Miami and Los Angeles - How do they Compare? (real estate, crime)

[Island_OnThe_Land]

I will state upfront that I really like both places. At the same time, ALL places have their flaws. I am from Los Angeles but have spent time in Miami and I have always been attracted to the warm beaches of Miami.

I think a case can be made for either place but here is my list of why LA beats Miami and why Miami beats LA:

Why Los Angeles Over Miami:
1. As the 2nd largest city in the US, Los Angeles offers FAR MORE cultural and art institutions than does Miami.
2. Los Angeles has the MOST diverse population of any large US city: white, latino, asian, black, etc.
3. GEOGRAPHIC diversity: LA offers beaches, mountains, and desert all one location. You can ski and surf in the same weekend.
4. Educational / Brain power: Los Angeles has UCLA, USC, and CalTech all in one metro area. Albert Einstien taught at Cal Tech.
5. LA has better and more varied architecture. I can hear architecture critics in San Fran or NYC cringe but really just look at downtown LA. There is a great diversity of style and era. Not just Art Deco.
6. Climate: Yes, So. Florida is GREAT in the winter. But I'll take LA's year round balmy climate, esp. the dry summers when it never rains and there is NO HUMIDITY.
7. Music scene: great musicians live and come to LA and have for years. You can see almost anything on a nightly basis.
8. No "real" surf in Florida. LA is no Hawaii but we get some pretty awesome swells.
9. Much better mexian food in Los Angeles.

Why Choose Miami over Los Angeles:
1. That darn Pacific ocean is really cold.
2. The Miami winter beats the LA winters.
3. Less traffic in Miami than Los Angeles.
4. Less smog in Miami than Los Angeles.
5. The bars stay open later in Miami.
6. So. Fla real estate is cheaper but than again the wages are far less in Miami so maybe this one is a wash.
7. The cuban food is better in Miami.

The women are pretty hot in both places but I think Brazil has both places beat in that category.

[burgler09]

More tropical atmosphere of Miami to LA
Traffic in Miami doesn't compare to LA
Miami is a bit less spaced out
Bit more friendliness in MIA

[CLTKing]

Both cities are full of crime and immigrants. Traffic is a nightmare on both, one has earthquakes, the other one hurricanes. Not sure which hell hole is worse.

[305guy]

Having visited LA a few times and living in Miami, I'd say they're pretty much the same thing-one with mountains, the other without. LA has really bad smog and traffic makes Miami traffic seem like a joke.

I'll take Miami over LA since it is cheaper, cleaner and not as congested as LA. The beaches here are nicer since west coast beaches have cold, brown water. Winters are milder here too.

As far as population - obviously the big immigrant groups out there are Asians and Mexicans. Miami has everyone from Central/South America and the Carribean.

[Lost in Translation]

Being from the west coast and knowing LA well enough, I'll pick Miami. I like LA okay, it's just that it's more chaotic, more dangerous, more expensive, and with way worse traffic. The weather is perhaps better in LA overall, but you can't win them all.

Hurricanes suck, but at least you see them coming many days in advance.

[tallrick]

Although I hate Miami, I still prefer it over LA which is even more overpriced, suffers from water shortages and a similar flood of immigrants. Both cities could be destroyed by a natural disaster, although LA's cleansing would be far more sudden and deadly.

[305guy]

Did you mean cleansing how it comes off? Like an ethnic cleansing?

[ddrox08]

Originally Posted by Lost in Translation

Being from the west coast and knowing LA well enough, I'll pick Miami. I like LA okay, it's just that it's more chaotic, more dangerous, more expensive, and with way worse traffic. The weather is perhaps better in LA overall, but you can't win them all.

Hurricanes suck, but at least you see them coming many days in advance.

Miami is no less dangerous than L.A.

[tallrick]

Originally Posted by 305guy

Did you mean cleansing how it comes off? Like an ethnic cleansing?

No, just a destruction of overdevelopment. Ethnic cleansing is impossible as all ethncities have both good and bad people.

[adam.g.harpool]

Island_OnThe_Land, that was a very well-thought post. I'm the opposite of you; from South Florida, but have visited California before. I love both areas immensely and really could not firmly say which I would prefer, if I had to choose. They both have huge negatives and huge positives, but in the end it almost comes up even. Like you, I love the SoCal summers, but 80 degree winters in SoFla can't be beat. Hurricanes are horrible, but at least they give us days and days of warning unlike earthquakes. Immigration is a positive to me, not a negative, but I do prefer Mexican food over Cuban food, and the cuisine of the Southwest can't be beat (both are great though!) I love mountains and some of my all-time fav vacations have involved mountain hiking, but the warm Atlantic beats the frigid Pacific hands down. And California just beats Florida HANDS DOWN when it comes to the educational system and public services in general, I won't even get started about this state's ludicrous regressive taxation and far-right denial of the effects of chronic underinvestment in public services

That's what vacations are for, to be able to savor the great regions of this country! Though who knows, I could see myself living in SoCal one day. Certainly offers better career advancement opportunities for people in my field.