A few months ago, like many New Yorkers, I headed over to Miami because it is the place to be right now. Not only does Florida come with no state income tax, you also get a stellar governor in Ron De Santis as opposed to the abysmal leadership that New York is stuck with. I have yet to see all of Miami to its fullest extent but from what I have seen so far, I thought it made sense to share with you guys. Here are a few of my observations on Miami:
The city is quite clean compared to other major US cities.
Maybe it is because I am comparing Miami to NYC where every day you walk out to the smell of piss, shit, and garbage (at least in Manhattan), but Miami is quite a clean city. While you will find the homeless problem to a degree in downtown and Brickell, it’s not as bad (yet) as in NYC or San Francisco. I have not taken the transit in Miami yet but my friends who have only have decent things to say. The roads in the city are in a good condition compared to what I have been used to in other places.
The people are significantly nicer.
Despite being a big city, Miami has some of the nicest people I have met for a big city. People here genuinely seem happy to be here compared to the nastiness and rudeness you get in NYC. So far, I have not encountered that many Karens in Miami but I hear that if I go to Ft. Lauderdale, they are quite abundant there (I am not going to Ft. Lauderdale). It’s almost been a bliss so far in this city because so many people are happy to be here. I also think a big part of the chill attitudes and warmth is due to the Latin culture which dominates this city (and I hope it continues to do so).
Knowing Spanish here will take you far.
I am trying to learn Spanish, very elementary so far, but knowing it will take you far here. A lot of Uber drivers in Miami prefer to speak in Spanish and some do not know English at all. I have had cases where I was trying to tell an Uber driver to pick me up at a spot and he had the wrong spot, talking on the phone as a hassle. If you can, try to have some Spanish ready when you are in Miami. At the same time, I love how it speaks to the cultural dominance of Latin culture in Miami which is a big part of what makes the city so amazing. After all, we don’t want every city to turn into hipster-haven Austin.
As obvious, yes, the women are quite beautiful.
I say that Miami ties Manhattan for having some of the best looking women in the country. You see women of all sorts of backgrounds down here but the primary two groups are Latinas and white girls, more so of a European variety as opposed to the All American girl types (you have plenty of them in Ft. Lauderdale though). These days, Miami is also starting to get a good bit of Asian girls and Indian/Middle Eastern girls in it so if you have Yellow Fever, it may be a somewhat decent city for you.
It is very much the place to be and it seems as if the entire world is moving there.
The rent seems to go up every month I am here and it is breaking records. Due to Florida being largely open and not hit as hard by COVID mandates, the world is practically moving here. Apparently, Florida added over 200,000 new people in 2021, more than any other state in the US. Midwesterners, Californians (bleh!), Yankees, Asians, Europeans, and you name it, you will meet people here from all across the world. I almost feel like Miami is putting NYC on its ass when it comes to cultural diversity.
Miami is way more international than NYC once you get to its mainstream culture.
NYC claims to be diverse and an international city and to a degree, it is, but it gets overhyped in that regard. When you go out to Manhattan, you do meet an assload of “bros” and “Basic Bitches” at the bars and nightclubs. Basically, suburban cool culture and Greek Life from all colleges in the US floods into Manhattan itself. While you may luck out and meet a foreign girl in the Meatpacking District, it is more common for you to meet Basic Bitch Lindsey instead. Miami is more diverse in the people you meet when out at the clubs, you are far more likely to run into women from other countries than in NYC.
Italian food in Miami beats the Italian food in NYC.
Perhaps the most controversial statement that will have New Yorkers raging more than someone that walks too slow but it is the truth. The Italians in Miami are more so fresh out of Italy (as in they speak the language) as opposed to the Guidos you get in the Tri-State area, this means you get legitimate and real Italian food. Italian food in NYC has been Americanized to the point of there being excessive cheese on everything along with most “pizza” places in the city not even being owned by Italians. Meanwhile, Miami has authentic Italian food made by Italians who can barely speak good English.
You do have to be careful of scammers here.
Miami has kind of a conman and scam artist culture and I already experienced this to a degree in my first couple of months in the city. I looked for doctors in the city to have my appointment with and searched for reviews online, eventually going with a doctor that had close to 5-star reviews by a number of people. The doctor also had his own website with him and what looked to be his beautiful wife. I arrive to his private office to notice that he is ten minutes late to the appointment and looks absolutely nothing like his profile photo. While this is one of the experiences I have had, I have also had friends who experienced other sketchy and scammer type experiences themselves.
The nightlife here is not as easily accessible as it was in NYC.
Yes, you have Wynnwood which is mostly hipster bars and so far, the quality there is nothing to brag about. Most of the clubs that are hyped up at Miami are more social circle oriented and tend to have a hefty cover charge that is around $80 to $100 bucks. NYC was a different vibe as you had a lot of quality clubs and bars concentrated in one area. Miami is not much of a bar city and functions more on the nightclub loud music scene from what I have observed so far. I have heard that it is more about the restaurant scene here as opposed to NYC where it is like a bar packed with people partying scene.
Yes, there are a ton of PUAs and creepy guys here which gives women a massive ego.
One thing that surprised me more about Miami is just how big the Pickup Artist scene here is. I have gone to certain bars where there are clearly guys spam approaching and girls looking visibly annoyed. RSD Nation has been holding “bootcamps” and “seminars” in Miami since 2014 and quite a few “dating coaches” have made residence in the city. While I have yet to find whether Miami is anything like Toronto, things sometimes look a bit discouraging. Lots of guys also moved here during the pandemic because it was more open and are simping hard for the local women.
As it is to be repeated, COVID is taken seriously here.
While you do not have the mandates that you do in NYC, there is still a lot of nonsense here around masks. You are not required to wear masks at the stores but people do so anyways, an overwhelming majority of them. At times, you do wonder how close Florida is to going blue again in 2022 given that it was long a swing state before voting for Trump twice. People urge you to get vaccinated and while you won’t run into the vaccine Karens that you do in Manhattan, they will still view you as odd for not being vaccinated.
