Moving From Southern California to Miami Beach: June 2016

[Marc Middleton]

Hi Jess,

New, clean, & peaceful does sound nice, but we live in a suburb now and don't want more of the same (boring & have to drive everywhere).

Is West Av a walkable neighborhood?

Everything in Sobe is walkable.

West Ave is a busier road then South of Fifth.

SoFi is just a quiet place to live with more luxurious buildings and higher cost for real estate. It also has the A-rated elementary school and a more 'locals' beach compared to 5th through 12th street.

[Darlene]

Everyone's replies have been super helpful! So far we like the idea of living in SoFi, and perhaps West Ave. Mid-beach seems less desirable because it is a less walkable neighborhood, however, it looks like we may be able to buy/rent a larger square ft. condo there for our budget (compared to SoFi). So we would like to learn a bit more about mid-beach.

Any advice about some of the buildings in mid-beach? Differences among the locations up and down Collins? Do any of the neighborhoods have stuff to walk to? Is there anywhere we should avoid?

[Matt Meltzer]

Aside from 41st street there's really not much to "do" there. Mostly large buildings along Collins without much to walk to aside from the occasional Walgreens or 7-11. You won't find much until like 69th street or so, but by then the amount of associated street traffic with getting in and out of your neighborhood negates the positives of living there.

[elchevere]

"Having your breakfast order f'd or bad road experiences is swatted away like mosquitos here.

C'mon dude."

.....Sorry, what do you mean c'mon dude?...my issue was not that the resto screwed up my order--I can live with that and it's not the first time a resto has screwed up. Rather, it was with the response from the server (i.e. dunce) behind the counter that was working that day....when there is an error, as a server just bite your tongue and correct the error. Most 8 year olds have mastered that simple and basic concept...in the case of this server, she did not know when to shut her mouth. Rather than resolving to fix the error, she insisted upon arguing with me and then ultimately told me "if you don't like the way we serve here, go home and make them yourself"...not even a moron that landed from outer space would be so dumb as to come back to a customer with that response and she should count her blessings I'm not Ray Rice....after I verbally educated her, I got satisfaction later that day after the owner of the establishment called me to apologize and to let me know she was fired that day....my personality is not one where I allow someone to shit on me and then just walk away--either at that very moment or shortly thereafter.

I've shared about a dozen or more other experiences over the past year on this forum that I've never encountered elsewhere outside of Cali (don't feel like rehashing nor have the time today to repost as I'm just back in town after being away for 2 weeks)....trust me, i'm not moving (or looking to move) just because my egg whites got messed up one day--this has been building for some time.

[elchevere]

Moving from San Diego to Miami because of the people....?!! Ha, now i have heard it all! Miami/Miami Beach must breed the rudest people on the planet! Customer Service...?! What customer service? Moving because of the nice tropical weather and warm ocean, that makes sense!

I've enunciated several reasons for my desire to relocate to Miami over the past year...again, I don't have the time to spell them out this very second, but if you care to search my archived replies during this period they are there.

Anyhoo, back in SoBe the first week of May for another short stint.

[Jess]

Good luck searching for a place in May. The weather is lovely then so you may fall in love with somewhere. If so, just sign the lease you'll never know until you try.

[elchevere]

What about 60-67th and Indian Creek, not on the ocean (but inlet, or whatever you call it)...walking distance to Publix and some good ethnic restos. Cannot speak on the schools, but 10 minute drive to Surfside/Bal Harbour and 15 minutes to SoBe....then there might be the new Iris project that might be within OP's price range though nothing like the walkability factor of SoFi.

Aside from 41st street there's really not much to "do" there. Mostly large buildings along Collins without much to walk to aside from the occasional Walgreens or 7-11. You won't find much until like 69th street or so, but by then the amount of associated street traffic with getting in and out of your neighborhood negates the positives of living there.

[Matt Meltzer]

15 minutes to SoBe? Maybe at 3 in the morning. That drive is 20 minutes on a normal day and on big weekends is an even bigger pain. Though you are right, it's mostly once you get south of Dade Blvd so the extra time on Alton Road or Indian Creek or whatever you choose isn't the MAIN issue.

It's nice being close to those things, but the fact of the matter is Miami is regionalized (it IS, stop trying to pretend this is some dense, urban city) so you will need to get on and off of Miami Beach frequently and that location is terrible inconvenient for that.

[Marc Middleton]

[COLOR=#333333] Rather, it was with the response from the server (i.e. dunce) behind the counter that was working that day....when there is an error, as a server just bite your tongue and correct the error. Most 8 year olds have mastered that simple and basic concept...in the case of this server, she did not know when to shut her mouth. Rather than resolving to fix the error, she insisted upon arguing with me and then ultimately told me "if you don't like the way we serve here, go home and make them yourself"

That's actually common here sadly. The culture that exists here (Latin, etc.) doesn't like to take blame for things and get personally offended if you call them out on it.

Like when an Agent is late meeting us and we say they are late. Its not an 'I'm sorry', its Well what do you expect there is traffic and this and that. Or if the place isn't clean when the tenant moves in "Well I told the owner to clean it" instead of actually verifying the day or two before and taking their job seriously.

There is no accountability or personal ownership down here which is high on my pet peeves.

[elchevere]

"Though you are right, it's mostly once you get south of Dade Blvd "

...yeah, I was quoting time to Sunset Harbour--certainly not South Pointe Park....actually, I've made it to Sunset Harbour from Surfside in under 20 minutes ** (with no traffic) and, trust me, I was doing the speed limit as I noticed cops hanging out along the side streets of Harding Avenue.

[elchevere]

...you could be on to something...the 'server' was Latina and I've noticed this similar 'attitude' when I try pointing out here (SD) how I want my sandwich, or whatever--I get this angry stare sometimes along the lines of take your food as is and shut up.

That's actually common here sadly. The culture that exists here (Latin, etc.) doesn't like to take blame for things and get personally offended if you call them out on it.

Like when an Agent is late meeting us and we say they are late. Its not an 'I'm sorry', its Well what do you expect there is traffic and this and that. Or if the place isn't clean when the tenant moves in "Well I told the owner to clean it" instead of actually verifying the day or two before and taking their job seriously.

There is no accountability or personal ownership down here which is high on my pet peeves.

[Matt Meltzer]

Latin culture...I"m telling you man all these people who come on here and say "I'm fluent in Spanish hand spent 6 months in Costa Rice, I love it!" dont friggin get it.

[Blackford Oakes]

Latin culture...I"m telling you man all these people who come on here and say "I'm fluent in Spanish hand spent 6 months in Costa Rice, I love it!" dont friggin get it.

That I'll reserve for actuall Costa Ricans who save $45 on each pair of Levis.

Someone who spent 6mo in Costa Rica would actually go back before Miami. Better beaches/people and they probably ordered Imperial beer in English for half a year.

Service doesn't lack there. Something very distinguishable once back in the states.

When my Costa Rican relatives visit, they say everything is nice-too be polite. And always in a rush to get back home.

[elchevere]

back recently from a 9 night vacation in Rio.....aside from a few, minor translation issues (to be expected) no service issues whatsoever and some of the best meals I have had in some time....from my experiences, I've always found the Brazilians to be the most friendly, even keeled/even tempered, and open minded/receptive to suggestions/new ideas of all the "Latinos" I've encountered....I've found the Cubans to be the most stubborn and resistant to trying things differently ("No, this is how it's done)...that could be just me, if I am allowed to generalize.

[Marc Middleton]

back recently from a 9 night vacation in Rio.....aside from a few, minor translation issues (to be expected) no service issues whatsoever and some of the best meals I have had in some time.....

Now if they could just curtail the insanely high crime rate! :-)

[elchevere]

Now if they could just curtail the insanely high crime rate! :-)

...I've always stated where you stay in Rio will frame your opinion of Rio...this was my 6th visit and I always stay in Leblon--the safest and most upscale beach section of Rio (similar to NYC Upper East Side), primarily because it has fewer hotels (i.e. fewer guests to rob) than in Ipanema (still safe, for the most part) and Copacabana (least safe, because most hotels)....I've walked home from restos and bars alone to my hotel at 2 or 3AM in Leblon and never once felt threatened nor encountered a dangerous situation....would never consider doing that in Copacabana at night, even if only 3 blocks from my hotel (always taxi at night there).

Now if only the exchange rate would stay where it is. Rate reached a high of 3.23 R$ to the US $ while I was there; contrast that with just a year or year and a half ago when it was only 1.8....God bless Janet Yellin and a strong US $. I describe Rio as a Manhattan Meatpacking/Village/SoHo meets Miami Beach (no, not talking Brickell) with some mountains and forest thrown in for good measure along with women with the best looking.....ah, g-strings with perfect colored caramel skin.

[Blackford Oakes]

Never had service issue in Brazil.

I'm going to stab and say that's reflective of national programs. Some of which form part of government and many in the trade have to be sanctioned.

Outside of National Parks we have no such system. It's all left to the individual states and with no licensing involved to be part of tourist industry.

As for Rio, I'll vouch for what Echevere says. I divided my 6 nights between Caesars on Ipanema and the Sofitel which technically inside the border of Copacabana. The former you could walk blocks deep and safely have a Caiparhina. Impossible a few blocks S.