Moving to Miami with husband and 14 y/o and 11 y/o

[WINTERFRONT]

Shyness is not a good trait, isn't it

Miami will take that way from her, but that's if you are willing to help.

[adriaristi]

Originally Posted by kayaker2000

We are possibly moving to Miami this winter. I have two daughters, 14 and 11 years old. We would be moving for me to accept a position downtown. We would be solidly middle class, not upper middle class. I have no information on the area, except what I have read here. Any advice on where to live, good schools- middle and high schools, and after school programs would be appreciated. We will not be able to afford private schools. We currently live in the Midwest, so we know this will be a big change.

Thank you! Kayaker2000

Hi
I live in the midwest too..and moving to Miami in the summer, have a 14 and 11..( boys). I was thinking in Coral Gables High School. Have you visited any schools yet ?

[Jmlacysr]

Originally Posted by kayaker2000

so we know this will be a big change.

You may not realize how much of a change and you may not realize it until you are here.

Miami is an odd place to try and relocate to. If you find an area you like, go to the local shops around the area, the grocery store at 6:00 pm. The closest convenient store at 12:00 AM. That should tell you what you want to know.

Then you'll want to drive from where you're considering to where you are going to work at the TIME you go to work. It may say 10 miles on the map but may take an hour to get there. Traffic into downtown is a nightmare even by big city standards and people drive nuts here. I mean really nuts so accidents are not a rarity. Florida is known for great roads, it's because they work on them all the time so road contruction is everywhere further slowing drive times.

I find that neither Google Maps navigation or Telenav are very good about navigating the city. Garmin may better but the cities grid system is well laid out.

Be prepared to spend more and get less. Everything is expensive here, even groceries. Ground beef @ $2.59 lb for the cheap 50/50 and milk $6.00 per gallon in places. Even Banana's here are .69 lb. Gas $3.10 for cheap unleaded today and Miami has some of the highest insurance rates in the nation. There's not much free parking here so, you either plug a meter or pay $10-$25 per outing. There's one mall called Aventura and it's the only one worth visiting.

Rents are high here too and sometimes require more deposits because of so many transients moving in and out. Property values are wildly overinflated, so buying is not a great idea either. If you have pets that will cut your rental options to 1/3rd and even less if you have a large dog.

Then you have all the culture shock. Miami has more to do with Port au Prince and Havana than the US and your tolerances for those two cultures can effect your experience here. Let's not fail to mention the homeless are everywhere here.

It's not easy to just move to Miami and depending on your current location it may not be worth it when you consider everything involved. I think moving to Miami without being here first is a difficult thing to do. I know this because I just did that 30 days ago and am still reeling from the decisions I made in haste.

Honestly, I think you should be here for awhile before you fully commit your entire family. Weather is great and Miami can be an incredibility beautiful place in parts but I've found visiting in Miami-Dade and living in Miami-Dade two very different things. The "where" in South Florida makes all the difference.

[boxus]

Miami is nice and I love Miami, but many of the people here seem to go out of their way to try to make you hate it, people from the top down to the bottom seem to WANT to make this place unlikeable.

[jasper12]

Single-sex schools prosper -- if you can get kids to go - Education - MiamiHerald.com (http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/12/11/1969567/single-sex-schools-prosper-if.html?asset_id=1969498&asset_type=gallery - broken link)

Here is a choice school for young women, sounds like a good school for your daughter. My daughter went to Gulliver, but was going to go to Palmetto H.S.

[MiamiRob]

Originally Posted by Jmlacysr

You may not realize how much of a change and you may not realize it until you are here.

Miami is an odd place to try and relocate to. If you find an area you like, go to the local shops around the area, the grocery store at 6:00 pm. The closest convenient store at 12:00 AM. That should tell you what you want to know.

Then you'll want to drive from where you're considering to where you are going to work at the TIME you go to work. It may say 10 miles on the map but may take an hour to get there. Traffic into downtown is a nightmare even by big city standards and people drive nuts here. I mean really nuts so accidents are not a rarity. Florida is known for great roads, it's because they work on them all the time so road contruction is everywhere further slowing drive times.

I find that neither Google Maps navigation or Telenav are very good about navigating the city. Garmin may better but the cities grid system is well laid out.

Be prepared to spend more and get less. Everything is expensive here, even groceries. Ground beef @ $2.59 lb for the cheap 50/50 and milk $6.00 per gallon in places. Even Banana's here are .69 lb. Gas $3.10 for cheap unleaded today and Miami has some of the highest insurance rates in the nation. There's not much free parking here so, you either plug a meter or pay $10-$25 per outing. There's one mall called Aventura and it's the only one worth visiting.

Rents are high here too and sometimes require more deposits because of so many transients moving in and out. Property values are wildly overinflated, so buying is not a great idea either. If you have pets that will cut your rental options to 1/3rd and even less if you have a large dog.

Then you have all the culture shock. Miami has more to do with Port au Prince and Havana than the US and your tolerances for those two cultures can effect your experience here. Let's not fail to mention the homeless are everywhere here.

It's not easy to just move to Miami and depending on your current location it may not be worth it when you consider everything involved. I think moving to Miami without being here first is a difficult thing to do. I know this because I just did that 30 days ago and am still reeling from the decisions I made in haste.

Honestly, I think you should be here for awhile before you fully commit your entire family. Weather is great and Miami can be an incredibility beautiful place in parts but I've found visiting in Miami-Dade and living in Miami-Dade two very different things. The "where" in South Florida makes all the difference.

I know this because I just did that 30 days ago and am still reeling from the decisions I made in haste.

No wonder we don't here from you anymore on the Miami forum.

[Jmlacysr]

Originally Posted by MiamiRob

I know this because I just did that 30 days ago and am still reeling from the decisions I made in haste.

No wonder we don't here from you anymore on the Miami forum.

It's the intangibles that many people miss here. Like trying to get anything done. Nobody wants to do anything and always passing the buck. You can't even pay people to do their job and the very least they can do the better.

They find excuses not to do what they are supposed to do. They try to dazzle you with BS when anyone with a brain stem connected knows they are full of it.

People don't return phone calls, don't act like they want your money. Everybody knows "somebody" but that somebody never calls, shows up or calls.

It's 3rd world services here and heaven forbid you really "need" something done or prepare yourself to fight for every inch and for it to take 5 times the amount of time anywhere else in the US and do some of it yourself.

My haste was that I moved into the wrong area. I have to live with that decision for the next 11 months. I moved from an upscale middle class predominately white neighborhood in Dallas to basically Little Haiti. We stick out like a sore thumb and don't even feel that safe to be out at night.

I doubt we'll stay in Miami long. The juice isn't worth the squeeze here.

[nicsma2002]

Originally Posted by Jmlacysr

My haste was that I moved into the wrong area. I have to live with that decision for the next 11 months. I moved from an upscale middle class predominately white neighborhood in Dallas to basically Little Haiti. We stick out like a sore thumb and don't even feel that safe to be out at night.

I doubt we'll stay in Miami long. The juice isn't worth the squeeze here.

Jmlacysr, sorry to hear it's not working out. I had private messaged you a whlie back about our house in Miami Springs that was for rent, but I never heard back from you. You would fit in perfectly in Miami Springs, you'd really like it there. The house is now rented, but if it becomes available again, I'll let you know. Quality of life in Miami completely depends on the neighborhood you live in.