Moving from mid-west to Miami area

[bale002]

The following website may be helpful:

ttp://www.greatschools.net/city/Miami/FL

[gwencita]

Honestly, I don´t want to turn you off to South Florida...I just want you to know what you are getting in for, and if you can put up with this, or afford to isolate yourself from it, you will genuinely love life here. Definantly rent here too...so be careful.

If I had the money, I would move to Coconut Grove, the Gables, Pinecrest or Weston. Those are the upper middle class to rich areas where the standard of living is the highest...you still have to put up with crime and traffic when you venture out to the stores...but you will be able to enjoy the good that South Florida has to offer in addition to the bad...where as in other areas you will live amongst the trash. Good luck![/quote]

I can concur with most of this quote. I grew up in Wisconsin and lived in Miami, Ft. Lauderdale for 10 years. It took a while to acclimate (I'm white my hubby is latin) but I began to appreciate some things. It was my first time being a minority in my own country. I liked all the diversity in the people, music and culture in general. Then I eventually grew to loathe it. Most people are rude, shallow, classist, materialistic, etc. It began to remind my husband of why he moved to the midwestern US from his Central American country. We lived in Weston and couldn't wait to move out. I was a stay at home mom who could not relate to any of the other stay at home moms in the area. Their idea of fun was botox and martini lunches while the nannies took care of the kids. The whole narcissistic lifestyle wore on me. And it was hard to make and keep friends as most people would live in an area for a couple of years and then move out. And Coral Gables isn't all that great either. I had friends who lived in the less affluent areas of Miami, but used friends addresses to get their kids into the Coral Gable school system. This happens a ton down there, so all the schools get screwed up to some point. I lived in Kendall, Doral, Pembroke Pines, and Weston and I would have to say Weston was probably the nicest and the safest, but you couldn't pay me to move back there.

I moved back to the Midwest 3 years ago. The quality of life is much better here, but I do miss the diversity and the multitude of restaurants and things to do. I do not miss the traffic, rudeness, shallowness, and general chaos of the area. The housing is also way overpriced for what you get. Unfortunately here I've had to deal with some prejudice that was pretty much nonexistent when we lived in SoFlo. People up here aren't always used to seeing a professional Hispanic male in a suit. And they assume most of the latin folk are illegal immigrants. Anyways, I've figured out that there is no "perfect" place to live, just one more suited to where you are in life.

As far as the West coast of Florida, the Sarasota area is nice but isn't perfect either. A lot of people are moving to the coast north of Tampa/St. Petes so its soon to become another NYC south. I have friends that live in Stuart, Clermont (near Orlando), and St. Augustine and they are all very happy with where they live. What are you looking for in a place? What is most important to you? Hopefully I can help you out some more. g---

[serene_soul]

If Your Looking For Safety Avoid Miami I Guess Everyone Else Is, Unless Your A Criminal, Illegal Alien, Murder, Rapist Or Sex Offender. Miami Has To Be Hell, No Wonder It's Hot Yearround!