Moving from NYC to FL (Miami, Fort Lauderdale: rentals, crime, home)

[bonanoNYC]

I am 27 year old legal secretary from NYC considering moving to Florida next year (2008), specifically Miami or FLL area. I love to party, eat out and tan. In your opinion, what is the best area/county for someone my age? I want to live no more than 20 blocks or a bike ride away from the beach. Pet friendly environment is important. Living in NYC, specifically Manhattan, I am all too familiar with homelessness/poverty, crime etc.; not that I am looking to live in that type of environment. I want to eventually buy property in Miami or FLL but would rather rent a place to see if I am going to call FL home for good. I cannot endure another winter in NYC. The cold weather does not agree with me, it never has.

Please help with some honest, sound suggestions for a NYC girl.

[PBCboy]

You might want to consider moving to the City of Miami Beach.

[bonanoNYC]

Thanks for the reply PBCboy. Were in Miami Beach do you suggest. I am not looking to move to South Beach b/c it gets too crazy there during the holidays. I have my party limits too-lol

[bale002]

As a legal secretary you should have no problem finding a job in either Miami or Fort Lauderdale. The question is whether such a job will pay you enough to afford the lifestyle that you envision for yourself, and it certainly won't pay enough to buy property unless you have some other source of wealth and income.

However, as a renter, you should have plenty of options. Generally speaking, if you have Spanish and/or Portuguese skills you may do better in Miami both professionally and socially. If not, Fort Lauderdale may be a better choice. In either case, seek rentals in one of the better coastal neighborhoods. The previous poster already rightly suggested Miami Beach as a possible option; others can suggest specific neighborhoods on the island. Other neighborhoods are Brickell, most likely where a legal secretary job will be located, and parts of Coconut Grove (maybe others can suggest specific areas to check out and which ones to avoid).

Also do a search on Fort Lauderdale for recent discussions on the better neighborhoods there.

In any case, go for the highest bidder!

... and ...
Good luck!

[miamiblue]

Originally Posted by bonanoNYC

I am 27 year old legal secretary from NYC considering moving to Florida next year (2008), specifically Miami or FLL area. I love to party, eat out and tan. In your opinion, what is the best area/county for someone my age? I want to live no more than 20 blocks or a bike ride away from the beach. Pet friendly environment is important. Living in NYC, specifically Manhattan, I am all too familiar with homelessness/poverty, crime etc.; not that I am looking to live in that type of environment. I want to eventually buy property in Miami or FLL but would rather rent a place to see if I am going to call FL home for good. I cannot endure another winter in NYC. The cold weather does not agree with me, it never has.

Please help with some honest, sound suggestions for a NYC girl.

You sound like you'd be perfect for Miami Beach. However, your concern about crowding during holidays is wise, so North Miami Beach is probably a better bet in this regard. Good luck with finding a place that is pet friendly, unless all you have is a cat or a fish - it can be tough finding a place to rent with a dog. Unfortunately, if you want to be as close to the beach as you say, you're going to be seeing some of the homlessness, poverty and crime that you mention.

Also, be prepared to have a roommate. A good friend of mine was a legal secretary in Miami and didn't even live in the high-rent areas that you would like to be, and she still had to have roommates. Wages in FL do not keep up with the cost of living as well as they do in NYC.

[bonanoNYC]

Thank you bale002 and miamiblue for your insightful and very helpful response.

[bonanoNYC]

I've been reading the forums/replies regarding Miami and all I have to say is wow. I did not know that there was such a dislike and hatred for Miami and its surrounding counties!!! Is crime in Miami really worse than NYC...hmm Is the environment is Miami worse than NYC….hmm Is life in Miami worse than NYC…hmm. I do appreciate the honesty and straightforwardness in the forums. I don’t like NYC so I am moving….hmmm

[Southfloridamiamian]

no this forum is overrun with people that talk alot of BS that just hate miami. just dumb trolls othing more than that. This place isnt perfect but its alot better than alot of other places.

[miamiblue]

Originally Posted by bonanoNYC

I've been reading the forums/replies regarding Miami and all I have to say is wow. I did not know that there was such a dislike and hatred for Miami and its surrounding counties!!! Is crime in Miami really worse than NYC...hmm Is the environment is Miami worse than NYC….hmm Is life in Miami worse than NYC…hmm. I do appreciate the honesty and straightforwardness in the forums. I don’t like NYC so I am moving….hmmm

There are a lot of people that come to South Florida thinking it's going to be like what they see in the movies and on TV - a utopia in paradise. Then, when they find out that it is just a city, with the same problems that plague most large metro areas, they hate it and express their opinions here because they feel bait-n-switched or whatever and want to warn others. I grew up in Miami, so did my mother, and personally, I have seen it decline a lot over the years, as has my mum. While I haven't lived in NYC, I have visited, and honestly felt safer there, and also actually had more pleasant ordinary interactions with people there than I have had in Miami for quite a while. While they are both large cities, they both have very different personalities.

You can find a lot of statistics right here on city-data by clicking on the banner at the top left-hand corner of the page. It will take to you a page where you select your state and city, and it gives lots of hard data, such as demographic info, weather info, etc. This will give you some numbers that you can compare to NYC or any other city of your choice for reference - you don't have to take everything you read in the forum at face value! A lot of what you read on here is opinion.

I personally had enough of the negative attitude that I experienced during day-to-day life in my hometown and decided to try a new area when it came time for a new job. I visited my family just a few weeks ago and felt that things had declined even more in the year that I had been gone - I was glad to get back to where I live now. However, I try to give factual information to people in order to help them make informed decisions about whether South Florida is for them. Although I was born and raised there, I knew it wasn't for me, but some people love it. If you have any specific questions, I'd be happy to try my best to answer them with facts, although many things can be subjective.

[bonanoNYC]

Thank you for your sincerity miamiblue :-)