Planning to move to Orlando. Need some advice, please. (Miami: sales, mover)

[Rusirod]

Hello, guys!

I'm from Lisbon, Portugal. I am 31 years old, single, no kids, and I have decided to leave Portugal to find a job abroad.

I have been considering looking for a job in Europe, but things are looking very grim here, and I feel it will continue to be for a long time, so I am looking now for opportunities in the USA.

I know I could pick other US cities other than Orlando, like SF, NYC, Chicago, etc, those "dream cities" that every tourist wants to go, but all of them seem to be very expensive to make a living in, and very competitive.
And besides, all of them are much colder and less sunny than Florida, which has a weather similar to what I am used to, hot and humid (and rainy sometimes).

I have a bachelors degree in Architecture and city planning. I would like to hear your opinions about those fields in Orlando. How is it going? Is it rising or declining?

So I'm thinking to take a 2-3 week trip to Orlando soon, to contact offices personally, to see if I can get some interviews. What do you guys think about it?

Thank you for your time.
I appreciate any advice you could give me, even if it is not so positive.

P.S.: By the way, I forgot to mention that I am fluent in both English and Spanish. I'm not sure if that makes a difference, though.

[kyle19125]

It's good that you're visiting because I don't feel Orlando would be a good fit for someone as cosmopolitan as yourself, especially if comparing to other options here in the US. The Architecture and City Planning job market here is quite small and salaries here are not in keeping with the cost of living which at first glance may seem low. Given your language skills in Portuguese, Spanish and English coupled with your profession I would strongly urge you to consider the Miami/Fort Lauderdale metropolitan area which is way more cosmopolitan, has significantly higher salaries and many more Architecture job opportunities for someone with your background...especially when factoring the language component. The cost of living is higher in Miami/Fort Lauderdale however salaries seem to compensate in the professional sector. Good luck!

[Rusirod]

Thanks for the quick reply, Kyle19125. Initially I thought about Miami, because it is the most well known cities of the State.
But I avoided choosing Miami because the city is not held in too much regard, at least in my view, due to high crime rates, from what I have read about it.

[PinkFL]

I have no experience in your area of expertise, sorry.

I assume you have researched about work visas, how hard it is to get one? What you have to offer an employer that a USC doesn't, the company has to prove this as part of the work visa application and obviously sponsoring a non-USC for a visa is expensive so you will have to bring something special to the table

Good luck!

P.S. We are from Europe and here on work visas so I know how hard it is

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by Rusirod

Thanks for the quick reply, Kyle19125. Initially I thought about Miami, because it is the most well known cities of the State.
But I avoided choosing Miami because the city is not held in too much regard, at least in my view, due to high crime rates, from what I have read about it.

Miami's crime rate is no higher than any other major US city and like most, heavily segregated in terms of where a vast majority of the crime occurs......which are places you way more than likely would not choose to live in or spend any time in. Miami is a wonderful cosmopolitan city and most of the negativity you'll read about it (particularly on City-Data) comes from narrow-minded xenophobes who have issue with it's multicultural aspects. I would strongly urge you to visit and check out great neighborhoods like Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, Cutler Ridge, Pinecrest, Perrine, Miami Shores and El Portal.

[g0gat0rs]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

Miami's crime rate is no higher than any other major US city and like most, heavily segregated in terms of where a vast majority of the crime occurs......which are places you way more than likely would not choose to live in or spend any time in. Miami is a wonderful cosmopolitan city and most of the negativity you'll read about it (particularly on City-Data) comes from narrow-minded xenophobes who have issue with it's multicultural aspects. I would strongly urge you to visit and check out great neighborhoods like Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, Cutler Ridge, Pinecrest, Perrine, Miami Shores and El Portal.

Lol @ you suggesting Miami. It's not really multicultural if it's just black and brown.

So Miami is basically this.

West of I-95 - Black. South of I-95/Downtown - Brown. East of I-95 is downtown - Black/Brown/shades of white. Asians know better than to move to/live in Miami. Hardly any middle eastern.

90% live beyond their means because the city is very superficial. Example: people making 30-40k are driving 30-40k cars. Wealthy are very wealthy.

South Beach. Holy hell I thought it was this paradise with beautiful women in thongs. I saw more fat ugly women in South Beach than I did in Daytona Beach. What a huge disappointment. Night life is okay...way too superficial.

Food choices. You want pollo tropical or fried chicken wings? Why are there so many freakin pollo tropicals in one city and they're ALL PACKED.

Transportation. You're allowed to park in the right lane(no joke) when there's active traffic. You think Orlando has rude drivers, Miami is all about honking and flicking people off. I felt obligated to do it sometimes because people next to me were doing it. No sense of right of way or yielding to traffic it's I'm just going to pop out in front of you and I expect you to stop or we're crashing.

Never seen a major city so disorganized with it's traffic infrastructure.

Conclusion: Orlando>Miami any day.

[annerk]

With the glut of people in your field who are unemployed in this country, I highly doubt you'll find an employer willing to sponsor you for a visa. Most urban planning jobs are government, and the government doesn't hire foreign nationals except in very rare circumstances.

Best chances for you would be to find a job in Europe with a firm that also has office sin the US and after a few years, ask for a transfer.

[chopchop0]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

Miami's crime rate is no higher than any other major US city and like most, heavily segregated in terms of where a vast majority of the crime occurs......which are places you way more than likely would not choose to live in or spend any time in. Miami is a wonderful cosmopolitan city and most of the negativity you'll read about it (particularly on City-Data) comes from narrow-minded xenophobes who have issue with it's multicultural aspects. I would strongly urge you to visit and check out great neighborhoods like Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, Cutler Ridge, Pinecrest, Perrine, Miami Shores and El Portal.

Originally Posted by g0gat0rs

Lol @ you suggesting Miami. It's not really multicultural if it's just black and brown.

So Miami is basically this.

West of I-95 - Black. South of I-95/Downtown - Brown. East of I-95 is downtown - Black/Brown/shades of white. Asians know better than to move to/live in Miami. Hardly any middle eastern.

90% live beyond their means because the city is very superficial. Example: people making 30-40k are driving 30-40k cars. Wealthy are very wealthy.

South Beach. Holy hell I thought it was this paradise with beautiful women in thongs. I saw more fat ugly women in South Beach than I did in Daytona Beach. What a huge disappointment. Night life is okay...way too superficial.

Food choices. You want pollo tropical or fried chicken wings? Why are there so many freakin pollo tropicals in one city and they're ALL PACKED.

Transportation. You're allowed to park in the right lane(no joke) when there's active traffic. You think Orlando has rude drivers, Miami is all about honking and flicking people off. I felt obligated to do it sometimes because people next to me were doing it. No sense of right of way or yielding to traffic it's I'm just going to pop out in front of you and I expect you to stop or we're crashing.

Never seen a major city so disorganized with it's traffic infrastructure.

Conclusion: Orlando>Miami any day.

Have to go with GoGators on this one. Miami is very tilted towards hispanics/south americans, and traffic is a nightmare (much worse than Orlando IMO ---- Miami gets voted #1 on road rage surveys --- just google it). I think the food scene is better than what GoGators says it is, and South Beach does have decent looking women (hard to tell if fake though)

[MiamiRob]

Originally Posted by g0gat0rs

Lol @ you suggesting Miami. It's not really multicultural if it's just black and brown.

So Miami is basically this.

West of I-95 - Black. South of I-95/Downtown - Brown. East of I-95 is downtown - Black/Brown/shades of white. Asians know better than to move to/live in Miami. Hardly any middle eastern.

90% live beyond their means because the city is very superficial. Example: people making 30-40k are driving 30-40k cars. Wealthy are very wealthy.

South Beach. Holy hell I thought it was this paradise with beautiful women in thongs. I saw more fat ugly women in South Beach than I did in Daytona Beach. What a huge disappointment. Night life is okay...way too superficial.

Food choices. You want pollo tropical or fried chicken wings? Why are there so many freakin pollo tropicals in one city and they're ALL PACKED.

Transportation. You're allowed to park in the right lane(no joke) when there's active traffic. You think Orlando has rude drivers, Miami is all about honking and flicking people off. I felt obligated to do it sometimes because people next to me were doing it. No sense of right of way or yielding to traffic it's I'm just going to pop out in front of you and I expect you to stop or we're crashing.

Never seen a major city so disorganized with it's traffic infrastructure.

Conclusion: Orlando>Miami any day.

Orlando! If you didn't have a giant MOUSE running your economy you wouldn't have a economy at all. Miami just has black & brown people? Orlando has rednecks and Puerto Ricans.
At least the Cubans run Miami unlike the Puerto Ricans in Orlando who basically run a used auto sales lot.

Ugly women in South beach compared to Daytona? You must have been drunk while at Fatona!
Nothing screams "pretty" like a "biker" chick on a Harley who is drunk!

Food choices? You have got to be kidding! Orlando is the king of restuarant chains! Comparing Miami to Orlando in terms of cuisine is like comparing lobster to a grilled cheese sandwich!

Transporation? at least Miami has mass transit with Metrorail, Metromover,Tri-Rail. I can count how many bus stops Lynx has without out even a bus bench and just a sign!
Oh and every expressway in Orlando is tolled. Sunpass is required as the "Sun" passes your wallet!

Orlando is a "manufactured" city! Miami is not! Suburban hell is not pretty!


PS: Remember the movie "Edward Scissorhands" from the 1990s? That pretty much sums up Orlando!

[hgebel]

Because of Florida's close ties to Brazil, it is probably one of the best states for Portuguese speakers, in terms of their being a flourishing Portuguese speaking community. Most of the Portuguese speakers here are from Brazil and not other Lusophone countries like Portugal; I think that applies most places in the U.S. given that Brazil holds a little over three quarters of the world's native Portuguese speakers, but it's probably a little more lopsided in Florida because Florida actively courts Brazilian business.

I don't know anything about the job market for architects in Florida at the moment. If it's relevant, residential construction starts have recently risen, but commercial starts are still somewhat behind. No idea on the market for urban planners either.

Licensure could also be an issue; Florida requires architects to have graduated from a school that is accredited by the NAAB, which generally accredits U.S. and Canadian schools. Florida also recognizes degrees that have been evaluated as equivalent to an NAAB accredited degree, here is a website with information on being evaluated: https://www.eesa-naab.org/

-Harry