Is Miami really as dangerous and nasty as everyone says? (Orlando: lawyer, budget)

[planetsurf]

Originally Posted by PBCboy

The city of Miami does not include Aventura or Miami Beach, just because you say it does doesn't make it true.

Didn't say it did -- nor Coral Gables/S Miami/Pinecrest. To most people Miami is most of Miami-Dade county, not just the City of Miami. I'm from there and can't tell you if certain neighborhoods are in the city or not -- it doesn't matter to me or to people thinking of visiting or moving there.

If your looking to fudge facts about crime statistics and Miami (using City of Miami to represent the whole metro area) then it does.

[PBCboy]

Originally Posted by planetsurf

Didn't say it did -- nor Coral Gables/S Miami/Pinecrest. To most people Miami is most of Miami-Dade county, not just the City of Miami. I'm from there and can't tell you if certain neighborhoods are in the city or not -- it doesn't matter to me or to people thinking of visiting or moving there.

If your looking to fudge facts about crime statistics and Miami (using City of Miami to represent the whole metro area) then it does.

Well, you DID say it did...

Your exact quote:

"Miami is Miami, it includes Miami Beach, S. Miami/Gables/Grove and Aventura."

Maybe you didn't mean it that way, but those were your exact words.

[NOTINYUMA]

you must never leave your house?

Originally Posted by kevinkagy

Only few, small parts of Miami are dangerous, like any city. I've lived here all my life and never seen anyone with a gun, never seen a violent crime, never heard of anyone getting robbed, etc.

[piranhaman]

Originally Posted by NOTINYUMA

you must never leave your house?

Funny, there are some who have never had to speak Spanish in any situation after living in Miami for years... That's just illogical.

[jbravo]

Nice thread.
Yes, I have seen chickens right across from Coral Gables.
Thanks for the comparison of prices between Weston and Miami.

The confusion comes from the nomenclature: Miami and Miami-Dade ounty.


Here's a map of Miami city limits:
Image:Miami.gif - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Notice it includes Liberty City and Little Havana.
Notice all of the "Miami" it does not include.
The rich parts of Miami seceded long ago and incorporated into their own municipalities.
Key Biscayne, Kendal, Doral and about a dozen other cities formerly part of "Miami" are now no longer, leaving Miami pretty damn poor.
With the exception of "Coconut Grove" which is still part of Miami, funny story, they wanted to incorporate but leave the black area to Miami!

Miami proper (within the strict city limits) is one of the poorest cities in the U.S.
That's the problem and the confusion.
_

[Cane Fan]

Originally Posted by NOTINYUMA

you must never leave your house?

Sorry to burst your bubble , but I have to second Kevin Kagy .... I have been in South Florida over eleven years and I have never been robbed , assaulted or the victim of a crime , in fact I do not know anyone that has been the victim of a violent crime ... is there crime down here , yes ..... plenty but like anywhere else you have use smarts and stay away from the bad areas , just like in any other large city .... what the hell would I go to Overtown , Carol City , Liberty City , Goulds , Miami Gardens or other crappy areas for ?

I have had more problems in Houston where my car was broken into twice last summer near the Galleria while visiting family .

I find it amusing that people who hate Miami are almost obsessed by the topic .... I do not particularly care for Miami , but I do not spend my days pounding away at my keyboard trashing the area .

[Cane Fan]

Originally Posted by decodriveboy

Hi Daniel, I would not let anyone discourage you from moving to Miami. There are plenty of decent places in the South Florida metro area to live. You probably won't ever get bored here like you would elsewhere. I come from a big city (D.C.) and am accustomed to big city problems, so they do not bother me as much.

Housing-wise, I'd recommend staying as close to US-1 (aka Federal Highway/Biscayne Boulevard) as possible, and if you can live east of it, even better. The Boulevard is convenient to everything from shopping, dining, and entertainment, all the way from Boca Raton to South Miami. In Broward County, Las Olas in Fort Lauderdale is beautiful; nearby are neighborhoods such as Victoria Park & Rio Vista, pretty but pricey. As you head south, Hollywood Lakes is wonderful, and Parkside (also in Hollywood) directly west of US-1 is up-and-coming, and not as expensive.

As you cross into Dade County, Aventura, and parts of North Miami Beach are nice. Even better would be Miami Shores (in my opinion, the best). Also, look at Shorecrest, Belle Meade, and Morningside, all trendy neighborhoods, albeit surrounded by ghetto on one side and water on the other. If you want to live in a condo, Brickell is great in downtown, with lots of expensive hi-rises. Excluding Brickell, you can actually rent in a new, beautiful downtown building now for pretty reasonable, but the surrounding areas may be sketchy. Also, a lot of people love the nearby Design District, but I wouldn't recommend it due to lack of safety and surrounding urban decay.

South of downtown, look at a neighborhood called The Roads, Coral Gables, and Pinecrest. Due to the traffic, I wouldn't live further south than Kendall Drive (or west of I-95, or anywhere I had to take the Palmetto or the Turnpike.)

Miami Beach is something to look at; you really can't go wrong in Sunny Isles, Bal Harbour, or Surfside. Normandy Isle (off the 79 Street Causeway) is actually somewhat affordable and has a nice sort of downtown area. South Beach is a must-see, but can be a pain, with tourists and thuggy or intoxicated people constantly coming down to party, local or otherwise. Best part of South Beach is Lincoln Road, and to live, West Avenue.

If you want a cookie-cutter, sanitized suburban type existence (be advised it's far from the beach by comparison), look at Weston, Miramar (west of Flamingo Road), western Pembroke Pines, Davie, Cooper City, Coral Springs, Coconut Creek, and Parkland. Most of what's near to I-75 is as close to suburbia as South Florida gets. Dade County does not have nearly the amount of such communities as Broward does. **If you have kids, these places would be the only choices to consider, particularly Weston.**

-The good about Miami & South Florida: great weather, beach, beautiful water, fun, palm trees everywhere, interesting people who are easy to meet, exciting energy, lots to see and do.

-The bad: Astronomically high property taxes, lack of jobs, many poor schools, very low wages but extremely high cost of living, huge divide between the rich and not rich, homicidal drivers, lunatic pedestrians. Aggressive, northeast-style attitude is prevalent. Very questionable local politics and practices (especially wasteful ones). This is the motherland of tricksters and scam artists galore. We have the worst, most dishonest contractors you've ever seen. Learn how to fix things yourself, and do not expect good customer service, EVER. You will have to learn to live without it down here.

It seems like the bad far outweighs the good, but I wouldn't think of being anywhere else. You just have to have a very good sense of humor and a lot of patience. Have a good job lined up, and a master plan for how things are supposed to go. And then have a backup plan or two beyond that!

Best of luck

decodriveboy ... excellent post in fact the best I have ever seen here .. you point out the good and bad .. kudos to you .... I do not care what many malcontents here post , I like South Florida and enjoy living here ... I have learned to ignore the rude drivers and ghetto culture seen in some areas and appreciate the beauty down here of the beaches , architecture and women ... as well I have a great group of friends that share the same likes and dislikes making it enjoyable to live down here .

[beachedc03]

Originally Posted by blackklight

lol i wouldn't say it's as bad as dc or detroit, those places are the american versions of iraq.

thank you oh so much. while i havent recently or extensively visited DC, i have being from cleveland in all been to detroit frequently enough to tell you that unlike miami, there is no good area to live in that is detroit, michigan. there is no good neighborhood. at least here in Miami if you do good research you can find a few good brightspots here and there that are specifically still miami

the only difference with the criminals here are they are dumber and more willing to do anything to escape the law. this is one of the only cities in the US that semi-automatic weapons are standard issue for officers

btw i must agree with the two posts above. all in all from my experience here miami is not really that much worse. just like every major city if you dont know where your going and you end up in a bad area your going to get jacked, more is just said about it here because since its so transient here you have more of said people ending up in areas where they may be taken advantage of.

and also thank you decoboy for emphasizing the fact that you will not under any circumstances receive good customer service here. it exists at 1 of every 100 establishments here. and if you do manage to become lucky enough to stumble upon it, it will cost you an arm and a leg. I work at a hotel (major chain) and for the most part we give pretty good service but we also cost over 300 a night even in slow season and well over 400 during peak season.

for people who are moving here just be smart. if you know people here consult them heavily before moving. even someone who lives in the ghetto can tell you where it is and you can avoid it. and secondly dont buy the hype. examine for yourself. you know what your comfortable dealing with and not dealing with. most areas (excluding liberty city) are ok to visit during the day with little problems and driving through you can tell what areas are bad just by looking at the blight that exists there. for the most part its painfully obvious when you see it here

Originally Posted by planetsurf

Didn't say it did -- nor Coral Gables/S Miami/Pinecrest. To most people Miami is most of Miami-Dade county, not just the City of Miami. I'm from there and can't tell you if certain neighborhoods are in the city or not -- it doesn't matter to me or to people thinking of visiting or moving there.

If your looking to fudge facts about crime statistics and Miami (using City of Miami to represent the whole metro area) then it does.

its very true for people moving in even though aventura/kendall/c gable are their own municipality people see them as miami anyway. at the end of the day its all greater miami area and thats what those on the outside will see. particularly those in major cities which are not broken down like miami and particularly those who arent in major cities at all. in cleveland the break down is virtually exactly like this, most of the decent neighborhoods became their own cities. one of the nicest/most expensive cities in the state is only 10-15 from downtown but its still 'greater cleveland area'

[blackklight]

thats not true, there are plenty of areas in detroit that are fine to live in

[beachedc03]

if your referring to detroit metro area yes detroit proper no