Miami vs (insert city here) (best city, real estate, rent)

[elemenope]

I see so many people with a “grass is greener” mentality.

Like the title of this post suggests, I am wondering if anyone has left Miami before and found a better life.

We all know the houses and traffic here makes this place difficult. As a parent, I’m seriously considering leaving because I’m no longer in the party phase of my life.

So, if you have left and found a better place, where did you go? Let this be the Miami vs every other city thread.

[CXT2000]

My pattern is a bit crazy, but this is what happens when you/your family are all in business, you move often cause you have no choice.

I enjoyed Miami, I really did, but I'd choose Montreal over MIA every day for multiple reasons.

1. Higher education options (McGill, UdeM, Concordia, etc..) I got into McGill. Education is not only better, but tuition for me at McGill was the same as MDC.
2. QOL is much higher, more parks, more livable neighbourhoods, low crime, more outdoor activities cause of four seasons.
3. There are more things to do here, more festivals, shows, neighbourhoods etc...
4. transit, thank God for the subway.
5. It's dirt cheap to live here, you can rent a brand new condo smack downtown for ~$1,500.
6. More cultural diversity (not Toronto level, but close)
7. Better/more food options as well
8. That materialistic vibe is rare here, except for some suburban areas, but it's just very chill and people are more accepting.
9. More/better jobs. I mean, I did get an internship and worked with the city of Miami for a couple years, but when it comes to politics, Montreal has a lot more jobs. In fact, the U.N was supposed to move their HQ here a while back. Although it didn't happen, we have many U.N agencies here and cause of that, I've had many jobs in international relations, or with the city, and getting closer to getting in the actual U.N in NYC.

Do I miss Miami? sometimes, I do miss the beaches (when they're not fully crowded) and the Latin-American vibe. But the crazy traffic, constant racism, party hard culture (although fun at first) amongst other things, I had enough and said screw it. I still visit often though, I invested in Miami World Centre and that's gonna be a game changer there, so the city will improve for sure. But as of now, I made the right move, and I even convinced about a dozen friends to move here too haha, so far they like it (minus the winter).

But yeah, Miami is chill, not the best city but it's far from the worst as well. To me it's in the middle pack for now, but it can get worse or get better with time, we'll see.

[boxus]

I have left and lived in a few cities, but no other city beat Miami. But I love warm, humid weather and the ocean. All the other things people talk about regarding other cities I have zero care for (not negatively speaking of people who do care, just saying I do not care).

[bale002]

Originally Posted by elemenope

I see so many people with a “grass is greener” mentality.

Like the title of this post suggests, I am wondering if anyone has left Miami before and found a better life.

We all know the houses and traffic here makes this place difficult. As a parent, I’m seriously considering leaving because I’m no longer in the party phase of my life.

So, if you have left and found a better place, where did you go? Let this be the Miami vs every other city thread.

I'm in late stage in life and live in Miami by choice because of no state income tax, warm weather all year round, and an urban environment.

If I were filthy rich, I would live in London, New York or San Francisco, roughly in that order. It's all relative, and in that sense Montreal would be the "poor" man's version of the reasons behind those would-be choices.

I can understand why especially ambitious young people without a family business to go into and good/or connections in business and politics would want to leave Miami, I see it often.

Good Luck!

[elchevere]

+ 1...where else in this country, besides LA (though state income tax and Westside/Santa Monica considerably more expensive than here) can you get this??...Unless you are in a select few professions Miami is a place to live after you have made your wealth elsewhere and/or can relocate and bring your high paying job with you.

Originally Posted by bale002

I'm in late stage in life and live in Miami by choice because of no state income tax, warm weather all year round, and an urban environment.

Good Luck!

[BeachBum87]

Originally Posted by elchevere

+ 1...where else in this country, besides LA (though state income tax and Westside/Santa Monica considerably more expensive than here) can you get this??...Unless you are in a select few professions Miami is a place to live after you have made your wealth elsewhere and/or can relocate and bring your high paying job with you.

IMO, it would be ideal if it was in the reverse. Build your wealth in Miami. Reason is the lack of a state income tax. Working in places like California and NYS see's more of your money go to the government, and that's exactly what you don't want when you're trying to build wealth. Also property taxes tend to be higher (fixed cost of property) with higher insurances and HOAs in Miami compared to those states. Meaning when you have the same valued property paid off, your living expenses will be higher.

Obviously though, high paying jobs are hard to find in Miami compared to California or NYS.

[elchevere]

Innovation leads to higher paying jobs and spurs new industries. That starts with education. CA has Stanford, Berkeley, UCLA, Caltech, etc etc; NY has Columbia, NYU, Cornell, RPI and draws from nearby states. What industries does Miami and FSU prepare its grads for in great numbers outside of the competitive law and medical fields that is not unique to any city?...similar issue with San Diego versus the other, bigger economic engines in CA (LA and SF)—UCSD does a great job with Life Sciences grads (biotech/healthcare, etc) but that is a relatively specialized, limited and small percentage of the total population. Stanford and UCLA offer these specialty areas of study but they also offer Liberal Arts degrees which create additional opportunities.

Education and innovation are the key to creating and sustaining high paying careers—especially STEM related. Low taxes are great, but what about focusing on top line growth—such as higher wages in cutting edge industries. Texas has been offering incentives to many CA based technology firms forvyears and succeeding in getting them to relocate. Given a choice between cold weather cities or Miami , young people would love to have a reason to come to Miami and be able to build wealth here— something many service oriented jobs do not do. Amazon would be a great first step, but I’m not holding my breath that Miami gets selected.

Originally Posted by BeachBum87

IMO, it would be ideal if it was in the reverse. Build your wealth in Miami. Reason is the lack of a state income tax. Working in places like California and NYS see's more of your money go to the government, and that's exactly what you don't want when you're trying to build wealth. Also property taxes tend to be higher (fixed cost of property) with higher insurances and HOAs in Miami compared to those states. Meaning when you have the same valued property paid off, your living expenses will be higher.

Obviously though, high paying jobs are hard to find in Miami compared to California or NYS.

[BeachBum87]

Originally Posted by elchevere

Innovation leads to higher paying jobs and spurs new industries. That starts with education. CA has Stanford, Berkeley, UCLA, Caltech, etc etc; NY has Columbia, NYU, Cornell, RPI and draws from nearby states. What industries does Miami and FSU prepare its grads for in great numbers outside of the competitive law and medical fields that is not unique to any city?...similar issue with San Diego versus the other, bigger economic engines in CA (LA and SF)—UCSD does a great job with Life Sciences grads (biotech/healthcare, etc) but that is a relatively specialized, limited and small percentage of the total population. Stanford and UCLA offer these specialty areas of study but they also offer Liberal Arts degrees which create additional opportunities.

Education and innovation are the key to creating and sustaining high paying careers—especially STEM related. Low taxes are great, but what about focusing on top line growth—such as higher wages in cutting edge industries. Texas has been offering incentives to many CA based technology firms forvyears and succeeding in getting them to relocate. Given a choice between cold weather cities or Miami , young people would love to have a reason to come to Miami and be able to build wealth here— something many service oriented jobs do not do. Amazon would be a great first step, but I’m not holding my breath that Miami gets selected.

I agree Amazon would be a great boost to Miami and real estate prices. Not disagreeing with what you said, just pointing out that the ideal dynamics is work in a low-income state when young (provided your salary is the same) and retire in a low property tax state. Most people's incomes during retirement will be lower than at the height of their careers excluding some edge cases.

Also, I want to point out that some places like Dubai exist - high salaries simply due to low tax and regulation environment - yet no innovation as of date. A teacher in Dubai often makes more than a regular code monkey at Google does - and no taxes!

[UMCanes]

I left Miami for the DC area 25 years ago. While DC is not where I plan to live in retirement, I have not regretted moving here from Miami. I enjoy the change of seasons that you don't get in South Florida, and I live much closer to so many interesting places that I can get to by car in less than a day's drive (NYC, Philly, the beaches of Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia, Atlantic City, the mountains of Virginia, West Virginia, and Western Maryland, etc.). Right now, during the dead of winter, is the only time I miss Miami. Once spring hits, however, those feelings go away for 9 more months.

[justthe2ofus]

If money was no object, we'd be living in South Florida. We're currently in Las Vegas for career reasons.