It is freezing in my house right now. My roommates have a strict no-heat in the house policy to save money on our heating bill so it is no wonder that I picked Miami for this week's city. Admittedly I have only been to Miami once, on a layover before going out of the country; although it made quite an impression. We were fortunate enough to stay the night in South Beach, one of the hipper areas in town. I was amazed by the art deco buildings and the abundance of neon lights. I believe it was a weekday night, yet the atmosphere was festive, I can only imagine what it must be like on the weekends. A large group of us went to dinner on famed street Ocean Drive. I remember seeing the most animated people I had ever seen, and I hail from LA where we have our fair share of the crazies. After dinner we walked around Ocean Dr. and it seemed that at almost every block there was a performer. The performances ranged from music and dancing to magic shows and everything in between. I hope to go back soon.
Some basics.
Miami is the second largest city in Florida, with a population just over 400,000. It definitely seems like a very international city. In my short stay, I remember hearing many different languages which attests to this fact. The city certainly holds many ties to Latin America. This is evident by the many Hispanic restaurants and clubs that line the city streets, which brings me to one of my favorite aspects of any city: FOOD. We ate at a Cuban restaurant on Ocean Avenue, here we are just outside the restaurant. While the name escapes me, it re
ally is of little importance as there are hundreds of restaurants squeezed into a relatively small space. Make sure to sit outside if possible, the enjoyment of this dinner came from the people-watching almost as much as it did from the food. As we strolled the streets of South Beach after dinner, I could not help but feel like we had traveled back in time to 1950's Havana. The men wore linen pants and shirts and smoked the largest cigars I had ever seen. Also, those cool rounded cars from the 50's were out in full force that night adding to the sense of being back in time.
ally is of little importance as there are hundreds of restaurants squeezed into a relatively small space. Make sure to sit outside if possible, the enjoyment of this dinner came from the people-watching almost as much as it did from the food. As we strolled the streets of South Beach after dinner, I could not help but feel like we had traveled back in time to 1950's Havana. The men wore linen pants and shirts and smoked the largest cigars I had ever seen. Also, those cool rounded cars from the 50's were out in full force that night adding to the sense of being back in time. Residence
Miami compares favorably with other large cities in terms of rental rates. Before checking out apartments on craigslist, I assumed anything by the beach would be incredibly expensive, and well out of the reach of current college grads. Surprisingly, this is not the case. According to aparmentratings.com the average price for a 2 bedroom apartment in Miami as of 2007 was 1,274. http://www.apartmentratings.com/rate/FL-Miami-Pricing.html I included the link because this website has information on different types of apartments so if you were truly interested, you could get a more personalized perception of what it would cost to actually live here. What is so great about Miami is that there truly is somewhere you would be happy to call home at every price level. This has not held true for many of the other large cities I have profiled in the past. Here we have a 2 bed/2 ba
th one the ocean that rents for 180
0/month.
th one the ocean that rents for 180
0/month.Split evenly, that's 900/month in rent, a lot of money! But, relative to LA or SF where 900/month will ( if your lucky) barely get you into a studio in a not-so-desirable part of town, that's not too bad. Fort the sake of getting a better perspective on the Miami apartment market I decided to look for apartments in the lower range.
Below is a 2 bedroom that rents for 1175/month. This unit is about 450 sf smaller than the previous apartment, and the pool is certainly not as chic. However, I refused to sacrifice location, as this unit is blocks away from the beach. At just around 585/month, I think this apartment is a good value. Last year I paid 515/month for my apartment in Fort Collins which really puts this Miami apartment at 585/month into perspective. 
Well, I am sold; I'm moving to Miami! With its affordable housing, great food and beaches, and diverse group of inhabitants, Miami definitely moves to the top of my serious consideration list for cities to move to after graduation.
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