Will I be happier living in Miami?

[Jess]

I was in San Fran in July and I was freezing!!! But I could totally be a Cali girl.... Central FL isn't that bad, but I am sure it runs better than Miami, and it's still sunny there.

[Doug]

I found that there was a lot of institutionalized corruption in Central Florida. The utility companies tend to gouge a lot with their rates, and the utility commission just rubber stamps whatever increases they ask for. There is no care program that offers a 20% discount for the elderly and disabled, as there is in CA. I found people tend to be just as transient and unfriendly in Central FL. Plus if your need for culture extends anywhere beyond a night at the Olive Garden, it just isn't a good place to be.

[Jess]

Hahaha I did see a few Olive Gardens.

[mayzzie]

Wow. thanks for the response guys. Given me lots to think about

[Jess]

Sorry if we seemed negative! But it is good to remember that living here isn't as easy as it appears. Sunshine does not solve everything.

[Christy]

For a more positive note, check out the things I love about Miami. Just skip over the part about the affordable rents-that has changed, but rents are up everywhere in the US.

http://www.miamibeach411.com/news/in.../i-love-miami/

[Maria de los Angeles]

Hi Mayzzie and all, I've been in the Keys for a few days so jumping in a bit late here. Everything everyone has said is true ... but most of the people commenting have only lived mainly in South Beach or Little Havana. I live in South Miami and I swear I rarely ever have to use my Spanish! Stick around Coral Gables or this area and it's not so Latin.

[Jess]

That is true, I am a SoBe girl through and through.

[Matt Meltzer]

Yes, Doug. I hear San Quentin is beautiful.

[Ash]

Looking to have fun those couple days (next week actually) right in the south beach strip ... Places with single girls are preferred

Will likely come back monthly and rent a condo one week each month for next few months to gauge if I would enjoy living in SoBe

[Ash]

Clevelander and Wet Willies are fun during the day, not far from your hotel.

News Cafe is good for breakfast, also close to Wet Willies.

If you're around Sunday Nikki Beach is a great daytime spot too.

Thanks Matt. I've basically got this coming Wednesday and Thursday (dec 21 and 22) all day and night to enjoy myself in south beach, before i get picked up by family for christmas. I'll check out the places you mentioned during the day (as well as doing some shopping on I think it's Lincoln road).

Let me know if you have suggestions for the evening as well. I'm a Single guy looking to enjoy myself. And so venues with a good ratio of ladies to guys (cute ladies) is obviously preferred!

[miamibeach2013]

You don't like being called "guy" do you? It's kind of like people in SoCal use "Dude" so, ya know, don't get too offended there, Bob.

My reference to 8th Street was the beach in South Beach at 8th Street. Not Calle Ocho, which is actually pretty nice. Miami Ghetto trash everywhere on that beach though. What you experienced was Miami BEACH. You wanna talk about moving there, fine, but that ain't Miami. The folks from the city go to that part of the beach a lot, and it's more or less an unbearable scene after about 1 PM. You'll see when you get here.

What I"m saying is you can't judge what living here will be like based on 4 days in South Beach. Because what I described to you above is a LOT closer to what real life here is like than what you experienced. You can walk around and see pretty Latin chicks in South Beach, and think that's what life here is like. But it's not. It's hard to explain unless you've lived here, as a White person, for a while. But there's a reason most Americans don't last 2 years here, and it's not the rainy summers or even the traffic.

So your vacation, while I'm sure it was nice, is not indicative of what your living experience will be like. And, yeah, as someone who has lived in both SoCal and South Florida for long periods of time, I will tell you the basic aspects of Latin cultures are pretty much the same whether you're talking Mexicans, Colombians, Cubans or Puerto Ricans. Running late. Being loud. Gender roles that are about 2 generations past dated. Needless machismo. Acceptance of corruption. I could go on, but I've seen little difference other than that Mexican food is a lot better.

"Mexicans" are from Mexico. And "Hispanics" are born in America and From America.

[dylan]

You can be happy living any where with the proper mind set. Although there are plenty of negatives about Miami if you keep the right mentality it will be the perfect place for you. Sometimes just a change of scenery is all it takes to make you lean towards the happy side of anyplace you are living. So yes, I do believe that you can be very happy living in Miami, as long as you don't mind traffic there is no happy side to that. Unless you like the radio.

[White Knight]

You must have also missed the part where I pointed out the complete lack of Mexican influence, guy. Just because someone is Latino doesn't mean they're Mexicans. And absolutely positively not - Miami is not the same as San Diego in this regard. Hardly. Its a completely different breed of Latin in Miami (Beach) than San Diego. Its so noticeable that 10 people in our group from SD were commenting literally every 15 minutes about it. In Miami beach we saw no "ghetto" looking or acting people. There were no parks filled with wifebeaters, goatee's and socks pulled up to the knees. Maybe 8th street Miami inland has that. Every city has that, but Miami Beach was far different.

I can't believable...

Once again, unless you view all latin people as one big blur of "brown" then you'll understand the relevant differences between mexicans and the rest.

I know this thread is like 3 years old, but I had to join so I could LOL on the internet. In all seriousness, though, many people really, truly love this pool of humidity and bad driving to death. I hope if you did move here the reality lives up to the taste you got on vacation.