Working on Brickell, crazy commute? (Miami, University: condo, safe neighborhood, university)

[JimboUSMC17]

Originally Posted by hurricaneMan1992

^Jimbo: How do you deal with the I-95 off ramp to SW 8th? I see it backed up most days and could imagine it taking up to 10 minutes just to make the left turn there. Is this the case???

It has its good and bad days but more bad than good. What I do is I stay on the right lane once the off ramp adds that other left lane. At first it seems as the cars on that left lane are passing you but you catch up and pass them since there is that additional right lane that opens up ahead.

I stay on that lane, pass the first light and then make the left on 8th street. Once on 8th, stay on that lane (second from the left. It moves the quickest.

[ceenick00]

thanks for all the recommendations guys!

The reason I wanted a 2 bedroom initially was to facilitate my family when they visit. I'll be moving to Brickell from out of the country. I prefer quiet, suburb type areas which is why I was originally attracted to the Broward area. I've been doing some research and it seems as though my best option would be to deal with a 1 bedroom somewhere close instead of having the headache of traffic.

What about Aventura?

[hurricaneMan1992]

Aventura is nice and convenient to lots of places (including the beaches!), but it's quite a bit more crowded and congested than the "typical, quiet suburb" that you'd find in, say, west Broward. With $1500 you'll have no problem finding a large, nice 2br place with a view. If you're lucky you can even get a townhouse. If you live close to US1, many places are in walking distance, though it can be a bit more expensive. To give you an idea, It takes me 35-55 minutes to/from Virginia Key. Brickell is closer but you have more congestion to deal with in Brickell itself, so I imagine it would take you about 5 minutes less than me. You can also use the 95 express park-and-ride busses and you really don't lose any time, since they go in the express lanes (I'm too cheap to pay the rush hour express lane tolls everyday). You'd better have patience with US1 and Ives Dairy, unless you avoid peak shopping hours like me.

[xS☺B☺s]

Aventura is too far. Coming from the north side down to Brickell is not advisable. That is the hellish commute. South Beach has plenty of quiet backstreets on the west side of the Island. Midbeach or North Beach too but the farther north you go, the harder the commute. The folks suggesting South Miami or Coral Gables are steering south or west of downtown which is a much better idea than Aventura. As a PP mentioned, there's nothing suburban about Aventura. Everything along the coast is very urban, but the rule of thumb in Miami if you know nothing else is stay east of Rt1.



Miami is a crowded place so the luxury of a 2 bedroom is not enjoyed by many. 2 bedrooms often house a family of five or more. For a single guy, best bet is settle for a smaller apt in a better neighborhood. Why lose 10 hours of life per week fighting the dangerous Miami traffic when for a few dollars more you could live in Brickell albeit a smaller pad and be sipping a drink overlooking Biscayne Bay? Living in Brickell or SoBe could even do w/o a car. I did a motorcycle in SoBe for many years and it worked out just grand.

[Jolseen]

I remember having to commute from kendall to brickell and I hated every second of it.

[hurricaneMan1992]

Agreed, Aventura is definitely NOT what most would consider suburban, it's kind of a condensed version with high-rise condos instead of spread-out gated communities, though it's a stretch to call it urban. The above pic pretty much sums it up^^^. Commute is indeed hell-ish, but commuting from west Kendall, Doral, or west Broward would be more like "pure hell!" LOL...

You're fine with a small 1-br or studio close to the action, go for SoBe or Brickell. But if you wanted a relatively affordable 2-br condo or townhouse in an upscale neighborhood close to the beaches and convenient to shopping, I can't think of many places. (Actually, Eastern Shores would be somewhat more affordable though a bit less convenient and further from I-95. Bay Harbor Islands is another possibility with basically zero crime and 15 minute walk to the beach.) Keyword is "relatively"--you got $2.5k/month, great, go ahead and get yourself a 2-br on the Beach or Brickell.

BTW, a Brickell 1-br nowadays is considerably more than "a few dollars" higher than Aventura, though you can get a "junior" 1-br in a run-down building in South Beach for "a few dollars" more... You gotta ask if it's worth the $500 premium to be able to sip wine in your 20th floor balcony overlooking the Bay while others are still on I-95 (but still have to deal with dangerous, sub-par pedestrian infrastructure). In the end, it depends on the OP if it's worth it to avoid the commute, or go with a smaller place!

[bkramar]

A couple more things to consider regarding being in a smaller place in Brickell vs a larger place with a commute:
1. Traffic in Brickell/downtown can be inconsistently horrendous. Brickell Ave is under construction and at various times of day can be backed up for a looong time. Being ABLE to walk somewhere is REALLY nice. The first day the Ultra festival was in town, my husband was thrilled to be able to walk home, pour a glass of wine, and look down on the madness below rather than being in it.

2. How often is your family going to be in town? (You don't have to answer us - just ask yourself.) If they'll only be here a couple of weeks out of the year, it could make a lot of sense to go with a smaller place and few air mattresses...or even a hotel room...or rental condo for the time they are here. You'll easily pay $1000 more per month for a 2bdrm in Brickell vs a 1 bdrm in Brickell so get the 1 bdrm or studio and put the savings towards an extra hotel room, rental space, or what have you when they visit.

3. If they'll be here a lot...then yes, I see why you'd want the extra space! Someone mentioned South Miami earlier - I personally like that area a lot. Close to nice parks, good grocery shopping, potentially easy access to Metrorail for the day when they shut down all the roads downtown at rush hour for the Corporate Run.....

Lots of good choices around, I can't speak for areas much outside of the Brickell/Grove/SoBe space but lots of others can certainly help you if you decide to go further afield. It's all tradeoffs and lifestyle choices. Only you can decide what's really right for you....

[ceenick00]

Hey everyone, it's me again.

Just thought I would update with where I decided to live - Aventura. I've been living here for over a year and the commute is not so bad. I take the express lanes in the morning and it usually takes me about 35 minutes to get downtown. It's doable but I must admit when its 5pm and time to go home, sitting in traffic is mentally draining and exhausting. I love Aventura; everything is so close (minus work), convenient, clean and safe. But I'm actually considering moving when my lease is up somewhere closer down to where I work (I know I should have listened but hey experience is the greatest teacher!).

Just an FYI for anyone considering commuting!

[MiamiRob]

Originally Posted by ceenick00

Hey everyone, it's me again.

Just thought I would update with where I decided to live - Aventura. I've been living here for over a year and the commute is not so bad. I take the express lanes in the morning and it usually takes me about 35 minutes to get downtown. It's doable but I must admit when its 5pm and time to go home, sitting in traffic is mentally draining and exhausting. I love Aventura; everything is so close (minus work), convenient, clean and safe. But I'm actually considering moving when my lease is up somewhere closer down to where I work (I know I should have listened but hey experience is the greatest teacher!).

Just an FYI for anyone considering commuting!

Thank you for coming back and updating us since we normally don't hear back from people who move to Miami!
What areas are you now looking at?

[hurricaneMan1992]

Originally Posted by ceenick00

I love Aventura; everything is so close (minus work), convenient, clean and safe.

Same here. Except I enjoy it enough to put up with an even crazier commute. I'm crazy enough to occasionally take the #93 bus and transfer or bike the rest of the way to work--an hour and a half all together (plus an extra 5-10 minutes to shower at work). I'm really not saving much in terms of bus vs. gas, but I'd rather be on my bike or reading something on my Kindle on the bus than sitting on I-95 for 45 minutes, especially since I'm too cheap to use the express lanes at rush hour.

Well, where I live everything is either walking distance or comfortable cycling distance. I run a lot so having the running path a couple blocks away is great. When I lived downtown I just ended up driving lots of places (could walk to Bayside, but that's about it) and I had homeless beside the building. To run any significant distance, I'd also encounter undesirable neighbourhoods. It's gotten better now, but of course the rents downtown have also gone up quite a bit.... I'm considering North Beach now. It's not as nice as Aventura, but most things are still in walking or cycling distance, and it's a bit closer to work (it would still be long, but biking all the day would be an option most days). If you (and I) are lucky, on Zillow there are some updated 2br apartments with laundry and off-street parking for around $1500.