What parts of Miami predominantly speak Spanish and little English? (Hialeah: homes, living)

[AD1985]

I will need need to develop a ground-level sense of this when I make my move, but I thought I'd ask here first: What sections of town are Spanish only, or heavily Spanish oriented?

I plan on learning Spanish for both personal and business reasons, but right now don't know more than a few words.

[gahando]

Hialeah Gardens and Doral. I can go into pretty much any business there and feel no guilt or issue if I want to use my Spanish.

Not sure how they would feel toward someone who isn't a native speaker trying to communicate with them in Spanish, though.

[ace587]

Sweetwater

[croatbob]

pretty much anywhere away from tourism.

[UrbanCrossroads]

Hialeah

[Awsi Dooger]

Definitely Hialeah. Last weekend I attended the races at Gulfstream on Saturday and at Hialeah on Sunday. Two different worlds. Gulfstream on days like that can pass for Miami 30 or 40 years ago, while at Hialeah it literally took more than two hours before I heard anyone speaking in English.

Well, other than the track announcer. That's in English. It's an example of an amusing aspect of living here...how many businesses have English signs and English on the loudspeaker but you'll be hard pressed to hear English among the customers.

I had a funny experience at Hialeah that day. As I was walking up the stairs toward the top of the grandstands I stopped to watch the daily flying of the pink flamingos prior to the 6th race. Within seconds I heard the word "gringo" from my left. Very distinct. A family was sitting there, with two small children. The little girl, maybe 4 years old, was pointing at me and saying "gringo" repeatedly in animated fashion, trying to make sure her parents noticed the out-of-place fellow. I wasn't upset. I enjoyed the next few seconds, when the mother tried to yank the little girl's finger away and the father put his finger to his own mouth and said, "Shhh."

[TooLoud]

The Western suburbs of Miami. All the places listed so far fit that category. Also, some of the poorer places in the city like Little Havana or Allapattah.

[Pincho-toot]

The crappy parts

[Stelio Steeler]

All the poor areas and any area where homes are painted purple in color with 10 foot high spite fences, junk cars in the front yard, barking dogs, the smell of beans, etc.

[perry335654]

Originally Posted by Stelio Steeler

All the poor areas and any area where homes are painted purple in color with 10 foot high spite fences, junk cars in the front yard, barking dogs, the smell of beans, etc.

So you are the one with the purple house.