Miami Comes in 6 Most Expensive City 2009 (high school, salary, money)

[Mcsmith0210]

The article says there is a "large consortium of creative professionals." What is forgot to say is that most of the "creative" ones are out of work.

[cjs08]

Originally Posted by doggiebus

Interesting Miami came in 6th most expensive City 2009. America's Most Expensive Cities 2009 - Yahoo! Real Estate

It always makes me wonder when stuff like this comes out...Are they talking about the City of Miami? The entire county? Specific areas picked and chosen to twist numbers around...Additionally, this is speaking only in terms of Real Estate, not an overall cost.

That may account for the Houston-DC thing as well.

[traveler36]

Originally Posted by doggiebus

Agreed people follow the jobs, but Miami needs those quality employees to stay in Miami to attract companies to set up the headquarters here. Which all goes back to educating the local population to the extent that they can attract these companies. But also Miami needs to be attractive for those students to stay here after school. I can say this most of the friends I went to HS with in Miami didn't return after college. Right now only 12.4% of Miami-Dade residence have a 4 year degree which less than the national average of 15.7%.

CTR, This is strange ha, I wonder what made DC a less expensive place than Houston? Maybe the pay scale in DC is higher, which off sets the higher costs of living?

I am a college grad and have many friends some with their BA's and some with their Masters Degree and many are having trouble finding jobs locally and are moving elsewhere. It’s not that Miami doesn’t have quality employees, but instead Miami isn't able to keep the quality candidates to stay in town due to lack of opportunity. There isn't a broad spectrum of jobs here. Let’s face it unless you’re going to be a doctor, nurse etc to take care of Miami's huge elderly population, or a bartender, promoter, etc... That works in South Beach there isn’t too much here. Yes, I know these aren't the only fields here, but can you really think off the top of your head of other fields that Miami is known for?

[doggiebus]

^^^Off the top of my head, International Banking and Tourism come to mind first.

[traveler36]

Originally Posted by doggiebus

^^^Off the top of my head, International Banking and Tourism come to mind first.

Very true the international banking sector for Latin America is strong, but it can be an exclusive bunch especially if you’re not a Spanish speaker.

I see on the news they were saying that South Florida’s economy will get 400 million dollars from the super bowl and pro bowl, but I'm sure most of that will be in tourism.

[flyers29]

Originally Posted by traveler36

I am a college grad and have many friends some with their BA's and some with their Masters Degree and many are having trouble finding jobs locally and are moving elsewhere. It’s not that Miami doesn’t have quality employees, but instead Miami isn't able to keep the quality candidates to stay in town due to lack of opportunity. There isn't a broad spectrum of jobs here. Let’s face it unless you’re going to be a doctor, nurse etc to take care of Miami's huge elderly population, or a bartender, promoter, etc... That works in South Beach there isn’t too much here. Yes, I know these aren't the only fields here, but can you really think off the top of your head of other fields that Miami is known for?

I think it's more an issue of lack of entry-level professional jobs, and that can be partly due to a lack of corporations headquartered here. Sure there's a decent amount of finance and business like any other major city, but Miami doesn't have the big companies that go out and bring in a flood of new graduates every year. It's moreso smaller niche firms or branches of larger companies that have a presence here, and those places will generally want more experience.

[Marina1686]

Those cities in the list may have high cost of living, but the big difference is that they can afford it and in Miami people can't. How the hell can we afford Miami with a 15k salary?

[Island_OnThe_Land]

Originally Posted by ♥♥PRINC3Ss♥♥

The "quality" employees will follow the big companies wherever they go. If big companies are not investing here, it has to do with natural disasters(hurricanes) and tax laws. Unless of course you mean something else by "quality"

Not sure what you mean by "tax laws" but if your statement was correct than places like San Franciso or Silicon Valley (in No. Calif) would NOT be major centers for high-tech companies (i.e., Earthquakes and high state income taxes).

There is a little bit of the chicken or the egg question at issue here:

Major research universities (for example, Stanford or UC Berkely in the SF Bay area) attract a large, highly skilled labor pool that companies (both established and start-up) can tap into. Yet, the high quality talent is CLEARY drawn to the area because the COMPANIES are located there.

Take SAN JOSE, CA (Silicon Valley) as an example. The running joke is the local residents call it "MAN JOSE" because the high-tech cluster draws so many MALES to the area.

And if you talk to many Silicon Valley residents who relocated to be there (many from other countries) they will tell you SAN JOSE is a PRETTY BORING city, esp. when compared to San Francisco which is about an hour north. Bottom line, they live there because that is where the action is for the high-tech industry....

[Shoegal1075]

I don't know this to be 100% fact but I have been told by many people that a lot of people in Florida have a different work ethic than a lot of other states - I will quote the recruiter as saying "people here just don't want to work hard" - now this is not my statement and as I said, I'm not sure that it is true but if it is - this in large part would be a problem for employers - I'm not sure what the criteria for this list was - I personally don't think Miami is mor expensive than Boston - having visited both places - now I know there is an argument that miamians are not paid as well, but I don't think comparing a 15k dollar a year job is fair - these jobs will probably pay the same where ever you are no matter the state. If you can only obtain a job paying 15k that is another problem completely - this climate is not a good one for anyone in any state I promise - obviously there are certain states that offer mor opportunity simply due to the sheer volume of people. Food for thought legal secy's are back to early 2k wages of 55k a year here

[flyers29]

Originally Posted by Chelsa1075

I don't know this to be 100% fact but I have been told by many people that a lot of people in Florida have a different work ethic than a lot of other states - I will quote the recruiter as saying "people here just don't want to work hard" - now this is not my statement and as I said, I'm not sure that it is true but if it is - this in large part would be a problem for employers - I'm not sure what the criteria for this list was - I personally don't think Miami is mor expensive than Boston - having visited both places - now I know there is an argument that miamians are not paid as well, but I don't think comparing a 15k dollar a year job is fair - these jobs will probably pay the same where ever you are no matter the state. If you can only obtain a job paying 15k that is another problem completely - this climate is not a good one for anyone in any state I promise - obviously there are certain states that offer mor opportunity simply due to the sheer volume of people. Food for thought legal secy's are back to early 2k wages of 55k a year here

The South in general has that reputation, but then you have outliers like Atlanta, Charlotte, and Raleigh (Research Triangle). I'm not sure that's the big reason.