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PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS:
1. I live in Orlando, FL
2. Puerto Rican
3. Master's Degree in Guidance Counseling
4. 33 years old.
5. Gay single male.
I AM LOOKING FOR...
1. Accessibility to a reliable and safe mass transit system.
2. Controlled level of crime.
3. Liberal or Centrist tendency.
4. Gay friendly.
5. Hispanic friendly.
6. Urban NON SPREAD area.
7. Variety of nigtlife options, cultural and social events.
8. Plenty of counseling related employment opportunities.
9. Fairer salaries for a person with a master's degree.
10. Fair cost of living for a middle class worker.
11. A tolerable weather is important, but not essential.
Miami's weather it's not tolerable... summers are HOOOOOOOOOT and HUMID! salaries with a Master's are not that great either and the city is super expensive for a middle class person. I heard Philly is expensive, but the wages are better than Miami's. ATL is wider in the job market and they have a lot of big and well established companies, Miami is based on Mickey Mouse small and unstable companies mostly in the tourism and health care areas. Crime is Miami is pretty high, you better have big bucks and afford a safe and pleasant area.
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS:
1. I live in Orlando, FL
2. Puerto Rican
3. Master's Degree in Guidance Counseling
4. 33 years old.
5. Gay single male.
I AM LOOKING FOR...
1. Accessibility to a reliable and safe mass transit system.
2. Controlled level of crime.
3. Liberal or Centrist tendency.
4. Gay friendly.
5. Hispanic friendly.
6. Urban NON SPREAD area.
7. Variety of nigtlife options, cultural and social events.
8. Plenty of counseling related employment opportunities.
9. Fairer salaries for a person with a master's degree.
10. Fair cost of living for a middle class worker.
11. A tolerable weather is important, but not essential.
To answer your questions:
1. This is very much a car-oriented city. So unless you live somewhere like Brickell then the public transport isn't going to be something you'll be able to rely on that much.
2. Yes
3. Yes
4. Yes
5. No, absolutely no Hispanics here.
6. By "non-spread" I'm guessing you mean no sprawl? If that's what you mean then there's a lot of sprawl here.
7. Yes
8. Don't know enough to answer this one.
9. Yes
10. Define "middle class." Housing isn't cheap but isn't unobtainable.
11. Probably not terribly different from Orlando, but warmer on the whole during the winter months and I personally don't think it's as bad in the summer since we're on the coast (though still pretty hot/humid).
Miami's weather it's not tolerable... summers are HOOOOOOOOOT and HUMID! salaries with a Master's are not that great either and the city is super expensive for a middle class person. I heard Philly is expensive, but the wages are better than Miami's. ATL is wider in the job market and they have a lot of big and well established companies, Miami is based on Mickey Mouse small and unstable companies mostly in the tourism and health care areas. Crime is Miami is pretty high, you better have big bucks and afford a safe and pleasant area.
Good luck in your decision
do you even know what you are saying? He is from Orlando (where I currently live) and it's like a oven here compared to Miami! At least the afternoon showers cool off Miami in the summer.
Mickey Mouse? that's in Orlando not Miami. As for crime Miami is also a metro twice the size of Orlando's so of course the crime is going to be higher but the crime here in Orlando isn't any better. I swear the crime reports here sounds familiar to WSVN's Ch. 7!
Atlanta is the least urban of your choices so plan on commuting everywhere in that sprawlville.
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS:
1. I live in Orlando, FL
2. Puerto Rican
3. Master's Degree in Guidance Counseling
4. 33 years old.
5. Gay single male.
I AM LOOKING FOR...
1. Accessibility to a reliable and safe mass transit system.
2. Controlled level of crime.
3. Liberal or Centrist tendency.
4. Gay friendly.
5. Hispanic friendly.
6. Urban NON SPREAD area.
7. Variety of nigtlife options, cultural and social events.
8. Plenty of counseling related employment opportunities.
9. Fairer salaries for a person with a master's degree.
10. Fair cost of living for a middle class worker.
11. A tolerable weather is important, but not essential.
The truth:
Miami's metrorail will get you to where it goes, safely and reliable, BUT it doesn't go everywhere. The metromover is a great Downtown system. Nothing negative to say about it.
I'm sure Philly's is better, don't actually know, but it's in the northeast so I assume. Can't say anything about ATL's.
Crime-wise. Well, speaking of crime rate wise, they all have crime. But just stay in safe areas, well that's for Miami, not sure on ATL or Philly, but assume it goes for them too since it goes for almost every city.
Don't know about Philly, but ATL is the gay capital of the nation right now. Miami isn't exactly gay friendly, but they aren't going to kill you. Miami Beach is more gay friendly though.
Miami is hispanic friendly. Ummm ATL, I would say, even though not many hispanics, half is hispanic friendly, half isn't. Remember during the immigration things that happened a few years back? they wanted them out of here, well half. Oh, and don't know about Philly.
Some of Miami is urban, some isn't. I believe same is for ATL. Not sure about Philly but I assume it's more urban.
Miami wins this hands down. I'm not sure if ATL has much culture. Don't know about Philly though.
Depends on what type of middle class you are talking about.
I think Miami's weather is better than ATL's and Philly's. When I went to Atlanta the sun felt so much hotter and worse. I don't know why, it really felt like I was frying out there. And I say over Philly because I prefer nice, and warm over cold as hell.
I haven't spent much time in Philly, so can't comment much about Philly. That said, between Miami and Atlanta, Miami will be much more gay friendly most likely. Atlanta is progressive in many ways, but its surrounded by the south if you know what I mean. Atlanta has a better transit than Miami does, but you will still most likely need a car in both cities. Both cities are spread out, both cities have good nightlife. Atlanta has a better cost of living than Miami does. As for tolerable weather, that is a personal question, each of us has their own idea of what is tolerable. Atlanta has season, they do not get much snow if any. They do get ice, and they do get the summer heat (hotter than Miami) but not as long as Miami. Miami is more of a two season place spring and summer basically. Hope this helps. Miami has the beaches, Atlanta is land locked, you do have lakes near by.
Lived in Philly - live in Orlando now. Philly is great small city, you can live Center City and be right in the heart of things. Pretty good mass transit system. Caveat - a friend is guidance counselor w/MA - when she got her job in a public school in Philly her first paycheck was LESS than her unemployment - don't think it's top tier as far as pay goes. But everywhere there are big cutbacks in education so you may want to consider job opportunites.
Have not lived in Miami but have visited and there is large Hispanic (well Cuban) population and I always thought it was considered gay friendly.
Never been to Atlanta but it really is the hub of the south - large city but I think you definitely have to have a car there.
do you even know what you are saying? He is from Orlando (where I currently live) and it's like a oven here compared to Miami! At least the afternoon showers cool off Miami in the summer.
Mickey Mouse? that's in Orlando not Miami. As for crime Miami is also a metro twice the size of Orlando's so of course the crime is going to be higher but the crime here in Orlando isn't any better. I swear the crime reports here sounds familiar to WSVN's Ch. 7!
Atlanta is the least urban of your choices so plan on commuting everywhere in that sprawlville.
At least Orlando has some winter compared to Miami, and showers don't really cool off 'cuz of the high humidity that feels you're sweating like a beast....
I will talk about the points with which I have more experience. I no longer live in Miami due to a few of them, and while there are good things about Miami, the bad vastly, vastly outweighed them for me.
Miami, for all intents and purposes, has no public transit system. You will almost surely need a car. Bike lanes are nowhere to be found, and you can't walk anywhere. An exception is downtown to some extent.
Miami's crime is out of control, but your level of exposure will be based on where you live (like anywhere). Overall though, one of the main reasons I left Miami was the level of crime there.
Miami, from my experience, is relatively liberal to centrist, gay friendly and very Hispanic friendly. Spanish is often spoken first, although it depends on the area in which you're located.
Miami is far and away the most urban sprawled city I have ever been to (I have never been to Los Angeles, which I hear is a nightmare), and this ties in with the public transit system as well. Another one of the main reasons I left Miami was no reliable method of transportation other than cars, and even by car, getting from one part of the city to another was often a nightmare.
As for the nightlife, it's the main thing I miss, apart from family and friends. I went out almost every night, and there are places for everyone. Places are open all hours of the night, and generally places don't get crowded until 1:00AM. It's more of a club scene than a bar scene, although I am content with both.
As for cultural events, there are a few good ones (Art Basel, for example), but overall, it's pretty devoid. No museums worth going to, and just overall not much going on, at least compared to other cities I've been to/lived in.
Another reason I left Miami was the weather. Too hot, too humid, no seasons. I enjoy having proper seasons, at least to some extent, and Miami has two: hot and warm - though sometimes cool.
Also, Miami is very expensive overall, and seems to be either rich or poor. It has the highest credit card debt out of any city in the US, and a lower median income level - I read that the average household owes about 1/4 of its income to credit card companies - and it's only going to get worse as it accrues, because I'm sure paying it off is of little concern. A large part of that, it seems, is due to Miami's extreme superficiality. I have been to no city as superficial as Miami. Looks (not just physical, but material) are very important there.
All of this, obviously, is only based on my experience and perception, so I am by no means speaking for everyone. Miami seems to be a city where people would prefer to get nice rims for their cars rather than save for an education for their children if that makes sense.
Hopefully that helped. I will say that I've never been to Philadelphia, but I have stayed a few nights in Atlanta, and I liked it less than Miami. I rarely felt safe there, it was dirty, seemed crime ridden, the public transit wasn't great (though seemed better than Miami's), it was basically just as hot, and the nightlife sucked in comparison, but then, I never lived there, so I didn't know the good spots.
Last edited by Yhbv24; 05-11-2010 at 11:20 PM..
Reason: Typo
Mickey Mouse? that's in Orlando not Miami. As for crime Miami is also a metro twice the size of Orlando's so of course the crime is going to be higher but the crime here in Orlando isn't any better. I swear the crime reports here sounds familiar to WSVN's Ch. 7!
Atlanta is the least urban of your choices so plan on commuting everywhere in that sprawlville.
No Mickey mouse is being used as a descriptive adjective, she's not talking about the mouse itself. Yes Miami is full of Mickey Mouse companies. Agree 100% with Marina.
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