Can someone tell me the truth about Miami?? What is it Really like!!! (Hialeah: apartment, to rent)

[muscleman305]

I suggest you read this entire post from beginning to end if you really want to know the real nitty gritty about Miami. You will hear both the good and the bad and just about everyone contributed so you will hear a fairly well rounded discussion on our crazy city.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/miami...mi-insane.html

[Bostonian08]

I'm on the love side of the Miami debate. I lived there in my twenties and recorded some of the best memories for my life. I agree with BCreass entirely in his assessment. I left MIA when it was time for me to grow up, but while you're young and spry, there a few places in the world that is more fun than South Beach. Dude, go for it - straight to South Beach. The women there are unreal.

[runswithscissors]

Originally Posted by BCreass

Miami...

You'll either love it, or you'll hate it....no real middle ground.

I think that if you're either wealthy, young, into the "Latin" culture and have a high level of tolerance for the idiocy here, you'll love it.

Having lived here for +6 years now though, I've come to the conclusion that Miami is not for the "mature" audience. This is a great place to party, have fun and to be oblivious to the world around you, but it's no place to settle down.

Most of the people I know here who are happy and oblivious are still "kids", even at 40 years old. There's nothing wrong with that, but when it gets to the point where you want more out of life than just partying, drinking and socializing with a bunch of wannabes, maybe it's time to move on. I find that in general, people in Miami are very immature, whether it's their outlook on life, the way they drive, or the way they dress and conduct themselves in public. At 21, this is not a problem, but once the non-Miamian passes 30, it becomes a little less easy to tolerate.

Ah...take what I say with a pinch of salt. I've just outgrown this city. It offers me nothing, culturally and it is foreign in every way *but* a good way.

Miami is what it is...you'll love it, or you'll hate it....personally, I hate it

Ditto this. Your "truth" may be different than someone else's "truth". That's one thing you'll learn on this forum.

College can be fun here. Florida can be an experience and Miami is unique. My son went to college in Boca but truthfully he never liked it here in Florida (anywhere) even though he stayed ten years because he started a business in college and he just now had the opportunity to move it back to Phila. If you apply yourself you can always transfer to another school if you don't care for it. Make sure you take all core courses that are transferrable, wierd things happen in Florida like your first semester is FULL in all the core courses and they try and stick you in stupid electives as a freshman. That happened to my son and I had to raise hell to get the school to do the right thing. Imagine a fiirst semester freshman with no core courses....dopes.

[burgler09]

hahaha, I remember when I first moved here, god i read this board and I was so afraid of crime you wouldn't believe. I thought I was going to get carjacked in Little Havana, I thought that if I left my house after dark a big bad cuban was going to cut me. The crime here exists, but it is waaaay overplayed. Ive been scared one time, and that was when I was new here and it was just getting dark and I made a wrong turn through the heart of overtown.. won't do that one again.

Is Miami dirty? Depends on your classification.. I think driving down Flagler and Calle Ocho can look dirty but at the same time, it gives Miami a certain flavor that the rest of the US doesn't have, and in a way .. I prefer the looks of that area.

I'm not saying you won't come into contact with the 40 year old guys who think they are in high school still, but you'll meet some great and interesting people here. Try listening to stories from people about where they came from and their old countries. You'd be surprised how often I go to restaurants and people talk with me about their stories etc.. It is really interesting. In my opinion, you can't beat Miami, there's always something interesting and always something to do on any given day.

today , I'll drive down the normal streets i go on a daily basis, (not counting south beach.. you can easily search google) and give you an idea of what it looks like.

[Tiger Beer]

I like this thread!

I've heard pretty much ALL NEGATIVE stories about Miami as well...that as a white guy, I was a sitting target, on and on.

But I lived in MI (Detroit vicinity so familiar) and lived in New York City for several years...plus South America for a year. Most people on these threads portray South Florida to be a combination of Detroit and some fravela of Brazil combined.

BUT...I went to Miami as well...I found the drivers to be extremely normal (I lived in South America and Asia for years, so driving back in the U.S. is NOT a problem). I didn't feel it was crowded or road rage or anything whatsoever. Extremely organized and orderly just like anywhere else in the U.S. - no difference whatsoever.

Crime-wise...I drove around Little Havana..and I kept thinking it looked exactly like the neighborhoods I lived in New York City (Washington Heights and parts of Brooklyn)...I went to Little Haiti...and it looked like just about any city in Michigan (Detroit, Flint, Lansing, take your pick) except confined to a very very small little geographical area and that's about it.

I even heard I'd get robbed in South Beach...I went there...looks like standard U.S. tourist area...

In the end, I came to the conclusion that 99.9999% of the people who complain about Miami probably NEVER lived in a big city, never exposed to another language outside of English, and basically were a fish out of water. YOu have to sometimes remind yourself how untraveled and how underexposed most AMericans are to nearly everything that is so commonplace throughout the entire world, to understand their strong hesitation with anything which isn't standard hamburgerland with no options kind of preference.

[burgler09]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

I like this thread!

I've heard pretty much ALL NEGATIVE stories about Miami as well...that as a white guy, I was a sitting target, on and on.

But I lived in MI (Detroit vicinity so familiar) and lived in New York City for several years...plus South America for a year. Most people on these threads portray South Florida to be a combination of Detroit and some fravela of Brazil combined.

BUT...I went to Miami as well...I found the drivers to be extremely normal (I lived in South America and Asia for years, so driving back in the U.S. is NOT a problem). I didn't feel it was crowded or road rage or anything whatsoever. Extremely organized and orderly just like anywhere else in the U.S. - no difference whatsoever.

Crime-wise...I drove around Little Havana..and I kept thinking it looked exactly like the neighborhoods I lived in New York City (Washington Heights and parts of Brooklyn)...I went to Little Haiti...and it looked like just about any city in Michigan (Detroit, Flint, Lansing, take your pick) except confined to a very very small little geographical area and that's about it.

I even heard I'd get robbed in South Beach...I went there...looks like standard U.S. tourist area...

In the end, I came to the conclusion that 99.9999% of the people who complain about Miami probably NEVER lived in a big city, never exposed to another language outside of English, and basically were a fish out of water. YOu have to sometimes remind yourself how untraveled and how underexposed most AMericans are to nearly everything that is so commonplace throughout the entire world, to understand their strong hesitation with anything which isn't standard hamburgerland with no options kind of preference.

Good post, can I ask where you were in South America? I'm heading to Colombia for a month in May

[Daniel_T]

Wonderful!!! This is great insight. Keep it comin...!

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by burgler09

Good post, can I ask where you were in South America? I'm heading to Colombia for a month in May

I lived and taught English in Sao Paulo, Brazil for six months....and then traveled around the Spanish speaking parts of South America for an additional four months - Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Venezuela.

I never made it to Colombia, but surely wish I had! I've heard pretty much ALL good things from people who got over their fears of 'Colombia', made the effort, and seemed to love it!

[Rock Newman]

Originally Posted by burgler09

Good post, can I ask where you were in South America? I'm heading to Colombia for a month in May

Be sure you go to Medellin while in Colombia , that and Cartagena are two beautiful cities that you should not miss out on

My wife and I went to a wedding last year in Medellin and we also stopped in Cartagena for a day on a cruise two years ago ... both were awesome cities which surprisingly receive little tourism coverage in the US ... I guess due to the years of bad press before President Uribe came along .. I felt safer in Colombia , than I ever have in Mexico or Puerto Rico .

[doggiebus]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

But I lived in MI (Detroit vicinity so familiar) and lived in New York City for several years...plus South America for a year. Most people on these threads portray South Florida to be a combination of Detroit and some fravela of Brazil combined.

I have to say that my sister lives in NYC and overall she feels safer walking in the streets of NYC than in Miami.