Live Downtown and Work Miami Zoo...is it possible??? (Coral Gables: daycare, living in)

[mstaruk]

I am a white male moving to the area with my wife and baby on the way. I am going to be working right next to the Miami Zoo. What would traffic be like leaving a brickell avenue high rise in the morning and returning in the afternoon...seems like it would be the exact opposite as the rest of the traffic. How is living in a highrise on Brickell ave? English speaking? Safe to walk around if we got rid of one of our 2 vehicles?

[doggiebus]

yep, you would be going against rush hour traffic. Even if you live in one of the high rises in Brickell you probably would want to keep both cars, especially from May through November. As far as english speaking, you may find many people will speak spanish as there first choice but they can also speak english usually as well in that area. you shouldn't any problems with not speaking spanish. As for crime, well Miami isn't Kansas but it isn't Detroit either. The best advice is to use big city street smarts, be aware of who is around you, and don't make yourself a target and you should be fine.

[hurricaneMan1992]

A couple times I have driven down US1 south in the morning, no issues, 20 minutes from the Rickenbacker to Palmetto Bay. In your case you'd want to get on the Shula at Dadeland and get to the turnpike and go west on 152nd, probably around 20-25 minutes total. On the way back you'll experience some traffic on the Shula and especially US1. Not to bad traffic wise, just far.

You can also look into downtown South Miami which would be a much shorter commute and just about as walkable as Brickell. Depending on if/where your wife works and daycare logistics, it should be possible to get along without the second car (if the wife needs the car some days, there is limited public transportation to the zoo). Also, some buildings would allow only one car per unit anyways.

[FlyMIA]

You will have a reverse commute. If you leave before 8am there should be very few problems 8-9 might get a little traffic but not too much. Way back might get a bit more but again shouldn't be bad. Does your wife not plan on working at all? I would suggest keeping the 2nd car. In Brickell a car isn't needed but this is still Miami not the best transit.

As for English, don't worry just about everyone speaks English and Brickell English will be the language of choice for most.

As for crime/safety the Brickell area is safe. Just use common city sense as in any other U.S city. Brickell is one ofmthensafer areas of Miami.

[womanpower]

I'm in the same situation, I work & live near the Miami Zoo and whenever I headed towards downtown (Happy hour @ Mary Brickell) at rush hour, I hit gobs of traffic! It usually took me about an hour or more. The highways were mainly congested close to the airport, so I hopped onto Calle Ocho, but that was packed & plenty slow too. Other times I took US1 through Coral Gables and that was *very* slow, over an hour. I think it starts to clear up at 7-8pm, so your hours might be different than mine. I work a 9-5 job.

[FlyMIA]

Originally Posted by womanpower

I'm in the same situation, I work & live near the Miami Zoo and whenever I headed towards downtown (Happy hour @ Mary Brickell) at rush hour, I hit gobs of traffic! It usually took me about an hour or more. The highways were mainly congested close to the airport, so I hopped onto Calle Ocho, but that was packed & plenty slow too. Other times I took US1 through Coral Gables and that was *very* slow, over an hour. I think it starts to clear up at 7-8pm, so your hours might be different than mine. I work a 9-5 job.

It gets bad after 5pm. I do a drive from krome and 8th street to midtown Miami right now, live midtown work on krome ave and its not bad at all. The drive takes about 25-30mins leave midtown around 7:30 leave krome ave around 4pm that's the key, getting in the road before 8am and back before 4:20pm or so.

[pgm123]

Originally Posted by mstaruk

I am a white male moving to the area with my wife and baby on the way. I am going to be working right next to the Miami Zoo. What would traffic be like leaving a brickell avenue high rise in the morning and returning in the afternoon...seems like it would be the exact opposite as the rest of the traffic. How is living in a highrise on Brickell ave? English speaking? Safe to walk around if we got rid of one of our 2 vehicles?

My experience says you'll have no problems with English (honestly, most of Miami is ok with English). This map pretty much confirms it.

Race and ethnicity 2010: Miami | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Red = White
Yellow = Hispanic

Brickell is more red than yellow, but a pretty even mix. If you're having trouble spotting Brickell, follow up from Key Biscayne (the bottom-right island in red). That dense, reddish crescent is Brickell.