Living here is like living in HELL (Miami, Hollywood: rentals, condo)

[MadManofBethesda]

Originally Posted by Bobdreamz

Depends on who you were in the 1980's Miami though.

Let's not forget the 4 race riots starting with the Arthur McDuffie riot in May of 1980 because of police brutality or the Mariel boatlift that just strained every resource when we had Cuban refugees living in tents under I-95 along with the Haitian migrant crisis.
How about the Cocaine cowboy wars and having 500 murders in one year?
Miami was a really rough place then but if you weren't into drugs or affected by the immigration crisis at the time it was a interesting and fun place growing up.

It wasn't that easy to avoid being a victim of crime. People were having gold chains ripped off their necks while being stopped at traffic lights. Moreover, there was so much crime directed at tourists that the state had to change the designation on license plates so that it was not as easy to target tourists in rental cars.

People are looking back on the 80s with rose-colored glasses. Miami is a much safer and better place to live now than it was 30-35 years ago.

[cfbs2691]

Originally Posted by MadManofBethesda

Moreover, there was so much crime directed at tourists that the state had to change the designation on license plates so that it was not as easy to target tourists in rental cars..

I remember when there was a rash of people/cars being shot at around the Miami airport in the 80s and it was wrongly assumed the shooters were targeting rental cars/tourists.
The shooters were eventually caught and confessed they lived by the airport and were simply shooting at cars going by. (Having nothing to do with targeting tourists.)

[elchevere]

I wasn't around here in the 80's, but I recall hearing about tourists--especially German tourists in rental cars--being targets in the national news...was that overblown or fake news?

I was dating a gal who went to U of Miami in the late 70's/early 80's and would visit during spring break. All I know is the women who attended college there were super hot, there were various "pleasurable recreational substances" readily available in just about every dorm room, and it would have taken me 7 or 8 years to graduate, if at all and instead of 4 years, had I attended that school at that time. Back then (not sure about now) U of M was The Wolf of Wall Street before The Wolf of Wall Street.

Originally Posted by cfbs2691

I remember when there was a rash of people/cars being shot at around the Miami airport in the 80s and it was wrongly assumed the shooters were targeting rental cars/tourists.
The shooters were eventually caught and confessed they lived by the airport and were simply shooting at cars going by. (Having nothing to do with targeting tourists.)

[cfbs2691]

Originally Posted by elchevere

I wasn't around here in the 80's, but I recall hearing about tourists--especially German tourists in rental cars--being targets in the national news...was that fake news?

I don't know if I'd call it fake.
Just too quick at assuming.
Because only rental cars were getting hit, if I remember correctly...but again, in the end the shooters lived near the airport, were aiming at whatever cars went by, and because the shooters were so close to the airport... it just happened to be rental cars hit...But the shooters said they weren't specifically targeting tourists.
It was just what was geographically convenient for the shooters.
And obviously the rental car lots are around the airport.

[pslhomie]

They were following people of the rental car places and then jacking them at red lights. This was in the 90's

[kmarc]

Originally Posted by pslhomie

They were following people of the rental car places and then jacking them at red lights. This was in the 90's

The 80s were a time of conspicuous consumption and that presented opportunity. A friend of mine had just started making really good money and purchased a BMW with all the trimmings, including fancy audio. It got broken into twice in Coconut Grove, mainly for the audio components.

We moved out of South Florida in 2000 and went to the Tampa Bay area. In the 2000s, many of the antique and collectible dealers who did shows around the state took Miami and Orlando off their circuit, because criminals would come to the shows pretending to be buyers and case the various booths to see who had estate jewelry and other more valuable items. They mainly targeted the mom and pop dealers, older couples. They'd wait until the end of the show, watch them as they packed up their vans and then follow them until they got out on some of the lonelier roads in the center of the state between the coasts and then pull them over or run them off the road and make off with the inventory. It got so bad that the show managers would make announcements over the PA system at the end of the show to warn the dealers to be careful on the way home.

This doesn't happen much anymore, because vulnerable dealers stopped doing the shows, and of course now there are better cell phones.

[Bobdreamz]

Originally Posted by pslhomie

They were following people of the rental car places and then jacking them at red lights. This was in the 90's

Correct it was in the early 90's and it was actually a gang that followed tourists out of those rental car agencies along Lejuene Road ( which no longer exists).

The huge story was the German couple who were followed along I-395 and the husband was shot & killed which was the #1 story in the German media at the time and casting Miami as a dangerous place.

The rental cars had plates that started with the letters "V" or "Z" which made them targets and those designations disappeared afterwards.

[Jensilva08]

Where did you use to live before coming to a Sunny people with shady ppl?? Aka Miami... I want out of here too, and I’ve lived here a majority of my life.

[kmarc]

Originally Posted by Jensilva08

Where did you use to live before coming to a Sunny people with shady ppl?? Aka Miami... I want out of here too, and I’ve lived here a majority of my life.

If you want to stay in the state, start moving north: Tampa or Jacksonville. I'd skip Orlando, but that's my personal preference. You could also try North Carolina.

[AnnRyan]

Originally Posted by kmarc

If you want to stay in the state, start moving north: Tampa or Jacksonville. I'd skip Orlando, but that's my personal preference. You could also try North Carolina.

Where have I lived? Chicago, NY, DC, Mexico, El Salvador.

And yeah... Miami's a lot damn safer than a few of those. Probably most of those. Even during the 80s... probably safer than Chicago, NY and DC in the 80s.