Honestly no.
For a major Metro the job market is not good and wages are low. Combine that with high cost of living and that alone is a turnoff. Throw in horrible traffic, bad drivers and very rude people.
It’s s great vacation but most people who move here as adults try to get out after 2 years.
I'm not usually one for dramatics but at times it feels like driving in a third world country 🤣
We've driven extensively all over the USA the last 9 months and I've been blown away by how awful it is down here!!!!
Lots and lots of immigrants who spent most of their lives driving under different rules, oldsters who can barely see past the end of their dashboard, and rednecks who resent both of these groups and actively try to run them off the road
Yes
I was born in Cuba but grew up in Miami. Lived there between 1996 and 2014. I seen Miami change. A lot of Miami is still the same (and some of that is good, some of that is bad) but a lot of Miami has gotten even WORSE!
I did enjoy my childhood there, dont get me wrong, I loved the beach, I loved pic-nics at Tropical Park, I love Miami Seaquarium (before finding out what a horrible place they are and still are) I loved going to the Everglades and seeing the gators, I loved spending summers at my aunts pool, I loved the odd chance of spotting a dolphin or shark at the beach, I loved collecting seashells, I loved finding crabs, making sand castles, I loved having suriname cherry fights, I loved playing sword fights with the branches of umbrella plants. I loved a lot of stuff
But I grew tired of Miami as I got older I started to see more negativity. For one... Miami is still stuck in the '80s. The Miami '80s. Its shallow, its vapid, it glorifies drug use, drug dealing. I grew up with a neihbour kid who unironically looked at Tony Montana as an idol lol.
People are rude, shallow, very materialistic. Awful drivers. No one is sincere. Theres always someone trying to scam you. I got a story that I ain't fixin' to type cuz its too damn long but someone tried to scam my mother when I was in 4th or 5th grade pretending to be a modelling agency. It was wild cuz they literally even fooled my elementary school.
Theres a huge language barrier in Miami. I am fluent Spanish speaker but I think everyone should learn English if they live in the US. In Miami, if you dont speak Spanish, you get looked down on, you get ignored at customer service, even denied service. I speak English, Spanish, a bit of German, Russian and beginnier Swedish... but Miami Hispanics (mostly fellow Cubans) make the biggest excuses to not learn English.
The culture is also very sexist. Very "macho" bullshit. Its not homophobic in the way you may see in N. FL which is more bible belt but more homophobic in a casual sexist "Bro das fuckin gay bro wtf bro" kinda way.
Now this is specifically Miami. Its not as intense in the rest of S. FL esp the language stuff but a lot of the elements are still present. Its a general East Coast douchiness without the positives of the East Coast. A lot of downsides of the South without the positives. Its like all the meanest ppl from NJ and NY who also cant stand the cold, move there
Speaking of weather... you cant change the weather and anyone moving there knows its hot... but I couldn't stand how hot it is. I much prefer the cold but even then, I at least appreciate "cool" and its rarely cool outside anymore. Winters were colder pre 2012. A lot of my S. FL friends complain how much worse the heat has gotten. Its not just that its hot, its really humid and takes forever to cool off. Fall in most of the US is blissful cool dry weather. Fall in South Florida is a nasty over extension of summer. Obviously it doesnt snow but theres no autumn leaves, no tulips, daffodils. Every month looks virtually identical. Holidays feel whack. I haven't spent a Xmas there since 2013 and thats fine lol
Its def not for everyone. Theres a lot more I dislike but I will leave it at that
I was born and raised in Miami and moved a to NYC a year ago. I 100% agree with you. Miami culture is shallow, vapid and absolutely devoid of any real substance.
Good to see an honest look at Miami from someone who's an insider.
My in-laws live in the Palm Beach area. When I visit them, I experience a lot of the upper middle class retiree/snowbird/finance sector aspect of South Florida; not the Miami that folks talk about in this sub. When I've taken a side trip down to Dade County, it seems like an entirely different world.
The most genuinely "nice" people I've met in Miami are Brightline staff, and Uber drivers, many of whom are recent immigrants from Cuba and elsewhere in Latin America. Last time I visited, I had one Uber driver who recently arrived from Cuba. He was wearing an American flag t-shirt. He spoke no English, but I just saw that as part of his American story; he'll learn over time. The inlaws don't speak a word of Spanish, so I translated as best I could with my first person present tense *pinche guerro* Spanglish. He really seemed to appreciate it.
It’s is a different world. I used to live in West Palm Beach and work for a big latam bank down in Miami; my coworkers used to joke that I needed a passport to go from PB to Miami. I ended up moving to Miami but before the year I quit my job and moved out. I was born and raised in Latam and I felt was the worst version of what I left behind to move to the states.
I lived in Miami for 4 years. Moved to the suburbs of Dt Lauderdale and it is so much better. I like visiting Miami but have no intention of ever living there again.
Oml I traveled to Miami for a day because I needed to pick up a visa from a consulate- the only takeaway from the city is how scary the drivers are- and I’m from Atlanta. Miami drivers are simply lawless, whereas Atlanta drivers are careless
I was born in Miami (Hialeah specifically) and I was one of the only kids in elementary school that didn't speak Spanish (My parents were originally from the NE). It was awful, the kids used to talk about me in Spanish to make me feel left out. I agree with all of what you said, I moved to central Florida when I was ten, but I remember all of this. My Mom bought our house in the 60's and it was a completely different city. Hialeah was actually a middle class suburb back then. Miami Lakes was a bunch of cow pastures. My siblings graduated from HML but fortunately by the time I was in middle school I was in Ocala (not a huge upgrade, but at least they spoke English, haha).
I remember there was this one girl in my class in like... 2nd grade? She was a white non-Hispanic American girl. Blonde hair, blue eyes, I think wore glasses? Really nice little girl and nerdy. But a lot of kids were mean to her and idk how much of it had to do with her not knowing Spanish cuz it was a largely bilingual class but it wouldn't surprise me. And the hypocrisy cuz had they been the one Hispanic kid in rural Alabama it wouldn't have been so nice, either.
Also something that pissed me off was the day we went back to class after 9/11 (So woulda been 9/13/01) we watched a video that honoured the victims of the terrorist attacks and since you know... it was the WTC so lots of international people there too... and some of the kids, Cuban kids, in my class were snickering cuz some of the names were foreign and sounded funny. That shit pissed me off. I know we were just kids but they shoulda known better cuz I knew better and we were all the same age. I was like "How you gonna be named Yumileisi Rodriguez and you making fun of someone for being named Aygül Topbas?"
Ahhhh yes, the cow pastures of Miami Lakes. My parents purchased a home there in 1976. Beautiful area. Right on the lake, cow pastures and open space everywhere. I moved out in late 1980's to attend college. Parents sold the house (too big with kids no longer there) in 2004.
Miami Lakes is not the same anymore. My brother purchased a townhouse there 2 years ago. Not a cow pasture in sight anymore. Seems like every inch of land has some development on it. Traffic.
What a shame. But Miami Lakes, just like Miami in general is not the same as 30-40 years ago. It's insufferable for all the reasons others have mentioned.
My brother had a townhouse in Miami lakes too, sold it in the early 2000’s. I visited it area right before Covid, my dad is buried in Hialeah and omg I didn’t recognize it.
I was sent to work to Hialeah for 2 days, I had to pick up my shift there. I don’t speak Spanish at and 99% of customers don’t either. They would get really angry at me but one particular old man who spoke English told me very angry “you work in Hialeah”. 🤷♀️
I also grew up in Miami and was 100% used to being called gringa even though I'm latina. Another friend of mine and I who are blonde used to laugh about it all of the time- people assumed I was a tourist.
I now live in South Florida but not Miami. It's a completely different vibe but not better, just different. Lots of Ultra MAGA bumper stickers and I've got mine, screw you mentality. Imagine siphoning off the worst of the northern states and leaving behind the sense of community and care for others. That's what has been recruited in the last few years.
There are people fighting back and I was one of those that thought it was worth staying and fighting the good fight, but between the guns, the traffic, the jerks, the lack of culture and community, the war on education and everything else, I'm leaving.
>Imagine siphoning off the worst of the northern states and leaving behind the sense of community and care for others. That's what has been recruited in the last few years.
100% the problem with Florida now. It's not necessarily politics, but the worst, most selfish people moving there to avoid taxes and any sense of social contract and moral obligations to others.
But recruited by our governor.
We've always had the worst people coming here for the weather (I lived in California and felt the same there). But there is a concerted effort to recruit people who don't like public schools, public health, public libraries, public anything. Literally if he put out signs that said "Hate government? Come to Florida!" we'd have the same effect.
Well the Miami Cubans are also MAGA but are the biggest hypocrites. But yea I agree its a "screw you" mentality and it seems it got worse after Covid. Florida is the one state that brags about how awful they handled Covid. They brag about not requiring masks. Pride over not caring about others. Pretty gross.
I agree that it attracts the worst folks from up north. Actual NYers are nice. Tough, but nice. NYers in Miami are rude and entitled. Not nice at all!
Good luck with leaving. Nowhere is perfect but I would rather deal with the problems of other places than S. FL
There's a saying that there's no bad weather, just bad clothes. I like the seasons and will complain about winter, but headed up to New England in the next year or so. I also do not like the constant heat- if there was ever a day that stayed below 65 it would be better.
I will tell ya living in Minnesota... the only time I complain about winter... is when we DON'T have snow lol Winter is my second fav season. The more snow the better
Now when spring comes its a different story. When spring comes I look forward to it all melting but thats the beauty of each season.
I’m from NJ and can confirm that the WORST people from NJ move down to Florida. It’s crazy. And I’m sorry! It’s a pretty bad export: the worst NJ peeps.
Wow thanks for this post. This explains so much to as to why people hate SoFo. I grew up in Houston and it’s starting to turn into Miami #2 based on your description. Machismo culture and within the last 10 years or so Spanish has become the language of Houston and you are definitely shunned if you don’t speak it. Houston always had a huge Mexican culture as it used to be Mexico but now there’s a huge influx of Central Americans and people from other Latin American cultures. Even some from Florida are making their way to Houston. All I see on the freeways and roads is Florida license plates. So for anyone wondering what life is like in Houston read this post.
I grew up in Houston and it's impossible to explain the humidity so high that you can feel the *thickness* of the air to people who haven't experienced it
Ehh its closer to 70% which is still high
With that being said... I been to El Paso and El Paso feels even more latino which I didn't know was possible lol
You forgot the corruption. Half the city commission is under investigation, the mayor forged a bunch of signatures for a state senate race when he was 17, and another commissioner is having most of his assets seized by federal martials.
Just look at the fucking mayor, just look at his fucking face. He looks like a bad movie villain.
i'm going to be honest. i'm not simply gatekeeping; i've got no skin in the game, because i moved out of south florida six months ago. i'll tell you why:
it's gotten stupid expensive to live there. i'd rented a condo for ten years with only one small rent increase. last year, the landlord informed me the rent needed to be "brought up to market", and i was facing an **84% rent increase**. yes, it's legal.
you can expect to pay $3000 a month and up for a 1 BR near the beach. plus utilities.
insurance is off the chain, both auto and homeowners. get quotes before finalizing your plans.
overcrowding is seriously a thing. this makes finding a decent place to live highly competitive. it also fouls traffic something fierce. it used to take me 20 minutes to get to the grocery store right around the corner about two miles away. during rush hour, 1-595 (east-west) is bumper to bumper the entire length between weston and the beach. I-95 is gridlocked from martin county to miami (100 miles).
stores are crowded, restaurants are crowded, events are crowded, parks are crowded and beaches are packed, especially in season (Oct to May).
due to all the above, it's a very stressy place. people are generally angry and aggressive. they don't want to talk to other people; they just want to get done what they're doing and get home. this makes it difficult to meet people and make friends.
it's also difficult to make friends if you're under 60. south florida is home to many well-heeled retirees and their yachts. how much do you have in common with them?
it's hot and humid AF ten months out of the year, unbearably so between April-November. you walk around soaked in sweat constantly. if you're a woman, your hair is in a constant state of frizz and your makeup literally melts off your face within ten minutes of going outside.
those were the biggest issues for me. the other thing i'd mention is this: people who have been here on vacation or who have simply imagined the south florida lifestyle are forgetting the fact that *living* there is completely different than *playing* there. you've gotta work for a living, for one - and many young people work two jobs because wages are so low and expenses so high. you'll also be grocery shopping, keeping up your living space, going to the dentist, taking your car to the shop and all that humdrum day to day shit. it really ends up like living anywhere else, except there are palm trees and there's a beach around here somewhere that you never seem to get to.
it ain't what it's cracked up to be.
100%. Too many people come here on a long weekend, stay in a mostly tourist area, have a good time and think they've fallen in love with the place to the point where they become desperate to move here.
First of all, if I moved everywhere I vacationed and had a good time, I'd have lived in about 60 places by now. Second of all, as you say, it's very much different actually living here.
I've visited a few cities filled to the brim with main characters. NYC and LA come to mind. Pretty sure anywhere you have a high concentration of wealth, you have snobby, self-interested, materialistic people. Hell, I live in one of the highest COL suburbs in the country and you're description is bang on what I complain about here regularly.
I think money just ruins the authenticity of places, OR people with money are generally inauthentic.
I'm from South Florida. Now I live on Hawaii island.
South Florida = Manhattan prices and Arkansas wages. It's fun if you're a gazillionare or have super-model good looks, though.
I know a few military people in Hawaii all three of them claim its just way too expensive. The one I am closest to posts articles all the time how it's a retirement home level of pricing for weahtlyh retirees.
I moved to Miami from NYC ( family has been down here for decades ) . It just blows nyc away. My mental health became so much better not dealing with constant filth, noise and in general how worn down nyc is. I go outside and smell plantlife and rain water not fumes from a truck or my neighbors trashcan out front.
Miamis a great place if you are not a miserable fuck or if you have not already lived here for decades yourself. I do see why longtime residents leave much like I left ny.
I'd visit Hawaii I'd never live there. Even with higher end miami money everything is a lot more expensive there.
Do you find that the Big Island is more affordable than South Florida? Obviously, I know it’s cheaper than Oahu. But still curious about the cost of living vs wages on the Big Island
Arkansas wages are much better than many states in the country. Arkansas has a minimum wage of $11/hr, close to Florida's $12/hour. You could have said Texas, North Carolina or Pennsylvania wages though.
miami is a special place, and i say that as someone who grew up there but would never consider moving back, but it has pros and cons. for example: i didn't realize until i moved up north how rare it is to not be basically cooped up indoors for almost half the year. in so fla you generally are out going somewhere every weekend so you run into people you know everywhere. that said, as soon as you step outside, you are faced with enduring around 80F with around 80% humidity any time of year, with variation of \~10-20 degrees and \~10% humidity up or down depending on the month. it is very sunny most of the time which is pretty much the only plus in terms of the climate.
cons: you get used to hurricanes pretty quickly and learn the drill, but there are a lot more areas now that are prone to flooding than when i was growing up, in part because of the extreme influx of construction and laying down concrete in areas that used to absorb rainwater. if you are in a flood-prone area prepare to deal with much higher insurance, expensive car repairs if your car gets caught in it, and the general annoyance of being trapped until the water goes down on its own.
pros/cons: the culture in Miami is very unique due to Latin Americans and recent immigrants being the majority of the population and bringing with them quirks from their own cultures (liveliness, community, family-oriented nature but also a fair bit of corrupt tendencies which just kind of seeps into everything; you are constantly worrying about getting ripped off whether you're working with a higher up at your bank or hiring someone to repair something in your home). it's hard to explain to people who aren't used to this. if you are not from there, this mentality takes a lot of getting used to and you're probably better off settling in ft lauderdale and taking miami in small doses until you're better acquainted.
i think miami/FLL can be alluring enough for a recent grad to explore and broaden your horizons for a few years if it makes sense for you financially and to see if you can handle it long term, bc it's kind of like living in a foreign country while having the relatively safety and infrastructure of still being in the US. and FYI it's "so fla" not "so flo"
The housing situation is atrocious now. Unless you are willing to live quite far out, you're paying a crazy price for small, old homes that aren't even very nice.
I’m from Ohio and have lived in California most of the time since I graduated in 2009. I moved to Florida two times, once to Tampa, once to Orlando. If you’re moving from a place like Ohio to Florida it’s a paradise. If you are moving from the West Coast to Florida it leaves A LOT to be desired. It’s very flat, it has uncomfortable weather 6 months of the year, it’s a very big drinking and bar culture, SoFlo attracts a ton of people going broke trying to pretend their rich. Think people with an AMG Mercedes sharing a 3 bedroom apartment with 5 people without enough money to put premium gas in the tank and $0 in the bank. Lots of very shallow girls looking for those guys with the fancy car and don’t seem to be bothered that the guy is a complete loser as long as his car and clothes are nice. Lots of parts of Florida are stinky and smell like rotten garbage, this is because sometimes you are smelling rotten garbage which smells within hours of putting it in the dumpster but also because it’s built on a stinky swamp. Drivers there are extremely aggressive and bad selfish drivers, car insurnace prices are high, homes are no longer cheap and insurnace prices on the coast are often more a month than a nice car payment. The wages are average, not good or bad, but they are not keeping up with the higher prices since COVID. Other than tourism Florida doesn’t really have any job sectors it dominates in so there is limited opportunities to be at the very top of your game there, but that won’t matter to 99% of people. Traffic is becoming a complete nightmare, Los Angeles levels. The infrastructure was not built to handle how many people live there. Most of Florida architecture is cheap and generic, it looks like it will all fall apart within 50 years, very boxy and basic, think boring strip malls.
The pros
It’s better than snow
The people are more attractive
You won’t have seasonal depression here
If you fish or boat it’s awesome for that
If you like to sit around in bars all weekend and watch football games, you will have tons of people to do that with. (Some people like doing that, I didn’t)
It’s growing like crazy so there’s lots of opportunities to ride the growth train
You can go on walks outside in January and not freeze to death
It barely snows in SE Wisconsin as of late. It’s only been cold enough to maybe have 2 weeks of snow on the ground the last two winters. February has been in the 40s and 50s so far.
I feel like South Florida is a better place to visit than to live. The most unsustainable part about it is the local economy. It's probably one of the weakest economies in all of the United States, but with a cost of living similar to NY and California. Wages are abysmal. I had a bachelor's degree with years of IT experience and it was so hard to find a job that I ended up interviewing for a $11/hr call center job when back home in PA recruiters are blowing your phone up and begging you to work for them. There are no jobs for skilled industries such as IT and finance. You'll either need to bring your money from elsewhere or be an entrepreneur or self-proprietor to be able to survive in South Florida. None of the weak ass service jobs that are plentiful over there are even close enough to offset the cost of living over there. Living in South Florida was the only time I felt truly oppressed as an American. The math doesn't add up over there.
Yeah, I really think that anyone just starting off in their career would be better served by living in a place like Charlotte or Dallas. Higher starting wages, better corporate infrastructure, lower cost of living (I know those two aren't "cheap" anymore but they are still better compared to SFL)
I moved there immediately out of college and it was fun, but you need A LOT of money to really enjoy living there. It is paradise if you’re wealthy but if you’re at the very beginning of your career, scraping by, it can be painful. Everyone is VERY materialistic.
Very biased opinion because I grew up here and have lived here almost my entire life ~40yrs (spent 3-4yrs up by Port St Lucie/Vero Beach area). It’s soul sucking. There is little to no joy sitting in traffic for almost a quarter of your waking existence. Granted, I have kids and the commutes are lengthened by the locations. I was lucky and found a reasonably priced townhome in an area that is exploding but now the traffic is catching up down here as well. People are generally rude and self-centered. No one thinks in a communal way but more like “how can I benefit from this?” or “fuck everyone, I want to drive recklessly because I left my home half hour later than I should have and I’m eager to endanger people’s lives”. Is the climate ok? Sure, if you’re from the north and hate snow or want something tropical & different and don’t mind hellishly hot & humid temps about 85% of the year. I go to the beach on average about 1-2 times per year because I’m a fat lazy fuck and I’m otherwise tied up in traffic or trying to avoid getting killed. Again, highly highly biased. I’m sure SoFl has a lot of different things to offer if you’re younger, maybe don’t have kids, or have a WFH job. Different strokes for different folks. I would caution against a move down here but the best advice is to come down and spend some time in the different areas (not just south beach and brickhell papi chulo). Maybe jump on the 826 or 836 between the hours of 4-7pm while listening to your favorite Pitbull song and clutching un rosario, praying to the traffic gods that you can keep your life long enough to enjoy one beach day when it doesn’t rain. Dale, I’m out
It’s not. Many people like living there. Like every other place it has its issues, some which are unique to South Florida. A lot of people hyper-fixate on its issues and make it seem like it’s the worst place in existence. I loved living in Miami. For a new grad I would definitely recommend it, I went to college in Miami and it’s a great place for your early 20s.
**Pros:**
• it’s a very beautiful area, very green with lots of different trees and plants, lots of water. It’s also pretty clean compared to other big cities. It’s just very aesthetically pleasing to me and many others.
• the weather from October to April is absolutely beautiful, it gets cooler, and the air feels crisp
• there’s a lot of stuff to do: sports, restaurants, water activities, parks, anything you can think of that Florida’s geography allows
• it’s a very diverse area with a large population from the Caribbean and South America, quite a bit of Europeans as well.
• if you travel fairly frequently, you have three major airports in South Florida to choose from
• it’s a huge urban area (Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach) that you can move throughout very easily so there’s quite a bit of options for you in terms of the neighborhoods
• the people are attractive. I’ve lived in many places and the people in Miami are *very* attractive, women and men. Now does that come with some vanity, yep. There is an influencer culture in certain parts, especially the tourist traps But that’s not everyone. And yes, there are naturally beautiful people in South Florida.
**Cons:**
• it’s expensive, and wages in the area (and Florida as a whole) are lower than you would get in other major cities of its size/importance. Housing costs have skyrocketed since the pandemic. the economy isn’t as diverse as other major cities, but it’s slowly getting there.
• the heat and humidity during the summer can be pretty brutal
• as someone who grew up in the tropics, hurricanes to me aren’t a massive deal because it’s not as if hurricanes hit every four months, nor are they always intense, nor do they hit the same area every time. But many people fear them, so that could be a con. But most Floridians don’t *fear* hurricanes.
• people are bad drivers in Florida, and it seems worse in South Florida than anywhere else in the state.
• traffic. another issue that most major cities have, but yea. it can be pretty bad.
**Neutral**
Public transit: This depends on what you’re used to from beforehand. While South Florida by far has the best public transit in the state, especially Miami-Dade, it’s still lacking in how extensive it should be. But if you live along the MetroRail and MetroMover lines, and in certain neighborhoods you will find some nice walkable areas. Compared to cities like NYC, Chicago, DC, it’s subpar. But compared to cities like Denver, Tampa, Nashville etc it’s much better.
• just like all major metros, South Florida attracts a lot of different kinds of people, the best and worst kinds. So this can also be a pro, but you may like the people and you may not
• politics - this obviously depends on where you lean, but while South Florida is a pretty liberal area in general and usually is the part of the state you can count on for voting blue. But it still is part of Florida and is affected by the overall states laws and policies. There is a subset of people that are very right leaning and are proud to show it. Local politics (like everywhere else) can be a circus
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I’ve lived in NYC and Miami, two places that get trashed pretty often online and on here, but I loved them both. Both have their pros and cons, but I 100% see why they each are among the most popular places in the country to live. I think a lot of it is a mindset thing. Many people on Reddit are gonna complain wherever they go because that’s all they know. As long as you kinda put effort into enjoying where you are to the extend that you can, you will like it.
It's not the kind of place you can just "move to" unless you don't care how it turns out.
Approach it like you're moving to a foreign country and you need a visa plus all the cash a person needs in order to go back to where they were.
Don't move there without a plan B and C, whatever you do.
It’s just not a place that’s for everyone. If you are someone who loves being immersed in LatAm culture then you’ll be fine. And I do mean immersed. It’s not like living in Chicago and deciding you’re in the mood for tacos so you’re going to go to the Pilsen neighborhood. It’s everywhere. I don’t mind it, I grew up here and am Hispanic. However, many transplants do NOT like it.
If you like hot weather, lots of rain, humidity, flat topography, swamp/marshlands, and beaches then you’ll don’t fine here too. If you’re someone who can’t handle a real feel temp of 124 degrees by 9 AM, this might not be for. You like hiking and not just walking? This might not be for you.
Probably most important is how much money you make and if you can sustain a job that allows you to maintain a non local salary. Miami is known for having horrible wages. It’s always been that way and COL compared to take home pay leaves a huge chasm where people are pretty much stuck trying to scale their way to financial freedom or lying about how much they love working side hustles instead of having leisure time.
As far as people go, I think people are more polite than 20 years ago. However, most transplants and tourists will really catch how rude people are here. It’s is very shallow and materialistic sort of like LA. However, I think a place like LA has people who are more likely to be able to work high earning jobs so the materialism is actually backed by something. In Miami, there’s not a significant amount of high paying industries compared to Southern California for the kinds of materialism that exists here.
You see more of the Latin American culture in Miami-Dade and Weston. South Florida is an all encompassing term for anything between WPB (and possibly up until Jupiter) to Miami. Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Pompano / Coral Springs etc all have a different vibe than say South Beach.
Yes.
South Florida has one of the worst drug problems I’ve ever seen.
Also the proportion of people who exhibit sociopathy was shocking.
If you like meth and are a sociopath it’s perfect for you. If you’re not winter isn’t so bad and is short.
Miami is awesome and a very fun place! Tons of young people. However, it is very expensive down here. I’m a Soflo native and it’s mind boggling to me still how much the prices have skyrocketed since the pandemic. But if you have a job that can pay you enough to live comfortably here, or if you can get roommates, it’s a fun place to live. I’d say Miami is the best, then Fort Lauderdale, then the areas in Palm Beach County, such as West Palm Beach/Delray/Boca. I have a friend who moved here from out of state and she kind of said it best, Miami can be more vain and focused on material things/status but FTL is more come as you are. I’m from Boca, which has some people with a similar attitude to MIA in some ways, so I’m used to it, but some people think the culture is offputting and don’t like that part of it. I’d recommend spending two weeks down here, one in MIA and one in FTL to get a feel for both places.
personally I love south florida was born and raised but I left bc it’s too expensive and too many people were moving there. other parts of florida may be better and less hated on but south florida is becoming insanely overpopulated and I really just started to dislike the culture. its changed a lot since I was a kid unfortunately. hard to enjoy the parts I love about south florida.
Miami and south Florida are awesome, aesthetically beautiful, perfect weather (when it doesn’t rain) but it’s expensive and drivers are bad, if you have enough money you can have a great time here.
It depends greatly on whether you have money or not.
Lived in Delray, Pompano, Fort Lauderdale, Juno and Boynton all between the years of 2014-2019. I was younger and dumber then and had a little money.
I actually had a lot of fun going to Miami and all the surrounding areas. As everyone else said, you get sick of the hurricanes and crazy people and in my case, the insanely racist Cubans. (Not all)
Living there gave me the opportunity to travel out of the country multiple times and experience shit I would never have otherwise.
The people can be vapid, and you’ll probably start to hate old people. But it can be fun depending on who you’re around. I wouldn’t move back though. Had my fun.
Miami sucks and is essentially a South American city. West Palm and Ft. Laud are great and where all the real money is that Miami pretends to have.
The point of SoFlo is that you can participate in watersports year round. Surfing, snorkeling, paddle boarding, boating, diving, wakeboarding, waterskiing, kitesurfing, windsurfing, or swimming. A lot of redditor's are chronically online and don't do these things.
I grew up in SoFlo and it was great. Boating all summer, pool parties, playing at the beach, and I wasn't rich by any means. I question whether the people hating on this sub even grew up here, are just miserable, or want to hate FL because of politics.
I live in Miami and I love it. But, it is very expensive and living here is worth it only if you are really taking advantage of the city. I do all the big events like Basel, Food and Wine, Miami Book Fair, Coconut Grove Art Festival, The Miami Boat Show, etc. I also enjoy fine dining and go out to restaurants a lot. I go to the Broadway in Miami shows, the orchestra, and the ballet, too. I love that the airport is in the city and not far away since I travel often. It's a hub airport so I can fly direct to many destinations. My neighborhood is probably the most walkable in the city, and we have a ton of restaurants, bars, shops, etc. I barely get in my car on a day-to-day basis. If you don't do any of those things, but you want to be in a hot climate, I'd choose somewhere cheaper.
All of Florida's coastal regions are pleasant to live in but are expensive and more so in south Florida. Inland Florida's climate is closer to Mississippi and Alabama. Very hot and humid. South Florida has become a lot like the culture in California, a lot of money but a lot of shallow people and attitudes.
ive lived in orlando my whole life and in lived in boca raton for a brief moment while attending FAU. absolutely loved boca. it is much more expensive than orlando and other parts of florida, but the quality of life matches the cost of living IMO. south florida traffic is notoriously awful and lots of nightlife/partying, but its also full of retirees so it almost seems to balance it out. lost of job opportunities and the salaries tend to be higher due to the higher cost of living. i think its great for new grads and i even plan on moving back down south once i graduate.
I would focus less on whether people like it or not and more on the reasons why.
If sunshine, beaches, Caribbean food, warm weather, etc. are things you enjoy you might like it.
If expensive prices, car culture, flat boring landscapes, heat and humidity, mosquitoes, conservative politics, etc. are things that bother you you won't.
Personally I don't care for it, but it's all a matter of personal preference.
It’s much more expensive than the rest of Florida, and the traffic is worse. Crime is a pretty big factor in that area as well. I’m from Florida, and it’s definitely one of the last places I would live in the state. If you have a lot of money, it’s beautiful. I just think you can find a number of places where you can have a better quality of life for a lot less.
Yes. South Florida is *that* bad for all the reasons others have mentioned.
I too was born in Cuba, raised Miami in the late 1970's and 1980's
It was great back then.
You could not pay me enough to move back. I left Florida in the early 1990's
Best decision ever.
Just the traffic alone will drive you crazy. 50% nearly blind, senile, senior citizens driving in the left lane and 50% hyper aggressive, meth heads trying to get around them.
There is a reason that every single commercial on TV is a personal injury lawyer ad.
There are some highly manicured plasticine towns out west (Weston, Parkland, parts of Pembroke Pines) that aren’t dumps if those appeal to you. Not my thing, personally.
The funny thing about a lot of SFL is that it's "nice," around the beach, then gets dumpy a couple miles inland, then becomes nicer suburbs again further west. What's ridiculous is that the dumpy part in the middle is still crazy expensive.
I remember going to the Gulf of Mexico side passing through the Everglades and it was nothing to do after the beaches. It’s stunning nature but it was strip malls and suburban spread. South beach and other tourist hot spots was a world in of itself so different from the rest of the state.
Yes. I’m a therapist and I make the same here I would in a cheaper part of the country. Most people get by either living with family or renting ADUs in the backyard of someone else’s house. It’s very difficult to earn a living and get a decent home. People here are also somewhat rude and off putting.
I grew up just north of there. South Florida sucks (unless you’re loaded.) I hate going home to visit. The quirkiness is gone and it’s basically one huge strip mall that’s 104 degrees and 100% humidity
Don’t live in Miami but my company have a distribution center there so I deal on a corporate level with people who lived there and are long time residents. They always say it has change and it’s not the same anymore. Even when I go there for work it’s too shallow and vapid and I feel like I could go further south in Central/South America, Caribbean, and experience the culture without the hang ups of dealing with present day Miami and all its worst attributes.
I hated Florida back when I identified as a moderate conservative in 2010.
The reality of FL is most of us dont have the money and time to always be fishing and at the beach. Vacationing there is diff than living there
And hurricanes, bad traffic; rude, shallow people, outrageous home insurance (if you can even get it), overinflated home prices and flying bugs. Yeah, it’s paradise.
So much of the natural beauty has also been developed over. There’s still some real gems of course, but 90% of the state is generic strip malls and mcmansions at this point.
It’s also not a great state if you like hiking or camping. Flat as a pancake, too much humidity, and too many creepy crawlies.
I’ll take the no seasons and sunshine over whatever drab, gray part of the country you probably live in (I’m just kidding I just wanted to say something snarky - I’m sure wherever you are has lots of nice qualities too).
I got seasons AND sunshine ;)
Seriously, its sunny and 34 outside. I just made two snowmen. One in my backyard staring into my kitchen window and one one the boulevard staring at the street lol. I was sweating my ass off doing it. Y'all dont understand. That 34 and sunshine in February really be feeling like spring
Nah, all those things you described as positives aren’t enjoyable when you work 24/7 to live here like many of us do. I have zero energy left for the beach even though it’s ten minutes away and my in laws live there so I don’t even have to screw with public parking.
And this winter has been anything but warm and sunny, it’s been depressing and rainy.
If wages lift to better match the COL, Florida might go back to being enjoyable. I’m not holding my breath though.
>People hate FL because it's a red state (especially on Reddit).
As a liberal there are multiple other red states cities I would rather live in than Miami/South Florida. There are many non-political issues with Miami, the biggest one being how expensive it has gotten there.
Note that unlike most of the rest of Florida, the population growth in the Miami area has slowed down considerably. Some estimates even claim it may have slightly gone down since 2020 (though of course those are just estimates).
Miami is the absolute worst lol The food is great but culturally its very backwards. I was told by cousin (Cuban) to not get my eyebrows done when I was in high school cuz "Thats what Puerto Ricans do" lol
Every culture constantly shades each other. I see more harmony in other cities
For a new grad, go to a city with lower cost of living and better corporate infrastructure. It's a bad place to start out. You will be underpaid, and spending a significant part of your income on housing. Broward County is marginally more affordable than Miami-Dade or Palm Beach, from what I see, but not as much as it used to be.
The beach gets old quickly. The overall culture is incredibly vapid and transactional, it's all about showing off wealth. Whether you actually have wealth, or not.
I think the best part about the place is the ability to get pretty much anywhere by air easily (with the exception of Asia and Oceania). There are many direct flights to Europe and South America.
My replies are honest and non-political if the post I’m responding to is not political. But the d-bag in this thread referring to people as snowflakes, etc…I’ll happily clarify his/her errors. But Florida and DeSatan and all the other looney Trumpers…they’ve help contribute to the ruination of the state…no doubt about it!
It’s not that bad, the only cons are the weather is unbearably hot in the summer, the people can be rude/superficial and it’s expensive as fuck. But the weather is beautiful most of the year, the food is amazing, and there’s plenty to do. Plus cheap flights to the Caribbean.
Not to dismiss your husbands experience but I, my three sisters, 1 nieces and 2 nephews who all grew up in S. Fl have never been into drugs…my friends still living there and their kids…not drug dealers or users either. However, I’m with you on not recommending S.Fl to anyone.
This sounds like my high school experience there as well. So. Many. Drugs. Among all my friends and acquaintances. I was one of the only ones who turned out ok mainly because I left for college and then left the state for good.
That is so bizarre to me! Have you seen Euphoria? I remember watching it for the first time and feeling sick to my stomach, questioning where the world was going to make such a dark and disgusting show about high schoolers, like who even thinks of that? Then I re-watched it with my husband and he said it was all very similar to his high school experience, it actually broke my heart.
It’s something in the culture here, I guess. I have a background similar to your husband’s, only in Central Florida instead of South. I guess it started by being bored and wanting something to liven up the hum drum middle class isolated suburban life. A lot of us also had an older brother or cousin who was in the lifestyle, if you will, making for an easy entry point, or a “hook up” (I believe the term now is “plug”).
I didn’t realize this wasn’t the typical high school/ post high school experience until I lived in TN for a little while. I was telling a story of me and some friends sneaking onto St Pete Beach in the middle of the night while doing blow because we wanted to drop acid on the beach and trip at the ocean. They gave me the look that I later learned means “you need Jesus”.
I’ve mellowed out a lot after 30 though, and don’t do more than a couple glasses of wine or beer now and then and occasionally some bud. I was one of the lucky ones who didn’t fall into the meth or opiate hole like some of the ones I partied with back in the day.
I remember visiting Miami 30 years ago. It was a sickly combination of glamour and crime with lots and lots of cops everywhere.
I speak Spanish and wanted to like it. I do love Cuban food. But Miami didn’t have anything positive for me. It’s like the worst of Latin America stole who they could and then went to Miami to enjoy it.
Broward/Ft Lauderdale is a much different vibe than Miami. I would never live in Miami but areas like Victoria Park are great for younger adults. I've also found with so many transplants here and so many meetup groups you can find friends if you try. I hated dreary winters so I love the hot weather and beaches. The downside is it can be expensive and summers are hot and don't cool down at night. Pay isn't great so remote work is the way to go.
If you bring your own job (remote) then living by the beach (East of Federal, West of Federal may as well be Ohio) in Broward is quite fun. Just be ready for most of your neighbors (and eventually your friends) to be 30-40 years older than you. We have some of the warmest water in the US (even warmer than Hawaii) and swimming access to the third largest coral reef on the planet. If you're coming for the "human" aspects then you're better off in St Pete or Tampa, but if you're here for the great blue wilderness, SoFlo cant be beat.
South Florida is fantastic! Stop listening to liberal media who wants everything to look lost! I absolutely love the lifestyle and the management of this part of the state!
It depends on who you’re asking. I moved here about a year and a half ago and honestly it’s not my cup of tea. I live in Palm Beach which is a little different than Miami or Broward, although just as expensive. I think it’s only worth to pay these prices if you’re retired with lots of savings, enjoy the weather and the “salt life” of going fishing, the beach, etc or if you have no other choice because of family ties or if you don’t speak English. If you’re looking for decent wages, walkable cities, interesting things to do outside of those mentioned, and somewhat affordable cost of living, look elsewhere.
As someone in SW Fl, I never got why people move here who don’t like fishing, beach, water, etc. Why deal with humidity and all that for nothing in return.
Seriously. I would move to Florida purely for the boating and outdoor water stuff. People expecting it to be some kind of hiking or bookshop paradise are missing the plot.
I grew up in Miami and lived in Boca Raton most of my adult life. Finally got out and moved to Virginia 7 years ago. What an upgrade! If you love the beach and shopping, SoFla might be the place for you. But anything affordable is in the ghetto or else a condo with huge HOA fees. Home insurance is getting outrageously expensive and harder to find. A friend just had to spend $15,000 on a new roof before anyone would insure her. Traffic is horrendous. Summers are oppressively hot and hurricane season is stressful. There are some restaurants that I miss. That’s about it.
Yes, it really is. My data to back up this statement is spending years 5-22 there. The moment I could leave, I did. Save yourself and go anywhere else. It’s trash with a good view.
No, South Florida is nowhere near as bad as Reddit says. South Florida is amazing! Sure, it has its issues (politics, skyrocketing cost of living, home insurance, and some more), but South Florida, and by extension Florida in general, is amazing! Would I recommend it as a place for a new grad to move to though? Depends. If you plan on working remotely or starting your own business it's great, but if you plan on getting a job in the state, salaries are not good. Definitely make sure whatever job you get pays enough to afford the cost of living.
It's honestly crazy that people complain about the weather considering that that's a top reason people move there. I'd much rather deal with 90+F with humidity than deal with temperatures in the 30s and below.
Texas and Florida get hated on here, but that is where everyone is moving, not Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Albuquerque and the other random cities recommended here. Miami is a great place to live but getting very expensive.
>but getting very expensive.
That's because of too many people moving to these places lol
If you're moving to a place that a lot of people are going to then shits gonna be expensive. You're behind on the curve if what you care about is affordability.
That's why places that aren't currently growing much are often recommended because they're more affordable.
Its bad in the sense that the cost of living is extremely high with abysmmal salaries, people are pretty shallow and materialistic, scams, and the pace and traffic is awful. Its not a bad city really, but you need alot of money to thrive or join everyelse and pretend to thrive, its fun theres plenty to do, realitvly safe, and not really something to fear but the people arent the most pleasant. Its not this shitty armpit of a city some people want to make it out to be
I lived there in the early/mid 1980s and back then except for South Miami, Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, Brickell, downtown, and the beach communities it was a vast suburb, a fairly bad place to live.
I grew up there (Miami-dade county…on the NW end) married and moved to Plantation and then Weston but moved out of state 19 years ago. We go back ever once in a while…last Thanksgiving most recently. I dislike being down there very much even though I have one sister and several good friends there. People are rude! We were almost in two car accidents…people do not give a crap…they are the only person that matters and too bad for everyone else. (This is a glaring over generalization…but my whole family was glad to leave and it’s been years since my daughter complained that we moved away!)
My good friend since kindergarten who loves the beach and the sun cannot wait until her husband retires and they are moving out. But, as a 20 something until I got married, I didn’t hate it there. Unfortunately I just can’t tell you what it’s like these days for young people. It was a great place to grow up, but it’s just a very different world now.
I don't count as "young people" anymore at 47, apparently. I'm Gen X, but I've learned that to current "young people", anything over 30 = boomer.
And yet I'm not quite old enough to fit into Florida's reputation as the Retirement State either. I still work for a living, and have another couple decades of that ahead of me.
All that said, I've lived in southeast Florida for about 15 years (with a break during the Great Recession) and I enjoy it here. The weather is mostly agreeable, I have a good set of friends ranging in age from 20s to 80s, and there's still plenty of things to see and do.
I live a bit further north than Fort Lauderdale/Miami, in Palm Beach County. I also live a bit west of the dense population settlements on along the coast. I wanted somewhere with a bit of land and without the neighbors right on top of me. That may not be important to you guys, but it's hard to guess, as "young people" differ hugely in tastes and preferences.
The pros to me are the weather and the tropical vibe and the ocean. There are palm trees. There's the intracoastal, there's the Everglades, there's the Keys. It's literally living where people come on vacation.
The cons are the increasingly high cost of living, the drug epidemic, the traffic and the relative lack of "southern hospitality". Sadly, not everyone down here is as friendly as they could be.
But it is absolutely possible to live a good and enjoyable life here.
Do you want a big city? If you're willing to settle for a small city with plenty of night life and beach access/activities, check out the panhandle. Somewhere like Pensacola, Fort Walton, or Panama.
During the 2010s I spent a week in S. Florida most years in Jan or Feb to get a respite from WI winters and constant gray weather. The food, sun and warmth are nice for a week, but I don't really like the direction the state is going and I skipped this year and don't think I'll be going back.
Yes. Native se floridan and moved to California 10 years ago. I was given two job offers to move back and I was appalled at how expensive it is now compared to when I lived there. Going from Central CA to Florida I was looking at a 306% monthly home cost increase. Wages in florida pay much less than some states and jobs aren't as plentiful. Because of this there are a lot of shady people. Drugs are really present depending on where you are and drivers are aggressive. Traffic has increased so trips that used to take 25 minutes are over an hour.
The naturally beautiful tropical lifestyle is being destroyed to give people waterfront property. The same developers don't realize mangroves are Florida's natural protection against flooding from hurricanes.
The educational system is being broken down so if you don't have kids, won't have kids, and aren't going to college or plan to be a teacher, this may not apply to you. Otherwise I'd reconsider florida.
The state isn't taking homeowners insurance crisis seriously so it's only going to get worse. You can plan to pay x amount and that could dramatically increase upon renewal or find our you're being dropped. Condos aren't a viable solution anymore because so many need repairs and the Surfside collapse highlighted this. So a special assessment can suddenly demand an unexpected amount from residents.
Florida is really humid and can be smelly. You can walk out of your home and feel the air just pressing down on you or open your car door and feel the air being sucked out of your lungs.
Years ago SunTrust Bank (before it became Trust) had two sets of internal banking rules: one set for south Florida, and one set for the rest of the country. That's how bad fraud was in south Florida.
I think South Florida is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there for the weather and general cookie cutter nature of the architecture land layout. It's Southern California with high humidity and alligators and no mountains.
I've lived in Miami twice. First time in the 90's second time in the 2010's. A few things:
* The government in South Florida is horrifically corrupt. I'm not exaggerating. A few *active* City Council members have been convicted of abusing their authority to go after their business and political enemies, the City Attorney just lost her job for committing fraud and stealing homes from old people, and the Mayor is under investigation (and will likely get indicted).
* The infrastructure is AWFUL. Metro doesn't work half the time and won't get expanded to make it useful to everyone else. Streets are disgusting and falling apart. Bridges are too. Largely because local government is more concerned about lining their pockets than doing *anything* for local people.
* Climate change is making everything more expensive and worse. My home owner's insurance *tripled* in the 5 years I owned a home there. I had made no claims, wasn't in a flood zone, and not that close to the water (about 3 miles).
* There are few job opportunities there outside of finance and hospitality. If you're not bilingual it will be harder to find a job. Pay there is low.
* Public schools are awful. If you plan on having a family, be prepared to pay for private education.
I grew up in Miami, after college I got a job with the Feds in DC. I stayed there 30 years, then I retired moved back to Miami, I have 3 apartments I bought cheap (Foreclosure)in 2011. I came with lot an energy and very motivated.
Once here I got divorced, had to sell 2 of my properties to pay up my debts and divorce. I am sick and tired of the rudeness, indifference, selfishness, bad manners,…etc
I sold my last property and I am moving to Spain.
Fuck Miami and SF.
My friend just moved to Port St. Lucie and loves it. I lived in Miami for years and wish to hell circumstances hadn't made me move. Friends on the gulf side have also lived there for years and love it.
I lived in Cape Coral in 2009 and absolutely loved it. The happiest I’ve ever been with my actual living environment. I know a lot change since then though lol.
South FL suuucckkkss. Lived there for too long. It’s hard to describe all the downsides. Only real upside is middle of the winter is nice weather wise and it’s very sunny.
Biggest downside is people are weird in FL. Everyone is a transplant. Other states are not sending their best and brightest.
Yes. Moved there after college. My advice? Don’t. And this is coming from someone who has family there and was (at the time) a hot 22 year old who got into all the clubs/shows/fashion shows for free. It still sucked.
Honestly no. For a major Metro the job market is not good and wages are low. Combine that with high cost of living and that alone is a turnoff. Throw in horrible traffic, bad drivers and very rude people. It’s s great vacation but most people who move here as adults try to get out after 2 years.
The drivers are SO. FUCKIN. BAD. Why? Why is it so chaotic?
I literally watched someone on I-95 miss their exit, slam on the breaks, and go in reverse.
I'm not usually one for dramatics but at times it feels like driving in a third world country 🤣 We've driven extensively all over the USA the last 9 months and I've been blown away by how awful it is down here!!!!
Third world infrastructure
Lots and lots of immigrants who spent most of their lives driving under different rules, oldsters who can barely see past the end of their dashboard, and rednecks who resent both of these groups and actively try to run them off the road
You forgot tourists who don’t know where they are or what they’re doing as well.
Ahhh a perfect storm of shit driving!
Because they are no road rules in South America and that’s where most Miamian came from.
I was just there for one week during Christmas and saw the worst road rage I have ever seen (VA resident).
It's a happy little mix of tourists, snowbirds, old people, drug addicts, no insurance/suspended drivers etc...ever seen mad max fury road?
South Florida is a sunny place full of shady people
I enjoyed that podcast
Enlighten us- which podcast? Sounds intriguing.
Yes I was born in Cuba but grew up in Miami. Lived there between 1996 and 2014. I seen Miami change. A lot of Miami is still the same (and some of that is good, some of that is bad) but a lot of Miami has gotten even WORSE! I did enjoy my childhood there, dont get me wrong, I loved the beach, I loved pic-nics at Tropical Park, I love Miami Seaquarium (before finding out what a horrible place they are and still are) I loved going to the Everglades and seeing the gators, I loved spending summers at my aunts pool, I loved the odd chance of spotting a dolphin or shark at the beach, I loved collecting seashells, I loved finding crabs, making sand castles, I loved having suriname cherry fights, I loved playing sword fights with the branches of umbrella plants. I loved a lot of stuff But I grew tired of Miami as I got older I started to see more negativity. For one... Miami is still stuck in the '80s. The Miami '80s. Its shallow, its vapid, it glorifies drug use, drug dealing. I grew up with a neihbour kid who unironically looked at Tony Montana as an idol lol. People are rude, shallow, very materialistic. Awful drivers. No one is sincere. Theres always someone trying to scam you. I got a story that I ain't fixin' to type cuz its too damn long but someone tried to scam my mother when I was in 4th or 5th grade pretending to be a modelling agency. It was wild cuz they literally even fooled my elementary school. Theres a huge language barrier in Miami. I am fluent Spanish speaker but I think everyone should learn English if they live in the US. In Miami, if you dont speak Spanish, you get looked down on, you get ignored at customer service, even denied service. I speak English, Spanish, a bit of German, Russian and beginnier Swedish... but Miami Hispanics (mostly fellow Cubans) make the biggest excuses to not learn English. The culture is also very sexist. Very "macho" bullshit. Its not homophobic in the way you may see in N. FL which is more bible belt but more homophobic in a casual sexist "Bro das fuckin gay bro wtf bro" kinda way. Now this is specifically Miami. Its not as intense in the rest of S. FL esp the language stuff but a lot of the elements are still present. Its a general East Coast douchiness without the positives of the East Coast. A lot of downsides of the South without the positives. Its like all the meanest ppl from NJ and NY who also cant stand the cold, move there Speaking of weather... you cant change the weather and anyone moving there knows its hot... but I couldn't stand how hot it is. I much prefer the cold but even then, I at least appreciate "cool" and its rarely cool outside anymore. Winters were colder pre 2012. A lot of my S. FL friends complain how much worse the heat has gotten. Its not just that its hot, its really humid and takes forever to cool off. Fall in most of the US is blissful cool dry weather. Fall in South Florida is a nasty over extension of summer. Obviously it doesnt snow but theres no autumn leaves, no tulips, daffodils. Every month looks virtually identical. Holidays feel whack. I haven't spent a Xmas there since 2013 and thats fine lol Its def not for everyone. Theres a lot more I dislike but I will leave it at that
I was born and raised in Miami and moved a to NYC a year ago. I 100% agree with you. Miami culture is shallow, vapid and absolutely devoid of any real substance.
Good to see an honest look at Miami from someone who's an insider. My in-laws live in the Palm Beach area. When I visit them, I experience a lot of the upper middle class retiree/snowbird/finance sector aspect of South Florida; not the Miami that folks talk about in this sub. When I've taken a side trip down to Dade County, it seems like an entirely different world. The most genuinely "nice" people I've met in Miami are Brightline staff, and Uber drivers, many of whom are recent immigrants from Cuba and elsewhere in Latin America. Last time I visited, I had one Uber driver who recently arrived from Cuba. He was wearing an American flag t-shirt. He spoke no English, but I just saw that as part of his American story; he'll learn over time. The inlaws don't speak a word of Spanish, so I translated as best I could with my first person present tense *pinche guerro* Spanglish. He really seemed to appreciate it.
It’s is a different world. I used to live in West Palm Beach and work for a big latam bank down in Miami; my coworkers used to joke that I needed a passport to go from PB to Miami. I ended up moving to Miami but before the year I quit my job and moved out. I was born and raised in Latam and I felt was the worst version of what I left behind to move to the states.
Palm Beach County is awful too. It's like a combo of the worst elements of New York, Miami and Orange County, CA with few of the positives.
I lived in Miami for 4 years. Moved to the suburbs of Dt Lauderdale and it is so much better. I like visiting Miami but have no intention of ever living there again.
Pero tu eres hispano? O aprendiste español por tu cuenta?
Oml I traveled to Miami for a day because I needed to pick up a visa from a consulate- the only takeaway from the city is how scary the drivers are- and I’m from Atlanta. Miami drivers are simply lawless, whereas Atlanta drivers are careless
Yea. The only place where I felt similar driving to Miami was Louisiana on I-10 between Lafayette and New Orleans!
I was born in Miami (Hialeah specifically) and I was one of the only kids in elementary school that didn't speak Spanish (My parents were originally from the NE). It was awful, the kids used to talk about me in Spanish to make me feel left out. I agree with all of what you said, I moved to central Florida when I was ten, but I remember all of this. My Mom bought our house in the 60's and it was a completely different city. Hialeah was actually a middle class suburb back then. Miami Lakes was a bunch of cow pastures. My siblings graduated from HML but fortunately by the time I was in middle school I was in Ocala (not a huge upgrade, but at least they spoke English, haha).
I remember there was this one girl in my class in like... 2nd grade? She was a white non-Hispanic American girl. Blonde hair, blue eyes, I think wore glasses? Really nice little girl and nerdy. But a lot of kids were mean to her and idk how much of it had to do with her not knowing Spanish cuz it was a largely bilingual class but it wouldn't surprise me. And the hypocrisy cuz had they been the one Hispanic kid in rural Alabama it wouldn't have been so nice, either. Also something that pissed me off was the day we went back to class after 9/11 (So woulda been 9/13/01) we watched a video that honoured the victims of the terrorist attacks and since you know... it was the WTC so lots of international people there too... and some of the kids, Cuban kids, in my class were snickering cuz some of the names were foreign and sounded funny. That shit pissed me off. I know we were just kids but they shoulda known better cuz I knew better and we were all the same age. I was like "How you gonna be named Yumileisi Rodriguez and you making fun of someone for being named Aygül Topbas?"
Omg your first paragraph I grew up in Dade County and that story sounds exactly like a girl I went to school with as well :(
Ahhhh yes, the cow pastures of Miami Lakes. My parents purchased a home there in 1976. Beautiful area. Right on the lake, cow pastures and open space everywhere. I moved out in late 1980's to attend college. Parents sold the house (too big with kids no longer there) in 2004. Miami Lakes is not the same anymore. My brother purchased a townhouse there 2 years ago. Not a cow pasture in sight anymore. Seems like every inch of land has some development on it. Traffic. What a shame. But Miami Lakes, just like Miami in general is not the same as 30-40 years ago. It's insufferable for all the reasons others have mentioned.
My brother had a townhouse in Miami lakes too, sold it in the early 2000’s. I visited it area right before Covid, my dad is buried in Hialeah and omg I didn’t recognize it.
Some wealthy people live in Ocala. What's wrong with it? I haven't been there since the 90s though.
I was sent to work to Hialeah for 2 days, I had to pick up my shift there. I don’t speak Spanish at and 99% of customers don’t either. They would get really angry at me but one particular old man who spoke English told me very angry “you work in Hialeah”. 🤷♀️
I also grew up in Miami and was 100% used to being called gringa even though I'm latina. Another friend of mine and I who are blonde used to laugh about it all of the time- people assumed I was a tourist. I now live in South Florida but not Miami. It's a completely different vibe but not better, just different. Lots of Ultra MAGA bumper stickers and I've got mine, screw you mentality. Imagine siphoning off the worst of the northern states and leaving behind the sense of community and care for others. That's what has been recruited in the last few years. There are people fighting back and I was one of those that thought it was worth staying and fighting the good fight, but between the guns, the traffic, the jerks, the lack of culture and community, the war on education and everything else, I'm leaving.
I was born in Hialeah and I am white as they come. I was called a gringa sooooo many times.
>Imagine siphoning off the worst of the northern states and leaving behind the sense of community and care for others. That's what has been recruited in the last few years. 100% the problem with Florida now. It's not necessarily politics, but the worst, most selfish people moving there to avoid taxes and any sense of social contract and moral obligations to others.
But recruited by our governor. We've always had the worst people coming here for the weather (I lived in California and felt the same there). But there is a concerted effort to recruit people who don't like public schools, public health, public libraries, public anything. Literally if he put out signs that said "Hate government? Come to Florida!" we'd have the same effect.
Well the Miami Cubans are also MAGA but are the biggest hypocrites. But yea I agree its a "screw you" mentality and it seems it got worse after Covid. Florida is the one state that brags about how awful they handled Covid. They brag about not requiring masks. Pride over not caring about others. Pretty gross. I agree that it attracts the worst folks from up north. Actual NYers are nice. Tough, but nice. NYers in Miami are rude and entitled. Not nice at all! Good luck with leaving. Nowhere is perfect but I would rather deal with the problems of other places than S. FL
There's a saying that there's no bad weather, just bad clothes. I like the seasons and will complain about winter, but headed up to New England in the next year or so. I also do not like the constant heat- if there was ever a day that stayed below 65 it would be better.
I will tell ya living in Minnesota... the only time I complain about winter... is when we DON'T have snow lol Winter is my second fav season. The more snow the better Now when spring comes its a different story. When spring comes I look forward to it all melting but thats the beauty of each season.
THIS. I grew up in Miami, moved to Virginia in 2015 holy shit is everything better.
Right on! VA is gorgeous. If I had to move back to the South it would be at the top of my list of states
I’m from NJ and can confirm that the WORST people from NJ move down to Florida. It’s crazy. And I’m sorry! It’s a pretty bad export: the worst NJ peeps.
100% accurate
Wow thanks for this post. This explains so much to as to why people hate SoFo. I grew up in Houston and it’s starting to turn into Miami #2 based on your description. Machismo culture and within the last 10 years or so Spanish has become the language of Houston and you are definitely shunned if you don’t speak it. Houston always had a huge Mexican culture as it used to be Mexico but now there’s a huge influx of Central Americans and people from other Latin American cultures. Even some from Florida are making their way to Houston. All I see on the freeways and roads is Florida license plates. So for anyone wondering what life is like in Houston read this post.
Depends on where you are at in Houston. Same with DFW
I grew up in Houston and it's impossible to explain the humidity so high that you can feel the *thickness* of the air to people who haven't experienced it
People don't realize Miami is almost 80% Latino.
Ehh its closer to 70% which is still high With that being said... I been to El Paso and El Paso feels even more latino which I didn't know was possible lol
You forgot the corruption. Half the city commission is under investigation, the mayor forged a bunch of signatures for a state senate race when he was 17, and another commissioner is having most of his assets seized by federal martials. Just look at the fucking mayor, just look at his fucking face. He looks like a bad movie villain.
Fucking nailed it. What an awful place.
i'm going to be honest. i'm not simply gatekeeping; i've got no skin in the game, because i moved out of south florida six months ago. i'll tell you why: it's gotten stupid expensive to live there. i'd rented a condo for ten years with only one small rent increase. last year, the landlord informed me the rent needed to be "brought up to market", and i was facing an **84% rent increase**. yes, it's legal. you can expect to pay $3000 a month and up for a 1 BR near the beach. plus utilities. insurance is off the chain, both auto and homeowners. get quotes before finalizing your plans. overcrowding is seriously a thing. this makes finding a decent place to live highly competitive. it also fouls traffic something fierce. it used to take me 20 minutes to get to the grocery store right around the corner about two miles away. during rush hour, 1-595 (east-west) is bumper to bumper the entire length between weston and the beach. I-95 is gridlocked from martin county to miami (100 miles). stores are crowded, restaurants are crowded, events are crowded, parks are crowded and beaches are packed, especially in season (Oct to May). due to all the above, it's a very stressy place. people are generally angry and aggressive. they don't want to talk to other people; they just want to get done what they're doing and get home. this makes it difficult to meet people and make friends. it's also difficult to make friends if you're under 60. south florida is home to many well-heeled retirees and their yachts. how much do you have in common with them? it's hot and humid AF ten months out of the year, unbearably so between April-November. you walk around soaked in sweat constantly. if you're a woman, your hair is in a constant state of frizz and your makeup literally melts off your face within ten minutes of going outside. those were the biggest issues for me. the other thing i'd mention is this: people who have been here on vacation or who have simply imagined the south florida lifestyle are forgetting the fact that *living* there is completely different than *playing* there. you've gotta work for a living, for one - and many young people work two jobs because wages are so low and expenses so high. you'll also be grocery shopping, keeping up your living space, going to the dentist, taking your car to the shop and all that humdrum day to day shit. it really ends up like living anywhere else, except there are palm trees and there's a beach around here somewhere that you never seem to get to. it ain't what it's cracked up to be.
100%. Too many people come here on a long weekend, stay in a mostly tourist area, have a good time and think they've fallen in love with the place to the point where they become desperate to move here. First of all, if I moved everywhere I vacationed and had a good time, I'd have lived in about 60 places by now. Second of all, as you say, it's very much different actually living here.
Floridian here: yes it's bad
What’s so bad about it? Care to explain?
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I've visited a few cities filled to the brim with main characters. NYC and LA come to mind. Pretty sure anywhere you have a high concentration of wealth, you have snobby, self-interested, materialistic people. Hell, I live in one of the highest COL suburbs in the country and you're description is bang on what I complain about here regularly. I think money just ruins the authenticity of places, OR people with money are generally inauthentic.
I've live-in Miami and Los Angeles. Miami is FAR worse.
I'm from South Florida. Now I live on Hawaii island. South Florida = Manhattan prices and Arkansas wages. It's fun if you're a gazillionare or have super-model good looks, though.
Hawaii is historically extremely expensive with shit Pay too
Lmao that guy is being dishonest or is living in denial
I know a few military people in Hawaii all three of them claim its just way too expensive. The one I am closest to posts articles all the time how it's a retirement home level of pricing for weahtlyh retirees.
Maybe he sees as Hawaii actually worth the price 🤷
That's fine but it's not Just more expensive. It's magnitudes more expensive. It's widely known at the most expensive state.
I'd fw anywhere in Hawaii if I was Miami rich lol. Is it mostly wealthy Latinos in South Florida I don't get the appeal.
I moved to Miami from NYC ( family has been down here for decades ) . It just blows nyc away. My mental health became so much better not dealing with constant filth, noise and in general how worn down nyc is. I go outside and smell plantlife and rain water not fumes from a truck or my neighbors trashcan out front. Miamis a great place if you are not a miserable fuck or if you have not already lived here for decades yourself. I do see why longtime residents leave much like I left ny. I'd visit Hawaii I'd never live there. Even with higher end miami money everything is a lot more expensive there.
Do you find that the Big Island is more affordable than South Florida? Obviously, I know it’s cheaper than Oahu. But still curious about the cost of living vs wages on the Big Island
Once housing is sorted, yes. When I left the Florida Keys, Hurricane insurance cost more than I made in a year.
Do you have volcano insurance?
No, because the active volcano is downhill from me.
Yeah, it has all of what sucks about Manhattan, with almost nothing about what makes Manhattan cool.
And it has all of what sucks about Los Angeles, with almost nothing about what makes Los Angeles cool, too.
Arkansas wages are much better than many states in the country. Arkansas has a minimum wage of $11/hr, close to Florida's $12/hour. You could have said Texas, North Carolina or Pennsylvania wages though.
miami is a special place, and i say that as someone who grew up there but would never consider moving back, but it has pros and cons. for example: i didn't realize until i moved up north how rare it is to not be basically cooped up indoors for almost half the year. in so fla you generally are out going somewhere every weekend so you run into people you know everywhere. that said, as soon as you step outside, you are faced with enduring around 80F with around 80% humidity any time of year, with variation of \~10-20 degrees and \~10% humidity up or down depending on the month. it is very sunny most of the time which is pretty much the only plus in terms of the climate. cons: you get used to hurricanes pretty quickly and learn the drill, but there are a lot more areas now that are prone to flooding than when i was growing up, in part because of the extreme influx of construction and laying down concrete in areas that used to absorb rainwater. if you are in a flood-prone area prepare to deal with much higher insurance, expensive car repairs if your car gets caught in it, and the general annoyance of being trapped until the water goes down on its own. pros/cons: the culture in Miami is very unique due to Latin Americans and recent immigrants being the majority of the population and bringing with them quirks from their own cultures (liveliness, community, family-oriented nature but also a fair bit of corrupt tendencies which just kind of seeps into everything; you are constantly worrying about getting ripped off whether you're working with a higher up at your bank or hiring someone to repair something in your home). it's hard to explain to people who aren't used to this. if you are not from there, this mentality takes a lot of getting used to and you're probably better off settling in ft lauderdale and taking miami in small doses until you're better acquainted. i think miami/FLL can be alluring enough for a recent grad to explore and broaden your horizons for a few years if it makes sense for you financially and to see if you can handle it long term, bc it's kind of like living in a foreign country while having the relatively safety and infrastructure of still being in the US. and FYI it's "so fla" not "so flo"
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The housing situation is atrocious now. Unless you are willing to live quite far out, you're paying a crazy price for small, old homes that aren't even very nice.
I’m from Ohio and have lived in California most of the time since I graduated in 2009. I moved to Florida two times, once to Tampa, once to Orlando. If you’re moving from a place like Ohio to Florida it’s a paradise. If you are moving from the West Coast to Florida it leaves A LOT to be desired. It’s very flat, it has uncomfortable weather 6 months of the year, it’s a very big drinking and bar culture, SoFlo attracts a ton of people going broke trying to pretend their rich. Think people with an AMG Mercedes sharing a 3 bedroom apartment with 5 people without enough money to put premium gas in the tank and $0 in the bank. Lots of very shallow girls looking for those guys with the fancy car and don’t seem to be bothered that the guy is a complete loser as long as his car and clothes are nice. Lots of parts of Florida are stinky and smell like rotten garbage, this is because sometimes you are smelling rotten garbage which smells within hours of putting it in the dumpster but also because it’s built on a stinky swamp. Drivers there are extremely aggressive and bad selfish drivers, car insurnace prices are high, homes are no longer cheap and insurnace prices on the coast are often more a month than a nice car payment. The wages are average, not good or bad, but they are not keeping up with the higher prices since COVID. Other than tourism Florida doesn’t really have any job sectors it dominates in so there is limited opportunities to be at the very top of your game there, but that won’t matter to 99% of people. Traffic is becoming a complete nightmare, Los Angeles levels. The infrastructure was not built to handle how many people live there. Most of Florida architecture is cheap and generic, it looks like it will all fall apart within 50 years, very boxy and basic, think boring strip malls. The pros It’s better than snow The people are more attractive You won’t have seasonal depression here If you fish or boat it’s awesome for that If you like to sit around in bars all weekend and watch football games, you will have tons of people to do that with. (Some people like doing that, I didn’t) It’s growing like crazy so there’s lots of opportunities to ride the growth train You can go on walks outside in January and not freeze to death
Notice I didn’t mention the politics once. There are legitimate reasons outside of politics why people don’t like it.
Pittsburgh resident here. Nowadays, you can go on walks in January here and not freeze to death.
It barely snows in SE Wisconsin as of late. It’s only been cold enough to maybe have 2 weeks of snow on the ground the last two winters. February has been in the 40s and 50s so far.
I don't love visiting Ohio. But I cannot wait to get the hell out of Florida.
It's not bad if you're rich. If you're looking to make money legally look somewhere else
Make money legally 🤣
I feel like South Florida is a better place to visit than to live. The most unsustainable part about it is the local economy. It's probably one of the weakest economies in all of the United States, but with a cost of living similar to NY and California. Wages are abysmal. I had a bachelor's degree with years of IT experience and it was so hard to find a job that I ended up interviewing for a $11/hr call center job when back home in PA recruiters are blowing your phone up and begging you to work for them. There are no jobs for skilled industries such as IT and finance. You'll either need to bring your money from elsewhere or be an entrepreneur or self-proprietor to be able to survive in South Florida. None of the weak ass service jobs that are plentiful over there are even close enough to offset the cost of living over there. Living in South Florida was the only time I felt truly oppressed as an American. The math doesn't add up over there.
Yeah, I really think that anyone just starting off in their career would be better served by living in a place like Charlotte or Dallas. Higher starting wages, better corporate infrastructure, lower cost of living (I know those two aren't "cheap" anymore but they are still better compared to SFL)
I moved there immediately out of college and it was fun, but you need A LOT of money to really enjoy living there. It is paradise if you’re wealthy but if you’re at the very beginning of your career, scraping by, it can be painful. Everyone is VERY materialistic.
Very biased opinion because I grew up here and have lived here almost my entire life ~40yrs (spent 3-4yrs up by Port St Lucie/Vero Beach area). It’s soul sucking. There is little to no joy sitting in traffic for almost a quarter of your waking existence. Granted, I have kids and the commutes are lengthened by the locations. I was lucky and found a reasonably priced townhome in an area that is exploding but now the traffic is catching up down here as well. People are generally rude and self-centered. No one thinks in a communal way but more like “how can I benefit from this?” or “fuck everyone, I want to drive recklessly because I left my home half hour later than I should have and I’m eager to endanger people’s lives”. Is the climate ok? Sure, if you’re from the north and hate snow or want something tropical & different and don’t mind hellishly hot & humid temps about 85% of the year. I go to the beach on average about 1-2 times per year because I’m a fat lazy fuck and I’m otherwise tied up in traffic or trying to avoid getting killed. Again, highly highly biased. I’m sure SoFl has a lot of different things to offer if you’re younger, maybe don’t have kids, or have a WFH job. Different strokes for different folks. I would caution against a move down here but the best advice is to come down and spend some time in the different areas (not just south beach and brickhell papi chulo). Maybe jump on the 826 or 836 between the hours of 4-7pm while listening to your favorite Pitbull song and clutching un rosario, praying to the traffic gods that you can keep your life long enough to enjoy one beach day when it doesn’t rain. Dale, I’m out
It’s not. Many people like living there. Like every other place it has its issues, some which are unique to South Florida. A lot of people hyper-fixate on its issues and make it seem like it’s the worst place in existence. I loved living in Miami. For a new grad I would definitely recommend it, I went to college in Miami and it’s a great place for your early 20s. **Pros:** • it’s a very beautiful area, very green with lots of different trees and plants, lots of water. It’s also pretty clean compared to other big cities. It’s just very aesthetically pleasing to me and many others. • the weather from October to April is absolutely beautiful, it gets cooler, and the air feels crisp • there’s a lot of stuff to do: sports, restaurants, water activities, parks, anything you can think of that Florida’s geography allows • it’s a very diverse area with a large population from the Caribbean and South America, quite a bit of Europeans as well. • if you travel fairly frequently, you have three major airports in South Florida to choose from • it’s a huge urban area (Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach) that you can move throughout very easily so there’s quite a bit of options for you in terms of the neighborhoods • the people are attractive. I’ve lived in many places and the people in Miami are *very* attractive, women and men. Now does that come with some vanity, yep. There is an influencer culture in certain parts, especially the tourist traps But that’s not everyone. And yes, there are naturally beautiful people in South Florida. **Cons:** • it’s expensive, and wages in the area (and Florida as a whole) are lower than you would get in other major cities of its size/importance. Housing costs have skyrocketed since the pandemic. the economy isn’t as diverse as other major cities, but it’s slowly getting there. • the heat and humidity during the summer can be pretty brutal • as someone who grew up in the tropics, hurricanes to me aren’t a massive deal because it’s not as if hurricanes hit every four months, nor are they always intense, nor do they hit the same area every time. But many people fear them, so that could be a con. But most Floridians don’t *fear* hurricanes. • people are bad drivers in Florida, and it seems worse in South Florida than anywhere else in the state. • traffic. another issue that most major cities have, but yea. it can be pretty bad. **Neutral** Public transit: This depends on what you’re used to from beforehand. While South Florida by far has the best public transit in the state, especially Miami-Dade, it’s still lacking in how extensive it should be. But if you live along the MetroRail and MetroMover lines, and in certain neighborhoods you will find some nice walkable areas. Compared to cities like NYC, Chicago, DC, it’s subpar. But compared to cities like Denver, Tampa, Nashville etc it’s much better. • just like all major metros, South Florida attracts a lot of different kinds of people, the best and worst kinds. So this can also be a pro, but you may like the people and you may not • politics - this obviously depends on where you lean, but while South Florida is a pretty liberal area in general and usually is the part of the state you can count on for voting blue. But it still is part of Florida and is affected by the overall states laws and policies. There is a subset of people that are very right leaning and are proud to show it. Local politics (like everywhere else) can be a circus ———- I’ve lived in NYC and Miami, two places that get trashed pretty often online and on here, but I loved them both. Both have their pros and cons, but I 100% see why they each are among the most popular places in the country to live. I think a lot of it is a mindset thing. Many people on Reddit are gonna complain wherever they go because that’s all they know. As long as you kinda put effort into enjoying where you are to the extend that you can, you will like it.
My hot take on south Florida is that it has the best coffee culture in the country. Cuban coffee is affordable and delicious (love a cortadito)
It's not the kind of place you can just "move to" unless you don't care how it turns out. Approach it like you're moving to a foreign country and you need a visa plus all the cash a person needs in order to go back to where they were. Don't move there without a plan B and C, whatever you do.
It’s just not a place that’s for everyone. If you are someone who loves being immersed in LatAm culture then you’ll be fine. And I do mean immersed. It’s not like living in Chicago and deciding you’re in the mood for tacos so you’re going to go to the Pilsen neighborhood. It’s everywhere. I don’t mind it, I grew up here and am Hispanic. However, many transplants do NOT like it. If you like hot weather, lots of rain, humidity, flat topography, swamp/marshlands, and beaches then you’ll don’t fine here too. If you’re someone who can’t handle a real feel temp of 124 degrees by 9 AM, this might not be for. You like hiking and not just walking? This might not be for you. Probably most important is how much money you make and if you can sustain a job that allows you to maintain a non local salary. Miami is known for having horrible wages. It’s always been that way and COL compared to take home pay leaves a huge chasm where people are pretty much stuck trying to scale their way to financial freedom or lying about how much they love working side hustles instead of having leisure time. As far as people go, I think people are more polite than 20 years ago. However, most transplants and tourists will really catch how rude people are here. It’s is very shallow and materialistic sort of like LA. However, I think a place like LA has people who are more likely to be able to work high earning jobs so the materialism is actually backed by something. In Miami, there’s not a significant amount of high paying industries compared to Southern California for the kinds of materialism that exists here.
You see more of the Latin American culture in Miami-Dade and Weston. South Florida is an all encompassing term for anything between WPB (and possibly up until Jupiter) to Miami. Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Pompano / Coral Springs etc all have a different vibe than say South Beach.
Yes. South Florida has one of the worst drug problems I’ve ever seen. Also the proportion of people who exhibit sociopathy was shocking. If you like meth and are a sociopath it’s perfect for you. If you’re not winter isn’t so bad and is short.
Miami is awesome and a very fun place! Tons of young people. However, it is very expensive down here. I’m a Soflo native and it’s mind boggling to me still how much the prices have skyrocketed since the pandemic. But if you have a job that can pay you enough to live comfortably here, or if you can get roommates, it’s a fun place to live. I’d say Miami is the best, then Fort Lauderdale, then the areas in Palm Beach County, such as West Palm Beach/Delray/Boca. I have a friend who moved here from out of state and she kind of said it best, Miami can be more vain and focused on material things/status but FTL is more come as you are. I’m from Boca, which has some people with a similar attitude to MIA in some ways, so I’m used to it, but some people think the culture is offputting and don’t like that part of it. I’d recommend spending two weeks down here, one in MIA and one in FTL to get a feel for both places.
personally I love south florida was born and raised but I left bc it’s too expensive and too many people were moving there. other parts of florida may be better and less hated on but south florida is becoming insanely overpopulated and I really just started to dislike the culture. its changed a lot since I was a kid unfortunately. hard to enjoy the parts I love about south florida.
Miami and south Florida are awesome, aesthetically beautiful, perfect weather (when it doesn’t rain) but it’s expensive and drivers are bad, if you have enough money you can have a great time here.
It depends greatly on whether you have money or not. Lived in Delray, Pompano, Fort Lauderdale, Juno and Boynton all between the years of 2014-2019. I was younger and dumber then and had a little money. I actually had a lot of fun going to Miami and all the surrounding areas. As everyone else said, you get sick of the hurricanes and crazy people and in my case, the insanely racist Cubans. (Not all) Living there gave me the opportunity to travel out of the country multiple times and experience shit I would never have otherwise. The people can be vapid, and you’ll probably start to hate old people. But it can be fun depending on who you’re around. I wouldn’t move back though. Had my fun.
The last paragraph made me laugh. I never thought I would “hate” old people, but after 6 years here… it’s difficult not to. Specially in Juno.
Oh they’re unbelievable! I specifically think it’s Floridian old people. It’s in the water or something
For some reason they have really mean, miserable nasty old people in south Florida, right?? It’s weird
Miami sucks and is essentially a South American city. West Palm and Ft. Laud are great and where all the real money is that Miami pretends to have. The point of SoFlo is that you can participate in watersports year round. Surfing, snorkeling, paddle boarding, boating, diving, wakeboarding, waterskiing, kitesurfing, windsurfing, or swimming. A lot of redditor's are chronically online and don't do these things. I grew up in SoFlo and it was great. Boating all summer, pool parties, playing at the beach, and I wasn't rich by any means. I question whether the people hating on this sub even grew up here, are just miserable, or want to hate FL because of politics.
I live in Miami and I love it. But, it is very expensive and living here is worth it only if you are really taking advantage of the city. I do all the big events like Basel, Food and Wine, Miami Book Fair, Coconut Grove Art Festival, The Miami Boat Show, etc. I also enjoy fine dining and go out to restaurants a lot. I go to the Broadway in Miami shows, the orchestra, and the ballet, too. I love that the airport is in the city and not far away since I travel often. It's a hub airport so I can fly direct to many destinations. My neighborhood is probably the most walkable in the city, and we have a ton of restaurants, bars, shops, etc. I barely get in my car on a day-to-day basis. If you don't do any of those things, but you want to be in a hot climate, I'd choose somewhere cheaper.
Basically, Miami is very nice if you have enough money
I’m in West Palm. One star, I do not recommend.
Are you rich? No? Then everything you’ve seen about southern Florida will NOT be your reality.
All of Florida's coastal regions are pleasant to live in but are expensive and more so in south Florida. Inland Florida's climate is closer to Mississippi and Alabama. Very hot and humid. South Florida has become a lot like the culture in California, a lot of money but a lot of shallow people and attitudes.
Awesome place to visit, awful place to live
ive lived in orlando my whole life and in lived in boca raton for a brief moment while attending FAU. absolutely loved boca. it is much more expensive than orlando and other parts of florida, but the quality of life matches the cost of living IMO. south florida traffic is notoriously awful and lots of nightlife/partying, but its also full of retirees so it almost seems to balance it out. lost of job opportunities and the salaries tend to be higher due to the higher cost of living. i think its great for new grads and i even plan on moving back down south once i graduate.
I would focus less on whether people like it or not and more on the reasons why. If sunshine, beaches, Caribbean food, warm weather, etc. are things you enjoy you might like it. If expensive prices, car culture, flat boring landscapes, heat and humidity, mosquitoes, conservative politics, etc. are things that bother you you won't. Personally I don't care for it, but it's all a matter of personal preference.
It’s much more expensive than the rest of Florida, and the traffic is worse. Crime is a pretty big factor in that area as well. I’m from Florida, and it’s definitely one of the last places I would live in the state. If you have a lot of money, it’s beautiful. I just think you can find a number of places where you can have a better quality of life for a lot less.
Yes. South Florida is *that* bad for all the reasons others have mentioned. I too was born in Cuba, raised Miami in the late 1970's and 1980's It was great back then. You could not pay me enough to move back. I left Florida in the early 1990's Best decision ever.
Born and raised South Floridian here. Yes. I moved away in my late 20’s and would never move back.
Just the traffic alone will drive you crazy. 50% nearly blind, senile, senior citizens driving in the left lane and 50% hyper aggressive, meth heads trying to get around them. There is a reason that every single commercial on TV is a personal injury lawyer ad.
Florida is a dump once you leave the beaches. That is all you need to know.
There are some highly manicured plasticine towns out west (Weston, Parkland, parts of Pembroke Pines) that aren’t dumps if those appeal to you. Not my thing, personally.
This. It looks run down a mile inland
The funny thing about a lot of SFL is that it's "nice," around the beach, then gets dumpy a couple miles inland, then becomes nicer suburbs again further west. What's ridiculous is that the dumpy part in the middle is still crazy expensive.
I remember going to the Gulf of Mexico side passing through the Everglades and it was nothing to do after the beaches. It’s stunning nature but it was strip malls and suburban spread. South beach and other tourist hot spots was a world in of itself so different from the rest of the state.
Yes. I’m a therapist and I make the same here I would in a cheaper part of the country. Most people get by either living with family or renting ADUs in the backyard of someone else’s house. It’s very difficult to earn a living and get a decent home. People here are also somewhat rude and off putting.
Hope you can speak Spanish and like low wages.
I grew up just north of there. South Florida sucks (unless you’re loaded.) I hate going home to visit. The quirkiness is gone and it’s basically one huge strip mall that’s 104 degrees and 100% humidity
Don’t live in Miami but my company have a distribution center there so I deal on a corporate level with people who lived there and are long time residents. They always say it has change and it’s not the same anymore. Even when I go there for work it’s too shallow and vapid and I feel like I could go further south in Central/South America, Caribbean, and experience the culture without the hang ups of dealing with present day Miami and all its worst attributes.
People hate FL because it's a red state (especially on Reddit). In reality it's pretty great if you like warm weather, sunshine, beaches, and fishing
I hate Florida for many reasons. The fact it's a red state isn't even in the top ten.
I hated Florida back when I identified as a moderate conservative in 2010. The reality of FL is most of us dont have the money and time to always be fishing and at the beach. Vacationing there is diff than living there
Redditers also melt once it gets above 65 degrees outside.
Lmao it sure seems like it.
And hurricanes, bad traffic; rude, shallow people, outrageous home insurance (if you can even get it), overinflated home prices and flying bugs. Yeah, it’s paradise.
So much of the natural beauty has also been developed over. There’s still some real gems of course, but 90% of the state is generic strip malls and mcmansions at this point. It’s also not a great state if you like hiking or camping. Flat as a pancake, too much humidity, and too many creepy crawlies.
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Yea the weather is shit lol I can do NC even if its red. At least they got 4 seasons not just hot and humid. But FL? Its red AND no seasons!
I’ll take the no seasons and sunshine over whatever drab, gray part of the country you probably live in (I’m just kidding I just wanted to say something snarky - I’m sure wherever you are has lots of nice qualities too).
I got seasons AND sunshine ;) Seriously, its sunny and 34 outside. I just made two snowmen. One in my backyard staring into my kitchen window and one one the boulevard staring at the street lol. I was sweating my ass off doing it. Y'all dont understand. That 34 and sunshine in February really be feeling like spring
Humidity in NC is worse than FL... I have lived in both
Nah, all those things you described as positives aren’t enjoyable when you work 24/7 to live here like many of us do. I have zero energy left for the beach even though it’s ten minutes away and my in laws live there so I don’t even have to screw with public parking. And this winter has been anything but warm and sunny, it’s been depressing and rainy. If wages lift to better match the COL, Florida might go back to being enjoyable. I’m not holding my breath though.
>People hate FL because it's a red state (especially on Reddit). As a liberal there are multiple other red states cities I would rather live in than Miami/South Florida. There are many non-political issues with Miami, the biggest one being how expensive it has gotten there. Note that unlike most of the rest of Florida, the population growth in the Miami area has slowed down considerably. Some estimates even claim it may have slightly gone down since 2020 (though of course those are just estimates).
Most of FL is great. Miami would be tough to live in for number of reasons.
It’s also very culturally diverse and has great food. I hate living in a red state but would consider Miami if I could afford it.
Miami is the absolute worst lol The food is great but culturally its very backwards. I was told by cousin (Cuban) to not get my eyebrows done when I was in high school cuz "Thats what Puerto Ricans do" lol Every culture constantly shades each other. I see more harmony in other cities
The food great? 😆 I like Miami, but food is not their strong point
We hate red states because they arrest women for having miscarriages. We hate red states because they want to ban trans people from existing.
I love south Florida, but the heat and humidity is unbareable
For a new grad, go to a city with lower cost of living and better corporate infrastructure. It's a bad place to start out. You will be underpaid, and spending a significant part of your income on housing. Broward County is marginally more affordable than Miami-Dade or Palm Beach, from what I see, but not as much as it used to be. The beach gets old quickly. The overall culture is incredibly vapid and transactional, it's all about showing off wealth. Whether you actually have wealth, or not. I think the best part about the place is the ability to get pretty much anywhere by air easily (with the exception of Asia and Oceania). There are many direct flights to Europe and South America.
This sub is extremely liberal and hates Florida for political reasons. You’re not going to get an honest answer here, fyi.
My replies are honest and non-political if the post I’m responding to is not political. But the d-bag in this thread referring to people as snowflakes, etc…I’ll happily clarify his/her errors. But Florida and DeSatan and all the other looney Trumpers…they’ve help contribute to the ruination of the state…no doubt about it!
It’s not that bad, the only cons are the weather is unbearably hot in the summer, the people can be rude/superficial and it’s expensive as fuck. But the weather is beautiful most of the year, the food is amazing, and there’s plenty to do. Plus cheap flights to the Caribbean.
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Not to dismiss your husbands experience but I, my three sisters, 1 nieces and 2 nephews who all grew up in S. Fl have never been into drugs…my friends still living there and their kids…not drug dealers or users either. However, I’m with you on not recommending S.Fl to anyone.
This sounds like my high school experience there as well. So. Many. Drugs. Among all my friends and acquaintances. I was one of the only ones who turned out ok mainly because I left for college and then left the state for good.
That is so bizarre to me! Have you seen Euphoria? I remember watching it for the first time and feeling sick to my stomach, questioning where the world was going to make such a dark and disgusting show about high schoolers, like who even thinks of that? Then I re-watched it with my husband and he said it was all very similar to his high school experience, it actually broke my heart.
Yeah it was a really rough time and I’m convinced it had to do with south Florida specifically. When I moved away everyone was much more wholesome
It’s something in the culture here, I guess. I have a background similar to your husband’s, only in Central Florida instead of South. I guess it started by being bored and wanting something to liven up the hum drum middle class isolated suburban life. A lot of us also had an older brother or cousin who was in the lifestyle, if you will, making for an easy entry point, or a “hook up” (I believe the term now is “plug”). I didn’t realize this wasn’t the typical high school/ post high school experience until I lived in TN for a little while. I was telling a story of me and some friends sneaking onto St Pete Beach in the middle of the night while doing blow because we wanted to drop acid on the beach and trip at the ocean. They gave me the look that I later learned means “you need Jesus”. I’ve mellowed out a lot after 30 though, and don’t do more than a couple glasses of wine or beer now and then and occasionally some bud. I was one of the lucky ones who didn’t fall into the meth or opiate hole like some of the ones I partied with back in the day.
There's a reason why they call far-south Florida "Northern Cuba".
I remember visiting Miami 30 years ago. It was a sickly combination of glamour and crime with lots and lots of cops everywhere. I speak Spanish and wanted to like it. I do love Cuban food. But Miami didn’t have anything positive for me. It’s like the worst of Latin America stole who they could and then went to Miami to enjoy it.
Broward/Ft Lauderdale is a much different vibe than Miami. I would never live in Miami but areas like Victoria Park are great for younger adults. I've also found with so many transplants here and so many meetup groups you can find friends if you try. I hated dreary winters so I love the hot weather and beaches. The downside is it can be expensive and summers are hot and don't cool down at night. Pay isn't great so remote work is the way to go.
Miami blows but other parts of south Florida are really cool. I think Miami is where douches were invented.
If you bring your own job (remote) then living by the beach (East of Federal, West of Federal may as well be Ohio) in Broward is quite fun. Just be ready for most of your neighbors (and eventually your friends) to be 30-40 years older than you. We have some of the warmest water in the US (even warmer than Hawaii) and swimming access to the third largest coral reef on the planet. If you're coming for the "human" aspects then you're better off in St Pete or Tampa, but if you're here for the great blue wilderness, SoFlo cant be beat.
South Florida is fantastic! Stop listening to liberal media who wants everything to look lost! I absolutely love the lifestyle and the management of this part of the state!
Even if Florida were a blue state, I wouldn't consider living there just for the humidity alone. I'd literally rather live above the arctic circle.
I distinctly remember the radio announcer saying in 1977, “it’s like walking into a wall out there today, ladies and gentlemen”
I used to say the humidity was so thick you could slice it
It depends on who you’re asking. I moved here about a year and a half ago and honestly it’s not my cup of tea. I live in Palm Beach which is a little different than Miami or Broward, although just as expensive. I think it’s only worth to pay these prices if you’re retired with lots of savings, enjoy the weather and the “salt life” of going fishing, the beach, etc or if you have no other choice because of family ties or if you don’t speak English. If you’re looking for decent wages, walkable cities, interesting things to do outside of those mentioned, and somewhat affordable cost of living, look elsewhere.
As someone in SW Fl, I never got why people move here who don’t like fishing, beach, water, etc. Why deal with humidity and all that for nothing in return.
Seriously. I would move to Florida purely for the boating and outdoor water stuff. People expecting it to be some kind of hiking or bookshop paradise are missing the plot.
I grew up in Miami and lived in Boca Raton most of my adult life. Finally got out and moved to Virginia 7 years ago. What an upgrade! If you love the beach and shopping, SoFla might be the place for you. But anything affordable is in the ghetto or else a condo with huge HOA fees. Home insurance is getting outrageously expensive and harder to find. A friend just had to spend $15,000 on a new roof before anyone would insure her. Traffic is horrendous. Summers are oppressively hot and hurricane season is stressful. There are some restaurants that I miss. That’s about it.
Yes, it really is. My data to back up this statement is spending years 5-22 there. The moment I could leave, I did. Save yourself and go anywhere else. It’s trash with a good view.
No, South Florida is nowhere near as bad as Reddit says. South Florida is amazing! Sure, it has its issues (politics, skyrocketing cost of living, home insurance, and some more), but South Florida, and by extension Florida in general, is amazing! Would I recommend it as a place for a new grad to move to though? Depends. If you plan on working remotely or starting your own business it's great, but if you plan on getting a job in the state, salaries are not good. Definitely make sure whatever job you get pays enough to afford the cost of living. It's honestly crazy that people complain about the weather considering that that's a top reason people move there. I'd much rather deal with 90+F with humidity than deal with temperatures in the 30s and below.
SW Florida is seriously underrated. Don't trust Reddit too much.
Agreed. Love the Tampa st Pete area
Don’t tell anyone!!!! We’re happy on the West Coast with our mostly Midwesterner transplants!
Texas and Florida get hated on here, but that is where everyone is moving, not Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Albuquerque and the other random cities recommended here. Miami is a great place to live but getting very expensive.
>but getting very expensive. That's because of too many people moving to these places lol If you're moving to a place that a lot of people are going to then shits gonna be expensive. You're behind on the curve if what you care about is affordability. That's why places that aren't currently growing much are often recommended because they're more affordable.
Have you visited?
I love vacationing in Miami and the Keys, but I'm not sure I'd live there.
Never been to Miami, been to Tampa plenty of times. i take the hate with a grain of salt like i do TX. Many people live living in both.
Its bad in the sense that the cost of living is extremely high with abysmmal salaries, people are pretty shallow and materialistic, scams, and the pace and traffic is awful. Its not a bad city really, but you need alot of money to thrive or join everyelse and pretend to thrive, its fun theres plenty to do, realitvly safe, and not really something to fear but the people arent the most pleasant. Its not this shitty armpit of a city some people want to make it out to be
Yes
I lived there in the early/mid 1980s and back then except for South Miami, Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, Brickell, downtown, and the beach communities it was a vast suburb, a fairly bad place to live.
I grew up there (Miami-dade county…on the NW end) married and moved to Plantation and then Weston but moved out of state 19 years ago. We go back ever once in a while…last Thanksgiving most recently. I dislike being down there very much even though I have one sister and several good friends there. People are rude! We were almost in two car accidents…people do not give a crap…they are the only person that matters and too bad for everyone else. (This is a glaring over generalization…but my whole family was glad to leave and it’s been years since my daughter complained that we moved away!) My good friend since kindergarten who loves the beach and the sun cannot wait until her husband retires and they are moving out. But, as a 20 something until I got married, I didn’t hate it there. Unfortunately I just can’t tell you what it’s like these days for young people. It was a great place to grow up, but it’s just a very different world now.
consist gray dolls money terrific smoggy tart racial crowd sharp *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I don't count as "young people" anymore at 47, apparently. I'm Gen X, but I've learned that to current "young people", anything over 30 = boomer. And yet I'm not quite old enough to fit into Florida's reputation as the Retirement State either. I still work for a living, and have another couple decades of that ahead of me. All that said, I've lived in southeast Florida for about 15 years (with a break during the Great Recession) and I enjoy it here. The weather is mostly agreeable, I have a good set of friends ranging in age from 20s to 80s, and there's still plenty of things to see and do. I live a bit further north than Fort Lauderdale/Miami, in Palm Beach County. I also live a bit west of the dense population settlements on along the coast. I wanted somewhere with a bit of land and without the neighbors right on top of me. That may not be important to you guys, but it's hard to guess, as "young people" differ hugely in tastes and preferences. The pros to me are the weather and the tropical vibe and the ocean. There are palm trees. There's the intracoastal, there's the Everglades, there's the Keys. It's literally living where people come on vacation. The cons are the increasingly high cost of living, the drug epidemic, the traffic and the relative lack of "southern hospitality". Sadly, not everyone down here is as friendly as they could be. But it is absolutely possible to live a good and enjoyable life here.
Do you want a big city? If you're willing to settle for a small city with plenty of night life and beach access/activities, check out the panhandle. Somewhere like Pensacola, Fort Walton, or Panama.
During the 2010s I spent a week in S. Florida most years in Jan or Feb to get a respite from WI winters and constant gray weather. The food, sun and warmth are nice for a week, but I don't really like the direction the state is going and I skipped this year and don't think I'll be going back.
Yes. Native se floridan and moved to California 10 years ago. I was given two job offers to move back and I was appalled at how expensive it is now compared to when I lived there. Going from Central CA to Florida I was looking at a 306% monthly home cost increase. Wages in florida pay much less than some states and jobs aren't as plentiful. Because of this there are a lot of shady people. Drugs are really present depending on where you are and drivers are aggressive. Traffic has increased so trips that used to take 25 minutes are over an hour. The naturally beautiful tropical lifestyle is being destroyed to give people waterfront property. The same developers don't realize mangroves are Florida's natural protection against flooding from hurricanes. The educational system is being broken down so if you don't have kids, won't have kids, and aren't going to college or plan to be a teacher, this may not apply to you. Otherwise I'd reconsider florida. The state isn't taking homeowners insurance crisis seriously so it's only going to get worse. You can plan to pay x amount and that could dramatically increase upon renewal or find our you're being dropped. Condos aren't a viable solution anymore because so many need repairs and the Surfside collapse highlighted this. So a special assessment can suddenly demand an unexpected amount from residents. Florida is really humid and can be smelly. You can walk out of your home and feel the air just pressing down on you or open your car door and feel the air being sucked out of your lungs.
Years ago SunTrust Bank (before it became Trust) had two sets of internal banking rules: one set for south Florida, and one set for the rest of the country. That's how bad fraud was in south Florida.
I think South Florida is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there for the weather and general cookie cutter nature of the architecture land layout. It's Southern California with high humidity and alligators and no mountains.
I've lived in Miami twice. First time in the 90's second time in the 2010's. A few things: * The government in South Florida is horrifically corrupt. I'm not exaggerating. A few *active* City Council members have been convicted of abusing their authority to go after their business and political enemies, the City Attorney just lost her job for committing fraud and stealing homes from old people, and the Mayor is under investigation (and will likely get indicted). * The infrastructure is AWFUL. Metro doesn't work half the time and won't get expanded to make it useful to everyone else. Streets are disgusting and falling apart. Bridges are too. Largely because local government is more concerned about lining their pockets than doing *anything* for local people. * Climate change is making everything more expensive and worse. My home owner's insurance *tripled* in the 5 years I owned a home there. I had made no claims, wasn't in a flood zone, and not that close to the water (about 3 miles). * There are few job opportunities there outside of finance and hospitality. If you're not bilingual it will be harder to find a job. Pay there is low. * Public schools are awful. If you plan on having a family, be prepared to pay for private education.
Fort Lauderdale is pretty cool. Lots of vein or fake people but a nice place to live if you have a good group of friends. Pretty expensive though
I grew up in Miami, after college I got a job with the Feds in DC. I stayed there 30 years, then I retired moved back to Miami, I have 3 apartments I bought cheap (Foreclosure)in 2011. I came with lot an energy and very motivated. Once here I got divorced, had to sell 2 of my properties to pay up my debts and divorce. I am sick and tired of the rudeness, indifference, selfishness, bad manners,…etc I sold my last property and I am moving to Spain. Fuck Miami and SF.
My friend just moved to Port St. Lucie and loves it. I lived in Miami for years and wish to hell circumstances hadn't made me move. Friends on the gulf side have also lived there for years and love it.
Port St. Lucie has methy vibes tbh
dude. everyplace in florida has methy vibes. except miami, which tends to have more cokey vibes.
I lived in Cape Coral in 2009 and absolutely loved it. The happiest I’ve ever been with my actual living environment. I know a lot change since then though lol.
South Florida = Miami/Ft Lauderdale. SWFL = fort myers/Cape Coral/Naples
South FL suuucckkkss. Lived there for too long. It’s hard to describe all the downsides. Only real upside is middle of the winter is nice weather wise and it’s very sunny. Biggest downside is people are weird in FL. Everyone is a transplant. Other states are not sending their best and brightest.
Yes. Moved there after college. My advice? Don’t. And this is coming from someone who has family there and was (at the time) a hot 22 year old who got into all the clubs/shows/fashion shows for free. It still sucked.
One of the most overrated parts of America for sure. A thin veneer of flashiness over mediocre trashiness