I worked for a VoIP startup an hour north of Miami. They got bought for $300M.
I got to live in one of the owner's mansions, by myself. It had nine bathrooms.
Oddly enough, you hear a lot of French there. From the Haitian taxi drivers to the Snow Birds from Quebec. You can buy good Quebecois beer at some stores.
Miami itself is pretty nice. Reminds me of Vancouver and San Diego. Not a big fan of Cuban food, but the nightlife is top-notch. Beach scene is cool if you like beaches. It's pretty hot, but everything has crazy good A/C. Can fly to the Bahamas/Bermuda/St. Barth's whenever you want. Cheap flights up the East Coast too.
It helps to have a car, though they have a seemingly underused elevated public train. It's a good place to bike, as there are essentially no hills.
Regarding taxes, I was paying essentially the same income tax + payroll tax in Florida as I do in British Columbia (though BC has pretty low taxes). Plus free healthcare in Canada. Gas, booze, smokes are basically half the price in Florida as Canada though.
On the bad side...
Peeps are a little shallow, though there is an okay arts community. Not exactly an intellectual climate. I'm sure it can be found, but I didn't.
Palm Beach is a weird fucking place. Richest zip code in America (or was at the time I was there). West Palm Beach was the per-capita murder capital of America. Cops on the bridges to keep the homies out. Lots of boarded-up shops in West Palm during the height of the boom in 2008. Didn't make sense.
There were three murders (of rich white people) that I heard of during the year I was there. The locals are poorly educated, but there are lots of bright imports from around America that make it interesting.
So if you like your artsy, intellectual coffee-shop community of San Fran or Seattle, Miami might not be for you. But if you like clubbing at nights and laid-back days, it's pretty good.
This have changed a lot, specially in the Wynwood / Design District / Midtown area (3 of Downtown's neighborhoods).
And I gonna be the first one to say it I think... I remember during PyCodeconf 2 years ago many of the attendees from SF were really impressed by the amount of women here (beautiful ones) that even the most introverted (I am one of those) can find someone here. For girls too, also, since people are really obsessed with fitness here. That's pretty shallow but hey we didn't come out with Tinder ;-) you guys did.
The fun time we have at nightclubs (now there are many hipster bars and venues) is really unmatchable, I went out 3 times this week (it's just friday night) and the places were still going hard at 5am, not only that, there are places that close very late and open early (Will Call, from 12pm to 7am) or open at 3am (Mekka and Space). I might sound like a party guy but I'm not, this is very typical of Miami.
I'm not gonna tell you, you can find smarter people here, since that would be a lie, but artsy people? Probably, and very good looking.
About the affordability, I live in front of Bayfront Park (the biggest park in Downtown, walking distance from AAA) the apartment is beautiful, and the building is like living in a hotel, pool (with a bar and full staff), gym, spa, all that for only $1650 (and my neighbors pay a lot less, I'm just a bad negotiator), check it out: http://www.vizcayne.com/
It's different. Viscayne is located downtown Miami which lacks the restaurants / culture/ yuppy-ness of places like Brickell and Midtown. There is a small outlet mall type thing at Bayfront park -- but the shops and restaurants there overwhelming cater to the bus loads of cruise-ship tourists there for a day. Downtown is a ghost-town during the weekend, as most places are closed. Bayfront park itself is a nice walk, and has pretty views. It's pretty safe there too.
West you will find the courthouse and the feared overtown -- which as I mentioned elsewhere -- isn't the safest of areas.
Brickell is a short (15minutes or less) walk. There you will find better restaurants and droves of young urban business professionals who probably work in some form of consumer banking.
Wynwood is close, but you can't walk there because you'd have to go through Overtown which is, again, a really scary place to be even during daylight hours. It's full of artists , trustafarians, and some tech people. But mostly hipsters.
Downtown is not a ghost-town during the weekend... Are you serious? Basslights is going on right now in front of my building you can hear Bassnectar soundchecking haha http://www.bassnectar.net/wp-content/uploads/BASSLIGHTS2013-... And last monday we had Sigur Ros. It's all happening in the park (and other things like free yoga classes or other things I'm not into).
Or you could take the metro mover which is free (and, sadly, underused) that takes you to Brickell or north Downtown.
About Wynwood, you can avoid Overtown, using N Miami Ave or US1. My friend (who wrote this article) bikes from Midtown to Brickell a couple of times a week during the day and night.
I didn't know about either places. Thanks! As for Downtown being a ghost town... that's probably exactly the wrong way to describe it! I just mean that many of the restaurants, and stores that cater to the work day crowd close up.
FWIW, I'm happy in Miami and glad I'm here. I just wanted to air some of the warts I wish I knew about before coming.
West Palm Beach used to be a lovely working and middle class area (I lived there a half century ago), but it is now the destination for many of the region's Haitian immigrants. They've unfortunately brought many of the same problems that plague Haiti, including poverty and serious gang violence.
I stayed in West Palm Beach for one night recently and my rental car (a brand new Chrysler 300C) was "keyed" on every single body panel while parked overnight at a hotel.
Your description is good, and I've lived in South Florida for most of my life so I'll add to it.
SF Bay Area vs South Florida
Food: I'm going to have to disagree with you here. Cuban food is awesome and it's the best South FL has to offer. Everything else is on the meh side. Almost every other metro is better with SF, LA, and NY being a lot better.
Weather: unless it's the late fall or early winter, it's really hot and humid, even at night. Yes parts of the Bay Area get hot, but it's not paired with humidity. Heavy humidity makes breathing feel heavier, as well as making you sweat a lot from just walking for 10 minutes outside. I still remember seeing some steam leaving our heads after some pickup basketball games. To make things worse, in some seasons mosquitos will be carrying some awful diseases like encephalitis so you'll need to wear long sleeves at night. In south Fl, prepare to have electric bills over 200-300 or even more depending on the size of your house. Not using air conditioning will make you miserable. Really the only place enjoyable outside is on the water.
Bay Area weather on the other hand is like having air conditioning outside. My relatives from FL always marvel at it whenever they visit.On the bright side you have more time to prepare for a hurricane than you do for an earthquake.
Outdoor Leisure: The ocean is where South FL and Miami really shine. Unlike the cold murky waters of the Bay Area, in South FL the ocean waters are crystal clear. Any watersport like surfing or scuba diving is way better. (On that note watch out for sharks. Due to damage to the environment, shark attacks in south fl has risen dramatically over the years with surfers being injured the most) However, due to erosion most of South FL's beaches are really just crushed rock and concrete which sucks. For real sand, you need access to either a private beach, an unpopular park to the north, or an island park reachable only by boat. Fishing in the ocean is great.
Everything else outdoorsy in South FL really sucks due to the humidity. Biking, camping, and hiking are just not as enjoyable as the Bay Area or even New York. There's no Tahoe nearby either. Though Disney World is way better than Disney Land. It also doesn't help that insects and spiders are a really big problem in south FL. Even indoors it's much worse than any other place in the US that I'm aware of (imagine an ant infestation within 5-10 minutes of dropping a few crumbs of food... Fl is also the spider capital of the world.)
Intellectual Community: South FL and Miami have a virtually non-existent one, as opposed to the Bay Area or NY. If you want that in the Southern US, you'll have to go to either Austin or the Atlanta metro instead. Conversation just isn't as good here compared to other major metros.
Nightlife: Miami beats the Bay Area hands down in this department in both quantity and quality. Though it gets old when you're not single.
General Stuff to do: I've always felt that there's a lot more going on in the Bay Area, Ny, and LA. Conversely there's not as much to do in south fl or Miami which is one reason people start families at a much younger age there.
Crime: Even though the stats are similar I always felt that crime is Miami is worse for one reason: really horrible crime can happen almost anywhere and at anytime (or at least that was my impression).
Cost of Living: South FL and Miami are significantly cheaper than the Bay Area even without factoring in the lack of state income tax. Of course you have also have to factor in the major business and job opportunities as well. Even though the startup scene is much better now, I still feel the biggest opportunities in South FL are real estate, food, and health / medical. As for the cost of real estate, you have to factor in the "snow birds" from the north east buying seasonal homes, so it's not as cheap as it should be though still a lot cheaper than the Bay Area
Misc: Although not required, it's wise to be fluent in Spanish in Miami. You also need a car for Miami and south FL. It's too inconvenient otherwise.
Crystal clear is a bit of an overstatement for the water in South Florida. Did you know Miami Beach closes for a day or two every year because the level of fecal matter in the water is too high? It's still kind of murky in South Florida, though The Keys are a bit better. You are a boat ride away from the Bahamas though, and there you'll find very clear water.
Definitely true on the Spanish. More than twice as many people speak Spanish at home than English. (though a lot of the Spanish speakers are bilingual, it's the dominant language in the county)
Good point, I forgot about that about Miami. Well with a speed boat it doesn't take long to get to those crystal clear parts... And it's pretty easy to get access to one. Speaking of pollution, I forgot to tell people about "sea lice". Microscopic jelly fish that burrow into your skin to give you a horrible rash... Do not wear a wet suit in the ocean and if you do rinse off and shower like crazy right away. Hmm when I think about it same goes for anything you wear. The difference is that the spread is much less with a bathing suit. I forget why but the rash never seems to hit the bare parts of your body.
It's because the organisms get trapped between your clothes and skin, and they only cause a problem in large numbers. Bare skin doesn't trap enough to do anything, usually. Also, when you rinse off, rinse off with saltwater. Fresh water kills them, which causes them to sting you.
> It's a good place to bike, as there are essentially no hills.
If you don't value your life, sure. Miami traffic is crazy. If you don't get hit by the Fast & Furious wannabe, you'll get hit by an old lady who didn't stop at the light.
I got to live in one of the owner's mansions, by myself. It had nine bathrooms.
Oddly enough, you hear a lot of French there. From the Haitian taxi drivers to the Snow Birds from Quebec. You can buy good Quebecois beer at some stores.
Miami itself is pretty nice. Reminds me of Vancouver and San Diego. Not a big fan of Cuban food, but the nightlife is top-notch. Beach scene is cool if you like beaches. It's pretty hot, but everything has crazy good A/C. Can fly to the Bahamas/Bermuda/St. Barth's whenever you want. Cheap flights up the East Coast too.
It helps to have a car, though they have a seemingly underused elevated public train. It's a good place to bike, as there are essentially no hills.
Regarding taxes, I was paying essentially the same income tax + payroll tax in Florida as I do in British Columbia (though BC has pretty low taxes). Plus free healthcare in Canada. Gas, booze, smokes are basically half the price in Florida as Canada though.
On the bad side...
Peeps are a little shallow, though there is an okay arts community. Not exactly an intellectual climate. I'm sure it can be found, but I didn't.
Palm Beach is a weird fucking place. Richest zip code in America (or was at the time I was there). West Palm Beach was the per-capita murder capital of America. Cops on the bridges to keep the homies out. Lots of boarded-up shops in West Palm during the height of the boom in 2008. Didn't make sense.
There were three murders (of rich white people) that I heard of during the year I was there. The locals are poorly educated, but there are lots of bright imports from around America that make it interesting.
So if you like your artsy, intellectual coffee-shop community of San Fran or Seattle, Miami might not be for you. But if you like clubbing at nights and laid-back days, it's pretty good.