Miami - my new virtual home! (Miramar: real estate, to rent, insurance)

[StoneOne]

Can I hang out with you guys for a while? The forum for the area where I'm living now (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill) is not only BORING, it's also heavily moderated to exclude basically anything that doesn't address real estate, schools, water, and the "heaven-on-earth" ramblings of Yankee and Florida malcontents who've either recently relocated or are planning to do so in the near future. (see this thread as an example, where several of my posts were deleted: //www.city-data.com/forum/ralei...-than-any.html)

You guys have much more interesting conversation here, so if you don't mind, I'll hang out on this forum, especially since my family and I might be considering an eventual relocation to Miami or somewhere else in South Florida.

[diddiyo]

Welcome!

One of my colleagues at work was asked to relocate to our branch somewhere in the middle of nowhere NC two weeks ago. He already wants to move back to Miami. Hell can be home.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by StoneOne

Can I hang out with you guys for a while? The forum for the area where I'm living now (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill) is not only BORING, it's also heavily moderated to exclude basically anything that doesn't address real estate, schools, water, and the "heaven-on-earth" ramblings of Yankee and Florida malcontents who've either recently relocated or are planning to do so in the near future. (see this thread as an example, where several of my posts were deleted: //www.city-data.com/forum/ralei...-than-any.html)

You guys have much more interesting conversation here, so if you don't mind, I'll hang out on this forum, especially since my family and I might be considering an eventual relocation to Miami or somewhere else in South Florida.

Give it about two to three years and the NC forum will look like the FL forum. I really don't want to see NC turn into the next Florida, but on the bright side Florida has became more dynamic and interesting and maybe the same thing will happen Raleigh, Charlotte etc after the malcontents leave their scar on these places and start leaving for Kentucky. For one, I could personally never live in NC because I don't like the idea of donating 7.75% of my income to the state government there. As a renter, I don't have to worry about the property tax situation here so for me this makes it a tax friendly state.

I personally don't like the Miami forum, I think it's full of trolls and kind of neglected, but I like the other FL forums a lot. They really keep things in balance in the main FL forum and the other city forums without wholly obstructing free speech, thanks to the efforts of sunrico and keeper.

[StoneOne]

Originally Posted by compelled to reply

For one, I could personally never live in NC because I don't like the idea of donating 7.75% of my income to the state government there. As a renter, I don't have to worry about the property tax situation here so for me this makes it a tax friendly state.

Agree. That's one of the big reasons why we're considering Florida. We're not sold on the idea of homeownership either, for the simple reasons that we don't like to worry about the taxes, insurance, maintenance and the fact that we like the freedom to move around and experience new things. Unless I get some huge financial windfall and have more cash than I know what to do with, the only time I could envision us buying property is in a low-tax, sunny place that we'd vacation to regularly and possibly retire in. If we move to Florida, we'd definitely be renting...

[Huckleberry3911948]

interesting virtual community if filling a gap. wonder if it will exand to other things?

[305guy]

I'm from Miami and moved to Raleigh and was there for 3 years before I decided to move back and now I'm loving life living in Miramar. The Raleigh forum is just like Raleigh, suited for families and questions about schools and all the Long Island/Florida people moving there looking for cheap housing.

Don't judge Miami by this forum...this forum attracts A LOT of malcontents.

[compelled to reply]

I actually enjoy some of the negative posts that are objective or just from a different point of view. I find chileto, tallrick, doggiebus write some very interesting posts. I think there is a difference between being objective and not liking a place for sufficient, real reasons that actually exist compared to just being a malcontent writing about wah wah wah rude people crime hispanics wah wah wah

[305guy]

So do I, I don't mind an educated opinion even if it's dissenting. But when people are just bitter and they write 7 paragraphs announcing they're leaving and going to a better a place where everyone speaks english and everyone says hello and whistles while they work it gets old.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by 305guy

But when people are just bitter and they write 7 paragraphs announcing they're leaving and going to a better a place where everyone speaks english and everyone says hello and whistles while they work it gets old.

This is it exactly. It just seems like that this is half of the Miami forum. Those posts are useless and are helping nobody make an informed decision. I honestly think most of them are trolls lol.

[StoneOne]

Originally Posted by 305guy

I'm from Miami and moved to Raleigh and was there for 3 years before I decided to move back and now I'm loving life living in Miramar. The Raleigh forum is just like Raleigh, suited for families and questions about schools and all the Long Island/Florida people moving there looking for cheap housing.

Don't judge Miami by this forum...this forum attracts A LOT of malcontents.

I thought so, or was at least hoping so.

Raleigh is all about what you said and what's on its forum. Or at least it seems to be.

I have a family, but I guess I'm not looking for the same things for my family that others are for theirs. My daughter just turned four years old. She speaks nearly fluent English and Russian (has lived in both places), and I would love for her to have the opportunity to grow up in an area where she could pick up Spanish effortlessly. I'd like the immersion experience in Miami so I could finally learn it myself. I want her to have a good school, of course, but it seems that so many families that are so concerned about "good schools" are in reality shirking their responsibility for hands-on involvement in their kids education.

I don't want the white picket fence surrounding the cheap house in the boring neighborhood where the nearest restaurant is Applebee's five minutes by car. I'd prefer to rent in an interesting neighborhood with interesting people living in it. Let the landlord worry about the insurance and taxes.

As I mentioned in another thread here, my wife will be on the job market soon and may very well be interested in opportunities in Miami or elsewhere in South Florida.

On my few visits to Miami, I didn't find people that rude, and I made sure I did "local things" like going to the malls, restaurants, stuff on the mainland.