Little Havana: Considering relocating. (Miami, Hialeah: safe area, living in, dangerous)

[cLunn]

Loving Cuba and loving Little Havana? Hmm.. I wonder. I'm doing research and studying Cuban culture and music and also relocating to FL to be closer to the culture, to study and to also be closer to my family.

I took a quick drive thru Little Havana a few months ago and wondered about the possibility of living there as a way to get my Spanish polished, and to be closer to the culture I am the most passionate about for it's art, music, and community aspects.

Single, white middle aged woman living in Little Havana? I just don't know if it's a great idea or not. I know when I visited it felt great there and everyone was very friendly. Having spent nearly 3 months in Cuba this year, the cat calls and all the little kisses from the men don't bother me too much.. but I know Miami's Cuba is very different than Cuba itself in so many ways...

I'd love input and feedback... I'm a strong woman, speak a bit of spanish and want to get fluent in Cuban Spanish so that my work and studies can continue and be easier when I get back to Cuba, and just wondering if it might be a good way to immerse myself a bit more of if it would be a crazy concept to even explore. I"ve heard to stay away from anything lower than 8th Ave, and that 27th and up is a better area.. but would love input from you out there who might have current real time experience.

I'm a dancer, drummer, and writer and I do work with community building, personal development and cultural integration...

Thanks so much.

[WINTERFRONT]

You better go to Hialeah, not Little Havana. Little Havana ain't Cuban populated.

[cLunn]

Really? Who is living in Little Havana now then?

[WINTERFRONT]

Originally Posted by cLunn

Really? Who is living in Little Havana now then?

Central Americans

[Cubanchic]

I agree with winterfront. Try westchester or hialeah if you want the most concentrated Cuban populations. In those areas the lottery winners that are able immagrate here legally would likely relocate . Those folks would be more like the Cuba, Cubans you remember. I would to point out that some of us "Cubans" that have been here for a very long time have acclaimed to the united states and grown up being just as americans as every one around us.

You would be surprised to find folks in their thirties, forties and fifties that you would consider white americans are Cubans, I am often called gringa!

The second third generations some times don't even speak spanish, as in my case with my nephews and niece. Abuela is dying off and a lot of our culture is dying out slowly with each new generation. Little Havana is not Cuban anymore it is more poorer south americans.

[hurricaneMan1992]

Originally Posted by cLunn

but I know Miami's Cuba is very different than Cuba itself in so many ways...

So different, in fact, that it probably doesn't matter which part of Miami you live in! (OK, so you wouldn't want to live in Overtown or Little Haiti, but you knew that already.) Little Havana west of 27th and westchester are very much suburban, family-oriented places. Hialeah is not the most desirable place to live and is far from the beaches. So move somewhere that you would genuinely want to live, not where you think you can live like you would in Cuba. You may want to consider closer to the coast, or even on the beaches, where there is still plenty opportunity to practice your Spanish.

[miami_zed]

I live in Little Havana and most of the comments are accurate. I would say that west of 22nd ave is decent and what I would consider the outskirts of little havana is 32nd ave. 42 ave is already coral gables. I don't consider any area in Little Havana particularly dangerous but after 17th ave and going north it becomes less desirable. Or you could live in The Roads which is where Little Havana and Coral Way meets. You'd be pretty central there but it is more expensive.

I understand you want to get into the culture and Hialeah is definitely more Cuban but I wouldn't recommend it for an outsider...at least until you get some experience in some other area.

[Chelito23]

You don't have to live in any specific area in Miami to be immersed in Cuban or Cuban American culture. They may not dominate entire areas like they did decades ago since the area has diversified with immigrants of different nationalities, but they are still the essence of the Latin community in South Florida overall.

Live wherever you like, there will be Cubans abound. I doubt it will be exactly like in Cuba...but the food, the speech and certain cultural aspects will be present.

BTW, a "gringa" living in Little Havana or anywhere won't be an issue. You sound like you will do fine wherever you end up.

[JacobMAX]

Everybody gave great replies here, the only detail I'd point out to the OP is to possibly consider the Grapeland Heights area (is just to the north of Little Havana and to the east of MIA), it's decent - better overall and safer than nearly all of Little Havana - and with a significant number of Cuban people. Also there's the lakes area of Hialeah (on the north end of it, near Miami Lakes) which is another reasonable and safe area with a large Cuban population.

Within Little Havana, probably its West End (West of 22nd Ave) is the better option.

[unclealbertt]

Chelito is correct, Cubans are 34% of Miami-Dade County, that's over 800K Cubans! Back in the day they were over 40%.

But if you look at the data, Cubans are most heavily concentrated in Hialeah and the area the Cubans call in spanish the southwest. It's the sw portion of Miami, west of I-95 and us-1. Everything between Flagler and Bird Road all the way past the turnpike. These are the only two regions of the county where Cubans are really the majority, their presence everywhere else varies pretty drastically in some cases, but they are not hard to find...please trust us.