Reasons why I didn't like Miami and went back to NYC (Weston: sale, rental)

[deboinair]

WildStyle just stop. You are making a fool out of yourself. You are painting the Grove as some diverisified Utopia which is completely wrong. But as seen in many past postings, you can never admit when you are wrong. Mr NY is better, but I live in Miami. Smh. Demographics of Coconut Grove does not have a high percentage of the ethnic groups you named. Keep lying to yourself though.

[Wild Style]

Originally Posted by deboinair

WildStyle just stop. You are making a fool out of yourself. You are painting the Grove as some diverisified Utopia which is completely wrong. But as seen in many past postings, you can never admit when you are wrong. Mr NY is better, but I live in Miami. Smh. Demographics of Coconut Grove does not have a high percentage of the ethnic groups you named. Keep lying to yourself though.

*chuckle* oh

[deboinair]

Originally Posted by shamrockfisher

Exactly. The further I get away from Miami the more I appreciate it and want to come back for a visit. Well, Miami Beach, specifically.

I remember one time as a kid flying back into town from a vacation and gazing at the city lights from above before we landed. I said to an older woman sitting next me, "Isn't it nice?" She said, "Oh, yes, beautiful. I love to visit but I would never want to live here."

I took offense and imagined whatever little rock or puddle jump of a town she crawled out of. It wasn't until years later when I finally lived somewhere else that I stopped and thought to myself, "Damn, that b*tch was right!"

IMO it does take years to figure out. If you told me that in my teens and 20's. I would have thought the same thing you thought about the lady. Miami is definitely a fun place. Never will I disagree with anybody on that.

[shamrockfisher]

Originally Posted by Wild Style

I see what your saying, but test scores are provided in the school assessments on the Miami Dade website, it is more than easy to figure out what is going on in any given school. I also must say, NYC, although it has some stellar schools, mostly lottery based, the vast majority in schools in the city are not good at all, not by a long shot, and this I do speak from, from experience. Hell, I remember not even 8 years ago, some schools didn't even have computers for administration. everything was done by paper, like it was done when I was growing up, and I am in my 40s. I had a few friends who were teachers in the city, and I recall discussing this with them.

Like I said though, I agree with some things you say, and I in no way think Miami is the best of the best. It has its problems, that is for sure. My love for Miami is strictly concentrated to the east side of the city, and even that has its issues, but they are issues I can bare. Just as living in NYC comes with issues, as you well know. I guess it just boils down to what you consider to be personal priorities in terms of quality of life, and what you are willing to put up with.

Yes, the test scores paint a better picture but putting your feet on the campus and having the ability to compare it to another equally rated school with similar test scores gives you a better perspective. Unfortunately, most people do not have the opportunity to do that.

I would equate some of the inherent problems I see at a school like CG HS to a HS in NYC. I think a more fair comparison though would be to a HS in Westchester County due to Coral Gables suburban setting. It in this more equal comparison of peers that I believe CG HS comes up short so the person moving from a suburban setting in the Northeast (Westchester, Bergen County or even suburban Atlanta) would be interested in living in Coral Gables or Coconut Grove instead of Brickell or Miami Beach would be disappointed in CG HS as its public HS option. Slightly however, not drastically.

Stick to the eastside, it makes a world of difference in Miami.

[Sugah Ray]

Originally Posted by shamrockfisher

Yes, the test scores paint a better picture but putting your feet on the campus and having the ability to compare it to another equally rated school with similar test scores gives you a better perspective. Unfortunately, most people do not have the opportunity to do that.

I would equate some of the inherent problems I see at a school like CG HS to a HS in NYC. I think a more fair comparison though would be to a HS in Westchester County due to Coral Gables suburban setting. It in this more equal comparison of peers that I believe CG HS comes up short so the person moving from a suburban setting in the Northeast (Westchester, Bergen County or even suburban Atlanta) would be interested in living in Coral Gables or Coconut Grove instead of Brickell or Miami Beach would be disappointed in CG HS as its public HS option. Slightly however, not drastically.

Stick to the eastside, it makes a world of difference in Miami.

Speaking of Westchester county NY, Yonkers and New Rochelle schools don't have great reputations

Like another poster in the FL forum said, "good schools" is code for schools with no minorities. The reality is that minorities still underperform for a variety of reasons including income, parents' education and language barriers. You are not gonna find a school 100% white in FL unless if course is a small rural town full of poor uneducated white people. Middle class public schools with no minorities don't exist in FL. You need to pay for private school or hope your kid is a genius and ends up in a good Magnet school like MAST Academy.

[popcorn247]

Originally Posted by Sugah Ray

Speaking of Westchester county NY, Yonkers and New Rochelle schools don't have great reputations

Like another poster in the FL forum said, "good schools" is code for schools with no minorities. The reality is that minorities still underperform for a variety of reasons including income, parents' education and language barriers. You are not gonna find a school 100% white in FL unless if course is a small rural town full of poor uneducated white people. Middle class public schools with no minorities don't exist in FL. You need to pay for private school or hope your kid is a genius and ends up in a good Magnet school like MAST Academy.

Minorities in Miami are the American-born Caucasians!

[shamrockfisher]

Originally Posted by Sugah Ray

Speaking of Westchester county NY, Yonkers and New Rochelle schools don't have great reputations

Like another poster in the FL forum said, "good schools" is code for schools with no minorities. The reality is that minorities still underperform for a variety of reasons including income, parents' education and language barriers. You are not gonna find a school 100% white in FL unless if course is a small rural town full of poor uneducated white people. Middle class public schools with no minorities don't exist in FL. You need to pay for private school or hope your kid is a genius and ends up in a good Magnet school like MAST Academy.

,

Yonkers and New Rochelle. I am familiar with both and, yes, they have a higher percentage of minorities and are a lower income area for Westchester. You could include Ossining and Mt. Vernon to that list too. The rest of the county villages are stellar: Irvington, Scarsdale, Ardsley, Rye, Larchmont, Bronxville, Chappequa, Bedford Falls, Mt. Kisco, Pleasantville, etc...

"Good schools" means high test scores, AP courses, high college placement, varied extracurricular activities and a safe environment. If that happens to occur mostly in schools with few minorities than that is something that needs to continued to be worked on.

To some good schools may mean no minorities. For most of the people I know it means the best education available and like minded parents and children. Race or ethnicity does not matter in this respect. I did not state that no minorities was a criteria for excellence.

[Wild Style]

Originally Posted by popcorn247

Minorities in Miami are the American-born Caucasians!

true, I think that is why must Caucasians/Anglo Americans do not like Miami.

[Sugah Ray]

Originally Posted by Wild Style

true, I think that is why must Caucasians/Anglo Americans do not like Miami.

And that's fine and I understand them. I wouldn't want to live in Northern Idaho either but calling this place a third world country and making it sound like Miami is the only city with traffic, mediocre schools, poverty, suburbs and strip malls is unrealistic.

Miami is not the only city in the US where you need to pay private school or buy a home in an expensive neighborhood like Pinecrest to send your kids to a good public school. The NE is full of private schools, NYC has the most expensive schools in the nation. Nobody owes you good public schools, especially tax payers. We cannot just remove poor people from their neighborhoods, they have been there for a long time. We cannot expand and start building new upper middle class neighborhoods in the Everglades. We don't have unlimited land like TX. Nobody forced you to have kids. If your kids are not smart enough to make it to a good magnet school, if you cannot afford private school then you need to research well many areas in the US as plenty of places have the same issues as Miami. Reality is you need to pay extra for your property to avoid the low income crowd or maybe buy less expensive cars and vacations and use that money to send your kids to private school.

[somersetguy]

Originally Posted by gilwood

5) People often ask me about the crime, but I didn't have any problems with crime. I was afraid of the general populace however. It's perfect legal to just buy a gun from Walmart and keep it in your glove compartment!

I am 100% for owning a gun at home to defend your property, but I never understood why civilians should be wearing guns all the time outside of the home. And then you hear about the stand your ground laws and trayvon and that guy who got shot and killed in a cinema because he was texting, and that makes you reconsider Florida. I may own rental property there, and I love Miami and its botanical gardens, but I don't think I would want to actually live there. You'd always be one hot-head away from being shot.

ps. about the walmart comment...when I visited there last year I was amazed at the guns for sale in a Walmart - you don't see no such thing in Jersey lol.