Where should a single young professional live in Miami?

[WINTERFRONT]

I remember Eldmila posted a site where you could see the rating on walk-ability on any neighborhood.

[r_k]

Do you mean walkscore.com ?

Get Your Walk Score - A Walkability Score For Any Address

[d1nashville]

Thanks everyone! This is very helpful

[Nolefan34]

Anywhere in Brickell east of I-95 is perfectly walkable. That is the most walkable area of FL except for South Beach.

[hurricaneMan1992]

Originally Posted by Nolefan34

hurricaneMan1992-

How is living east of Brickell Avenue not pedestrian friendly? That is as pedestrian friendly as it gets. I think the bigger rule is do not live west of I-95.

Sure, if you want to walk to a bank or hotel on Brickell Avenue or one of the restaurants on the ground floor. However, walking even to Publix or Walgreens is quite a distance, and crossing Brickell Avenue is certainly doable, but it is NOT very pedestrian friendly. Which is why you don't see many people crossing Brickell Avenue or walking along Brickell Bay Drive with shopping bags. And those that do cross Brickell Avenue usually jaywalk. Most of the pedestrian traffic on Brickell Avenue seems to be daytime office workers, tourists, and recreational walking, not local residents walking to/from local businesses. The vast majority of pedestrian traffic on Brickell Bay Drive seems to be recreational.

Question: If ALL of Brickell is truely is that walker friendly, and Brickell truly is the "urban young professional" mecca that it is supposed to be, why don't people generally walk for basic necessities, esp. east of US1? (Mind you, the area surrounding Miami Ave. are quite walkable--"about as pedestrian friendly as it gets," to quote Nolefan, But this is only a small part of Brickell.)

Remember, walkscore only accounts for distance (not to mention treating convenience stores the same as supermarkets), not pedestrian friendly facilities. I'd even go so far as to argue that crossing Brickell Avenue is no easier than crossing US1 up here in Aventura.

[gymbuff]

Brickell is awesome but be prepared to pay 8 dollars for a sandwich that will cost half that in a "less-desirable" area. remember hanging out with friends at Gordon Biersch is half of it; the other half is your day to day life, parking, gas, groceries, etc.
I have an an apartment on a second floor and I HATE having to do groceries. Just the thought of bringing a 24 pack of bottle water to my floor is murder. Imagine living in the umpteenth floor in a Brickell building and realizing that you left your cell phone in your car.
Sounds over rated to me.

[manny118]

I work in Brickell and can’t understand why people on this forum are so high on the place. Most of the buildings on Brickell Avenue are set back away from the sidewalk, so you don’t even notice retail stores or restaurants on the ground level if they exist at all in any particular building. Mary Brickell village looks like an outdoor shopping mall you could find in many suburban areas. As others have mentioned Brickell Avenue is not very pedestrian friendly. Brickell also feels spread out, for example the popular cluster of bars near Tobacco Road seem far away and isolated from where most of the residential condos are on Brickell Ave.

There are many neighborhoods in South Florida I would put ahead of Brickell if you are looking for a walkable neighborhood with a good mix if retail, restaurants, and nigh life with South Beach being the most obvious. Other neighborhoods I would put ahead of Brickell are Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, South Miami, Las Olas Blvd (Fort Lauderdale), Atlantic Avenue (Delray Beach), Downtown Hollywood, and Clematis Street (West Palm Beach).