[City Guy997S]

Originally Posted by RG1981

Could you recommend a "nice" area of Miami. Because—no offense—I've spent a lot of time looking and can't seem to find any. The schools are kind of bad all over the area, even in the more expensive places.

Coral Gables, Key Biscayne and Brickell are 3 nice areas.

[germanoricua]

Originally Posted by gypsychic

OP would you or have you considered Tampa? This is a heavily hispanic city that goes way back. My grandparents came from Spain, and there are many Cubans, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans and South Americans. Outside of Miami, the most heavily Latino city by far in Florida. Also, many sports teams here. I'll let others fill you in on that. Tampa is on the bay and has no beaches but definitely coastal and an easy drive to the Pinellas side for those beautiful beaches. Not cheap, but probably cheaper than Miami.

I do not recommend Daytona for you at all. Your wife will hate it.

I was curious about the numbers and looked up the Latino population in % of the total population on the www.census.gov web site:
Miami City/Miami-Dade: 72.3%/69.1% (2022)
Orlando City: 34.8% (2022)
Osceola County (St. Cloud, Kissimmee, FL = south and south east Orlando metro area): 56.8% (2023)
Tampa: 26.7% (2022)

[RG1981]

Originally Posted by City Guy997S

Coral Gables, Key Biscayne and Brickell are 3 nice areas.

Checking those places out, here's my objections:


1. Coral Gables looks really old and run down, like it's definitely seen better days. I don't know the area, of course, but to me it looks like one of these places that isn't as nice as it used to be and is just sort of getting by on its former reputation. Plus the schools aren't great.



2. Key Biscayne looks kind of dated as well and is outrageously priced. Schools seem to be about on par with Volusia county.



3. Brickell seems to be like a very urban area and that's really not what we're looking for.


I'm having a really hard time finding anything in the Miami area that really fits what we want outside of "people speak Spanish". It really doesn't seem to be a very good place to live, no offense.

[wizrap]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

Yep, I agree with this. Between Miami and Space Coast... I would def recommend Miami for the OP. However, if they are open to other areas... Boca Raton or even Weston would be good options, probably better options unless their budget is $$$$ to live in a nice area of Miami.

I also have to recommend Weston. We moved from there about 8 years ago, and at that time, the population was about 45% Hispanic. I just checked the 2023 census and it’s now closer to 55%. It’s well-situated regarding driving down to Miami via I-75 or up to Daytona via I-95. The public schools are well-regarded.

[EscAlaMike]

Originally Posted by RG1981

I'm having a really hard time finding anything in the Miami area that really fits what we want outside of "people speak Spanish". It really doesn't seem to be a very good place to live, no offense.

Your family is in the Daytona area, just go there. You can rent for a while so you're not too deeply committed if it doesn't work out.

As for schools, all public schools will seem bad compared to what you're used to in SoCal. Florida's public schools do not have a great reputation.

Spruce Creek HS in Port Orange where I graduated from is usually considered one of the better schools in the state, but if you ask me I'll tell you it's terrible. I would never dream of sending my own kids there, I mean unless they were in need of a severe punishment or something.

[kbtoy7891]

Originally Posted by RG1981

Checking those places out, here's my objections:


1. Coral Gables looks really old and run down, like it's definitely seen better days. I don't know the area, of course, but to me it looks like one of these places that isn't as nice as it used to be and is just sort of getting by on its former reputation. Plus the schools aren't great.



2. Key Biscayne looks kind of dated as well and is outrageously priced. Schools seem to be about on par with Volusia county.



3. Brickell seems to be like a very urban area and that's really not what we're looking for.


I'm having a really hard time finding anything in the Miami area that really fits what we want outside of "people speak Spanish". It really doesn't seem to be a very good place to live, no offense.

1. I am confused. In what way does Coral Gables look "old and run down?" It is literally the opposite of that.

2. If you are finding these places to look "dated," no offense, but I think you will have a very hard time finding anything you'll like in Florida, let alone in places like Port Orange. How the schools "seem to be" is not reflective of reality. Schools there will be considerably better than the average Volusia County school.

3. Correct. It's urban. Skip that.

[kbtoy7891]

Originally Posted by gypsychic

OP would you or have you considered Tampa? This is a heavily hispanic city that goes way back. My grandparents came from Spain, and there are many Cubans, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans and South Americans. Outside of Miami, the most heavily Latino city by far in Florida. Also, many sports teams here. I'll let others fill you in on that. Tampa is on the bay and has no beaches but definitely coastal and an easy drive to the Pinellas side for those beautiful beaches. Not cheap, but probably cheaper than Miami.

I do not recommend Daytona for you at all. Your wife will hate it.

Disagree on the bold. Agree on everything else. You can find some pretty affordable rentals in beautiful areas in Pinellas County.

Also agree that wife would HATE Daytona.

Originally Posted by germanoricua

I was curious about the numbers and looked up the Latino population in % of the total population on the www.census.gov web site:
Miami City/Miami-Dade: 72.3%/69.1% (2022)
Orlando City: 34.8% (2022)
Osceola County (St. Cloud, Kissimmee, FL = south and south east Orlando metro area): 56.8% (2023)
Tampa: 26.7% (2022)

Tampa has strong Latin/Spanish roots. The issue is that those roots have faded into history. What you have now are a bunch of people with names like Suarez and Moreno who are 3rd and 4th generation who don't speak a lick of Spanish, and could otherwise pass for a John Smith or something. You won't hear much Spanish being spoken around the Tampa area outside of Mexican Taquerias and the like. Certainly not in the way one would in Miami, Ft Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and the Orlando area.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by RG1981

Could you recommend a "nice" area of Miami. Because—no offense—I've spent a lot of time looking and can't seem to find any. The schools are kind of bad all over the area, even in the more expensive places.

The exception in Miami is the Cutler Bay area where all of the regular public schools K-12 are very good to excellent. You can find a number of nice homes for well under 700K also.

https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...rice-na-700000

Many choose private schools in Miami which are national caliber, most notably Ransom-Everglades and the Gulliver School.

https://www.ransomeverglades.org/#/
https://www.gulliverprep.org/

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by kbtoy7891

Disagree on the bold. Agree on everything else. You can find some pretty affordable rentals in beautiful areas in Pinellas County.

Also agree that wife would HATE Daytona.



Tampa has strong Latin/Spanish roots. The issue is that those roots have faded into history. What you have now are a bunch of people with names like Suarez and Moreno who are 3rd and 4th generation who don't speak a lick of Spanish, and could otherwise pass for a John Smith or something. You won't hear much Spanish being spoken around the Tampa area outside of Mexican Taquerias and the like. Certainly not in the way one would in Miami, Ft Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and the Orlando area.

Well, it was just a thought. There are a lot of Spanish/Latin places there, but if the OP things areas of Miami are run down he won't like Tampa either. I also suggested Tampa because of the sport teams and access to beaches in Pinellas.

I don't think anywhere is going to hit the mark with his parameters, frankly.

[germanoricua]

Originally Posted by gypsychic

Well, it was just a thought. There are a lot of Spanish/Latin places there, but if the OP things areas of Miami are run down he won't like Tampa either. I also suggested Tampa because of the sport teams and access to beaches in Pinellas.

I don't think anywhere is going to hit the mark with his parameters, frankly.

LOL, you might be right about that.

Two years ago we went to a salsa concert/dance in Tampa and the place was packed with Latinos, mostly South Americans. So there is definitely Latino ambiente in Tampa.

I was surprised that one can still find homes in the Miami area for under 600k. But honestly, Cutler Bay is really far from Daytona Beach. It is a good 4 hour drive without traffic according to Google maps. But I-95 is always very busy and can be one big traffic jam from Miami to West Palm Beach. Last year on a Thursday afternoon we drove from Miami to Orlando in that one big traffic jam and the drive took us 5.5 hours instead of 3.5 hours.

Also, driving in Miami is stressful because many drivers are very aggressive!