Pennslvania to Miami (Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Miami Beach: appointed, renting, crime)

[pasd0290]

I'm 18 years old and I live in the middle of Pennsylvania. (90 miles West of Philadelphia) I will be going to college and then when I graduate I would like to move out of the area.
For some odd reason I want to move to Miami or Miami Beach because of the warm weather and the beach, but I heard it's a dump. I am gay-male looking for a pretty big gay poluation. I love going to art museums and love to live in a "Cultured" area. I am learning some Spanish, but def. not fluent.
My question to the people who live or have been to Miami. Is there a big gay population in Miami? Does Miami have culture or is it a city for the homeless? Is there lots of jobs in Miami? (I'm majoring in Political Science w/ a minor in Paralegal)
Is the cost of living expensive. I plan on renting and I saved a couple thousand, so i should be good for a month or two.
I just don't wanna move to Miami and find it disappointing. Please help!

[bale002]

On the jobs/cost of living side, become as fluent in Spanish as you possibly can before coming here. Drop political science (a useless student's indulgence) or reduce it to a minor and focus more on paralegal, with a good helping of international law and perhaps a bit of Portuguese, you may find some kind of job in Miami especially in the Brickell area, right across from Miami Beach, though the pay will be disappointing as compared to the Philadelphia area.

The cost of living in southern Florida is through the roof as compared to even four or five years ago, but you are better off as a renter, especially if you have a roommate who works.

If you find a job and you rent, and then you are still disappointed in Miami, at least you have some experience and are still young, so it wouldn't be a total loss. In the long run, though, you will find that if you really want to live in the place, you will have to make sacrifices. But you have the luxury of youth to experiment.

So the keys are finding gainful employment in the right sector (legal and languages may be a useful combination in Miami/Brickell) and finding a satisfying relationship as well (I can't address that issue from your angle, sorry, but I believe there are some gay Miami threads that you could search).

You should find enough to satisfy you on the cultural side, but to enjoy the best of it, of course, you need, in a word, money. But, then again, if you meet the right circle of friends, you can enjoy cultural settings and events without spending a lot of money, it all depends on how you define culture and value it.

Also consider that Broward County (Ft. Lauderdale) and Palm Beach County (Boca Raton/West Palm Beach) offer the same climate as Miami.

Good luck!

[CiXeL]

dude LA or hawaii. youll find it a gay paradise.

[Chelito23]

If you want culture and expect to pass a lot of times in wonderful museums...try another city. You can do the Miami artsy scene in a day. However, the beach and nightlife are great if that is important to you.

The cost of living is outrageous. But then again, in most cities it is now. There is a huge Gay community here, so that will serve you well. Out of state tuition is ridiculous here...so you might want to become a FL resident before studying. That would give you a year here to see if you like it.

Many of the jobs here pay way too little for the cost of living. There is also a lot of competition for the few that are available.

Yes, there are many homeless people here, especially in the downtown, Allapatah, Jackson Memorial and Biscayne corridor areas. Miami Beach also has its fair share. This shouldn't be a deterrant though...it is just part of what the city is due to its climate.

[pasd0290]

Thank-you for the advice. I still have a while to think about it. I have some other locations/cities that I'm considering. I'm sure the Miami area is a beautiful location to live. I was just considering Miami/Miami Beach because of the weather and the beach, which is just silly, because there is more to life then the Beach. I'm just sick of the cold and I hate snow. Its only hot in the summer which is roughly three months.
To what I'm reading in other threads about Miami, I hear the culture sucks and the people suck. Which is a bit turn-off, because culture and people are more important than Beach/Weather.
Another reason why I was (and still interested) in Miami is because of the nightlife they have. I hear they have the best nightclubs in the world. (Some people claim Miami Beach has better clubs then Los Angeles)

I wanna hear your opinion and insight about the Culture and the daily life on Miami.

[wallstreet1986]

Originally Posted by pasd0290

Thank-you for the advice. I still have a while to think about it. I have some other locations/cities that I'm considering. I'm sure the Miami area is a beautiful location to live. I was just considering Miami/Miami Beach because of the weather and the beach, which is just silly, because there is more to life then the Beach. I'm just sick of the cold and I hate snow. Its only hot in the summer which is roughly three months.
To what I'm reading in other threads about Miami, I hear the culture sucks and the people suck. Which is a bit turn-off, because culture and people are more important than Beach/Weather.
Another reason why I was (and still interested) in Miami is because of the nightlife they have. I hear they have the best nightclubs in the world. (Some people claim Miami Beach has better clubs then Los Angeles)

I wanna hear your opinion and insight about the Culture and the daily life on Miami.

Try a more chill gay scene like Fort Lauderdale or Tampa. Tampa has Stetson or you could go to Florida State, U Florida which are better schools.

With political science major you can do political consulting, paralegal, law firm job. U Florida is a very good school I'd go there.

Going to UMiami is going to cost you a lot of money and it's not worth it for just undergrad. UFlorida will still give you the nice weather and a great education. You can move to Miami after you graduate.

[pasd0290]

I have a couple other questions about Miami. Is Miami generally liberal or progressive? I know Florida as a whole is more Republican/Conservative because of the South and the mature population. I know Florida draws a lot of tourists, but I was wondering if there were a lot locals and where the locals hang out, because I don't really wanna see tourists. On average, how many hurricanes does Miami get hit with and how bad are hurricanes in the Miami-Dade area?

Thanks

[dvigor]

Don't waste your time moving to Miami. Most people are trying to move out. It is like a third world country where nobody speaks English. Nothing but low-paying service jobs with an outrageous cost of living. Even teachers are among the lowest paid in the country. If you are young and hip and want a nice place to live then Atlanta would be the place to go. It is world class and has everything minus the old people and majority Hispanic illegals. All of Florida just has too many crime and illegal immigrant issues which are tenfold in the bigger cities such as Miami. Head to Atlanta. You will absolutely love it there. A great place to meet young people whether gay or straight.

Good luck.

[doggiebus]

Originally Posted by pasd0290

I have a couple other questions about Miami. Is Miami generally liberal or progressive? I know Florida as a whole is more Republican/Conservative because of the South and the mature population. I know Florida draws a lot of tourists, but I was wondering if there were a lot locals and where the locals hang out, because I don't really wanna see tourists. On average, how many hurricanes does Miami get hit with and how bad are hurricanes in the Miami-Dade area?

Well these are hard questions to answer beacuse they change. But I will try to answer them. Miami is liberal for the most part, but the last election it got a little redder, but I have a feeling Miami will have less red than we saw in the last election come a year and a half. Miami isn't like the bible thumper areas in northern/central florida. But there are many people that do go to church. Well there are your local bars, but the places that are the hot places to party are in the tourist areas, so no getting around seeing tourists. As to the question on hurricanes, you never know. Last year we only had one that skirted us, but the year before we had three or four that came across. So you never know, they say we are in a up swing for hurricances the next 10-20 years? As for your last question, each hurricane is different, one could bring just lots of rain, the next could bring just a lot of wind, or the next could bring storm surge, rain, wind and tornadoes. So they are all different. I went through Hurricane Andrew in 1992 a cat 5. Our home survived pretty well. But many homes didn't fair well. It all depends on the construction and if a tornado hits it during the hurricane. After Andrew we had stricter building codes in the county. If you want to pick the safest counties in the state to live, code wise, they are Dade, Broward and Palm Beach county. For some stupid reason other parts of the state are still allowed to build stick/wood homes, which you can't in these counties.

[pasd0290]

Is Miami Beach any better?