Need North Miami Beach Info (quite a lot of it..) (Orlando: 2015, apartments)

[liviu]

Hi everybody

I'm just about to move to North Miami Beach area. I'm originar from Romania but lived for the past three years in London UK.My wife has secured a teaching position with North Miami Beach High School.She has already moved to North Miami Beach and I will join her in about two weeks time.
I was doing a bit of net surfing when I came by your threads about Miami and they scared the **** out of me. Is it really that bad over there , I mean regarding crime and all? Reading your posts I really worry now about my wife's safety. She has rented a 900$/month 1 bedroom flat ; is that cheap for Miami? ;and if it is , is it because the neighbourhood is unsafe?
Another thing that got my attention was the bilingual stuff , is it really hard to get a job if you don't speak spanish ( i'm fluent in English and have basic knowledge of French and Italian)? I presently work for FedEx and I thought I would be able to secure a job with them in US as well , but because I don't speak spanish I now feel that my chance to do that is quite slim.

Thank you for your replies ---- sorry for the very long post

PS It's a shot in the dark but if there are any Londoners out there how does Miami compare to Harlsden or Hackney crimewise ??? (lived in both places)

[stat3man]

Originally Posted by liviu

Hi everybody

I'm just about to move to North Miami Beach area. I'm originar from Romania but lived for the past three years in London UK.My wife has secured a teaching position with North Miami Beach High School.She has already moved to North Miami Beach and I will join her in about two weeks time.
I was doing a bit of net surfing when I came by your threads about Miami and they scared the **** out of me. Is it really that bad over there , I mean regarding crime and all? Reading your posts I really worry now about my wife's safety. She has rented a 900$/month 1 bedroom flat ; is that cheap for Miami? ;and if it is , is it because the neighbourhood is unsafe?
Another thing that got my attention was the bilingual stuff , is it really hard to get a job if you don't speak spanish ( i'm fluent in English and have basic knowledge of French and Italian)? I presently work for FedEx and I thought I would be able to secure a job with them in US as well , but because I don't speak spanish I now feel that my chance to do that is quite slim.

Thank you for your replies ---- sorry for the very long post

PS It's a shot in the dark but if there are any Londoners out there how does Miami compare to Harlsden or Hackney crimewise ??? (lived in both places)

Unfortunately, many of the people drawn to these forums are people who are looking to vent their frustrations. You can't take everything (positive or negative) too seriously, especially the more dramatic the statement. I have lived in Miami most of my life, and I feel safe here. Do I feel completely free from harm? No! This IS a large metropolitan area, after all, with all of the things that implies. The language issue can be a challenge at times, but it depends on the area. I'm certain that you'll be able to get something at FedEx, and that you'll do fine.

Oh, about North Miami Beach. It has better areas and worse areas, but it's not a bad place to live overall. $900 for a 1/1 sounds about right for that area.

Welcome to Miami.

[liviu]

Originally Posted by stat3man

Unfortunately, many of the people drawn to these forums are people who are looking to vent their frustrations. You can't take everything (positive or negative) too seriously, especially the more dramatic the statement. I have lived in Miami most of my life, and I feel safe here. Do I feel completely free from harm? No! This IS a large metropolitan area, after all, with all of the things that implies. The language issue can be a challenge at times, but it depends on the area. I'm certain that you'll be able to get something at FedEx, and that you'll do fine.

Oh, about North Miami Beach. It has better areas and worse areas, but it's not a bad place to live overall. $900 for a 1/1 sounds about right for that area.

Welcome to Miami.

Thank you you very much for the quick reply and for putting my mind at ease

[stat3man]

Glad to be of help. Let me know if you have any further questions.

[blackklight]

i've lived here for about 8 years and i'm a current high school student. if you mind your business and don't look for trouble, most of the time trouble will not find you. you can use the http://www.city-data.com webpage to compare crime in the areas you're interested in. good luck.

[Jon F Moss]

I used to live in NMB as it's sometimes referred too. My brother graduated from NMB High School whereas I went to North Miami HS. The area by the school has change a lot. The Mall at 163 Street used to be quite prominent, but now has a lot of vacancies. The Super Walmart they recently built next door is doing quite well from what I can see. There's also a Home Depot behind the Mall. The high schoo is right behind all of this stuff.

It's not a bad area--as in all of the Metro-Miami area...you have to be smart and always be aware of your surroundings.

Let me know if I can be of any assistance. Always glad to help a bloke since that's where my family ancestry can be traced

[pavchek]

Hey,
I am originally from Bulgaria which makes us neighbours. I can assure you that Miami is not such a bad place to live in. Spanish is a very influential language in this area and that could be frustrating. Humid summer, relatively low pay(compensated with lower rent though) those are the negative aspects of it. however Miami is also lots of FUN, beautiful people and lovely winter season. A lot to do in this area . Bahamas for instance are just 50 miles east, Key west, Orlando. Florida isn't a bad place to move to America, particularly for a European
Good luck

Pavel

[Chelito23]

If your wife is already here, she would be a good person to seek an opinion from. Personally, NMB in my opinion has gone through a big demographic shift over the last 20? years...not necessarily a bad thing in itself, but crime AND prices have gone up dramatically. The schools aren't that great, but there are worse out there. Shopping is good, you are close to the beaches and I-95, and there are some nice neighborhoods nearby (tend to be expensive though). The apartments in NMB are notorious for flooding and are not a safe, family friendly atmosphere...but for a couple with no kids, only staying there temporarily, they will do.

$900 for a one bedroom in NMB is not a nice apartment, more likely a "cheap one" and thus you will have more of the problems than say a $1200 newer apartment east of US 1. I think that regardless, you could move in, spend a year and look for something nicer, and should not be overly terrified during that time.

[unixpilot]

Ah hem, having several friends from Romania and visited the country several times myself AND having live in the greater NMB area for 7+ years.

The two places are actually very similar. Both Romania and Miami are very beautiful, but the people are what ruin it all. Miami has its own version of Roma.

Crime wise you're in for a big shock, coming from London. The Spanish factor is also a big change, since your probably not used to living in an area that is over 70% Hispanic.

+1 to everything "pds" said.

Good luck, There's a Transylvanian Restaurant in Hollywood, FL (like 6 miles away).

[compelled to reply]

You have a very distorted perception of South Florida...for one thing, North Miami is more of a black area. For another, I have made comments about Fort Lauderdale (which is 9.5 hispanic as of 2005) and you always are so quick to say "you live in an area that is over 70 percent hispanic".

Races in North Miami:

* Black (54.9%)
* Hispanic (23.2%)
* White Non-Hispanic (18.1%)
* Two or more races (4.9%)
* Other race (3.2%)
* American Indian (0.7%)
* Asian Indian (0.6%)
* Filipino (0.5%)
And according to the 2005 census, since you love the use of the census designated "Race" known as "Hispanic", Miami-Dade was 61.1 % hispanic and Broward was 22.1 % hispanic (and 49.9 percent White). The city of Miami was 67 percent Hispanic, but not everyone lives in the city of Miami.

Originally Posted by unixpilot

Ah hem, having several friends from Romania and visited the country several times myself AND having live in the greater NMB area for 7+ years.

The two places are actually very similar. Both Romania and Miami are very beautiful, but the people are what ruin it all. Miami has its own version of Roma.

Crime wise you're in for a big shock, coming from London. The Spanish factor is also a big change, since your probably not used to living in an area that is over 70% Hispanic.

+1 to everything "pds" said.

Good luck, There's a Transylvanian Restaurant in Hollywood, FL (like 6 miles away).

Anyway, I wouldn't live in Miami-Dade County if you paid me to. The fringes of Broward remind me of Dade too. Not so much demographically, but appearance wise they do. North Miami is considered "not that bad" by Miamians. Thats pathetic. I have never been to an American city that was so, well, not American...

Crime in North Miami by Year
Type 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Murders 1 8 2 5 1 7 6
per 100,000 1.9 15.0 3.3 8.0 1.6 11.5 10.0
Rapes 35 39 22 38 30 22 25
per 100,000 68.0 72.9 35.8 60.7 49.1 36.3 41.6
Robberies 304 371 298 338 399 360 339
per 100,000 591.0 693.5 485.1 539.8 652.7 593.8 564.3
Assaults 470 462 468 502 393 361 317
per 100,000 913.7 863.6 761.8 801.7 642.9 595.4 527.7
Burglaries 1,039 1,078 1,103 1,114 1,057 1,073 1,025
per 100,000 2019.9 2015.0 1795.5 1779.0 1729.0 1769.8 1706.2
Thefts 2,142 2,725 3,218 2,936 2,835 2,789 2,538
per 100,000 4164.3 5093.5 5238.3 4688.7 4637.4 4600.2 4224.6
Auto thefts 876 912 816 672 745 629 528
per 100,000 1703.1 1704.7 1328.3 1073.2 1218.7 1037.5 878.9
Arson 12 17 21 13 13 13 12
per 100,000 23.3 31.8 34.2 20.8 21.3 21.4 20.0
City-data.com crime index (higher means more crime, U.S. average = 325.2) 862.6 950.1 774.5 784.7 770.9 740.2 686.8

Compare this to the absolute WORST Broward has to offer.

Crime in Pompano Beach by Year
Type 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Murders 4 5 1 5 3 9 5
per 100,000 5.2 6.2 1.2 6.1 3.4 10.0 5.5
Rapes 43 36 28 44 24 38 57
per 100,000 55.9 44.6 34.9 53.8 27.0 42.2 62.7
Robberies 217 165 205 242 207 347 420
per 100,000 281.9 204.4 255.6 296.0 233.2 385.5 462.1
Assaults 705 672 649 493 473 732 900
per 100,000 915.9 832.3 809.1 602.9 533.0 813.2 990.3
Burglaries 1,207 736 681 653 592 1,128 958
per 100,000 1568.0 911.5 848.9 798.6 667.1 1253.1 1054.1
Thefts 3,462 3,046 2,692 2,285 2,091 3,234 3,676
per 100,000 4497.4 3772.5 3355.9 2794.5 2356.1 3592.5 4044.9
Auto thefts 940 516 513 456 378 563 614
per 100,000 1221.1 639.1 639.5 557.7 425.9 625.4 675.6
Arson 19 5 15 7 8 18 17
per 100,000 24.7 6.2 18.7 8.6 9.0 20.0 18.7
City-data.com crime index (higher means more crime, U.S. average = 325.2) 710.2 541.6 513.7 477.0 380.0 613.5 687.5

In the 900 a month territory, I would strongly recommend Hollywood to the OP. It's truly diverse, you are only assimilating to one country, it's safer, and you can rent at least acceptably for that price. Heck, you could even rent in Pembroke Pines for 900 a month, which is REALLY safe, but thats too much of a commute.