what are the pros and cons of living in Miami ?? (Tampa: real estate, quality of life)

[OptimusPrime69]

Originally Posted by UKWildcat1981

Weston is the nicest town in South Florida, my brother just moved to Weston from Jordan and he loves it.

I agree Weston is nice, but that's more broward Fort Lauderdale than Miami....
and to be honest, why would a college aged kid wanna live in Weston? It's nothing but gated communities and shopping plazas. and families. .... there's no nightlife, parties, woman, fun college feel to it.

I mean if the OP was 30 with 2 kids, sure Weston is great, but if he's like 18 and single...not so much.

[UKWildcat1981]

Originally Posted by OptimusPrime69

I agree Weston is nice, but that's more broward Fort Lauderdale than Miami....
and to be honest, why would a college aged kid wanna live in Weston? It's nothing but gated communities and shopping plazas. and families. .... there's no nightlife, parties, woman, fun college feel to it.

I mean if the OP was 30 with 2 kids, sure Weston is great, but if he's like 18 and single...not so much.

Lot of the Dolphins and Marlins live in Weston to get away from the party scene its still close enough to South Beach. I believe Weston is close to the Broward/Dade county line. Anyhow guy probably can't afford to live here but you don't have to be super rich to live in Weston, just upper middle class.

[croatbob]

Originally Posted by UKWildcat1981

Lot of the Dolphins and Marlins live in Weston to get away from the party scene its still close enough to South Beach. I believe Weston is close to the Broward/Dade county line. Anyhow guy probably can't afford to live here but you don't have to be super rich to live in Weston, just upper middle class.

westons not for ppl in there 20s. only place i would live in miami in my 20s is sobe or as close to as possible. if ur the family type screw miami. head to broward. miami is where u party n broward is where u live. fake world v real world.

[OptimusPrime69]

Essentially, Weston is the epitome of a drained swamp turned into a suburb.
While I'm not saying it's a bad area, it certainly is not, but it's utterly boring and souless. Yes, it's clean, yes, the communities are neatly manicured, but it's so far away from the action and the beaches, I would be hard-pressed to recommend it for a young college aged kid. It's faux-Mediterranean suburban blandness of communities with the word "Tuscany" or "villas" in it are a complete bore.... the kinda place kids run from when they go off to college.

[UKWildcat1981]

Originally Posted by OptimusPrime69

Essentially, Weston is the epitome of a drained swamp turned into a suburb.
While I'm not saying it's a bad area, it certainly is not, but it's utterly boring and souless. Yes, it's clean, yes, the communities are neatly manicured, but it's so far away from the action and the beaches, I would be hard-pressed to recommend it for a young college aged kid. It's faux-Mediterranean suburban blandness of communities with the word "Tuscany" or "villas" in it are a complete bore.... the kinda place kids run from when they go off to college.

Miami does not really have a great college scene, Miami Beach is more catered to rich international millionaires and wealthy Yankee transplants. I went to U. of Miami once on the weekend it was def not a party school at all, most of the students live off campus... gorgeous campus thou people were not that friendly thou. I like UM thou, I thought applying their for my graduate program but it was too expensive. Lot of my family that moved from the Middle East to South Florida like the Hurricanes thou, I hope they get better in football and I hope UM makes the NCAA Tourney this year.

[Stelio Steeler]

As a Florida Native and I did not even attend, but UF (University of Florida) is by far considered the best all around public or private university in all Florida. Here's out it ranks .....

1. UF
2. FSU
3. UM
4. ____
5. ____
6. ____
7. UCF ... FAU ... FIU ... NFU ... Eckerd ... Stetson ... Flagler College (all tied)
8. Local Community Colleges

[unquiltom]

Most of the pros have been discussed, so I'll focus on a negative that has been brought up, but not emphasized, the crowding problem. Miami has around 12,000 people per square mile, which trails only New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia for metropolitan areas in the US. This means you'll be waiting in line at every grocery store, barber shop, Best Buy, restaurant and drug store. Forget trying to go to the post office unless you've got 45 min. to wait in line. Traffic is pretty much like rush hour from 6am to 11pm, including weekends. Major events, like the boat show or the many festivals we have are wall to wall bodies. Shopping malls can be a nightmare. I've been to the Dolphin Mall in September and it looked like the week before Christmas in other places.
Coming from New York, this may not be an issue for you, but I moved here from San Diego, which has about 1/3 the population density of Miami, even though it has a higher overall population.

[SDPMiami]

Originally Posted by unquiltom

Most of the pros have been discussed, so I'll focus on a negative that has been brought up, but not emphasized, the crowding problem. Miami has around 12,000 people per square mile, which trails only New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia for metropolitan areas in the US. This means you'll be waiting in line at every grocery store, barber shop, Best Buy, restaurant and drug store. Forget trying to go to the post office unless you've got 45 min. to wait in line. Traffic is pretty much like rush hour from 6am to 11pm, including weekends. Major events, like the boat show or the many festivals we have are wall to wall bodies. Shopping malls can be a nightmare. I've been to the Dolphin Mall in September and it looked like the week before Christmas in other places.
Coming from New York, this may not be an issue for you, but I moved here from San Diego, which has about 1/3 the population density of Miami, even though it has a higher overall population.

Miami is half way between San Diego and Los Angeles, and the crowd nightmares are about halfway too.

Personally, I wince at comparing Miami to San Diego. I rather we compare ourselves to Los Angeles even though technically we're halfway between either. San Diego however is a secondary city, and is probably more accurately compared to Tampa.

[Felix C]

I recall how uncrowded Sunset Drive west of the 826 was. Now forget it. I stay close to home during the weekdays due to schedule and on the weekend find it is uncrowded out in the metro-county until about Noon then it becomes incredibly busy with traffic. Too bad.

[hurricaneMan1992]

Originally Posted by Felix C

I recall how uncrowded Sunset Drive west of the 826 was. Now forget it. I stay close to home during the weekdays due to schedule and on the weekend find it is uncrowded out in the metro-county until about Noon then it becomes incredibly busy with traffic. Too bad.

Exactly my point. Crowding in Miami is crowding of CARS, not people like in other large cities. You will encounter crowds of PEOPLE during events and at times parts of Lincoln Road and Ocean Drive (but this again is mostly during event weekends), but not on a daily basis.

Miami is not really a crowded city. It just has horrible traffic congestion due to too much density for the road system and no mass transit alternatives.