GF relocating to Miami with 4 cats, how expensive is it? (Kendall: apartments, for rent)

[bhrynda]

Hello. I'm waiting to hear if accepted in Occupational THerapy program at FIU. I'm already having 2nd thoughts based on reading other blogs. How can college student afford the area. I heard Coral gables is safe. I have 4 cats and need Gay Friendly town.
Also do I need to speak spanish?

Or the other option is to do COTA school in Bradenton. I already live in St Petersburg FL which is bad with crime area So how dangerous is miami? How bad is traffic?

At least I can communte to Bradenton.

[jasper12]

You will hear different things from everyone. I live here, don't speak Spanish, the town is gay friendly, if you live out by FIU it should be fairly reasonable for an apartment, it is more expensive in some areas of Miami. I pay $950 for a two bedroom apt in South Miami.

[Three Wolves In Snow]

Originally Posted by bhrynda

Hello. I'm waiting to hear if accepted in Occupational THerapy program at FIU. I'm already having 2nd thoughts based on reading other blogs. How can college student afford the area. I heard Coral gables is safe. I have 4 cats and need Gay Friendly town.
Also do I need to speak spanish?

Or the other option is to do COTA school in Bradenton. I already live in St Petersburg FL which is bad with crime area So how dangerous is miami? How bad is traffic?

At least I can communte to Bradenton.

What blogs are you reading or do you mean the posts on this forum?


I live near that area and you'll want to find a place fairly close to FIU because traffic is a fricken nightmare on SW 8th St as well as 107th.

Miami is not as dangerous as some make it out to be, you just have to be smart about where you live. You can find some great apartments for rent in the Kendall area and while it may be a little hectic with traffic, you'll find that Kendall is a pretty decent neighborhood. (I don't live in Kendall but I go there all the time for errands.)

If I go shopping at the Publix on 107th, (by the UPS store), or I go shopping at the Publix on SW 8th St, (137th), 9 times out of 10, I leave irritated because of attitude.

However, if I go shopping at Publix on Kendall DR, near Home Depot, I leave much, much happier because the people are so much nicer there.

Any business I go in to, (with very few exceptions--Pet Supermarket and UPS store have some genuinely friendly, helpful people), on SW 8th St or 107th, (near FIU), I think about how much I hate Miami when I leave said business. Any business I go to in Kendall, I leave thinking, "Thank God there are some friendly people in this town."

Keep in mind, Bird Rd always seems to be busy, no matter what time of day and I wouldn't take money to live on that road.

Across from FIU, going north, is Sweetwater. I don't do much business there because I do not speak Spanish.

As for speaking Spanish, you do not have to learn the language. I came here with a different mind set. I had taken 2 years of Spanish in high school and though it had been awhile since I used any Spanish before moving to Miami, I thought I'd brush up on it and become fluent and embrace the cultures.

Within six months of attitude because I didn't speak Spanish, I decided that I would refuse to learn any more. I'll pick a different language to learn because I'm tired of the "Peakee Pani!!" (not a question, a DEMAND), and not getting a return of the demanding individual even trying to speak any English.

Most jobs that pay better require you learn English, not Spanish. Most people who say they don't speak English are full of it, they just don't want to because there is an attitude here.

And finally, whatever you learned in school? Throw it away. Just when you think you've figured out how to say something, you'll hear another version of Spanish or what I call the lazy Spanish where they don't even pronounce the dang words properly. You'll go crazy trying to please everyone and they will not appreciate it. Trust me.

If you want to learn Spanish, go right ahead but you do not have to speak it. You can do just well in this city without speaking it. (And my favorite thing to do, with what Spanish I do remember, is to act like I have no idea what they are saying until I hear two of them talking about me, insulting me...then I pipe in with the bit of Spanish I do know and it shuts them right up with shock. One of my favorite things to do in this town of snots.)

Oh and Gay Friendly, South Beach is about the friendliest for that but it's a drive to FIU and it's expensive. Frankly, I don't think people really care one way or the other in most places in Miami but I'm not gay so I don't see it through those glasses. The further south you go, Homestead and such, when you start to run in to rednecks, yah, you'll meet some jerks but in Miami itself...can't say that I've seen any bashing or problems.

[boxus]

Originally Posted by bhrynda

Hello. I'm waiting to hear if accepted in Occupational THerapy program at FIU. I'm already having 2nd thoughts based on reading other blogs. How can college student afford the area. I heard Coral gables is safe. I have 4 cats and need Gay Friendly town.
Also do I need to speak spanish?

Or the other option is to do COTA school in Bradenton. I already live in St Petersburg FL which is bad with crime area So how dangerous is miami? How bad is traffic?

At least I can communte to Bradenton.

"How can college student afford the area."

Giving parents, a second job, room mates, or extremely good with money and luck.

"I heard Coral gables is safe."

I heard that also, too bad the drive from there to FIU will be mind numbing long and painful, unless you are use to it and don't mind, and have some money for gas.

"and need Gay Friendly town."

What in the heck does this even mean? Are you one of those people that walk around and make sure everyone knows you are gay? If so, what kind of "unfriendliness" would you expect? If there is any unfriendliness, it won't be because you are gay (except from the bible thumpers), it will be because of your attitude about it.

Really, how would any person walking down the street know?

"So how dangerous is miami?"

Take out three parts of the city and the city would be remarkably safe statistically speaking.

"How bad is traffic?"

It is bad, maybe not the worst, but that does not mean it is not bad.

[cixcell]

I know almost no gay people here which leads me to believe they must be extremely closeted. Very different from where I used to work in socal where you at least had one gay person in every workplace. my girlfriend misses playing the *** hag. she lived with a monogamous gay couple for 12 years when we lived in socal and they threw awesome parties.

[WINTERFRONT]

Miami is mostly TOPS and clossetted lesbians.