What do you love and not like about Miami?

[bale002]

Originally Posted by doggiebus

... Miamians can be impatient (I'm guilty too) ...

Speaking of which, I know some people have pointed out that Miamians often honk their horns at people in front of them the fraction of a second that a traffic light turns green.

This happens in other big cities too, by the way, but I do notice that some traffic lights in Miami stay green for 1-5 seconds, then stay red again for up to 3 minutes. As a result, especially when someone is impatient to get to work or back home or to get a kid to/picked up from school at peak hours, a fraction of a second really does make a difference between being timely and being 3-6 or more minutes late. Yes, many people, even in Miami, do take pride in being on time, while often others are slow to react and seem to fall asleep at the wheel. Hence the almost immediate honk, sometimes more gentle than others.

I remember decades ago my grandfather, of blessed memory, rolling down his car window somewhere around North Miami Beach to holler at people for a question of three feet, and man could he yell loud! I am not that bold, but I'll holler with the windows rolled up and give a gentle honk every once in while.

[valicky]

I honk! Please - for God's sake go when the light turns green!!! The problem is that people here have extremely short attention spans. So while the red light can take a couple of minutes to turn green - you lose the driver to changing the radio, texting, checking themselves out in the mirror, etc. They just can't stay focused for more than a minute.

I find it baffling how I will hardly ever encounter rudeness, and actually it's the opposite. I almost always encounter politeness. How are you, thank you, you're welcome, doors held open, just typical pleasantries. But once people get in their cars - all bets are off. It's like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I don't understand why it's so drastically different.

Born here in '62 and the thing I hate the most is there are just too many people here now. This goes back to the driving. If people knew how to drive, the population numbers could be tolerated much more. But having so many incompetent, rude, aggressive drivers is what makes me hate Miami.

Weather isn't my favorite, I miss the seasons, but i don't hate it either.
I hate how people don't care about animals here, even their own.
Littering doesn't seem to bother many people here either, and I can't stand that. We all live here. Let's make Miami better, not worse. I can't imagine what these people's homes look like.
Hate the year round mosquitoes.
Hate the overdevelopment. Do we really not have enough strip shopping centers, banks, CVS, and Walgreens?

Love the beaches. The best in the country.
Sometimes love the weather.
Miami has some gorgeous places.
If you have money, you can dine out at spectacular restaurants.

[southkakkatlantan]

Originally Posted by hehesheppy

See what i dont get is why so many people love the weather. What is there to love about 80+ degrees all year round? Not to mention it's always humid. I actually HATE weather! You can't be outside for more than 5 minutes without sweating excessively. I've lived here for 10+ years.

What I like:

The beach is great (i havent actually been to the beach in almost 2 years though lol)

What I dislike:

Pretty much everything
The weather
The people
The traffic
You NEED a car
Can't do much if you don't have $$$
Superficial people


So I'm going to elaborate on everything. I'm 22 years old, female, and living in the suburbs of miami. I'm not into partying too much (i prefer bars instead of clubs).

1. I'm cuban, born there and moved to NJ when I was 3. I can honestly say I pretty much hate cubans (not all obviously). I think Miami is just not diverse at all! 90% of the people I see on a daily basis are cuban. I barely ever see black people, asians, white people, etc. Everything is extremely segregated!

2. The damn weather. It's literally too hot 75% of the year. The only decent weather is Jan-Mar (MAYBE). Last winter I think it got down to 60 for maybe 2-3 days. In the summer it rains all day every day and the humidity is out of control all year round. Not to mention the mosquitos! That brings me to number 3

3. You cant walk around. Unless you live in miami beach or coconut grove area, miami is not walkable at all. A car is a necessity. I hate it. I grew up across the river from NYC and i love being able to walk to places. Miami also has almost non-existant public transportation. Not to mention it's always too hot to walk anyway! and the mosquitos will also make sure that you never step outside. I have a pretty nice backyard with a canal and a nice deck. Ask me how many times i've been able to actually sit outside for more than 5 minutes.. Maybe a handful of times in a year. and most of those times ive gotten 10+ mosquito bites.

4. Traffic sucks and miami drivers are so careless! It's dangerous and people here drive like animals. It takes me 40-60+ minutes to get to work (which is only 8 miles away) because of how bad the traffic is.

5. Unless you have lots of money to spend or know the right people, you cant do much here in miami. I like doing more outdoorsy things and we don't have a lot of that besides the beach. We dont have any real hiking trails or scenery besides the beach. We dont really have any nice parks and the everglades is pretty boring lol. I do enjoy going to Shark Valley every once in a while though. Along with that people here are all about clubbing and dressing up and it's all about looks.


So yea I just came on here to rant about how much i hate miami lol. I plan on moving to chicago in the (very) near future. Here in miami i live 30 minutes from the beach and I need a car to do anything (btw i HATE driving). In chicago I will be living very close to downtown and will pay $100 a month for an unlimited subway/bus pass. That being said my cost of living will be the same here and in chicago because what i'll save by not having a car i can put into a nice studio or apartment close to downtown Chicago. I rather have all four seasons, diversity, and put up with cold weather.

At least you're honest. I wish you the best with your move. Have you visited Chicago many times?

I've been living in Chi for 2 years now (moved from Atlanta). The grass is not always greener. I'm not saying not to move here. Just make sure you're realistic about everything you want and if you think you'll get it here. I also moved here because I didn't want a car. So make sure you don't live too far from where you work. Now I commute to the suburbs and have to pay for a $165 metra card in addition to my $100 monthly CTA card and I don't even own a car.

Have a plan for lugging those groceries around in the snow if you don't drive. You won't want to go far with a wheeled cart in 10 degree weather once that wind starts blowing. And Chicago is extremely segregated. But I think I live in a more diverse side of town. But for the most part, I never see people like me in the places I frequent on the weekend. There are tons and TONS of free things to do here but I feel like most of those things happen in the summer so once warm weather comes, take full advantage of it. I think you can find almost every type of food here imaginable, which is good (major plus for me at least!).

I've been visiting MIA more often just to lay on the beach. Ah, I love the beach there. We have Lake Michigan here if you want your fix of bodies of water, but know it's nothing like the ocean.

Best of wishes!

[southkakkatlantan]

Originally Posted by bale002

What I love about Miami:

- warm temperatures all year round, humidity is okay;
- daily rain in the summer and part of the fall;
- people are tolerant and mind their own business for the most part;
- I expected Spanish and made a point to learn it;
- I work from home, so I can usually avoid rush hour traffic;
- I live in a building with assigned parking spaces, so parking is not an issue;
- it's in a no-state-income tax state;
- it is still relatively inexpensive compared to other cities that are major nexus points on the global economic circuit.

What I don't like or, better put, the greatest challenge, in my view, is that Florida is a relatively young state, and Miami an even younger city, so it lacks certain elements of cultural development. But at the same time that provides an opportunity to play a role in shaping its future.

To the OP, I have a long family history here in Miami and the greater Miami area over a period of six decades, though I myself was not born here. I have been here, though, for about five years now and I have no plans to go anywhere else, which I would now consider a step down, except maybe coastal California or Manhattan, both of which I could not afford.


In your particular case, it is very hazardous for you to base any solid judgments on a vacation on South Beach. Let me add that a good number of people who like Miami come here with a certain amount of wealth already accumulated. So you may experience deep disappointment if you could not at least partially replicate your vacation experience backed by your own wealth and/or income that you could earn remotely from your current employment or business or personal investments or some combination of the foregoing. Your viewpoint could quickly sour if you have to rely on income from a local job and you had to deal with rush hour traffic everyday and you lived in some old, decaying housing stock.

Good Luck!

Thanks for the insightful post. I have learned not to move to a place based on having vacationed there

I plan to visit MIA more over the next year (among other places) to get a better, more real feel for the city if possible. Usually I just go and lay on the beach. So of course life seems great there when I'm doing nothing lol.