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Location: Los Angeles......So. Calif. an Island on the Land
736 posts, read 2,295,456 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FlyMIA
Well then I do not think you should have much trouble in Miami. IMO it is a smaller but better version of LA. As long as you do not mind not having mountains. That is the advantage of LA you can go sking in a few hours or the beach in 30mins. But Miami's beaches are MUCH nicer. But It is not much of semi-tropical Miami does have a tropical climate (minus this crazy cold winter on the east coast this year) So expect hot humid days most of the year and LOTS of rain from May to October. But the winters are just perfect.
If you are single and have a place paid off I dont see a problem with making 40-50,000 a year. You can get some pretty cheap places right in the middle downtown Miami, nice new modern condos.
Dan: I share your interest in Miami and have been multiple times including a few trips to the Fla. keys (which I also highly recommend). When I was in my 20's I did a stint in the NORTHEAST (NYC/DC) but have often wished I did a stint in Miami. So I say go for it....as long you do your research as you appear to be.
That said, I do have to disagree with FlyMia's comment above that Miami is a, "smaller, better version of LA." Don't want to derail this into an LA-Miami debate as I think both cities are quite interesting. But recognzie that a city of LA's size BRINGS as many ADVANTAGES to the TABLE as it does DISADVANTAGES.
A short list of those LA advanatages over Miami include:
1. A far more diverse racial/ethnic compostion (in LA you don't just hear Spanish, you also hear Korean, Farsi, Tagalog, Chinese, etc.);
2. the arts and culture scene in LA is surpassed in the US by only NYC;
3. world renowned research universities like UCLA and CalTech (yes, where real rocket scientists are trained and Albert Einstein taught).
4. More diverseeconomy = more career opportunities;
5. Geogrpahic diversity (deserts, mountains, and beaches) at your doorstep that is unsurpassed by any big city anywhere on the PLANET (including a mountain range cutting right through the city).
6. Insanely DIVERSE MUSIC scene and ability to see just about any genre on any given night from the best musicians in the world.
That said, I give Miami a lot of credit including the following:
1. Beaches are BETTER than LA's (read: warm water, white sand but downside is it's like a LAKE, no surf so it gets boring).
2. Traffic is NOT an issue for an LA person.
3. Air quality is EXCELLENT.
4. Winters are nearly perfect (but LA from April to October is FAR more tolerable).
5. If you are into CLUBS, nightlife is better in Miami (with a caveat that LA's music and cultural scene is more diverse).
6. Smaller city / metro area = lessstress.
7. ScubaDiving in the FLA keys is fantastic and Key West reminds me a bit of a mix between Venice Beach and Santa Cruz. Well worth a visit too.
Last edited by Island_OnThe_Land; 02-11-2010 at 05:18 PM..
Dan: I share your interest in Miami and have been multiple times including a few trips to the Fla. keys (which I also highly recommend). When I was in my 20's I did a stint in the NORTHEAST (NYC/DC) but have often wished I did a stint in Miami. So I say go for it....as long you do your research as you appear to be.
That said, I do have to disagree with FlyMia's comment above that Miami is a, "smaller, better version of LA." Don't want to derail this into an LA-Miami debate as I think both cities are quite interesting. But recognzie that a city of LA's size BRINGS as many ADVANTAGES to the TABLE as it does DISADVANTAGES.
A short list of those LA advanatages over Miami include:
1. A far more diverse racial/ethnic compostion (in LA you don't just hear Spanish, you also hear Korean, Farsi, Tagalog, Chinese, etc.);
2. the arts and culture scene in LA is surpassed in the US by only NYC;
3. world renowned research universities like UCLA and CalTech (yes, where real rocket scientists are trained and Albert Einstein taught).
4. More diverseeconomy = more career opportunities;
5. Geogrpahic diversity (deserts, mountains, and beaches) at your doorstep that is unsurpassed by any big city anywhere on the PLANET (including a mountain range cutting right through the city).
6. Insanely DIVERSE MUSIC scene and ability to see just about any genre on any given night from the best musicians in the world.
That said, I give Miami a lot of credit including the following:
1. Beaches are BETTER than LA's (read: warm water, white sand but downside is it's like a LAKE, no surf so it gets boring).
2. Traffic is NOT an issue for an LA person.
3. Air quality is EXCELLENT.
4. Winters are nearly perfect (but LA from April to October is FAR more tolerable).
5. If you are into CLUBS, nightlife is better in Miami (with a caveat that LA's music and cultural scene is more diverse).
6. Smaller city / metro area = lessstress.
7. ScubaDiving in the FLA keys is fantastic and Key West reminds me a bit of a mix between Venice Beach and Santa Cruz. Well worth a visit too.
I agree with everything you said, its all up to personal opinion. LA is just so large, I love LA 3rd favortie city in the US after Miami and DC.
But do not expect just Spanish. You will hear other languages also such as French, Italian, Russian and lots of Hebrew. Also expect to here lots of Portuguese and LOTS of Haitian Creaole. Miami is not just hispanics. And of course the different hispanics from different countries are all very much different in many aspects of their culture and even the way they speak spanish.
Dan: I share your interest in Miami and have been multiple times including a few trips to the Fla. keys (which I also highly recommend). When I was in my 20's I did a stint in the NORTHEAST (NYC/DC) but have often wished I did a stint in Miami. So I say go for it....as long you do your research as you appear to be.
That said, I do have to disagree with FlyMia's comment above that Miami is a, "smaller, better version of LA." Don't want to derail this into an LA-Miami debate as I think both cities are quite interesting. But recognzie that a city of LA's size BRINGS as many ADVANTAGES to the TABLE as it does DISADVANTAGES.
A short list of those LA advanatages over Miami include:
1. A far more diverse racial/ethnic compostion (in LA you don't just hear Spanish, you also hear Korean, Farsi, Tagalog, Chinese, etc.);
2. the arts and culture scene in LA is surpassed in the US by only NYC;
3. world renowned research universities like UCLA and CalTech (yes, where real rocket scientists are trained and Albert Einstein taught).
4. More diverseeconomy = more career opportunities;
5. Geogrpahic diversity (deserts, mountains, and beaches) at your doorstep that is unsurpassed by any big city anywhere on the PLANET (including a mountain range cutting right through the city).
6. Insanely DIVERSE MUSIC scene and ability to see just about any genre on any given night from the best musicians in the world.
That said, I give Miami a lot of credit including the following:
1. Beaches are BETTER than LA's (read: warm water, white sand but downside is it's like a LAKE, no surf so it gets boring).
2. Traffic is NOT an issue for an LA person.
3. Air quality is EXCELLENT.
4. Winters are nearly perfect (but LA from April to October is FAR more tolerable).
5. If you are into CLUBS, nightlife is better in Miami (with a caveat that LA's music and cultural scene is more diverse).
6. Smaller city / metro area = lessstress.
7. ScubaDiving in the FLA keys is fantastic and Key West reminds me a bit of a mix between Venice Beach and Santa Cruz. Well worth a visit too.
Yes, I agree that both cities have their strengths and weaknesses, it's just that I want to try something different from I am used to. I love living in L.A. but right now I want to try to a whole other scene to make new friends and meet new people.
So it sounds like you are a young wage-earner from California.
As a general observation, best to have your own business/profession (unless you qualify for a high position in a relatively large company).
From that perspective, the best thing about Florida is that it is a no income tax state.
The second best thing about Florida is, most agree, the pleasant temperatures year-round (the pleasantness of around six months of high humidity is largely subjective), especially in southeastern Florida for which demand is greatest; the east coast also offers Atlantic breezes.
For this reason, southeast Florida is also the most expensive region in the state, but not nearly as expensive as the more desirable areas of California (SD, LA and SF areas, I suppose), maybe by half.
Miami-Dade County is about 10% more expensive than Broward County and Palm Beach County in part because it is more densely populated, again in part because it is the first destination for many immigrants, both rich and poor, from Latin America and it also attracts Europeans with money.
From my perspective, another advantage of southeast Florida is its relative proximity to Latin America and Europe, Miami International Airport in particular offering direct intercontinental flights to useful destinations: many Latin American destinations are closer to Miami than Miami is to Los Angeles, for example.
From my perspective, the worst thing about Florida, and much of the US as a whole, has been the credit/housing policy disaster. Among the consequences, sky-rocketing housing buy prices and property taxes. Florida also suffered back-to-back years of direct-hit hurricanes in 2004-2005, triggering sharp upward spikes in insurance rates.
The best thing to happen to Florida is the housing price crash. Buy prices have come down to more reasonable levels, and so have property taxes. Insurance rates are still very high, however.
From the economic perspective, you can best take advantage of what Florida has to offer by having your own successful business, preferably home-based, and living in relatively modest housing, even a nice condo in a not-so-luxury building could do.
As for wage-earners, there is a common expression in Florida: they pay in sunshine.
In other words, wages are low, especially compared to the much of northeast US, the Chicago area, also much of California, but, more importantly, wages are low compared to the cost of living. High paying jobs are relatively scarce and it is very important to have good connections. But these last two observations - low local wages compared to local cost of living, and the need for good connections - pretty much apply almost anywhere.
If you are simply seeking fun in the sun at this stage of your life, you could probably survive on a low-paying service job for a while, maybe live on South Beach, until you outgrow it (or maybe not).
If you are single, you could probably survive on as little as $18,000-$25,000 a year, but that probably means sharing an apartment. With $35,000-$50,000 per year, you could probably afford your own place, how modern/luxurious would depend on your other spending priorities.
A household with children would need, in my estimation, around $150,000, but others estimate less, even around $70,000-$80,000.
As mentioned, it is very useful in Miami-Dade County to be fluent in Spanish.
Hope this helps.
This is all very useful information, thanks a lot. You are right I am a young and single wage earner. I think that I would like the weather and definitely enjoy the perks of living in southern Florida.
Does anyone know if going to law school and being a lawyer is a good idea in order to make a good living in the Miami-Dade area? What are the best law schools in Florida? How much is the tuition to some of these schools? Would you go to law school in Florida, why or why not? What are the best areas of law to get into for the state of Florida?
Figure you got your condo paid for after you sell you shack in LA for $500K. You got $350K to sit on, you could feed yourself for 10 bucks a day if you want. IOW, if you have good equity in a house in LA, you could move to MIA and retire immediately.
I don't believe that. There's a catch. It's probably conviently located right in the middle of the ghetto. I've been to North Miami and seen a few brand new condo buildings just like that but was located right smack dab in the middle of a huge sprawling ghetto. I don't trust that. I would get a realtor instead.
Location: Los Angeles......So. Calif. an Island on the Land
736 posts, read 2,295,456 times
Reputation: 484
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan el Capitan
Yes, I agree that both cities have their strengths and weaknesses, it's just that I want to try something different from I am used to. I love living in L.A. but right now I want to try to a whole other scene to make new friends and meet new people.
Does anyone know if going to law school and being a lawyer is a good idea in order to make a good living in the Miami-Dade area? What are the best law schools in Florida? How much is the tuition to some of these schools? Would you go to law school in Florida, why or why not? What are the best areas of law to get into for the state of Florida?
Thanks beforehand.
Florida is a big state and Miami-Dade is a very particular county, better not to throw them in together.
Yes, it is a good idea to earn a law degree in order to make a good living in Miami. The best university in the county is the private University of Miami in Coral Gables. I believe that tuition plus living expenses is in the neighborhood of $35,000 per semester. Best is if you can afford to pay cash.
There is also the public Florida International University (FIU), located in the central western part of the county, in a neighborhood called Westchester. Not sure of the tuition there, someone else will tell you, or do your own research: there should be some threads on the Miami subforum dedicated to FIU, do a forum search.
In my estimation, the best area of law is international business law and especially taxation, shoot for a job with a top law firm or international accounting firm which has an office in Miami (usually Brickell or Coral Gables). Best if combined with a business degree and certainly with Spanish, possibly also Portuguese: lots of wealthy Latin Americans who need advice and services regarding what to do with their money, how to invest, how to minimize taxes, as well as US residents investing in Latin America; correlated is immigration, residency, and citizenship law.
In the rest of Florida, there are good schools, mainly the public University of Florida and Florida State University, I believe, main campuses in Tampa, Gainesville and Tahallassee. Don't know enough about specifics to comment.
I don't believe that. There's a catch. It's probably conviently located right in the middle of the ghetto. I've been to North Miami and seen a few brand new condo buildings just like that but was located right smack dab in the middle of a huge sprawling ghetto. I don't trust that. I would get a realtor instead.
Use the street view and you can see it's not in a ghetto, it's in a construction zone though. It's a beautiful building. It's certainly close enough to OT that there is obviously a pioneer tradeoff to be made for the price.
Don't believe it? Think there's a catch? Maybe so. But perhaps since there's just so many luxury towers standing empty in downtown right now, they are just trying to make some of their money back now and hope to raise the price later as the building and neighborhood fills in.
Hey, go check it out Allen. It may be for real.
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Law Schools in Florida
