I was born in Miami Beach and lived there for a couple years (1996-2000 or so).
It's a crazy place, but no crazier than the rest of South Florida. I used to love hanging out on Lincoln Road and "watching the parade." Supermodels and refugees. Club kids and filthy rich. On a Friday night, a guarantee of hearing at least three languages in passing conversations, with a likelihood of five (Portuguese, German, French, Spanish, English).
Lately, there've been a couple stories about weird crimes in South Beach, so I think the clubs have gotten less glitzy than they once were. I liked it, though.
Why is the rent so low?
Where *exactly* is the condo? (If the street is higher than, say 20th or so, it ain't really South Beach. Gianni Versace lived on 11th. Andrew Cunanan stayed at a hotel on 79th, then squatted in a houseboat at around 45th.)
It can also be an expensive town, although it's possible to live cheaply once you get the hang of it.
Summers in Florida resorts are always lonely affairs - that's the dead season. Joe's Stone Crab (where the CIA plotted, among other things, the Bay of Pigs invasion, rubbing elbows with the mob) closes down until September or so. That's one Miami Beach landmark.
I've also heard from people that it can be hard to "break in" and make friends in South Florida. I've never really found that to be true. Well, no more true than anywhere else - but I'm an introvert. There is, however, a really large transient population. People on their way somewhere else, people eager to get off the peninsula and hit New York or somewhere. The fools.
So, Connecticut. How do stand that whole snow business? |
