Why do you hate it here? (Miami, Hialeah: insurance, apartments, trip)

[compelled to reply]

Yeah, I am VERY impressed by the replies! Thank you VERY much to all who have contributed so far!

[fauve]

This is definitely not a "why I hate it here", but why I want to move further north post....I'd really love to live someplace where in a day's drive you can get to all different places. Say, if you live in France, you can get to London, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Portugal etc. - all different countries, all different cultures and history in just a day's drive, and there is SO much to see.

The U.S. in general is way too spread out and full of the same old big box stores, and to get to any beauty you have to jump from North Carolina, to California, to Oregon, to South Dakota and New Mexico, etc. Lots of beautiful places, but way too spread out, and what's in between can be just highway and fast food places.

Living here, once you go to the Keys for the 50th time, or Naples, or Stuart, or Orlando, St Augustine, or Tampa, it gets old (20 years here of weekends away at various islands and keys!) and to get anywhere else (a day's drive just to get to Georgia) it takes forever, unless you fly, and then you have to plan trips months in advance, and spend a bundle.

So, I like South Florida for the weather, but I'd love to move it to the middle of Europe.

[surfer boy]

Looks like rude people takes the cake! What a suprise!

[MisterNY]

Originally Posted by surfer boy

Looks like rude people takes the cake! What a suprise!

In your opinion, what do you think would be the number one issue? I had a feeling the economy/jobs would be one of the top reasons, but I'm not surprised about rude people.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by MisterNY

In your opinion, what do you think would be the number one issue? I had a feeling the economy/jobs would be one of the top reasons, but I'm not surprised about rude people.

When people don't have jobs, they tend to complain about rude people which IMO is the least reasonable, most malcontent-ish response. Basically, everybody and everything's fault except for themselves. Also, bad jobs and a high cost of living can directly correlate with rude people due to miseries caused by that.

[MisterNY]

Originally Posted by compelled to reply

When people don't have jobs, they tend to complain about rude people which IMO is the least reasonable, most malcontent-ish response. Basically, everybody and everything's fault except for themselves.

I would not say so. Not having a job is a whole different ball game. Can you honestly tell me that people aren't rude down here? Let's compare it to Orlando, Atlanta, Jacksonville, NC/SC (dare I say NYC?). People here are rude, very rude. And this is coming from someone who is employed, not in debt, not having real estate selling issues, not facing foreclosure and not a malcontent . People have the right to opinions, whether we like it or not. I'm not going to jump on someone who loves it here. I'm happy things are working out well for them, and they love it. The same way, I have the right to not like it. We all have different levels of expectations of where we want to live, vacation, etc....It is correct, that there are some extremely miserable people among us, be it in NY, FL (place your city/state/country here) but some can genuinely be dissapointed with this place. Nothing wrong with that.

[compelled to reply]

Well played my man!

[NEWTOSFLA]

i wish i known this before i moved down here, i'm from near Arlington, VA right outside D.C. and you are right about the money and looks, ya need to have both in order to get somewhere and enjoy yourself down here, without it, you gets no respect.

Originally Posted by sofritogirl76

My Story
I relocated to South Florida from Arlignton,VA in 2001 (I'm a native of Puerto Rico) so I'm used to extremely hot and humid weather. I also lived in New Orleans, Louisiana so the swampyness wasn't really bothering me until recently.

However, be warned...

Money-money-money-money.... Money!
YOU need to have A LOT of it to be able to enjoy this town. Salaries here do not match the lifestyle. One reason could be all the wealthy transplants who drove our prices up (thanks New York, Philly and South America moguls), another reason could be the overall BAD work ethic. Service and professionalism leave a lot to be desired. It's just so, so BAD!

Location, Location.... Location?
Read my lips: You need a car for e-very-thing. The beach is far from Coconut Grove which is far from Downtown which is far from Key Biscayne... etc. etc. There is not a reliable mass transit system and driving down here is an extreme sport.

Fort Lauderdale... sigh.
Although more centralized, this large city to the north of Miami not a well laid-out metropolis. It's kind of a blah town. But if you're the type of person who wants a less "cosmopolitan" city (code for: wanting to get away from all Latins), you might like FLL.

Housing
Unless you have huge wads of cash itching in your pocket, get ready to move into your new mediterranean-style cookie-cutter box inside a gated community or to a high-rise minimalist loft. Both options are equally lacking in character.


Kids
People do nothing but complain about the schools here (I myself don't have kids yet). I see that kids here can do outdoor stuff when the heat is not brutal, yet those are limited to theme-parks and water sports. I don't see a lot of parks... or trees for that matter.
To be honest, I am not looking forward to the prospect of having/raising kids here. The beach is fun and all but I think I would have enjoyed more diverse and seasonal activities while growing up. Sniff. Sniff. Yes, feel sorry for me.

For DINKs Only
DINK (Dual-income-no-kids) types like myself, who have access to the best of the Miami/South Beach scene find it enjoyable... that is, until we get bored to death of it.
Be warned: if you don't have the looks (and I mean Brazilian super-model looks), you'd better have the trust-fund otherwise you're not getting ANY here.... South Florida a total meat market. The models, the celebrities, the artists, the posers... Exactly.

BEWARE!
Holiday/Christmas time here is DEPRESSING. No traditions, tacky ornaments, just awful, God-awful.... Everyone here is a transplant so nobody is on the same page. It's so tragic.

Free your mind
You need to be extremely open-minded as your life will be filled with Euro-Latin transplants (both wealthy and poor, educated and not so much), gangsters, Caribbean refugees, rowdy Northeasterners, ex-con men, future con-men, sugar daddies, sugar mammas, cougars, celebrity wannabes, artsy types, Nascar types and everything in between.


South Florida is fun. If you're looking for wholesome ... keep looking.

Wrap it up to go...
In sumation, South Florida can sometimes feel like that super hot girlfriend the laws of the universe never intended you to have: flashy, tacky, needy, obnoxious, designer-wearing, Lexus-driving, superficial, materialistic, non-English speaking and....overpriced. Sure, she's not always so nice to you but she's just so hot you can't bring yourself to break up with her. I mean, baby needs a green card!

[surfer boy]

"Let's compare it to Orlando, Atlanta, Jacksonville, NC/SC (dare I say NYC?). People here are rude, very rude."


It aint that much better here in Orlando. People are extremely rude here too. But compared to NC/SC, omg, Orlando and Miami are terrible compared to those states. I would think Jax would fall in the middle, due to a lot of transplants, I dont think it's as nice/friendly up there anymore either, but def. better than Orlando and most certainly Miami.

[LLLL98]

sofritogirl said it best

I moved here from Baltimore in 2000 and while I wasn't shocked by the rudeness, b/c I had been down on several visits, it was depressing to experience the downright nastiness and simple ignorance over and over again. The superficial nature of many down here, the horrible mass transit system, the overcrowding (which wouldn't be so bad if people were nicer) and my personal pet peeve, the bland & redundant neighborhoods with absolutely no character or charm, these are my main issues.

It also drives me crazy that I have to drive for hours just to get out of the state and see a change in scenery.

That being said, you can always find ways to make the best out of a bad situation.