Tell me bout Miami

[Mr_Wizard]

I have an opportunity to take a job in Miami. Wondering bout cost of living and such.

TIA

[nota]

weather is nice except when a named storm comes thru
about once every 25 years it gets real bad

but it is really a third world city in a lot of ways
cubans control the government
and are very clickie and corrupt
spanish used every where from government offices to stores
schools are not up to par
traffic is bad at rush hours get a non 9 to 5 gig if you can
house prices are crashing
condo worse
but apt rents are high in better sections

locals are mostly gone
most pay rate are sub par except very few special jobs
local saying pay for one white american = 2 cubans = 5 illegals

no dry heat here wet wet and wetter
70-80% H is low

[Mr_Wizard]

Would be a nine to five making round 80k. Schools are a big concern for me. Have twins coming soon so maybe a private school when they are that age. Been looking at some housing around 250k.

[stomachmonkey]

Private school is nearly a must.

Check out home owners insurance.

If you can get it will probably be more than your property taxes which is not cheap either.

The other problem as eluded above, make sure it's a stable gig. If you find yourself out of work not a lot of replacement options.

[ramonesfreak]

nice beach with beautiful woman wearing no tops

was offered a job down there but declined after spending 10 days in August. oh, my ! never ever felt that sort of heat before. otherwise, I loved the area and really loved the architecture. My friends who live in S. Florida seem to think it is a crap hole and wont even visit there

[strupgolf]

A friend of mine lived in Dade county for a long time. He got so fed up with all the crime, corruption, traffic, cubans, etc. that he moved up north to Broward Co. into a gated community. Yes the hot and humid weather is a bear in the summer. My sister lived there for awhile but also got out years ago, same reasons. Public schools suck.

[rammstein]

There are good schools in the right areas. Research that and determine where to live based on that. Would you be working right in downtown? If you are, check out the Silver Bluff/Roads area of the city. Your commute would be about 10 minutes tops, on local roads (no highways), and I've been told that area has good schools. Of course, there's always private school too.

As for crime, if you live where I mentioned, you're going to be fine, just realize that for a house to be big enough with your 2 kids, I think you're going to be in the $400k range minimum. That being said, 2 years ago it would have required $650k, so on a relative scale you'd be pretty insulated from taking a loss (market already tanked).

As for heat, that's the part I've never understood. In the Northeast, I had to stay indoors for 6 months while it rained/snowed. The whole winter here is beautiful, with very very nice sunny days. Starting right around now, it gets hotter. In the middle of summer, its tropical and humid- big deal. That's what airconditioning and swimming pools are for. If you are outside, you'll be near a pool. Miami Beach has topless chicks. It never gets old.

As for the Spanish speaking part, you have to view it as part of the charm. This is the only place in america where there's a window shop for cuban coffee every block. There's a lot of interesting south american cuisine. If you go up to broward, its chain restaurant/strip mall world, which bores me to death.

As you can tell, I really like it here and plan to stay. I began living in South Beach in 2005. It wasa lot of fun, and the topless scene at my apartment building was amusing. But its really not very adult-oriented- more 18-24 year olds. I moved to Brickell (the nice part of downtown) 2 years ago, and I really like it. Lots of great places to walk on foot. The wife and I both work within a mile of our apartment.

Overall cost of living is high. Not QUITE as high as in Boston, but compared to North Carolina, its going to be high. That's a fact. $80k here won't feel like mich compared to where you live now. You're gonna have to reasearch if you'll have enough money to be comfortable. I personally rent, and for teh time being renting is the way to go for cheapness, but with kids I feel like you'd want a house. That being said, there are a lot of people in my apartment building with nice kids, but I just don't know where you go to school from here. You'll need to investigate.

If you have any specific questions, seriously feel free to ask me.

[K9Torro]

You need to live in Liberty City or Hi-town,

Todd

[rammstein]

Originally Posted by k9torro

you need to live in liberty city or hi-town,

todd

lol!

[Pazuzu]

I lived out in Kendall, then Cutler Ridge. I never went to the beach, and once I learned to LEAVE Miami every weekend, my life was much happier. I made $35K, and rented a ROOM in a house. It was hellaciously expensive. I will never live there again, but I might consider visiting.

The heat was oppressive. Worse than Chicago, worse than Houston.
The Caribbean food was nice. The Cuban annoyed me.

[Tim Hancock]

Last time I was in Miami, I felt like a foreigner.

[ErVikingo]

Broward is much quieter but I agree with Rammstein is also packaged. I've been in Broward for 13 years now and try not to go to Miami if at all possible due to the traffic.

Great architecture, food and fun though.

[450knotOffice]

Lived in Broward from '92 to '99. Humid as he11 (very tropical), but I learned to live with it. Dade can be fun (in fact I'm in South Beach as I type this) to play in, but if you plan to raise a family, I'd go to Broward or Palm Beach Counties.

[K9Torro]

I'm telling you man, Liberty City is the place you want to be........

Or OpaLocka is ok, how bout Hialeah, yeah baby yeah.....

Oh and be sure and drive the "nice " car there, it gets the most attention from the local's.......

Todd

[charleskieffner]

miami aeropuerto u.s. customs SUCK BIG TIME! or how i almost missed my flight! brand new passport even! must have been the scads of scuba gear and underwater cameras and strobes.

hell i couldnt move .25 mph carrying/dragging/lugging all that crap. let alone do i look like a terrorist..........well maybe i do after all! i was very sunburned!

i did fall in love with MOJITOES! man nectar of the gods!

[Laneco]

Add to Mojitos almost any Cuban food and for a real "hit", Cuban Coffee....

Oh BABY that stuff just can't be wholly legal - LOL! Try it! You'll spend about $1 for a half a colada (probably misspelled that). It's roughly half of a small styrofoam cup. It's enough for a couple of people.

That coffee is just like a good man, rich, sweet and damn near dangerous!

angela

[URY914]

My wife and I worked at the Univesity of Miami for a few years during the mid '90's. We lived in Broward County. Miami-Dade was no place for a WASP. Some areas it is as if you are in a third world country.

I like to tell the story of when my daughter was born at Jackson Hospital. She was so white that she glowed in the dark compared to the other babys.

[Jims5543]

Originally Posted by rammstein

There are good schools in the right areas. Research that and determine where to live based on that. Would you be working right in downtown? If you are, check out the Silver Bluff/Roads area of the city. Your commute would be about 10 minutes tops, on local roads (no highways), and I've been told that area has good schools. Of course, there's always private school too.

As for crime, if you live where I mentioned, you're going to be fine, just realize that for a house to be big enough with your 2 kids, I think you're going to be in the $400k range minimum. That being said, 2 years ago it would have required $650k, so on a relative scale you'd be pretty insulated from taking a loss (market already tanked).

As for heat, that's the part I've never understood. In the Northeast, I had to stay indoors for 6 months while it rained/snowed. The whole winter here is beautiful, with very very nice sunny days. Starting right around now, it gets hotter. In the middle of summer, its tropical and humid- big deal. That's what airconditioning and swimming pools are for. If you are outside, you'll be near a pool. Miami Beach has topless chicks. It never gets old.

As for the Spanish speaking part, you have to view it as part of the charm. This is the only place in america where there's a window shop for cuban coffee every block. There's a lot of interesting south american cuisine. If you go up to broward, its chain restaurant/strip mall world, which bores me to death.

As you can tell, I really like it here and plan to stay. I began living in South Beach in 2005. It wasa lot of fun, and the topless scene at my apartment building was amusing. But its really not very adult-oriented- more 18-24 year olds. I moved to Brickell (the nice part of downtown) 2 years ago, and I really like it. Lots of great places to walk on foot. The wife and I both work within a mile of our apartment.

Overall cost of living is high. Not QUITE as high as in Boston, but compared to North Carolina, its going to be high. That's a fact. $80k here won't feel like mich compared to where you live now. You're gonna have to reasearch if you'll have enough money to be comfortable. I personally rent, and for teh time being renting is the way to go for cheapness, but with kids I feel like you'd want a house. That being said, there are a lot of people in my apartment building with nice kids, but I just don't know where you go to school from here. You'll need to investigate.

If you have any specific questions, seriously feel free to ask me.

Best response in this thread.

You can hyper focus on the negative, stereotype groups of people, and just have a ****ty outlook on life. OR you can embrace the culture and the surroundings and enjoy it like Rammstein.

I love Miami, I would live there in a moment if I could afford to. I love the hot tropical weather, I love the Latin Culture, and I love the energy that city has.

I don't get it, if Miami was like every other place in the country then what would be the charm? Everything needs to be white bread land?


OP expand your horizons, if I were you I would learn to speak spanish, it will come in handy. You can look at this as a negative or look at it as an opportunity to enrich yourself and family.

Rammstein can probably help you the most as far as where to look to live with a family. If I had no kids like him I would be smack downtown or in the middle of SOBE.

BTW- The PCA puts on a decent AX down that way and Equipe Rapide does as well. Then there is the annual Bay Bottom Crawl, I am planning on going this year its an even that would make Hemingway proud.

Equipe Rapide

http://www.erscc.com/

Bay Bottom Crawl:
http://www.evscc.com/


400RWHP+RX-7+running+Bay+Bottom+Crawl+in+Key+West+

[URY914]

"if I were you I would learn to speak spanish, it will come in handy"

Understatement of the post. I was with a co-worker that put a nail thru his hand. The hospital was three blocks away so we loaded him up and took him down to the ER. No one spoke English in the place.

[ikarcuaso]

Originally Posted by Jims5543

Best response in this thread.

You can hyper focus on the negative, stereotype groups of people, and just have a ****ty outlook on life. OR you can embrace the culture and the surroundings and enjoy it like Rammstein.

I love Miami, I would live there in a moment if I could afford to. I love the hot tropical weather, I love the Latin Culture, and I love the energy that city has.

I don't get it, if Miami was like every other place in the country then what would be the charm? Everything needs to be white bread land?

Been to Miami once. Can't offer much feedback, but, living in a city with a lot of sh|t going on and a really bad rep, I can appreciate this approach, and Rammstein's. Any thoughts we've had of moving to the 'burbs are dead and gone. If you make the move, you can always move outside of Miami later if you find it's not for you. Good luck.