To all the Miami-haters on this forum... (Miami Beach, Aventura: renting, health insurance)

[Evaldez65]

I meant no offense, I guess I just worded that wrong. What I meant to say was all of my buddies who live there dont seem to hate it, But I just guess its because they havent lived there more than 2 years. The people who I hear complain are some relatives of my friends who have lived in the area their whole life but are still uneducated bums.

I only plan on living in miami for school, afterwards Id probably come back north or head west.

I really appreciate all your help guys.

[Wild Style]

Evaldez

You might come here and LOVE Miami/South Florida. EVERYONE is different so don't think you have to share everyones opinion. I know a guy from Jamaica who loves Miami and wont leave. A friend of mine is married to a girl from down here. She has pretty much lived here her entire life and she loves it. So everyone is different.

[wanttomoveeast]

Originally Posted by gv0928

It seems that people expect things to change instantly for them, for the better, upon setting foot into the MIA airport.

I want to move to Miami, and I thought this comment was a good point. I am a dreamer, I'll admit that, but I do think one has to be realistic.

[wanttomoveeast]

Originally Posted by illini84

My point is that I could make the exact same salary (or probably more) doing the exact same job in the city I came from--St. Louis. My rent was literally half the cost of what it is here for an equally nice (or nicer) place, and a better quality of live overall. I didn't except this "amazing" lifestyle upon moving here, but I at least expected to live comfortably on my salary and not have to adapt to a poorer quality of life. I still can't figure out why I'm paying so much to live in Miami...for what?

What do you think about people like my husband and I? We are DINKS. Dual income no kids. We want to downsize our crap, I mean stuff. We hate our "quality of life". We live in a place where we hardly do anything just because we are sick of our town. We want to be emerged in culture and all the things that come with living in a big city (crime and all). We are professionals who make a good living, but have virtually no debt. We are hoping that our quality of life will improve with being presented with new surroundings, a totally different weather pattern, city-life and most of all the ocean. Are we being realistic? I always said, there is only one way to find out and just move out there.

I also wanted to point out that we are wanting and willing to downsize our living quarters, and pay more at the same time. It's a sacrifice for improving our quality of life. We see it like this: Yes, we live really well where we live now. We have cheap rent and get paid good money. But we hate our lifestyle, our surroundings, our city. Our city is mid-sized, not nearly the size of Miami. But not a "town" either.

[rogerbacon]

Originally Posted by wanttomoveeast

We are professionals who make a good living, but have virtually no debt.

Miami will change that real fast.

We are hoping that our quality of life will improve with being presented with new surroundings, a totally different weather pattern, city-life and most of all the ocean.

One can hope but probably not based on most of the stories people tell after moving here and movign away a few years later. One thing I definately don't associate Miami with is an improved standard of living. Even people who come here from third world countries don't seem happy. That should tell you something.

We have cheap rent and get paid good money. But we hate our lifestyle, our surroundings, our city. Our city is mid-sized, not nearly the size of Miami. But not a "town" either.

If I had a small group of friends I could always find something to do in a city or town of any size. It's not where you go or what you do but who you are doing it with that is most important. You will find friends very hard to make in Miami.

[chisoxfan]

Originally Posted by wanttomoveeast

What do you think about people like my husband and I? We are DINKS. Dual income no kids. We want to downsize our crap, I mean stuff. We hate our "quality of life". We live in a place where we hardly do anything just because we are sick of our town. We want to be emerged in culture and all the things that come with living in a big city (crime and all). We are professionals who make a good living, but have virtually no debt. We are hoping that our quality of life will improve with being presented with new surroundings, a totally different weather pattern, city-life and most of all the ocean. Are we being realistic? I always said, there is only one way to find out and just move out there.

I also wanted to point out that we are wanting and willing to downsize our living quarters, and pay more at the same time. It's a sacrifice for improving our quality of life. We see it like this: Yes, we live really well where we live now. We have cheap rent and get paid good money. But we hate our lifestyle, our surroundings, our city. Our city is mid-sized, not nearly the size of Miami. But not a "town" either.

Take a close look at Fort Lauderdale/Broward County. It's certainly not for everybody, but it still has the big-city atmosphere and the insanity level isn't nearly as high as it is in Miami. And DINKs tend to do well here. Please send me a private message if you'd like to know more.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by wanttomoveeast

What do you think about people like my husband and I? We are DINKS. Dual income no kids. We want to downsize our crap, I mean stuff. We hate our "quality of life". We live in a place where we hardly do anything just because we are sick of our town. We want to be emerged in culture and all the things that come with living in a big city (crime and all). We are professionals who make a good living, but have virtually no debt. We are hoping that our quality of life will improve with being presented with new surroundings, a totally different weather pattern, city-life and most of all the ocean. Are we being realistic? I always said, there is only one way to find out and just move out there.

I also wanted to point out that we are wanting and willing to downsize our living quarters, and pay more at the same time. It's a sacrifice for improving our quality of life. We see it like this: Yes, we live really well where we live now. We have cheap rent and get paid good money. But we hate our lifestyle, our surroundings, our city. Our city is mid-sized, not nearly the size of Miami. But not a "town" either.

Try Ft. Lauderdale. It has a lot of the positives of Miami and the number one negative it shares with Miami is the cost of living. The crime rate isn't even that bad, although in the city of Fort Lauderdale it's above average, as well as in some of the other cities. Broward County as a whole is about average crime wise. Talk to Chisoxfan, he knows what he is talking about and will give you a realistic (never diluted or sugarcoated, but never exaggerated or misleading) view. You guys should check out Lauderdale-By-The-Sea. It's motelish, but it has a low density character and an old Florida charm to it, and can even be walkable, yet it's cheaper than other areas near the beach. If you want a more suburban experience but don't want to be too far out (well, it's as far out as you can go down here, but by most city standards it's still not that far), the Bonaventure section of Weston has a lot of affordable but attractive condos, a very low crime rate, and a resort atmosphere.

[wanttomoveeast]

Roger: As to our debt, I can only say that your assessment that we will gain debt by moving is unfounded as you have no idea who we are, where we are coming from, etc. I forgot to mention we have sizeable savings.

As to quality of life: Isn't that an individual trait? Your quality of life might be perfect in living in a small town, fishing by a river, etc. That certainly doesn't mesh with my vision of a good quality of life for me.

Also, friends was not something I mentioned and really has nothing to do with us wanting to move.

Originally Posted by compelled to reply

Try Ft. Lauderdale. It has a lot of the positives of Miami and the number one negative it shares with Miami is the cost of living. The crime rate isn't even that bad, although in the city of Fort Lauderdale it's above average, as well as in some of the other cities. Broward County as a whole is about average crime wise. Talk to Chisoxfan, he knows what he is talking about and will give you a realistic (never diluted or sugarcoated, but never exaggerated or misleading) view. You guys should check out Lauderdale-By-The-Sea. It's motelish, but it has a low density character and an old Florida charm to it, and can even be walkable, yet it's cheaper than other areas near the beach. If you want a more suburban experience but don't want to be too far out (well, it's as far out as you can go down here, but by most city standards it's still not that far), the Bonaventure section of Weston has a lot of affordable but attractive condos, a very low crime rate, and a resort atmosphere.

I really appreciate your post. We have considered Ft. Laud., but ditched the idea when we heard it was the same size of our own city, jobs pay more in Miami (for our line of work), and that would mean we'd have to commute, one of our big no's for moving. I mean, obviously we will have commutes, but we don't want the ones associated with going from Ft. to Miami.

We plan on coming out there soon, so we will most likely stay in a variety of places to check out many different areas.

thanks chisoxfan! Perhaps we should reconsider Ft. (see my recent reply to compelled). We won't be going for quite some time, but I like to do as much research as possible. We probably won't move for 1 1/2 yrs.

[island mermaid]

Originally Posted by compelled to reply

Try Ft. Lauderdale. It has a lot of the positives of Miami and the number one negative it shares with Miami is the cost of living. The crime rate isn't even that bad, although in the city of Fort Lauderdale it's above average, as well as in some of the other cities. Broward County as a whole is about average crime wise. Talk to Chisoxfan, he knows what he is talking about and will give you a realistic (never diluted or sugarcoated, but never exaggerated or misleading) view. You guys should check out Lauderdale-By-The-Sea. It's motelish, but it has a low density character and an old Florida charm to it, and can even be walkable, yet it's cheaper than other areas near the beach. If you want a more suburban experience but don't want to be too far out (well, it's as far out as you can go down here, but by most city standards it's still not that far), the Bonaventure section of Weston has a lot of affordable but attractive condos, a very low crime rate, and a resort atmosphere.

Sshhhhh... stop telling people about 'my' little town, LBTS. It was a very well kept secret till now!

[wanttomoveeast]

hahahaha mermaid, here we come!!!