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We've been busy here in the Keys, we go back to Miami today.
I hope my posts in this thread get's read by other who are considering Miami. As often happens around here, the thread turns into a tirade about who is right and who is not.
Ok, let me get started. Some of the things I understood from reading this forum are just untrue from my experience so far. As a matter of fact, it's not even close.
Miami has unfriendly people is shear nonsense. I've liked nearly everyone I have come in contact with so far. I have already built several business realtionships down here. I have found people warm and inviting. Perhaps a few were a bit standoffish at first, but once they realize you're really ok and not out to get them they warm up and you are their new BFF. Not a thing wrong with the people in Miami, don't let they people on this board convince you other wise. Just be real and they will be real back. Problem solved.
As a matter of fact, walk down Hollywood beach in the morning and count how many total strangers say Good Morning to you. I wanted a cup of coffee when we were in Hollywood before the stores open. I approached a total stranger and asked him where I could get a cup of Coffee, not only did he tell me, but walked me to the place where I could get one before 7:00 am. He lived at Hollywood beach for 11 years. People in Hollywood were NYC friendly.
Miami is unsafe. Nonsense. Just keep your head about you and don't go into the bad areas and you'll be fine. We have not felt unsafe since we have been here.
You need to know spanish to survive here. Nonsense, that's the most stupid myth of all of them.
Traffic is a nightmare. It's a combination of too many cars, too narrow of streets at times and many roads under contruction. My son commented that while we saw much road work going on, but we didn't see anyone actually working on the roads.
Miami is expensive. Only partially true. Shop around and we have found some pretty good deals. Fact is, Miami is about 20% more expensive across the board than Dallas, maybe less. Gas in Miami, 2.83, Dallas $2.70. A small house in Dallas, $1100, in Miami $1300 in an area someone might consider livable.
The tollways are expensive in Miami. Nonsense. We took the turnpike from Miami out at the airport to the Keys. The cost was 1.00. In dallas we have tollways that are $1.00 to go less than 2 miles.
No jobs in soflo. Nonsense. It looks to us, like we'll be working our butts off here. Just be proffesional and get with the program and doors fly open for you in soflo. There are business people everywhere that need and want good people. Be that and you'll shine down here.
I'm really tired this morning and my post here sounds sluggish. We've been going nonstop since we arrrived and it's far from over for us. I'm in IslaMorada this morning and we drive back to Miami as soon as my son wakes to look at more rentals. We have all day saturday to shop for more properties, then it's back down to the Keys for more work on Sunday.
We have found a place that will work for us and the Realtor is holding it for us. It's in Hallandale. We really like the place. It's inside us1 right off Hallandale beach blvd. Very close to all that very nice shopping areas, the unit is on the second floor and the view out of the window is the bay. 2-2 furnished and asking price is 1200. It's on the water. Mind blowing view and it feels very inner city. We like the city, so this is a good fit for us both. We felt connected there unlike some of the other places we have found.
We have many more properties to consider, but have all but given up on a house. House are $$$ here and you don't get much for your money unless you live far away from the inner city. We get that now, where we want to be, we need an apartment, multi family dwelling.
I use the term Miami as anything from the Grove to Hollywood. It's all the city to me. I feel the same way about the Keys. Key Largo to IslaMorada is all one city as well. I have a completly different view of the keys and we like Miami much better. The Keys, nice place to visit but we wouldn't want to live here. We need the city life and are anxious to get back there this morning.
I have to go hunt up some coffee and get on the road, more impressions coming soo. We came here and planned to move. Nothing has changed and so far, Miami is much better than what we expected. I think what someone said to me probably rings true. Yes, the glizt and glamour does wear off after a bit, but it takes a while unlike other US cities. We're still in the shock and awe stage, but the plan still is to get here full time as soon as we can and nothing we have seen thus far has changed our minds.
We think we have found a place to live but have a few more days
i agree with everything accept the jobs comment. This isn't the 4th worse economy in the U.S. for no reason. It really depends on the field you're in etc. I'm eating but others I know aren't (they are in different field from myself). Glad you like it though. As I always tell people, to me Miami is the best city in the Southern U.S.
I also agree in general with everything except the job thing.
Though I am employed quite well, it is just fact that this place does not have a good, across the board economy, even the higher end sectors have taken a huge hit.
Plus, one oddity I find is the wage rate here, a job here pays the same as in lower living areas, but yet the cost of living is much more. Two examples: The fed gov has a locality allowance, they rate Miami as almost the same as low cost areas of Raleigh, and less than Denver (two places in which I lived and can tell you are much cheaper to live in than Miami). Walmart in general pays less here starting out than in Knoxville TN where the cost of living is much lower.
I also agree in general with everything except the job thing.
Though I am employed quite well, it is just fact that this place does not have a good, across the board economy, even the higher end sectors have taken a huge hit.
Plus, one oddity I find is the wage rate here, a job here pays the same as in lower living areas, but yet the cost of living is much more. Two examples: The fed gov has a locality allowance, they rate Miami as almost the same as low cost areas of Raleigh, and less than Denver (two places in which I lived and can tell you are much cheaper to live in than Miami). Walmart in general pays less here starting out than in Knoxville TN where the cost of living is much lower.
Yes, the disparity between pay for most and the cost of living is WAY out of wack down here.
We've been busy here in the Keys, we go back to Miami today.
I hope my posts in this thread get's read by other who are considering Miami. As often happens around here, the thread turns into a tirade about who is right and who is not.
Ok, let me get started. Some of the things I understood from reading this forum are just untrue from my experience so far. As a matter of fact, it's not even close.
Miami has unfriendly people is shear nonsense. I've liked nearly everyone I have come in contact with so far.
Miami is unsafe. Nonsense. Just keep your head about you and don't go into the bad areas and you'll be fine. We have not felt unsafe since we have been here.
You need to know spanish to survive here. Nonsense, that's the most stupid myth of all of them.
Traffic is a nightmare. It's a combination of too many cars, too narrow of streets at times and many roads under contruction. My son commented that while we saw much road work going on, but we didn't see anyone actually working on the roads.
Miami is expensive. Only partially true.
The tollways are expensive in Miami. Nonsense. We took the turnpike from Miami out at the airport to the Keys. The cost was 1.00. In dallas we have tollways that are $1.00 to go less than 2 miles.
No jobs in soflo. Nonsense. It looks to us, like we'll be working our butts off here.
Jmlacysr: Great post....I am reading your posts. I haven't been to Miami in about 5 years. Last trip was a business trip but all my other visits there have been as a tourist.
I have to admit that reading some of the threads in the Miami forum got me thinking, "Geez, maybe I am total fool because I have always really ENJOYED going to Miami?"
I have even considered moving there at some point....so your post has caused me to think I wasn't mistaken in my generall positive impressions.
Your post is a refreshingly different perspective from some of the bitter ones who in all honesty would be equally miserable in Paris, France or Paris, Texas.
No jobs in soflo. Nonsense. It looks to us, like we'll be working our butts off here. Just be proffesional and get with the program and doors fly open for you in soflo. There are business people everywhere that need and want good people. Be that and you'll shine down here.
Dude you've been here like 48 hours and you figured our job market? Let me quote you "WOW, WOW, WOW"
Some of the things I understood from reading this forum are just untrue from my experience so far. As a matter of fact, it's not even close.
You've been here a few days. I could probably then discount the remainder of the substantive portion of this post.
I have already built several business realtionships down here.
I bet you have! (Scam Artists are not only abundant but very astute).
Miami is unsafe. Nonsense.
Nuff said.
We have not felt unsafe since we have been here.
So my friend who was robbed at gunpoint with her 3 children in the car in her Pinecrest driveway was just in an unsafe area. Okay.
The tollways are expensive in Miami. Nonsense.
okay
No jobs in soflo. Nonsense.
Res Ipsa (Speaks for itself)
We came here and planned to move. Nothing has changed and so far, Miami is much better than what we expected.
Talk to Chels
Last edited by StilltheSame; 10-23-2010 at 02:19 PM..
Miami has unfriendly people is shear nonsense. I've liked nearly everyone I have come in contact with so far. I have already built several business realtionships down here. I have found people warm and inviting. Perhaps a few were a bit standoffish at first, but once they realize you're really ok and not out to get them they warm up and you are their new BFF. Not a thing wrong with the people in Miami, don't let they people on this board convince you other wise. Just be real and they will be real back. Problem solved.
As a matter of fact, walk down Hollywood beach in the morning and count how many total strangers say Good Morning to you. I wanted a cup of coffee when we were in Hollywood before the stores open. I approached a total stranger and asked him where I could get a cup of Coffee, not only did he tell me, but walked me to the place where I could get one before 7:00 am. He lived at Hollywood beach for 11 years. People in Hollywood were NYC friendly.
Miami is unsafe. Nonsense. Just keep your head about you and don't go into the bad areas and you'll be fine. We have not felt unsafe since we have been here.
You need to know spanish to survive here. Nonsense, that's the most stupid myth of all of them.
Traffic is a nightmare. It's a combination of too many cars, too narrow of streets at times and many roads under contruction. My son commented that while we saw much road work going on, but we didn't see anyone actually working on the roads.
Miami is expensive. Only partially true. Shop around and we have found some pretty good deals. Fact is, Miami is about 20% more expensive across the board than Dallas, maybe less. Gas in Miami, 2.83, Dallas $2.70. A small house in Dallas, $1100, in Miami $1300 in an area someone might consider livable.
The tollways are expensive in Miami. Nonsense. We took the turnpike from Miami out at the airport to the Keys. The cost was 1.00. In dallas we have tollways that are $1.00 to go less than 2 miles.
No jobs in soflo. Nonsense. It looks to us, like we'll be working our butts off here. Just be proffesional and get with the program and doors fly open for you in soflo. There are business people everywhere that need and want good people. Be that and you'll shine down here.
I have to go hunt up some coffee and get on the road, more impressions coming soo. We came here and planned to move. Nothing has changed and so far, Miami is much better than what we expected. I think what someone said to me probably rings true. Yes, the glizt and glamour does wear off after a bit, but it takes a while unlike other US cities. We're still in the shock and awe stage, but the plan still is to get here full time as soon as we can and nothing we have seen thus far has changed our minds.
It's fine that you give your opinions an impressions, but just as you do, people who have actually LIVED here for their many years or their whole lives have a right to correct you when you give inaccurate information based on your first impressions. It isn't fair to give people your ideas of what it is like when you just arrived and then to say that a long time resident's posts are nonsense. People who agree with you will tend to be newbies-residents who have lived here for under a year, tourists, realtors or people who are fortunate enough to be insulated from harsh economic times. People who live a lower to middle class life in the city of Miami will tend to strongly disagree with your post. People in Miami Beach, Brickell, Pinecrest and the Gables, not so much. A lot of the posters on city data in this forum live disproportionately in the nice areas so sometimes posts get skewed. Very few insightful critical posts are acknowledeged or recognized, just attacked and dismissed as being "negative" or bitter or that the person must be angry at the world. In other words, no debate, just blowing it off. It's a cop out, but I do not make any claims I can't back up and you will see that in the following:
Case in point for one of your inaccurate comments are the alledgedly cheap tolls costing one dollar from the Keys to Miami. Are you confusing the cost PER toll booth? Tolls are outrageous in Florida and this is common knowledge. It is not one dollar from the Keys to Miami. You pass half a dozen toll booths costing close to one dollar....
How can you say Miami is safe if you just got here and have only been to the nice areas which account for a sliver of the city and it's population? You have been to safe areas, but that doesn't mean the city itself is safe.
If you have been lucky to only run into friendly people, good for you, but this is not the norm and it will not continously happen. Personally I think you must have a distorted view of what nice is if you call people in Miami friendly...especially comming from Dallas. I am not saying there aren't friendly people here, just that this area isn't characterized as being friendly with good reason. This is evident in the way people drive on the roads here as well. Not friendly at all! Sure, if you are a tourist and being wines and dined by realtors you will get the star treatment. But that is business. You will understand what I am saying in a few months.
I am happy your initial impressions are wonderful, that is a GOOD thing. But to proclaim that your view of Miami in your honeymoon phase is the way it actually is, is very misleading because it is inaccurate after the novelty wears off. Give it time and repost in a month, 6 months and a year. But to reply that detailed posts from other posters explaining why crime is an issue are nonsense is totally untrue.
People are not rude in Miami because people aren't being "real" to each other. Time for a reality check. People here are rude because there is a lack of community, sense of permanency and belonging. There are also cultural and socioeconomic differences, in addition to a suburban layout that doesn't favor friendly interaction. On top of that we have the MiaME syndrome, it is all about me. People here can act very rude, careless or obnoxious and it isn't perceived as out of the ordinary or frowned upon. It is viewed as the norm and this reinforces it and it spreads like a disease throught he community. Basically, people just don't care about each other and have a lack of common courtesy or manners and it's all about them. This may happen everywhere, but not to the extent that it poisons South Florida.
The job situation here has always been tough, even before the boom and bust. Anyone remember the term "sunshine dollars" as a way of validating crappy pay for the overabundance of qualified people looking for the few decent jobs available? In general Florida is a tourism and real estate driven economy. Hit VERY hard by bad economic times. Sure, there are jobs put there, but they are few and far between and being qualified and wanting to work is not enough for most people, hence an unemployment rate near 10%.
I know my post may come off as negative to you and to other posters, but keep this in mind. Miami is bigger than that luxury, air conditioned car that shuttles one from the beachfront condo to the Grove or Gables. Most people in Miami don't live like that, so your view that this is paradise is valid based on your days and based on your accomodations, but this is a truth that is valid for a very small percentage of the overall population. This concept seems to be very hard for some posters to wrap their head around. I love Miami, but I will not sweep it's problems under the rug or turn a blind eye to them. If we want to make Miami a more liveable place or at least a truely world class city (not just in lip service) we need to address the issues. The first step it to acknowldge them. That is my view and impression.
Last edited by Chelito23; 10-23-2010 at 05:18 PM..
Someones impressions are just that, their impressions of what they observe. You can't say the poor are the "real" miami...wealthy people live there too. I don't really understand your post, those problems are found everywhere. What are we all supposed to do...stop what we are doing and make sure everyone is level?
Maybe Chelo is really Hugo Chavez posting from Doral or Weston
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Wow
