Should we move from No-Cal to So-Fla? (Miami, Coral Gables: condo, buy)

[wanttomoveeast]

Do you think that your dislike and others comes from the west coast/east coast clash?

Also, what line of work are you in? If you don't mind, what level of education? I write because we are considering the move (not for another year or so) and I am very interested in others' experiences.

Originally Posted by MalaK

Nooooooooo way. I'm from Marin county, and I moved to the Coral Gables
area which is nice but in no way compares to anything in California. Miami
is a city of its own. My first few days here were a great learning
experience. Sadly to me Miami doesn't feel like a civilized United States
city. There's a lot of diversity, and I thought for a while that was going
to be a good thing, but it wasn't. People don't speak English, they don't
know how to drive. I thought they were "RUDE" drivers, but I realized
at the beggining that the real problem is that they don't know the laws,
and or know how to properly drive a vehicle. I've gone to really nice
restaurants and to fast food restaurants, and 75% of the time they
have served me the wrong thing. One time it took me 30mins to find
an atm at a local mall because no one knew what it was or what I was
asking for, and I speak fluent Spanish (I'm Hispanic myself). It's a different
world for sure out here, and it sure feels like a 3rd world country. Yes,
you do see the ocassional nice car, and such, but we have that in
California and a lot more. Miami's overall customer service to the public
is HORRENDOUS. Weather is fine most of the time, I still haven't
experience a hurricane season, but I guess I will this year. I've only been
a few months here btw. Finding a job is another problem, it doesn't matter
the level of education you have, or the experience, I guess most of it
is "Who you know", so it is very hard to find a good job, at least from
my experience. Overall I dislike it very much, but hopefully in the future
I will be moving out of here and back to Cali.

[wanttomoveeast]

Illini: I remember talking to you a few months ago maybe? I thought it was you, but I could be wrong, that posted that you were out of there? I thought you had already moved. Seems like you are from Chicago and are youngish. Is that you?

BTW: If you don't like cost of living in Miami, I wouldn't suggest San Francisco. It's crazy high in cost in everything, including taxes. The language barrier is something I come across in any coastal city. The people in L.A. complain about the Mexicans, people in Miami complain about the Cubans and other spanish speakers. It's pretty ironic. Try visiting those forums and you'll see what I mean. Good luck to you anyway!

Originally Posted by illini84

That sums it up pretty well, MalaK. Those were my exact thoughts when moving here and I, too, am leaving Miami. Sorry to hear you don't like it though--that's tough. I've always heard San Francisco is very Asian--do people there speak Chinese/Japanese/etc. like people speak Spanish here (overwhelmingly)? I would like to move out there in the future, but don't want to encounter the same problems I've run into here in Miami (language barrier, pretentious people, high cost of living for nothing, etc.). I've heard SF is a wonderful city, but is it really what it's cracked up to be? And worth the money?

[planetsurf]

Originally Posted by wanttomoveeast

That's funny. I see this written all the time. But yet all the people on here who live in Miami are typing English, I sort of assume they speak it too. So how is it that all of Miami speaks Spanish? Just a thought.

A recent poll showed in 75% of households in Miami-Dade, someone ALSO speaks a language other than English (most of those speak English too) BUT according to the stats found on this website, only about 8.2% of Miami-Dade does not speak English at all (and I'm sure that can broken down further by time in the US, income level, etc).
It's SO overblown -- I've come to the conclusion that 80% of it is just plain xenophobia.

MOST of what you hear on the "street" is Spanglish, people slipping in and out of Spanish and English. MOST of the people living in working class and up areas speak at least a little English just fine (if accented) even if they are talking Spanish most of the time.
There is a small but real percentage of "white collar" type jobs which won't be available if you don't speak English & Spanish and certain neighborhoods in which some people who wait on you can't speak English, but in almost all of Miami, you don't NEED to speak Spanish to get by.

Heck, I'm as gringo as they come and I slip into Spanglish sometimes ... Coño, it's just a Miami thing!

[wanttomoveeast]

planet: I'm skeptical of polls, for obvious reasons, meaning, are they divulging who was polled, their manner in which they chose the homes (random or stratefied?), etc. But I suppose what you are saying is what I was getting at. I've read on this forum a lot about how I won't find a job or be able to survive Miami without Spanish, but many of who I speak to who either grew up there or just moved away from there (to my area) say no way, you'll be fine. I've searched job boards, and it's a rarity that they are requiring bilinguals. I work as a legal secretary.

I did recently study Spanish for two years, but it's slowly slipping away. I'm getting into a new soap opera on Telemundo, so maybe that'll help. Passiones Prohibidas? Looks dirty. hahaha

[planetsurf]

Originally Posted by wanttomoveeast

say no way, you'll be fine

I agree, you'll be fine.

[wanttomoveeast]

now as to actually landing a job and finding the right area to live in...

ok, hijack over. So OP, going to move anyway?

[MalaK]

No, I never got into the west coast/east coast thing, no way. It's just a
lot different here, for me it was a culture shock. Even now, two months
and a half later there are still a few things that bother me, oh well for
the time being. I have two degrees: web design and economics.

Originally Posted by wanttomoveeast

Do you think that your dislike and others comes from the west coast/east coast clash?

Also, what line of work are you in? If you don't mind, what level of education? I write because we are considering the move (not for another year or so) and I am very interested in others' experiences.

[copacetic]

Yes, Miami is much more chaotic than California. There are fewer rules here, and the rules that do exist are ignored anyway. I happen to prefer it this way.

[runswithscissors]

Originally Posted by wanttomoveeast

That's funny. I see this written all the time. But yet all the people on here who live in Miami are typing English, I sort of assume they speak it too. So how is it that all of Miami speaks Spanish? Just a thought.

Wow that's deep, you're right... I said ALL OF MIAMI, every single solitary person without exception and I took a personal door to door survey of all of them, too.

Take you're pick of other imaginary complainers:

In Miami, Spanish becoming primary language - Life - MSNBC.com

What I Meant by 'Third World' Miami - HUMAN EVENTS

26th Parallel: Spanish and English in Miami

Miami's Spanish-Speaking Population Outnumber English Speakers - The Huffington Post


Mary Bravo, a 37-year-old Venezuelan business owner, moved to Miami nine years ago. She understands English but only speaks a little.
"This land is theirs. We should try to speak English," she said, "but they don't even try to understand us."



1993:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...n=&pagewanted=


But no, really, thanks for your input. Let everyone know if you ever leave Colorado and come here what you think.

[wanttomoveeast]

oh perhaps I didn't phrase my question completely. What I was wondering is if you think the reason why so many people hate the different sides of the coast (west coast and the east coast) is due to the culture clash? Meaning, if you move from the west coast, are you going to have more of a problem adapting to Miami because of the culture you are used to on the west coast?

What bothers you about living there? Do you think your degrees are helping you job-wise and salary-wise? Thanks for your post!!

Originally Posted by MalaK

No, I never got into the west coast/east coast thing, no way. It's just a
lot different here, for me it was a culture shock. Even now, two months
and a half later there are still a few things that bother me, oh well for
the time being. I have two degrees: web design and economics.