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I have a cousin in his late-20s, just married and with a 6-month old baby. Both he and his wife are consultants that work remotely, make good money, and both like sunshine and beaches. Both of them grew up in Dallas suburbs. They've narrowed it down to these two cities and I said I would start this thread for them to get some opinions. Here is their criteria:
Criteria:
Schools
Safety
Culture
Diversity
Quality of beaches
Weather
Restaurants
Farmer's Markets and Grocery Stores
Family-oriented neighborhoods
Nice Downtown
Traffic/Transportation
Friendliness of people
Schools - San Diego
Safety - San Diego by a mile
Culture - Miami
Diversity - Miami
Quality of beaches - Miami (but it's close)
Weather - San Diego
Restaurants - Miami
Farmer's Markets and Grocery Stores - San DIego
Family-oriented neighborhoods - San Diego
Nice Downtown - San Diego
Traffic/Transportation - San Diego
Friendliness of people - Miami
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
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Lived in both cities...really depends where your cousin settles--urban v suburban.
Schools--San Diego (though Jeff Bezos, Stephen Ross, SCOTUS Katenji Brown Jackson, Sheryl Sandberg, and others managed to do OK for themselves graduating from Miami and Miami Beach area high schools).
Safety--San Diego
Culture--Miami
Diversity--Miami
Beaches--depends; ability to go in ocean without a wetsuit year round, rent chairs & umbrellas already on the beach, receive food and beverage service on some beaches: Miami; more scenic topography (bluffs) and easier parking at the beach: San Diego.
Weather: overall, San Diego though Miami > from early November - mid May. San Diego less extreme (cooler winters but no excessive heat outside of a couple of potential heat spells from mid August - late September).
Restaurants: Miami
Farmers Markets: San Diego; Grocery Stores: both have Whole Foods and specialty grocers.
Family oriented neighborhoods: more of them in San Diego
Nice downtown--again, urban or suburban?...if urban, Brickell is nicer and cleaner than downtown San Diego and far less of a visible, unsheltered homeless presence. Both have nice suburban areas with downtowns (La Jolla v Coral Gables; Coronado v Key Biscayne; Carlsbad v Bal Harbour, etc).
Traffic / transportation--San Diego, outside of airport
Friendliness of people--San Diego. While not outwardly direct/rude like Miami they also can be a bit more reserved and passive aggressive.
Last edited by elchevere; 02-22-2023 at 06:21 PM..
Neither. They should stay in Dallas with their massive support system between both sides of the family, move to the Northside with the good schools and districts, and buy a home and build equity instead of moving to the coasts where they will inevitably part with half of their income in COL, will be renting, and have little money leftover for private school or college funds. San Diego and Miami are wonderful cities but not for young families. They're more for childless tech bros, finance people, millionaires, and wealthy retirees.
I’m gonna go out on a limb and say this will be one of the more lopsided polls on C-D?
Waiting for Miami residents (they're here) to talk about:
*foreign money not being counted in average income.
*being more expensive than LA
*more usable beaches
*everyone being in shape
*and not quite as conservative as you may think.
In all seriousness, for families, SD pretty easily. Young and single, yep, I get Miami's allure.
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
7,409 posts, read 6,545,347 times
Reputation: 6682
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gaylord_Focker
Waiting for Miami residents (they're here) to talk about:
*foreign money not being counted in average income.
*being more expensive than LA
*more usable beaches
*everyone being in shape
*and not quite as conservative as you may think.
In all seriousness, for families, SD pretty easily. Young and single, yep, I get Miami's allure.
Surprised the following wasn’t added by a suburban poster who knows little about 1 of the cities
* only waiter and cabana boy jobs exist in Miami
* one must speak Spanish to live here
* Miami gets 5 hurricanes a year every year
* Miami is only habitable from December to January; the rest of the time it’s like The Forbidden Zone from the original Planet of the Apes.
* every day is a beach day in San Diego
* nearby Tijuana is safe, especially at night
* LA is right around the corner, just up the street—you can practically walk there
* homeless are an asset and harmless,not a liability—just ask Bill Walton.
That being said and as someone who has actually lived in both cities, I agree San Diego is better suited for a U.S. born family than Miami. If one were to move to the Miami metro they would be much better off in Palm Beach County.
AllenK’s last sentence above in his reply pretty much captures my sentiments as well regarding both cities.
* = sarcasm
Last edited by elchevere; 02-23-2023 at 07:30 AM..
Surprised the following wasn’t added by a suburban poster who knows little about 1 of the cities
* only waiter and cabana boy jobs exist in Miami
* one must speak Spanish to live here
* Miami gets 5 hurricanes a year every year
* Miami is only habitable from December to January; the rest of the time it’s like The Forbidden Zone from the original Planet of the Apes.
* every day is a beach day in San Diego
* nearby Tijuana is safe, especially at night
* LA is right around the corner, just up the street—you can practically walk there
* homeless are an asset and harmless,not a liability—just ask Bill Walton.
That being said, I agree San Diego is better suited for a U.S. born family than Miami. If one were to move to the Miami metro they would be much better off in Palm Beach County.
AllenK’s last sentence above in his reply pretty much captures my sentiments as well regarding both cities.
* = sarcasm
Actually I've lived in Seattle, Denver, DC, Austin and Houston. I wasn't always a suburbanite. But, got kids, so OC works for me. For now.
Neither. They should stay in Dallas with their massive support system between both sides of the family, move to the Northside with the good schools and districts, and buy a home and build equity instead of moving to the coasts where they will inevitably part with half of their income in COL, will be renting, and have little money leftover for private school or college funds. San Diego and Miami are wonderful cities but not for young families. They're more for childless tech bros, finance people, millionaires, and wealthy retirees.
If you have money, SD is a great place for families.
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