When I moved to Miami in 2000 as a single white woman, I felt there were two neighborhoods in which I could walk alone at night: Aventura and Key Biscayne. Parts of Coral Gables are safe, but other parts are dicey. I chose Aventura and loved it. However, I had a really long commute to work, to Coral Gables, which stunk. It took 45-90 minutes each way. I left in 2004 for a job but if I had to do it again, I'm not sure what I'd do. The commute was rough. If one of you is commuting to downtown, I would look into Brickell (an island just south of downtown with a mix of high rises and houses) as a short commute with cute neighborhoods.

DH and I just considered a move there but the schools are awful and the values don't match ours. When I was 28, I was invited to a Botox party. Someone else asked who did my boobs. That's not the environment we want for our kids. However, it's not an issue for you, so go and have fun! The Latin culture places a large emphasis on enjoying life, dancing, music, and relaxing. You will pick up Spanish, but probably not enough to use at a job. Many restaurants become nightclubs so you can leisurely eat outdoors and then dance. I loved seeing people of all ages - even grandparents - dance.

Anonymous wrote:Don't listen to the "are you racist?" crowd here. They're constantly looking for reasons to call people that.

Miami is the best argument for English-as-our-official-language. No one living in the U.S. should need to learn a language other than English to navigate ANY area here.

OP again. Thanks, PP. I 100% agree with you - come to America, you should learn English. This is one "con" on my pros/cons list. Apparently everyone speaks Spanish and I think that's a little ridiculous. This isn't Cuba, Mexico, or Spain, etc. This is Florida. But, I digress. I can get past that.

Anyone have recommendations on neighborhoods to avoid (excessive crime) or SFH-type neighborhoods with a reasonable commute to downtown to look in?

Don't listen to the "are you racist?" crowd here. They're constantly looking for reasons to call people that.

Miami is the best argument for English-as-our-official-language. No one living in the U.S. should need to learn a language other than English to navigate ANY area here.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is also causing me (more) anxiety as DD just joyfully accepted admission at University of Miami. She always wanted to go to college in Florida (where her dad and steps live). So I rationalized that of all the colleges in Florida, UM was a good choice. This minute I'm feeling a little queasy.

You'd feel quesy anyway, because your baby's going away to college. But really, UM is a wonderful college with fantastic professors. Coral Gables is a very safe, beautiful neighborhood. Your DD will have a great experience there.

Thank you!

Another UM alumna here. Your DD will have a wonderful, vibrant experience there. I never had a class with a TA, while all of my friends at UVA hardly ever saw their professors. The campus is gorgeous, too. It was a great place to go to university -- a suburban campus near a city with a lively arts scene, several very highly-regarded academic programs, fun athletics (both NCAA and intramural). And you don't have to worry about her skipping class to go to the beach.....it's not as much of a draw when you can go anytime you want to.

Anonymous wrote:Why don't you want to learn Spanish? Are you racist?

OP here. Not at all. Why would me not wanting to learn a language equate to racism? If I was racist, I sure wouldn't even be giving this whole "moving to Miami" thing a second thought.

I don't have an aptitude for languages, as I stated in a previous post. I learned German in high school, but it was difficult for me. I don't want to pay to take Spanish classes just because I'd be living in South Florida. With your same rationale, why don't those people in Miami/South Florida who primarily speak Spanish want to learn English? Are they racist?

Jeez.

Why don't you want to learn Spanish? Are you racist?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is also causing me (more) anxiety as DD just joyfully accepted admission at University of Miami. She always wanted to go to college in Florida (where her dad and steps live). So I rationalized that of all the colleges in Florida, UM was a good choice. This minute I'm feeling a little queasy.

You'd feel quesy anyway, because your baby's going away to college. But really, UM is a wonderful college with fantastic professors. Coral Gables is a very safe, beautiful neighborhood. Your DD will have a great experience there.

Thank you!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP again. Ugh, so far this is NOT making me want to move to South Florida anymore than when DH brought it up. I don't have any desire to learn Spanish but most of the job postings in my industry want bilingual employees! I am a white woman of European descent and learned German in high school but don't have any aptitude for languages and don't see us living in FL for a long period of time, definitely not long enough for me to want to learn Spanish in America. Again, no kids so we really don't care about schools. We'd be renting.

I'm the Coral Gables mom who posted above. With no kids, I'd actually move to Miami for a few years. You can rent a fab condo on South Beach, enjoy the night life, restaurants, beach, etc. It's fun, and a great experience if you know you're going to be there for a few years only. It's when you add kids into the mix that things get more complicated. Take a Spanish class--why not? You have the time, and you're not being graded anymore.

OP again. We definitely will not be in a condo - we have a big dog and need a fenced backyard. I would settle for a townhouse with a fenced yard, but prefer a detached SFH. We will rent so hopefully won't have to worry about flood/homeowner's insurance but will have renter's ins. I did grow up in the Hampton Roads area of VA and am no stranger to hurricanes. I don't exactly want to be in the middle of a floodplain, but I'm fairly sure that basically all of FL is a floodplain, so I guess that's out?

I've applied to one job so far in the North Miami area. I haven't found many openings in my field that don't absolutely require candidates to know Spanish, which is frustrating me already. I can't feasibly learn Spanish before needing a job and I don't particularly want to

Anonymous wrote:OP again. Ugh, so far this is NOT making me want to move to South Florida anymore than when DH brought it up. I don't have any desire to learn Spanish but most of the job postings in my industry want bilingual employees! I am a white woman of European descent and learned German in high school but don't have any aptitude for languages and don't see us living in FL for a long period of time, definitely not long enough for me to want to learn Spanish in America. Again, no kids so we really don't care about schools. We'd be renting.

I'm the Coral Gables mom who posted above. With no kids, I'd actually move to Miami for a few years. You can rent a fab condo on South Beach, enjoy the night life, restaurants, beach, etc. It's fun, and a great experience if you know you're going to be there for a few years only. It's when you add kids into the mix that things get more complicated. Take a Spanish class--why not? You have the time, and you're not being graded anymore.

Anonymous wrote:This thread is also causing me (more) anxiety as DD just joyfully accepted admission at University of Miami. She always wanted to go to college in Florida (where her dad and steps live). So I rationalized that of all the colleges in Florida, UM was a good choice. This minute I'm feeling a little queasy.

You'd feel quesy anyway, because your baby's going away to college. But really, UM is a wonderful college with fantastic professors. Coral Gables is a very safe, beautiful neighborhood. Your DD will have a great experience there.

This thread is also causing me (more) anxiety as DD just joyfully accepted admission at University of Miami. She always wanted to go to college in Florida (where her dad and steps live). So I rationalized that of all the colleges in Florida, UM was a good choice. This minute I'm feeling a little queasy.

OP again. Ugh, so far this is NOT making me want to move to South Florida anymore than when DH brought it up. I don't have any desire to learn Spanish but most of the job postings in my industry want bilingual employees! I am a white woman of European descent and learned German in high school but don't have any aptitude for languages and don't see us living in FL for a long period of time, definitely not long enough for me to want to learn Spanish in America. Again, no kids so we really don't care about schools. We'd be renting.

Recently moved back to DC from Coral Gables, FL, with elementary-aged kids in tow. I personally prefer raising kids in DC over Miami on balance, but there are certainly worse places to live.

Schools:

They can be good, but they tend to be in the more expensive neighborhoods. Coral Gables Elementary and Sunset are good, as well as the schools in Pinecrest. Gulliver and Ransom Everglades are considered the top private schools in Miami.

Housing:

Not as expensive as DC, but expensive nonetheless. Your money will go farther, but unlike in other parts of the deep south, $500K will not buy you a mansion. You can get a small (3-2), Spanish-style ranch in Coral Gables on a nice street for that amount of money. If you choose to live in Coconut Grove, you really need a good agent to help you choose carefully because it is really a street-by-street kind of neighborhood. One major shocker--the cost of home insurance is outrageous--like think in the range of $50-10K/year due to potential hurricanes.

Traffic:

Miami lies along 95, and all traffic sprouts out and into 95, which is a long strand of strip malls and the train.
The city's growth was/is unplanned. You have an unexpected mix of really old drivers who should have had their license revoked a decade ago, aggressive drivers from South America, and intentionally slow or fast drivers who want to show off their leased luxury cars.

Weather:

Great in the winter, but awful, awfully humid in the summer. With kids, you are always worried about the possibility of hurricanes. Some years you get 10 (most of them end up being tropical storms), but some years you get none, and some years you get a whopper. You will be a NOAA addict within a few years.

Food:

I thought that the food scene in Miami was much better than the one in DC, even though DC has gotten better. Lots of really inexpensive, but solid and interesting restaurants--Peruvian Japanese, anyone?

Culture:

Very Cuban, you need to learn Spanish, very flashy and shallow. It's diverse in the sense that you have a lot of different Spanish-speaking cultures, but the black Haitian population is unjustifiably marginalized. There are very few Asians. The whites are pretty diverse--retirees from up north, Orthodox Jews, WASPS, faux-Cubans. The worst part, though, is the huge emphasis on appearance at the expense of substance. From plastic surgery to the leased luxury vehicles, it just isn't a culture I wanted my kids to grow up in. DC has its flaws, but I in the end prefer to raise my kids as wonky snobs than plastic airheads.

Florida is for vacationing, not living.