Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Miami:
1) That it's 100 degrees and 100% humidity every day in the Summer: Don't get me wrong; Summer is not pleasant but it's never 100 degrees. It's more like day after day after day of highs around 90 and lows around 80 with high humidity (again, not 100%). The humidity and resulting cloud cover keep the temps from soaring into the 100s like drier climates in the West.
2) That nobody speaks English. Like in other major metro areas of the country, there are definitely people who struggle with English, but they are not the majority. For those who speak Spanish, Portuguese or Creole as a first language, the vast majority of them are substantially/fully bilingual.
3) The risk of encountering an alligator. Certainly it's not a good idea to walk fi-fi on a leash near a large pond in the suburbs, but alligators aren't crawling all over the place all the time. Frankly, I'd love to see one as a matter of course in my daily life, but it hasn't happened yet, and I've been here 20 years. Even if one does come across a gator, they are not likely to threaten you if you leave them alone. Adults are simply too big to be considered prey. That said, I'd still not go for a swim in any pond in South Florida. Give me either a beach or a pool!
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
7,409 posts, read 6,547,418 times
Reputation: 6682
Good list...you could add a couple of other beauties that frequently come up on CD:
There’s no educated people in Miami, the reported per capital income level means Miami is on par with 3rd world countries, and the only jobs available here are in restaurants, hotels and bars—as if no doctors, attorneys, finance/hedge funds, import/export/trade, real estate developers, sales, small business owners etc exist here and “reported” income is the sole measure of the area’s wealth; those who live here dropped out of high school and nobody who lives in Miami ever attended an Ivy, Duke, Stanford, etc etc ; and Miami Dade is reminiscent of Guatemala with only 5 wealthy families who own the vast amount of expensive coastal properties spread over 50 miles from Cutler Bay to Sunny Isles, yachts, exotic cars and support all the high end retail and restaurants by themselves. SMH
Quote:
Originally Posted by rnc2mbfl
Miami:
1) That it's 100 degrees and 100% humidity every day in the Summer: Don't get me wrong; Summer is not pleasant but it's never 100 degrees. It's more like day after day after day of highs around 90 and lows around 80 with high humidity (again, not 100%). The humidity and resulting cloud cover keep the temps from soaring into the 100s like drier climates in the West.
2) That nobody speaks English. Like in other major metro areas of the country, there are definitely people who struggle with English, but they are not the majority. For those who speak Spanish, Portuguese or Creole as a first language, the vast majority of them are substantially/fully bilingual.
3) The risk of encountering an alligator. Certainly it's not a good idea to walk fi-fi on a leash near a large pond in the suburbs, but alligators aren't crawling all over the place all the time. Frankly, I'd love to see one as a matter of course in my daily life, but it hasn't happened yet, and I've been here 20 years. Even if one does come across a gator, they are not likely to threaten you if you leave them alone. Adults are simply too big to be considered prey. That said, I'd still not go for a swim in any pond in South Florida. Give me either a beach or a pool!
Last edited by elchevere; 05-08-2021 at 01:40 PM..
Good list...you could add a couple of other beauties that frequently come up on CD:
There’s no educated people in Miami, the reported per capital income level means Miami is on par with 3rd world countries, and the only jobs available here are in restaurants, hotels and bars—as if no doctors, attorneys, finance/hedge funds, import/export/trade, real estate developers, sales, small business owners etc exist here and “reported” income is the sole measure of the area’s wealth; those who live here dropped out of high school and nobody who lives in Miami ever attended an Ivy, Duke, Stanford, etc etc ; and Miami Dade is reminiscent of Guatemala with only 5 wealthy families who own the vast amount of expensive coastal properties spread over 50 miles from Cutler Bay to Sunny Isles, yachts, exotic cars and support all the high end retail and restaurants by themselves. SMH
I was actually going to mention that topic, but decided that it was too big to tackle. Thanks for sharing it!
Yeah, that's all exaggerated too for the benefit of tourists, I suppose. Any mule driver in the Quarter can (and will) tell them all that stuff with great embellishment, but they never hear about the fact that we actually have to earn a living, take care of family, keep up the house/apt, and all that unromantic, boring stuff that they have to do back in their home towns. Also they don't know that a Yat accent sounds more like slow, smooth Brooklyn-ese rather than the Atlanta type accents that Hollywood uses for New Orleanians
AMEN to this! I am so sick and tired of bad "southern" accents put out by Hollywood - don't even get me started...
People tend to think that Texas looks either like Dallas or the central Texas Hill Country - or even worse, that Texas is a desert. I can't really blame them, especially since so much media gets it so wrong and that's mostly what they're pulling from.
I live in NE Texas and we've got hills and rivers and pastures and green grass and trees and all that good stuff.
I would say that what is exaggerated about my metro area is that we're a cheap place to live. Not really. I mean, we're not an EXPENSIVE place to live but it's not as cheap to live here as many people tend to believe.
I live 1.5 hours east of Dallas - that's just a nice little road trip away. In fact, I'm going shopping tomorrow in Dallas with some friends. But Dallas, even being so close, is very different when it comes to terrain.
For some perspective, when I visited some family in Ohio, they live about an hour west of Columbus and we drove to the Columbus area to see some more family. The entire time, they kept saying "So, so sorry for such a long drive." Finally I said, "Hey, I'm from Texas. This is nothing, believe me." One time my husband and I drove three hours one way (and three hours back the same day) just to go to a company BBQ that was out in the country somewhere south of us!
I’ve only seen this on here but people keep saying the mountains are 2 hours from Denver. It only really takes 20-25 to get to them from Downtown and less for half the city. Don’t know where that came from.
People say downtown Sacramento is 2 hrs from the mountains, but it really is only 20 to 30 minutes until get to large hills and mountains. Like Denver the downtown/city part of Sacramento is flatlands, but in Sacramento the flatlands are just slightly above sea level; whereas, the Denver flatlands are at 5,200 feet above sea level.
So in the larger Sacramento area you have significant terrain variations, hills, canyons, mountain valleys, vertical drops all at lower elevations between 500 feet and 3,000 feet, which means you can enjoy mountain terrain in warmer temps with zero snow, and more oxygen. You don't need to drive the full 2 hours to get to Lake Tahoe Area, rather within 30 minutes from Sacramento you are in full mountain terrain. The Lake Tahoe area is 6,300 feet to near 10,000 foot peaks.
For example, lets say you want rafting on the American River, you can do it in Sacramento, 500 feet down to 50 feet above sea level. Or you can drive east 30-40 minutes to Coloma (Sierra Foothills) and on the same river, the American, you can do it on class III-IV white water in a steep canyon, elevations are 3,000 feet down to 500 feet.
mc2mbfl, about 10 miles east from downtown Sacto, the suburbs are no longer flat, another 10 miles significant hills like in Folsom, another 10 miles full on mountainous with steep canyons.
Last edited by Chimérique; 05-09-2021 at 09:29 AM..
People say downtown Sacramento is 2 hrs from the mountains, but it really is only 20 to 30 minutes until get to large hills and mountains. Like Denver the downtown/city part of Sacramento is flatlands, but in Sacramento the flatlands are just slightly above sea level; whereas, the Denver the flatlands are 5,200 feet.
So in the larger Sacramento area you have significant terrain variations, hills, canyons, mountain valleys, vertical drops all at lower elevations between 500 feet and 3,000 feet, which means you can enjoy mountain terrain in warmer temps with zero snow, and more oxygen. You don't need to drive the full 2 hours to get to Lake Tahoe, rather within in 30 minutes you are in mountain terrain.
Are you saying that this is 20-30 minutes from the center of Sacramento, or from the eastern edge of the urbanized area? It's been a long time since I've driven through there on the way to Tahoe, but I don't recall mountainous areas being that close to the city.
People act like people who live in the DC region must particularly care about politics and that nothing happens in our lives except CSPAN. I’m sure it attracts the type, but still.
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
7,409 posts, read 6,547,418 times
Reputation: 6682
One other misperception about Miami: the entire city is “flashy”.
First off, the majority of flashiness takes place in South Beach which (1) is a tiny sliver of greater Miami and (2) the flashy person is more likely to be an out of town tourist than a local, some who will rent an exotic car for 1/2 a day to try and impress others (something out of a Vegas commercial in which they encourage you to pretend to be someone you are not).
There is a vast amount of wealth in coastal Miami but many times I have sat next to a person inside a luxury hotel at the bar or at a restaurant bar with most people being humble, not pretentious. The only reason I knew they drive an Aston Martin or Bugatti is because I saw them getting into their car, not because they bragged about it...on the West Coast—specifically, OC and LA—many locals will go out of their way to tell you what brand car they drive (or ask you the same...some will come right out and ask you how much you earn). In that regard, Miami—outside of SoBe—is more East Coast grounded.
Last edited by elchevere; 05-12-2021 at 07:36 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
