and Miami together like they mesh up really sweetly. Boulder is, like San Fran and Boston, the 'idealistic' side of liberalism -- IE, people with a 'vision' for what America should look like, but who aren't necessarily taking advantage of the social programs they're advocating. Miami, on the other hand, is all about reaping what the folks in Boulder sew, meaning lots of people on welfare, foodstamps, handouts, etc. This isn't really exclusive to Miami, but it may be a shock for you to see so manying people practicing what you preach.
Well I certainly didn't mean to offend anyone I just assumed that most people wouldn't be familiar with Boulder and since Denver is the closest "Big" City and the one I know best, I would also find comparisons between Denver and Miami to be valuable.
I lived in Miami for one year and absolutely hated it. I wanted to move after 2-3 weeks of being there (no joke).
I think you will have an advantage going to U of M. I've heard numerous times that going to college there is like being in a bubble and that you don't get the real "Miami experience" being on campus.
Politically? I doubt it even matters. Most people openly proclaim that they hate to read (I'm not kidding -- I heard that absurd statement from at least 10 people) and most people probably don't know the name of the state's governor or even the vice president for Pete's sake.
I would advise you to focus on your education, and actively plan where you want to live after you've obtained your degree. I'm sure life on campus will be 180 degrees different from what you can expect if you decide to stay and pursue a career (if that's even possible) there. I think the chances of you picking Miami are very slim once you graduate.......unless your life long dream is to work for a cruise line or Bacardi Rum. For a place that the locals consider to be the center of the universe there is a surprising (or maybe not surprising) lack of a corporate presence there. A little time spent there will quickly make you realize that being in business for yourself there is also a losing proposition........to put it mildly.
I don't want to scare you too much. Going to U of M will not be anywhere near as bad as being in the "working world" there and living on your own. You will do just fine and you have 4 years to decide where you'll go next
Last edited by tampamike10; 05-12-2012 at 02:19 PM..
I just re-read your initial post again and had to comment on one other thing.
People.
Lucky for you..........you will be on campus and probably meet and interact with many people who aren't from Miami. This will not be the case when you venture off campus.
Miami people are the rudest people in the United States. I haven't been to every major metro area, but I've been to enough to make this claim. People say people from NYC are rude? Yeah right.........not compared to people in Miami.
Let me quote one of the friends I made down there who is from New York:
"People say people in New York are rude.........but that's not really the case. We are constantly on the go. We constantly have things to get done. We're just too busy to talk to people we don't know. In Miami.........people enjoy being rude and take their time to do it."
Whenever I quoted this person to people from NY and the NE in general, they said it was gospel. "Couldn't be more true" was often the response I got. I knew it to be true just from my visits to NYC.
Again.......feel fortunate you will be on campus. It won't be anywhere near as bad there I promise. Despite all the terrible flaws of the region, from what I know of it that is one heck of a good school.
Last edited by tampamike10; 05-12-2012 at 02:21 PM..
I will tell you to take everything you read here with a grain of salt. Especially posting here on the city v. city forum. Miami gets a lot of hate from all over from people from outside the area and from people that live here. Naturally people go online to complain more much more than people go online to say its a great place etc.. that is just natural.
Anyway I decided to leave Miami for college which I was very happy I did and got to live in D.C. and Barcelona Spain and enjoyed my time away from Miami. I am back for grad school and I really do enjoy this city and what it has to offer. Is it perfect? NO of course not, no city is perfect and every local or every city will find something to complain about.
You are coming here for college, so you will enjoy Miami. Coral Gables is a very nice suburb and very safe. You should not need to worry about crime near the university much. Just use every day common sense just like you would anywhere else and you will be fine. I think Freshman are not allowed to have cars at UM so you will likely use the metrorail a bit which is decent for UM Students. Miami does not have very good public transit but coming from Denver that is nothing crazy.
There are plenty of people from Miami that go to UM, it is always a good thing to friend someone from Miami. They might have a car and they will know the city well. For a college student from Denver I am not sure if there is a better place to spend four years. Does going to the Beach in December sound like fun? Because you can do that here.
Overall Feel of Area Completely different. Nothing will compare, NOTHING. Miami is a tropical, international gateway city. You will hear different languages every day whether you are on campus or in the city. Its a melting pot of different people and it feels like an international city. The climate is completely different. It will be hot and humid and rain a lot some months. Then it will be warm/cool and nice and dry for others. No changing of the seasons, no leaves changing colors.
-People
You are going to be going to college so you really wont need to worry about this. In my experiences I have had met people from everything but who cares what strangers are my friends are good people that is all that matters really. Overall are people in Miami the nicest in the world? No they are not but are they the worst NO they are not. Its just people. I will say this in NYC I have been cursed out and yelled at for no reason. I been to NYC about 15 times. In my close to 20 years in Miami never had this happen. Drivers are horrible here though that I will say.
-Crime
As I said earlier Coral Gables is a great area, take the normal common sense precautions and you are fine. 99% of the areas you will go to as a college student are safe. Its stupid decisions that make places like a club in Miami Beach dangerous. There are some very high crime neighborhoods in Miami but you won't need to go there. Just like there are high crime areas in DC, Chicago, NYC, LA, Philly, Atlanta and just about every major US City.
-Politics
Miami is 60/40 60 being democrat 40 being republican. As others have said even the liberals are not tree hugging organic food eating prius driving liberals either. I think its a good mix. The school naturally will be more liberal than conservative.
IMO you will not get the best input on a "national" forum. Head over to the Miami forum for some good insight. There are still plenty of people who hate Miami there too but there are some that have a more realistic and unbaised view there too and give you the positives and negatives.
I wont respond to some of the comments above because some are just out of line and are very far from the truth. What is not far from the truth is that Miami is NOT for everyone, some people just can't take it. Some people just do not like it. But for a college student you will have a good time.
Hopefully UM football improves next year!!
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I just assumed that most people wouldn't be familiar with Boulder and since Denver is the closest "Big" City and the one I know best, I would also find comparisons between Denver and Miami to be valuable.
