University of Miami?

[Dr_Rico]

I am on the faculty at UM and teach on two of its campuses.

1) You certainly do not need a car. I commute to work by bike and by train. I own a car and it is a burden.

2) If you live in CG or South Miami, east of US1, you will be within walking/biking/train distance to almost anything a student might enjoy or need to do. These neighborhoods are safe. I do not recommend living west of US1 in the areas south and west of UM as the crime rate is higher there (I was mugged there once, too, walking to my home in South Miami from the train next to the HUD housing area). I am an advocate for living on campus in the dorms, at least for the first two years, as you will meet more people, enjoy a more intellectually stimulating environement, and be better able to focus on you studies. Its great for dating, too! Some of my students have lived on campus all four years and really like it.

3) UM is very well prepared for hurricanes. There is an emergency call and text service in place now, a rumor control hotline, webpages to keep you and your relatives abreast of weather issues, safe shelter, etc. As suggested, keep near a source of info like a computer (the National Hurricane Center is based in MIami and the UM RSMAS and associated fedreal facilities are expert sorm trackers. I have been through several storms with my family and while they are inconvenient, they are mostly manageable with common sense and adequate precaution. There is the rare storm (*cough* "Andrew" *cough*) that you really might wish to avoid by hightailing it out of here, but these are quite rare.

I hope you come to UM and enjoy/benefit from the experience!

DR

[Redhead22]

Originally Posted by Buttweak1

I went to UM..I highly suggest you go there...it is a wonderful school and very well recognised.
The area is pretty safe in Coral Gables, but there are bad areas to the north in Miami.
You should have a car but could make it without one.

You always have to be prepared for a hurricane, which is not hard because the U will keep you informed and one good thing about hurricanes is the fact that you know a few days ahead of time if one is on its way. You can always fly out if you can afford to or just stay at the U..it is very safe there.

Another point to remeber is that while hurricanes are quite bad...not many deaths happen due to them( aside from a few bad ones in the last 100 years. In the northern cities more people per year die just from driving in ice and snow. However, if one like Andrew hits..which is not often..it can be very deadly..just always watch the news and take the warnings seriously and you should be fine.

Oh yeah, its totally safe driving in the heavy rain in Florida, esp with the college kids and the elderly. LOL Too funny. In the northern states when it does snow, they plow and apply sand to the roads, making driving in the snow a lot safer.