Is Miami the most important city in America?

“ Once a refuge for the divorced, bankrupt and unemployed, Miami has evolved into a paradise of freedom”

Location: Gainesville, FL; formerly Weston, FL

2,330 posts, read 2,075,228 times

What a great article! Thanks for this find.

Not only Miami, but the entire state is a land of the free.

1,173 posts, read 871,718 times

Yep, that was definitely a good read. Thanks for sharing!

I’m really glad Miami has achieved so much success. I’m optimistic some of it can be replicated in Tampa and Orlando.

Location: Montreal/Miami/Toronto

2,180 posts, read 1,481,888 times

Originally Posted by elchevere

1. MDC lost 30,000 people, thus eliminating the notion that "people are moving to Miami in droves"
2. The tech exodus in California was greatly exaggerated (https://www.latimes.com/business/sto...dus-was-a-bust)
3. Most of the people moving there are very right-wing people, which in itself is a bad thing (and explains how quiet Miami politicians/business community was with the atrocious don't say gay bill).
4. Miami is the most expensive and unequal city in the United States now.
5. Incomes are still very low, most jobs created have been remote workers and not for locals.
6. Tech is booming everywhere, Miami's gains have been minimal.
7. The whole world is opening up again, people are going back to their old cities.

Miami benefited from all cities being restrictive, but law of averages is a real thing, so the tide will be rolling back soon. Short term gains for the 0.1% yet long term pain for locals, which majority cannot even afford to live there anymore.

Meanwhile when people scream freedom, I just look at the state of emergency in SoBe, the irony.

Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)

6,316 posts, read 4,634,132 times

Miami might have gained at the expense of other US cities by being more open during the pandemic but it is dependent upon international residents more so than but very few other cities and Federal Government restrictions preventing fully vaccinated foreigners from visiting the US were not lifted until November last year. I would expect the number of foreign residents to resume at a higher pace which will effect next year's MDC numbers to the upside.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/15/polit...r-8/index.html

I keep on hearing how overrated Miami's attraction of tech workers has been, yet according to a recent Brookings study Miami added nearly the same number of new tech workers as San Diego--which is considered a second tier, rising star tech hub (Qualcomm and Biotech) and nearly 50% greater than Salt Lake City from 2015 - 2019 which was BEFORE Suarez went on his charm tech offensive in late 2020:

https://www.brookings.edu/research/s...y-of-tech/?amp

Miami does have high income disparity, second only to Atlanta which is hailed as a job mecca. If, as you state, WFH workers go back to where they come from, that will create more supply/inventory that should lead to housing price adjustments. Odd that Miami led the nation in rental price increase for 2021 (35%) after "losing" 34K residents. Then again, besides Los Angeles, how many year round warm weather oceanfront cities with top tier urban amenities are there in the US, which commands a pricing premium?

https://www.usnews.com/news/cities/a...nequality-gaps

I support a number, not all, of my state's conservative policies--you don't see homeless tents anywhere close to the same magnitude or hepatitis outbreaks in Miami as you do in West Coast cities, DC, NYC, etc and I'm not paying any state income tax yet I receive better public services than I did in California.

You will note those causing the damage in South Beach (actually, a tiny sliver of the beach--i.e. Ocean Drive-- during a small portion of the year) are caused by out of town visitors, whereas car break ins and smash and grab lootings by locals--not visitors--have been an issue out West for some time now. Probably because conservative Florida didn't water down its laws and penalties v criminal prosecutions.

13,231 posts, read 4,727,200 times

Originally Posted by djesus007

3. Most of the people moving there are very right-wing people, which in itself is a bad thing (and explains how quiet Miami politicians/business community was with the atrocious don't say gay bill). .

Location: Gainesville, FL; formerly Weston, FL

2,330 posts, read 2,075,228 times

Originally Posted by Corrie22

I sick of this crap....there was no such thing as a "don't say gay bill"...never existed...and it's a made up flat out lie

Gimme a break.

Location: Montreal/Miami/Toronto

2,180 posts, read 1,481,888 times

Originally Posted by elchevere

Miami might have gained at the expense of other US cities by being more open during the pandemic but it is dependent upon international residents more so than but very few other cities and Federal Government restrictions preventing fully vaccinated foreigners from visiting the US were not lifted until November last year. I would expect the number of foreign residents to resume at a higher pace which will effect next year's MDC numbers to the upside.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/15/polit...r-8/index.html

I keep on hearing how overrated Miami's attraction of tech workers has been, yet according to a recent Brookings study Miami added nearly the same number of new tech workers as San Diego--which is considered a second tier, rising star tech hub (Qualcomm and Biotech) and nearly 50% greater than Salt Lake City from 2015 - 2019 which was BEFORE Suarez went on his charm tech offensive in late 2020:

https://www.brookings.edu/research/s...y-of-tech/?amp

Miami does have high income disparity, second only to Atlanta which is hailed as a job mecca. If, as you state, WFH workers go back to where they come from, that will create more supply/inventory that should lead to housing price adjustments. Odd that Miami led the nation in rental price increase for 2021 (35%) after "losing" 34K residents. Then again, besides Los Angeles, how many year round warm weather oceanfront cities with top tier urban amenities are there in the US, which commands a pricing premium?

https://www.usnews.com/news/cities/a...nequality-gaps

I support a number, not all, of my state's conservative policies--you don't see homeless tents anywhere close to the same magnitude or hepatitis outbreaks in Miami as you do in West Coast cities, DC, NYC, etc and I'm not paying any state income tax yet I receive better public services than I did in California.

You will note those causing the damage in South Beach (actually, a tiny sliver of the beach--i.e. Ocean Drive-- during a small portion of the year) are caused by out of town visitors, whereas car break ins and smash and grab lootings by locals--not visitors--have been an issue out West for some time now. Probably because conservative Florida didn't water down its laws and penalties v criminal prosecutions.

https://www.local10.com/news/local/2...n-miami-beach/

As for tech growth, 0.1% between 2019-2020 is hilarious, that's stagnant as hell. Also no way San Diego has 42,000, it's actually estimated closer to 75,000. It's also grown at 30% in the past decade, nearly double of Miami.

Also Miami leads in rent increases due to speculation, rich out of towners, secondary homes, a predatory real estate market with zero constraints. Can't say Miami is in good condition when rent goes from $1800 to $2800 in one shot, 70% of locals can't afford that. But people who moved there temporarily can. And again, a net loss of 34,000 just proves that lol. If it was a net gain then it would make even more sense. Even before covid, Miami's net gains were dwindling. When I was still there, it was growing at a 50-60K clip, recently it dipped below 10K net gain and has been declining since 2018/19 roughly. I'm sure a bounce back will happen nation wide for 2022.

As for the homelessness, sure, not as many tents as in California or NYC, but they're still there and I saw a lot in downtown when I was there three weeks ago. This problem will worsen as governments in Miami have only focused on a bogus tech movement and crypto. Homelessness will rise as people continue to get priced out. Miami is very good at hiding this and cleaning out homeless populations and moving them elsewhere, believe me, I saw it for myself when working for the city.

The median income for MDC was $29.7K, that's so abysmal. In an area that you need at least $80,000 after federal taxes to live somewhat comfortably. nearly 75,000 households have incomes less than $10,000. Poverty rate is at 22%, very high for Americans "Most important city". It's literally like a major city in a developing country. Granted, it's happening all over the United States, but Miami is now the shining example of terrible policy and focusing on the wrong things. Can't be successful if only a select few outsiders are benefiting.

Is Miami the best city in the USA?

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