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Old 03-24-2011, 09:10 PM
 
Location: Altoona, PA
932 posts, read 1,174,297 times
Reputation: 914

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For about 6 months, I lived on SW 11th Street and honestly, it was probably the quietest, most serene part of Miami that I lived in, despite the fact that I was literally spitting distance from Calle Ocho. Little Havana is weird though; some absolutely beautiful and charming old houses, then go a few blocks and you find seedy, run down apartments. It's a colorful area, I'll give it that, but I'd say by no means bad. The bakeries are to die for too and it's quite a convenient location.
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Old 03-24-2011, 10:29 PM
 
Location: Seattle, WA
2,975 posts, read 4,925,927 times
Reputation: 1227
The new stadium is not due for another year, so if you're planning to get a car anyways, I wouldn't worry about public transportation to the stadium. At any rate, there is a very infrequent bus that goes through the ghetto (#7, I think), though I suppose the adventurous can walk from the Civic Center Metrorail. If proximity to the stadium is your only reason to be in Little Havana, I'd seriously look at other areas: Brickell, Downtown, Coconut Grove, South Beach.
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Old 03-24-2011, 10:41 PM
 
2,930 posts, read 7,045,442 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by abstravel View Post

Little Havana? Go the the nearest run-down Bronx area at 2AM, and you'll get a feel for it.
Stay away from Little Havana. Little Haiti is more eclectic!
There is nothing eclectic about little Haiti. The place is very poor and most business owners and retailers avoid the area. It's pretty bad up there.
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Old 03-24-2011, 11:18 PM
 
Location: Miami/NYC
1,209 posts, read 2,413,460 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by scottykick View Post
...and should I invest in a Spanish Roseta Stone CD? seems like Spanish is as big in Miami as French is in Montreal. :-)

Thanks for any info you can supply.
Only if u live in Little Havana, in brickell/ coconut grove/ key biscayne. u can survive with not knowing spanish at all
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Old 03-24-2011, 11:23 PM
 
399 posts, read 717,054 times
Reputation: 320
Little Havana is not an attractive area. Some parts are nicer than others..but overall it's not so great. I wouldn't live there if I had a choice.
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Old 03-25-2011, 09:46 AM
 
18,073 posts, read 18,744,646 times
Reputation: 25191
Quote:
Originally Posted by abstravel View Post
Stick with the Brickell area. Get into the older buildings, better built, won't sway when a hurricane comes around. - Hey, any Jade residents around during the last hurricane? How was the motion-sickness afterwards? Boy, people forget that half the "stuco" fell off from the Jade.

How about the "new" buildings on Brickell around 20th-25th? Hialeah has better new construction.

Stick with well designed, well maintained older buildings in Brickell. You can buy or better yet, rent for a year, then decide.

Little Havana? Go the the nearest run-down Bronx area at 2AM, and you'll get a feel for it.
Stay away from Little Havana. Little Haiti is more eclectic!
I guess you did not realize that the buildings were designed to sway? It is a "bend but not break" safety feature for buildings in high wind areas and earthquake zones, though the actual design is different between the two.
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Old 03-25-2011, 11:10 AM
 
Location: Brooklyn, NY
425 posts, read 956,754 times
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Thanks for all the info, I know how certain areas are seem like common sense to locals, because I know how quick I am to go "what are they thinking" when I read on the NYC city data forum "I'm moving from _____ and I'm thinking about East New York, is it a good area?" and while I am sure as with any area there are many good people there, the fact that it's on the 10PM news almost every night here, says if you have the means...try somplace else.

Brickell, South Beach & Downtown seem okay, I will look into them as well. I would not be down there until around Dec 11/Jan 12 so I will be able to settle in during the "comfortable" season...lol

I also looked into Oakland/Bay Area in CA, but I decided with family in NYC, I would rather stay on East Coast, plus I know alot of people who moved down to various parts of FLA (most in Tampa, some in Ft. Lauderdale and West Palm) so I could always go see some old buddys from time to time.
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Old 04-06-2011, 08:53 PM
 
28 posts, read 114,971 times
Reputation: 19
Quote:
Originally Posted by boxus View Post
I guess you did not realize that the buildings were designed to sway? It is a "bend but not break" safety feature for buildings in high wind areas and earthquake zones, though the actual design is different between the two.
I beg to differ with you...
The old buildings on Brickell don't sway back and forth during hurricanes, and they sure don't have half their plaster walls come off, either.

One thing is to give 1-2 inches at the top in either direction, but swaying like you're on a boat on open water, is not called "safety construction."
Neither is plaster falling off during a hurricane. None of the older buildings on Brickell had any part of their walls fall off. Some had broken windows due to metal or wood being thrown against them during the storm. But no windows that were "broken" due to them swaying in and out because of the pressure.

Maybe it was all that "chinese drywall" that they haven't found yet!
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Old 04-09-2011, 09:05 AM
 
18,073 posts, read 18,744,646 times
Reputation: 25191
I am too lazy to go on a link search, but you can help yourself.

Tall buildings are designed to sway, that is just a fact.

If you feel that the sway is beyond the safety and legal limits, you should take the duty to notify city officials now so they can quickly evacuate the building before it tips over. YOU would not want to be the one who knew, but didn't say, would you?

As for the plaster and stuff, I have plenty of references throughout this forum on my attitude towards the "mccondos", I think they are cheap made with cheap material, and they all in general suck and I would rent, but never purchase in one unless the price was too good to get a bad deal on.

But, having plaster come off and paper thin interior walls has no relationship to the structure integrity of the building. Just like shiny paint has no relationship to the mechanics of a car engine.
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Old 04-09-2011, 09:29 AM
 
Location: Viña del Mar, Chile
16,393 posts, read 30,865,408 times
Reputation: 16642
You can survive without knowing Spanish, but your experience will be better if you do know Spanish. Even if you try to speak it people will be more friendly for you.

That being said, its really hard to come on here and just ask how Little Havana is, because the area varies greatly. There are good and bad, and you are much better off coming to us and asking us about a certain address. I am not really a huge fan of little havana, but if you do find a really good deal on a rent, by all means take it... just keep in mind, little havana isn't always cheap, so if your range for rent is low.. you might not be in the best part of little havana.
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