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Long time England resident frustrated with city of Miami, citizens, culture, high cost of living, rundown neighborhoods, crime, Miami 21 plan implementation by Mayor Manny Diaz
“If you hate it here so much, why don’t you just leave?”
Since I moved here and began to express my frustrations of living in this city, this is pretty much the response that I’ve been getting – or people have just got flat-out nasty with me when I dared to say anything negative about Miami. To those people, I say that I’m not here because I specifically chose to come and live in Miami – I came here to be with my wife and I did not have any unrealistic expectations of this place, nor did I believe that Miami was a paradise, even before I’d ever set foot in this city.
Many people in Miami are afraid of the negative – they hate it when bad things are said about their city, yet they don’t mind talking “smack” about everywhere else in the United States or the world in general. If you even dare to point out the bad things about Miami, you’re instantly branded a “hater” and people look at you in horror and disbelief – “oh my god, how could you say that about MIAMI?” I'm not inventing this either - try telling any die-hard Miami citizen that there are many things wrong with their city and they'll take it in the worst possible way - even on the internet (hence the fact that I was banned from a certain forum for posting "negative" views.
I spent many of my years living in Birmingham, England - England's answer to Detroit. As much as I sometimes miss the place, I will openly admit that Birmingham sucks. I was born in London and will always consider London my home town, yet there are many things wrong with London and most Londoners will acknowledge that. If this was a London forum and someone posted "I hate London", I would not get offended and instead of slapping that person down and dismissing them as just another whiner, I would debate it with them, sensibly. See, most cities in the developed world have a realistic attitude. They accept that they have problems and either do something about it, or don't, but at least they don’t try to sugarcoat it.
Speaking of London, London has many problems and many horrible areas, yet it also has a wealth of culture, history and things to do, so you kind of take the rough with the smooth. London has immigrants from all over the world, yet they're not trying to take over and give the natives the choice of accepting their culture and shutting the *** up, or moving out. What do you have in Miami - I'll tell you -- you have a bunch of degenerate people with an "if you don't like it, there's the door" attitude and to be quite frank, it stinks.
Until Miami learns to accept its problems, it will never get better - only worse. It's kind of like an alcoholic, i.e. until that person accepts that they have a drinking problem instead of saying "but I only drink a few beers", they will never get better and they will only descend further into alcoholism. Miami needs to wake the hell up. Miami needs to realize that building a great city isn't just about knocking s**t down and building dozens of pretty waterfront condos for the rich (because only the rich/well off can afford them). Before Miami can become even a middle of the road kind of city, it needs to tackle its problems first, i.e. homelessness, crime, the ever-widening gap between rich and poor, traffic, education, corruption, etc, etc, etc.
I was reading about the whole “Miami 21” plan (http://www.miami21.org) -– very ambitious and I would love to see it get fully implemented to make this city a great place to live. Unfortunately, fixing this city will take much more than the personal resolve of Mayor Manny Diaz – because this city is rotten to the core, in my opinion. To fix Miami, you’d basically have to evict 70% of the population, bulldoze Hialeah and start from scratch. You’d have to make English mandatory, invest heavily in public transportation, fight corruption, build a ton of nice parks (instead of condos), give companies financial incentives to base their businesses Downtown…..and so on. I know what Manny Diaz is trying to achieve, but I can’t see it happening in this city. So in a nutshell, the problem with this city – it’s the people, because I’ve heard various accounts from people saying that Miami was a really great place, a long time ago….it really was a tropical paradise.
I spent what seemed like an eternity sitting in traffic on Flagler Street today (a nasty area). During that time, I saw 2 near accidents and a typical “Miami chick” wearing those huge sunglasses with a cell phone attached to her left, driving a Lexus nearly slammed into the back of me and I heard way too much reggaeton blasting out of various cars. I tried to counter this by sticking on a Soilwork CD (Swedish metal) and playing it even louder, but these people have bass so loud that it could cause an earthquake, so I gave up (and besides, I was getting a headache). The “Ride it like a Ford” mentality was alive and kicking today, that’s for sure.
The rip-off culture tried to take another swipe at my wallet last week in the form of an oral surgeon and his incompetent clerical staff. My wife had to have 2 wisdom teeth extracted and it turns out that they only extracted one, yet they charged her for 2 and gave us another bill for $240 for god knows what. When she called, they insisted that they had removed the tooth, but trust me, although I am no dentist/oral surgeon, I can honestly say that the tooth is still there. In all honesty, I have not managed to find a good/honest doctor/dentist or whatever. They seem more interested in ripping you off than actually doing something about your ailment – is that a Miami problem or a United States-wide problem, since healthcare is so expensive here anyway?
Another thing that annoys me here – when you’re at a supermarket checkout, why is it that here, the person in front of you will NEVER put the “next customer” plastic divider thing on the checkout conveyor so that you can start loading your groceries? In the UK, that’s just manners and it’s the same in other parts of the United States.
I’m sorry if anyone reading this sees me as a bitter/negative person – I am truly not like that. If I find something positive to write about Miami / life in Miami, I will write about it and I’ll post it in here. Unfortunately, this just isn’t my kind of town and I am only here because of my wife and her family. I am not racist either – my wife is actually Cuban and she hates it here more than I do. The only racism I’ve seen here has been from the natives – Cubans talking about how much they hate gringos, Argentineans, Nicaraguans, Puerto Ricans and even other Cubans. This city is filled with hatred.
“If you hate it here so much, why don’t you just leave?”
Back to that – maybe those who are unhappy here cannot afford to just leave? Face it, living costs here are insane and you end up getting into debt very quickly for just trying to live, i.e. put food on the table and have a roof over your head and a car to drive (since you need a car here). I am sure that there are many people who are trapped in this place – people who can’t save enough to move out because it’s so expensive. It’s not good to be poor here – the poor are not treated well here at all as this is a city that is nothing more than a playground for the rich and it really caters only for the rich. You’ve got to fight, fight, fight to live here – whether it’s fighting with motorists, corporations, retailers, landlords, doctors or whoever.
Last edited by nothingman; 03-26-2007 at 07:20 PM..
Sincerly, I do not see any solution for Miami's problems soon. Because the cause of the problems is its people, and the people of Miami is directly linked with the current immigration disaster the nation is facing. Besides, corruption in Miami is deep inside the local governement. This place is just a non-American place. Even more, a real third world city. It's a city controlled by immigrants for immigrants; that's why American interests are not protected at all, American people live frustrated and of course those "American compatible" immigrants get frustrated here because instead of feeling in the United States, they feel in a banana republic. The first step for a hopefully solution to this city would be realize that this is American soil, and as American territory, American interests should be preserved at all costs. That way we could start selecting the people who rent, own, drive, and work. It would evenly spread the immigrant population through other counties, forcing them to assimilate into the system. It will help regulate the job market, equal opportunities, control and finally end racism and discrimination against White Americans. I mean, starting from that point, hundreds of regulations and restrictions could be imposed to preserve Miami as a stable advanced American Metropolis to live. Will that happen?? NEVER. There is nobody who could do that here. From outside, not right now. Politicians are interested in votes only, and this would never be a popular action. It would be wonderful for the prosperity of the city and the state, but would be a disaster for those millions and millions who do not like the USA, not even speak English, but consume these same resources every day.
Sincerly, I do not see any solution for Miami's problems soon. Because the cause of the problems is its people, and the people of Miami is directly linked with the current immigration disaster the nation is facing. Besides, corruption in Miami is deep inside the local governement. This place is just a non-American place. Even more, a real third world city. It's a city controlled by immigrants for immigrants; that's why American interests are not protected at all, American people live frustrated and of course those "American compatible" immigrants get frustrated here because instead of feeling in the United States, they feel in a banana republic. The first step for a hopefully solution to this city would be realize that this is American soil, and as American territory, American interests should be preserved at all costs. That way we could start selecting the people who rent, own, drive, and work. It would evenly spread the immigrant population through other counties, forcing them to assimilate into the system. It will help regulate the job market, equal opportunities, control and finally end racism and discrimination against White Americans. I mean, starting from that point, hundreds of regulations and restrictions could be imposed to preserve Miami as a stable advanced American Metropolis to live. Will that happen?? NEVER. There is nobody who could do that here. From outside, not right now. Politicians are interested in votes only, and this would never be a popular action. It would be wonderful for the prosperity of the city and the state, but would be a disaster for those millions and millions who do not like the USA, not even speak English, but consume these same resources every day.
Even as an immigrant myself, I find myself agreeing with you. Somewhere down the line, this city ceased being part of the United States – it became the banana republic that it is today and it’s being governed by people who only have selfish interests at heart. Speaking as an immigrant, I did not come to the United States to change the United States in the way that things are done here. I would never dream of imposing MY culture (or lack, thereof) on the natives, nor would I want to drive any of them out.
One thing I forgot to mention in my original post – this place has seemed so “soulless” to me lately. Miami really has no character, no soul and there’s nothing about it that makes it special in any way. All cities have bad areas, but most cities have some sort of character to them – character that lets you know that you’re in that particular city. Miami has none of that – it’s a vast wasteland of more of the same.
English has always been my first language, but if it wasn’t, I would learn it to live in this country. If I’d moved to Germany, I would have learned German. I have adapted to American English though – I use American English as opposed to British English.
i have to say i never even knew the spanish word for gay slander before i moved here. which mas_flow so elequently used. (sarcasm)
how does that reflect upon miami as being gay friendly?
Back to that – maybe those who are unhappy here cannot afford to just leave? Face it, living costs here are insane and you end up getting into debt very quickly for just trying to live, i.e. put food on the table and have a roof over your head and a car to drive (since you need a car here). I am sure that there are many people who are trapped in this place – people who can’t save enough to move out because it’s so expensive. It’s not good to be poor here – the poor are not treated well here at all as this is a city that is nothing more than a playground for the rich and it really caters only for the rich. You’ve got to fight, fight, fight to live here – whether it’s fighting with motorists, corporations, retailers, landlords, doctors or whoever.
It's the constant fighting that makes residents angry. I remember when I was not often ready to defend myself. Yet I think this has been a valuable lesson, never trust anyone and you won't be victimized. Never trust the government as they are out to ********* or bankrupt you. Don't be friendly or you will be taken advantage of. This is what Miami taught me. I could go anywhere and use this knowledge to my advantage.
As for gay friendly Miami is not. I have seen the derrogatory behavior towards homosexuals first hand. Personally I like homosexuals because they do not reproduce, and die before anyone else. They don't have the class that they used to, but often are more intelligent that the average Joe (or Jose) six pack. Too bad many become mentally unstable and drown in sex and drugs. Oh well I still think people should let them be and stop the gay bashing. Enough of the third world Machismo, use your head people!
Homosexuals have a shorter lifespan than heterosexuals, it's a known fact. Also men can't produce babies with other men, same for lesbians with each other. Nature's population control. Not sure why they die sooner than the average straight population though.
it sounded like you liked the fact they died sooner which bugged me. i hadnt read that statistic ever but id like to know where you did. they take more risks than the rest of the general population so its not unexpected but the rewards of being a risktaker are much greater as well. oh and on the reproduction thing, theres always adoption and alot of gay millionaires and billionaires im sure are putting research into fixing that. but yes it is builtin population control to a degree. its too bad there arent a greater percentage of them in the population because maybe then the vast majority of children would actually be wanted and raised by people who were ready and able to support them.
I think he was just expressing his misanthropic views, correct me if I'm wrong, tallrick.
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