Originally Posted by sperbonzo

Personally I live in Miami, I have lived in San Diego and LA. The only way to live in Miami is on the water, and to have a boat. With that, it's a tropical paradise. Living inland, it's simply flat and hot, with bugs.

For me, living in Miami is all about the water.... diving, cruising, taking the boat to the islands, etc.... There are some good places to eat, and good clubs, etc.... but that's not the real thing for me, there are more places in LA than Miami.

Compared to Southern Cali though, prices are MUCH MUCH cheaper here, perhaps half as much for similar properties. Also there is no state income tax, which instantly adds 7.5% to your income in Florida.

As for hurricaines, the possibility of one actually hitting direct enough to do damage are very low. You have DAYS of warning to decide whether to stock up your bar, and just have a party while watching stuff fly sideways past the hurricaine-proof windows, or get out of dodge and take a quick road trip to Orlando or something.

I was in LA for the 1994 earthquake and there is no warning AT ALL....
I'll take the storms.

Problems with LA and San Diego for me are: Cali state income tax, real estate twice as expensive, unreal traffic 7 days a week, and I found a lot of the people to be a bit too focused on trends and fashions in everything, from what they did as a hobby, to what they ate... not very real.

The last thing was weather. If you like sub-tropical weather.... which I do, then Miami is great. Southern Cali was just too cold for me a lot of the time.

My own personal thoughts....


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