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Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
7,407 posts, read 6,537,276 times
Reputation: 6671
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Don’t settle for being average. Plenty of young medical and financial professionals in my building who all speak English. I have never had a problem communicating English outside of an occasional Uber driver in which case I use Google Translate (if necessary) and problem solved. Might be different if I were a manual laborer and decided to call Hialeah home. Better educated, better earning professionals (foreign born or not) living in Gables, Grove, Brickell, Miami Beach, etc all speak English.
Hot and humid 8 months of the year?...if you are forced to live 10 miles inland, where it is warmer and more humid, is code for cannot afford to rent or own along the coast of Miami or on Miami Beach where you get breezes and it is comfortable year round. Most of coastal Miami is not like the Forbidden Zone from the original Planet of the Apes. Plenty of people outside during the day, including the summer. We are not all huddled and on lock down indoors naked, like the coal miners in HBO’s Chernobyl. I moved here from San Diego and prefer the climate here.
Perhaps your view of Miami as a part time city and crime ridden (Cocaine Cowboy days) are from the 1970’s? Can’t be all bad if Carl Icahn, Skybridge Capital and other hedge funds are relocating here full
Time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jjbradleynyc
Here are my thoughts--
Economy: Philadelphia. Miami is growing, but so many low paying, watered down jobs from Caribbean & Latin American countries, while housing costs and rent are extremely high.
Urbanity: Philadelphia
Skyline: I prefer Philadelphia. Miami is too much glass and those modern blue towers get old.
Colleges and universities: Philadelphia no question.
Infrastructure (road conditions, public transit, bridges, water/energy sustainability and supply, etc.): Philadelphia
Tourism: Miami
"High culture" (theater, museums, opera, etc.): Philadelphia
Housing (supply, quality, affordability, variety, etc.): Philadelphia
Cost of living: Philadelphia
Neighborhoods: Philadelphia
Diversity: Philadelphia
Distinction of local culture: Philadelphia
Nightlife: Miami
Cuisine: Miami
Suburbs: Philadelphia
Climate: Miami
Scenery and outdoor recreation: Miami
Geographic position (proximity/accessibility to opportunities and recreation outside of metro): Philadelphia
Philly wins, no question.
Miami quality of life is low if you con't make a ton of money. Rent and housing are high, while salaries and pay are low. Miami incredible for vacations and a getaway, but living there is not too incredible for an average person--little public transportation, hot & humid all year, tough to break into a lot of industries for jobs, if you are not bi-lingual. Crime is a concern, and the metro of Miami does not have much land for the city to expand in the future. Also, low lying coastal areas prone to flooding in bad weather.
Last edited by elchevere; 12-08-2019 at 10:20 AM..
Don’t settle for being average. Plenty of young medical and financial professionals in my building who all speak English. I have never had a problem communicating English outside of an occasional Uber driver in which case I use Google Translate (if necessary) and problem solved. Might be different if I were a manual laborer and decided to call Hialeah home. Better educated, better earning professionals (foreign born or not) living in Gables, Grove, Brickell, Miami Beach, etc all speak English.
Hot and humid 8 months of the year?...if you are forced to live 10 miles inland Is code for cannotafford to rent or own along the coast of Miami or on Miami Beach where you get breezes. Most of coastal Miami is not like the Forbidden Zone from the original Planet of the Apes. Plenty of people outside during the day, including the summer. We are not all huddled and on lock down indoors naked, like the coal miners in HBO’s Chernobyl. I moved here from San Diego and prefer the climate here.
Not everyone is going to make a ton of money. Some won't want to, others won't be able to.
In both cases, they should also be able to enjoy a decent standard of living nonetheless.
That standard is still within reach of the broad middle in Greater Philadelphia. It seems not to be in Greater Miami.
And if making a ton of money is a must for having bearable summer climate, then I'd say that's also a strike against Miami. At least everyone in Philadelphia gets pretty much the same summer climate, and just about everyone can afford to hang out somewhere on the Jersey shore if they want ocean breezes, at least for the day.
Perhaps your view of Miami as a part time city and crime ridden (Cocaine Cowboy days) are from the 1970’s? Can’t be all bad if Carl Icahn, Skybridge Capital and other hedge funds are relocating here full
Time.
I did a ton of research on my company opening an office in Miami last year. We chose not to at this time, unfortunately based on the lower pay/lower salaries for creative and marketing segments, across the Miami area. As you go north, salaries are higher in Fort Lauderdale and Boca, so that is most likely where we will go.
Also, the bi-lingual component is a concern, IF you do not speak Spanish fluently, as well as English, it can limit/hinder business in Miami itself.
There's a TON of money in Miami, but as compared to similarly sized metro areas in the US, Miami pay is extremely low, with housing costs very high.
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
7,407 posts, read 6,537,276 times
Reputation: 6671
If you just want to get by, I agree there are other places to live besides Miami...if you want to live in a year round warm weather, cosmopolitan ocean front city (not one you have to drive an hour+ to) the market has determined there are very few of these and, thus, housing costs more since there are less than a handful of such US cities. Not a real shocker...just like I tell natives here, just because you were born here does not mean you are entitled to be able to live here or in coastal areas—you have to be able to afford it—however, to say there are no good paying medical, finance, sales, real estate (sales or developers), law, STEM, or other jobs is completely ludicrous. May not be as many good educational institutions or wealth building opportunities as other cities but they do exist here and/or many people who have built their wealth elsewhere, but have tired of winters and/or high tax states bring their talents here. Welcome to the mobile society. Those moving here without talent or a career that covers their expenses and relying on their good looks or charm will be in for a rude awakening.
Philly might be better for more people starting out whereas Miami might be better for more—but not all—after they have built their wealth which will enable them to afford and enjoy the lifestyle. For the record, I’ve done well though not Palm Beach or Star Island well....you don’t need to be worth $10-30M++ to live very comfortably in nice areas here. Finally, if my entire life only revolved around making money and having the best amenities available, I would have stayed in New York if I considered a Northeast city—but lifestyle, including year round warm weather, was always a factor for me. One could always move to a Boca or Orange County, CA but then you sacrifice the cultural and sophisticated benefits of a Miami.
This is an interesting thread, however, since Philly and Miami are often referred to as The Sixth Borough.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MarketStEl
Not everyone is going to make a ton of money. Some won't want to, others won't be able to.
In both cases, they should also be able to enjoy a decent standard of living nonetheless.
That standard is still within reach of the broad middle in Greater Philadelphia. It seems not to be in Greater Miami.
And if making a ton of money is a must for having bearable summer climate, then I'd say that's also a strike against Miami. At least everyone in Philadelphia gets pretty much the same summer climate, and just about everyone can afford to hang out somewhere on the Jersey shore if they want ocean breezes, at least for the day.
Last edited by elchevere; 12-08-2019 at 11:06 AM..
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
7,407 posts, read 6,537,276 times
Reputation: 6671
I agree—which is why I rent (after having owned in earthquake and fire prone CA for 30 years, with CA supposed to have fallen in the sea by now) and have invested the money I otherwise would have used for my down payment in stocks which have easily offset my rental payments, and then some, the past few years).
Besides climate issues, I expect interest rates to be higher within 5 years (which effects affordability and price) and I question whether home ownership will be as important to Generation Z (in 10-15 years when I might sell) as it was to mine. Finally, I don’t like being dependent upon a large foreign buyer market. For all these reasons I rent (might be the same even if I were 30 and needed stability in the form of same school district for my kids). I also would not buy here, unless I get a phenomenal deal. Besides a glut of condo inventory I have seen the same exact condo unit sell for $750K, then $1.2M, then back to $750K—all within a span of 10 years. You don’t want to be on the wrong side in that instance. You will also know you are in trouble when banks no longer finance 30 year mortgages.
Not sure how the Philly real estate market has fared.
This doesn't concern anyone? I would NEVER buy in Florida. Why do people keep living in denial?
I really feel for the people of Miami. It is such a shame that humanity has put off what is inevitable -- global energy transformation. Now we will face the repercussions. In the immediate future it will of course affect the housing market and the economy more largely as players speculate about Miami's fate. In the not too distant future, it does seem that we will see one of the first, most pronounced effects of climate change here in the US.
It'll be possible to "save" Miami for probably several decades to come...it'll just be very expensive and inconvenient. With water seeping from the porous ground, it sounds like buildings and streets need to be several feet higher. With floods already common in low areas, that should become a standard soon...emphasis on "should."
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