Moving to Hialeah (Miami, Miramar, Doral: job, house, gangs)

[blackklight]

damn really good post. you hit the nail right on the head with how hard it is to be a good student and try to do your work. there are some good teachers and this year i have a few but if i reflect last year on my junior year my algebra 2 teacher was trying to teach in spanish; i thought this was crazy seeing as how not everyone in the class spoke it (amazingly enough).

today when walking to walgreens from school (the one infront of the bank and near jfk) i'm pretty sure i heard a gun shot which was pretty wild. like chelito above said, you have people who don't know what it is to be cared for or what values are because they never learned them. all you'd need is quality society-based programs that teach kids what respect is, teach them what it is to care about your neighborhood and where you live, etc.

i think we are going off topic with this so my apologies.

[THASPECIAL]

Originally Posted by Chelito23

I worked at Hialeah High (go thoroubreads) and Palm Springs Middle. From a teacher's perspective, we don't expect anyone to fail, ever. We have the task of motivating and teaching the students so they are able to learn. In Hialeah, much like other schools across the county, there are major family, school and community problems. Many times the students themselves have no sense of civilized behavior, much less respect for themselves or others.

At Hialeah High I taught a 9th Grade American History ESE class, and trust me, I saw it all. The indifference and defiance from the students and parents. Many of the teachers did and do care. You will always have some teachers who are disillusioned, but I think the majority of the negative perceptions of teachers are really more a reflection of today's youth's dissatisfaction with their lives. They are not used to anyone caring about them at home and find it phony when a teacher shows any interest and puts boundaries and expectations and holds the students accountable.

In short, these recent posts portray what MANY Hialeah students go through, whether at HML, Hialeah-Miami Springs or HH. People who think relocating to Hialeah from the Midwest or some other wholesome place are really going to put their children in a tough situation. If it is this hard for students FROM the community, imagine arriving as an outsider.

Hialea is an acquired taste I suppose, but I think most people who promote Hialeah are from there and they are portraying perheps a self-pride and triumph against life's odds, as opposed to recommending it as a stellar community. To the students who have graduated from these schools and ultimately triumphed (getting your GED, stopping drug-use, etc), you have managed to pull yourselves up by the bootstraps and I recommend you drop a note to you old teachers and let them know that you got on the straight path. They would most likely write you back and continue encouraging you (I know I do). In Hialeah, there is a huge amount of pressure to go with the flow, the gang and thugged out ghetto wannabe culture, and to step up and be a real student is seen as a weakness, and it is not fair to those who want to succeed. The students who have survived this should be commended.

People who think Hialeah is just any old suburb of a major city have a view of Hialeah that is 50 years outdated. This is not a place that people relocate to by choice rather by necessity. It is easy for people to mention that Hialeah is not that bad, since they have a high paying managerial job in a factory and don't actually have to live, study and shop in the community for all of their needs.

There is a huge scam culture, of people trying to beat the system. There are also good people that fly straight...but make no mistake, this is not the American dream most people yearn for themselves in the long run.

Final note, some really cool people come out of Hialeah. Some of the funniest and most interesting people you will ever meet are born and bred here. Let's hope things improve for the city in the coming times...

You are right on about what Hialeah is and isn't......

[KittyAnneMarie]

It's sad to see all these people "ghetto-fying" Hialeah Gardens. I live 1 mile south of the Publix off of I-75 and I'll tell you that area is not a bad place to live. I've lived here my whole life (22 years). I went to Ben Sheppard, Ernest R Graham, Hialeah Gardens (The last two were built right after the other and they changed zoning for them), Jose Marti, and Barbara Goleman Senior High. I'm glad to say that I, as well as all of my friends, graduated, and most of my friends (including myself) graduated with the Superintendent's Diploma of Distinction.

http://gisims2.miamidade.gov/CServices/

This website will tell you what schools your children will be heading to based on your address. I put in the address of the Publix and your children should be going to Ernest R Graham, Jose Marti, and Barbara Goleman. I'd be weary of Jose Marti because I left that school years ago and it's gotten worse. Fortunately they are close to finishing a middle school and a high school by my house next to West Hialeah Gardens Elementary. They are going to be open for the 2008-2009, just in time for your 10 year old to start middle school (I think).

Yes, there are bad drivers and not enough good cops here, so be defensive but don't let others take advantage of your defensiveness. If you travel by Miami Lakes, be very wary of the cops because they'll stick you with a ticket for anything. The cops in Hialeah Gardens are a little bit more humane when it comes to traffic violations.

Another thing I MUST mention if you are moving down here is finding yourself at any intersection. In Hialeah Gardens, there are locations that merge with Hialeah. Some of the street signs will say Hialeah Garden's streets (i.e. NW 122nd St) and the Hialeah streets (W 68th St). Some do not. I know a lot of people from Broward and from South Miami that hate driving through Hialeah because they always get lost. It'll take you a while to know that NW 122nd St and W 68th St are the same street, but once you get that down (and other main ones), you should be able to find yourself.

Other than that, I've read a lot of posts with HELPFUL tips that should get you through. I hope I've helped and if other questions pop up, don't hesitate to send me a message.

[blackklight]

hialeah gardens and hialeah are different places; if you check city-data the crime rate is radically different for the two places aswell.

Type 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Murders 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
per 100,000 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.9 0.0 0.0

Type 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Murders 10 8 9 9 13 12 8
per 100,000 4.7 3.6 3.9 3.8 5.6 5.2 3.5

top gardens, bottom hialeah. not saying it's necessarily bad as hialeah has 220k people over hialeah garden's 20k, but it's just to prove a point that they are two distinct places. you don't have to ghetto-fie hialeah, it is what it is.

[TannerMan]

Ok, I moved last week so my kids could start school as soon as possible, I couldnt make it the week before.
My kids are going to Ernest R graham and was very satisfied with the school. I start my commute to work tuesday, but I did some test drives just to see how long it would take it and it took around 20 to 25 minutes, traffic on the Palmetto is not all that bad, the longer commute is all the traffic signals and stops off the highway but the commute is great. My wife also had a very easy going commute, it was around ten minutes and also very quick and easy.
The day we moved with the truck and all, some neighbors came over and introduced themselves and were very nice, one of my neighbors is even from the same town in LA that I grew up and that made for good conversation.
So thus far I am extremely pleased with the move and pleased with the community.
I want to thank everybody that helped, it was all very helpful and only made it that much better.

Tanner

[blackklight]

glad that you're liking it here, i haven't heard of ernest r graham but north hialeah elementary is also an A school and palm springs as well. best of wishes to you

[osomd1]

Originally Posted by blackklight

well if crime is your question then heres the city-data for it



expect attitude from drivers and a lot of it. you can go to south beach which is full of clubs and nightlife. as for your kids, there is a park called amelia earheart which has a few activities in there. i don't know about the other schools in the area but avoid hialeah middle/senior high school, your kids will thank you.

Hey, that's a whole lot of numbers boy, it looks confussing, just look at the numbers that city data.com gives you and you'll see that murder rate is among
the lowest in US for large cities, and overall the crime index compares very favorably with any city in US, for your info there is an article in US News that
mentions that in large predomintly hispanics cities the crime is lower than in
other cities, ignorant people vilify hispanics due to ignorance.

[blackklight]

i'm hispanic so i don't really know what you're talking about. i speak from experience from what i see living here, maybe my views are skewed as my zip code is the highest crime in the city (which is still low, i will admit).

[Chewy Mongo]

Originally Posted by unixpilot

Welcome to Hialeah!




Everyday im hustlin, everyday im hustlin

That about sums up South Floridas youth right there.

They dont look that scary though, I mean there only like 4ft tall and maybe 110 lbs

[blackklight]

see the thing is that isn't even hialeah, that's more than likely a more upper class area as the streets and sidewalks look nothing like that in my street or anywhere nearby.