Florida or Southern California? (apartments, buying a home, buying)

[Lori-Leigh]

Here's the background...

I'll be graduating this May and then I'm off to graduate school for Architecture. Ideally, I want to attend grad school wherever I plan on starting my career. So the question becomes - where to go?

-I've always lived in Nevada and I'm ready for a different scene.
-I hate cold weather, love the heat.
-I like to be adventurous but I'm also pretty chill.
-I would love to live in a big city - Reno simply isn't big enough.
-I want to live in a place with culture, beautiful architecture, and job opportunities.
-Cost of living is important to me since grad school will be expensive enough.
-Finally, I want to live in a place that has a pretty good gay community.

I think I've limited my top choices down to these three cities:

Miami, FL
Tampa, FL
San Diego, CA

Any advice would be wonderful! Thanks!

"Love the moment, and the energy of that moment will spread beyond all boundaries." - Corita Kent

[kyle19125]

In my opinion as a gay male who grew up in South Florida, I would most recommend Miami. It's sophisticated, diverse/international, has stunning modern and historic architecture (Art Deco and Mediterranean especially), a vibrant architectural and design scene as well as a very visible gay and lesbian community that is integrated with the city. The cost of living will be below that of San Diego and not much more than Tampa so for what it offers I believe of the three it's a pretty great value. Good luck!

[nowincal11]

San Diego is the most expensive of the three. That being said, CA salaries tend to be higher, recession notwithstanding. The cost of buying a home in Socal is astronomical, but apartments tend to be more reasonably priced. San Diego has a gay community, but it is much smaller than in LA. San Diego has perfect year round weather with no humidity. San Diego is a bit more suburban in design and driving large distances to see friends, hang out, to school is the norm.

Miami is a great city also. It has a large gay population. It seems a bit more urban than San Diego and is much smaller. Lots of cultural activities and lots of different cultures. The cost of living is more reasonable than San Diego. There is a wide diversity in housing options.

Tampa was a typical Southern city in my opinion. Very humid like Miami, but without all the cultural activities. It just reminds me of being very down home. Obviously it has the lowest cost of living of the three.