why did hispanics stop at miami-dade county?

[homenj]

Well I''m not from Miami. But I could tell you one thing. If I were a Spanish speaking only Latino going to the US. Which would city would I prefer? A city like Miami which is mostly Latino and has many Spanish speaking people and where I could really get by with Spanish? Or a place like Fort Lauderdale where there are a lot of Hispanics but I would still be more comfortable in a place like Miami because of the prevalence of the Spanish language?

It's really easy folks.

[dragonborn]

Being European and having lived here in Miami before I relocated up north (then came back again), I understand that mainstream US culture is tough to assimilate into. I understand that many Spanish speaking people would want to stay here for that reason + their friends and family are here. And honestly, I find most other major US cities to be painfully boring and conformist. I like that nobody cares here and I like the diversity and hearing another language than just English all the time.

[cojoncillo]

Dragon

Yes, the US is boring. The US Culture is impossible to assimilate if you are not born there. For example, car culture and residential living (not residential living in Europe where everything is close). People live in cars, socialize in cars, communicate their feeling with bumper stickers. There are no informal social gatherings of many friends because distances, people don't walk in streets, only in malls or places "to walk"..... Religion, I hate religion and I become paranoid with people organized by different church denominations (not Miami) or people asking you openly your religion. It's just like in Scotland many years ago, when Catholics were targeted.

Yes, Miami is better, not boring, as to languages, who cares? They have 4 official languages in your country and nobody cares, (Scot, English, Engish-Scot and Gaelic) but in the US they all get excited if they hear some Spanish. As to weather, why live in the US with a weather worse than Glasgow, but with no social security, no public transportation and no scot pies?

[dragonborn]

Originally Posted by cojoncillo

Dragon

Yes, the US is boring. The US Culture is impossible to assimilate if you are not born there. For example, car culture and residential living (not residential living in Europe where everything is close). People live in cars, socialize in cars, communicate their feeling with bumper stickers. There are no informal social gatherings of many friends because distances, people don't walk in streets, only in malls or places "to walk"..... Religion, I hate religion and I become paranoid with people organized by different church denominations (not Miami) or people asking you openly your religion. It's just like in Scotland many years ago, when Catholics were targeted.

Yes, Miami is better, not boring, as to languages, who cares? They have 4 official languages in your country and nobody cares, (Scot, English, Engish-Scot and Gaelic) but in the US they all get excited if they hear some Spanish. As to weather, why live in the US with a weather worse than Glasgow, but with no social security, no public transportation and no scot pies?

Haha, good post. It summarises a lot of how I felt when I lived in the rest of America, though some states are les religious than others. Many people in Miami are catholic, but no one has ever pushed their religious beliefs on me here.

As for the language thing, I have never in the life of me been able to understand why many Americans seem to have a problem with Spanish. This country has no official language! As you say, who cares? Except for us (shameful) Brits, most people in European countries are not only bilingual, but trilingual. It's healthy to know another language and it actually helps you appreciate the wider world a lot more. Spanish is a beautiful language, though I struggle with the pronounciation!

In the US, I could only live in Miami, NY or maybe southern California. I realise now why many immigrants who first arrive in Miami end up having no desire to leave. Nobody cares here and there isn't the "when you get to X age you can't do Y anymore" conformist BS you find in other parts of America. You still see 40+ year olds hitting bars & clubs and 50 year old women dressing young....I think that's great and liberating!

[cojoncillo]

Dragon

I always see Scots in Spanish bars getting by using some sort of Spanish, they are always putting down English teams. They are very different from English. English are impervious to foreign languages, not all. They have the "language of the empire" thing, just like Castilians.

As to the religious stuff, Catholics in Miami won't care if you are a protestant. I know it was important in Scotland in the remote past, and that you had the Celtics and the Rangers, but I believe that now is mostly football.

[joeandmich]

Originally Posted by homenj

Well I''m not from Miami. But I could tell you one thing. If I were a Spanish speaking only Latino going to the US. Which would city would I prefer? A city like Miami which is mostly Latino and has many Spanish speaking people and where I could really get by with Spanish? Or a place like Fort Lauderdale where there are a lot of Hispanics but I would still be more comfortable in a place like Miami because of the prevalence of the Spanish language?

It's really easy folks.

So true.

[cojoncillo]

Not at all.
Americans have this paranoia about Spanish, but Latins or Europeans could not care less about language.
I think they stay in Miami because they are afraid, Americans have this international reputation of being violent and racist (not certain, of course). Hollywood movies and liberal politicians are to blame.
I recently was in Paris and Munster and there are lots of Latin Americans there, you also find a zillion Latin Americans in Italy.
Berlin is packed with Latin Americans, so are some Scandinavian cities.
What language do they speak, French, Italian and German and in the case of Sweden, Swedish.
Latins you find there are not upper class whites as a large percentage in Miami, but people that you can distinguish as Latins.
As to white Latins there, I can't tell them apart because my French and German are kind of rusty and I can't detect accents.