As a British person, I love Miami (South Beach: metro, walkable)

[dataorinfo]

Hi, I am new doing this, I just wanted to add that I am happy to heard that you like Miami.

[BrightonFamily]

THEBIRDS, there really isn’t many English here is there. Once Barry Gibb goes we’ll be on our own. I'm in Sunny Isles and I have only heard another English accent once. So I'm a minority also. Personally I have found customer service much better a little further north, for example “Delray Beach”. Customer service in Sunny Isles sux, I think it’s because most of the population in SIB are rude and arrogant so the sux customer service fits in well.

Don’t forget the driving here in SoFlo is diabolical. The driving style is just totally without order, nobody indicates and everybody drives while on the phone, 30% of the drivers have a gaydog either on their lap or on the dash. If you stand at the pedestrian crossing and watch you’ll see that at least 4 out of 10 drivers have a phone in there hand. What amazes me is that the police have no interest in enforcing the law in this point either. While we are on the topic of pedestrian crossings, this is another topic that irritates me, it’s rare to find drivers that stop and wait when you are crossing, most seem to drive around pedestrians like an obstacle course. A few weeks ago I had the walkies lights and was crossing Collins with my 6yr old boy when a big lorry that came out of a side road tried to run us down, the lorry burned rubber to miss us and I gave him a mouthful but the idiot though he was in the right. That’s another thing the police don’t seem to be bothered about either. It is no mystery that Florida has the worse traffic accident stats.

I wouldn’t say beach is 24/7/365 because the tropical storms are usually not good times for swimming unless you’re an extreme surfer. In the UK when we used to get a rare hot weekend the traffic piling into Brighton was ridiculous, there literarily wasn’t enough space in the car parks for all the cars or enough space on the Beach. Even on the hottest summer days the water was almost like an arctic dip. So in comparison, Florida is a massive contrast in that respect.

[Hawaii4evr]

Originally Posted by boxus

"Plus California has that Mediterranean climate you like. In fact, its arguably better than the countries you listed."

It is cold along the coast, even in the summer, and the ocean is always cold; the Med is only cold in the winter.

Please, SoCal is NOT cold on the coast in summer. The ocean, maybe, but still swimmable. The temperatures of the air, the breeze may be cool, but typically summer daytime temperatures are like 80F and nightime lows of 70F right on the beach! Heck, fall is just a few degrees cooler than that, and still warm in SoCal.

[Hawaii4evr]

I agree that a lot of people are overly negative about Miami, mainly because of weather, lack of English speakers, and rudeness. Newsflash! You will encounter rude people everywhere! I can understand how it may be annoying for some people to not speak English in the USA, but I don't mind it, and actually find it very unique and interesting. This is one of the reasons I actually like South Florida. It feels as if you are in another country because of the diversity, but then again, the US is one of the most diverse countries. I love the subtropical heat and humidity, but I can see how storms and overbearing weather can bother people. For me, the weather thing that sucks about SoFla are the cold snaps in winter. I love Miami and Fort Lauderdale. The only city I've liked more in the country is Honolulu.

[perry335654]

I say O boy,pip, pip and cheerio!!!!!!!!!!!!

[tropical87]

Sure, if I lived on Hisbiscus island and worked in South Beach, I'd love Miami too!

The OP is still in the "honeymoon period"; give him/her a bit more time to learn what Miami is really about (exceptional rudeness, terrible public transport, gold-digging whores, drama and fakeness) and he'll become a b*tching whining Miamian like the rest of us

[damitssam]

LOL I came to Miami with my ex (she was Argentinian), and already I could see this place is like Latino Americano Numero Uno.

I could see this place being pretty fun though if you wanted to dive into latin american culture. Where I live, there is literally no diversity. Instead of traveling all around SA/CA, just go to Miami and you can find "local spots".

[robertobaggio]

Originally Posted by THEBIRDS

I've lived in Miami for a few years and love it. I love the fact that it's not like the rest of the US. It feels far more European than American at times, even for all its faults. I certainly would not choose to live anywhere else in Florida and I would not live in most other parts of the US. Miami is also growing more and more cosmopolitan as time goes on, as now I hear the Russian language as well as the Spanish & Portuguese languages. I think this is a fantastic city with an amazing skyline. It gets a bad rep for being rude, yet I seem to encounter nothing but politeness and customer service FAR better than I'd get back in the UK.

So I think this is a great city and despite it's problems, I don't think I'd live anywhere else in the US, maybe aside from New York.

I am European too. Why do you all think Europeans like Miami so much? It is because it's very different from the rest of the country. Americans see that as a negative, Europeans as a positive.

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by robertobaggio

I am European too. Why do you all think Europeans like Miami so much? It is because it's very different from the rest of the country. Americans see that as a negative, Europeans as a positive.

One of the great mysteries. I'm attracted to Miami as well, but notice most of my fellow Americans are not. Maybe Europeans are more used to hearing other languages. That seems to be the biggest complaint, I hear, from Floridans.

That being said, I think there is an element of Americans that are attracted to Maimi, and they are usually from other metros where they are also familiar with hearing other languages. I'm thinking of people from NYC/NJ. I could probably add Boston as well.

[miamihurricane555]

Originally Posted by BrightonFamily

THEBIRDS, there really isn’t many English here is there. Once Barry Gibb goes we’ll be on our own. I'm in Sunny Isles and I have only heard another English accent once. So I'm a minority also. Personally I have found customer service much better a little further north, for example “Delray Beach”. Customer service in Sunny Isles sux, I think it’s because most of the population in SIB are rude and arrogant so the sux customer service fits in well.

Don’t forget the driving here in SoFlo is diabolical. The driving style is just totally without order, nobody indicates and everybody drives while on the phone, 30% of the drivers have a gaydog either on their lap or on the dash. If you stand at the pedestrian crossing and watch you’ll see that at least 4 out of 10 drivers have a phone in there hand. What amazes me is that the police have no interest in enforcing the law in this point either. While we are on the topic of pedestrian crossings, this is another topic that irritates me, it’s rare to find drivers that stop and wait when you are crossing, most seem to drive around pedestrians like an obstacle course. A few weeks ago I had the walkies lights and was crossing Collins with my 6yr old boy when a big lorry that came out of a side road tried to run us down, the lorry burned rubber to miss us and I gave him a mouthful but the idiot though he was in the right. That’s another thing the police don’t seem to be bothered about either. It is no mystery that Florida has the worse traffic accident stats.

I wouldn’t say beach is 24/7/365 because the tropical storms are usually not good times for swimming unless you’re an extreme surfer. In the UK when we used to get a rare hot weekend the traffic piling into Brighton was ridiculous, there literarily wasn’t enough space in the car parks for all the cars or enough space on the Beach. Even on the hottest summer days the water was almost like an arctic dip. So in comparison, Florida is a massive contrast in that respect.

you do realize talking on the phone while driveing is completely legal in Florida right?