I'm a New Yorker who visited Miami for the first time. The neighborhoods, social scene, and affordability surprised me most.
Joey Hadden
- I'm a New Yorker who traveled to Miami for the first time in October 2021.
- Many things were surprising, namely that Miami seemed less expensive and more social than New York.
I'm a New Yorker, and until October 2021, I'd never been to Miami.
Looking for warmth and a change of scenery, I made my first trip to Florida's Magic City. During my visit, I explored a range of neighborhoods. I was surprised by the many key similarities and differences between Miami and NYC, where I've lived for five years now.
The first thing I noticed about Miami was how cheap public transit was compared to New York.
Back home, I pay $2.90 for each subway ride. In Miami, I paid $5.65 a day for an unlimited pass that got me on the buses and railway system.
Miami also has a free trolley that runs across the city for 15 hours a day. I haven't heard of anything similar in New York.
In my experience riding Miami's trolleys, they were clean and not too crowded.
I also found that private Lyft rides in Miami were up to four times cheaper to travel the same distance as my rides in NYC.
A 5-mile ride in Miami cost me $10 whereas a similar distance in Brooklyn has cost me $40.
Walking down the streets of Miami, I noticed there didn't seem to be as many trash cans as in New York, but the streets still seemed cleaner.
Typically in New York, I see overflowing trash cans on almost every corner, and there's still trash on the streets. But in Miami, the streets were much cleaner, which made me think this city didn't need as many.
In some areas of Miami, I noticed more yield than stop signs.
Drivers seemed patient about waiting for pedestrians, unlike my experiences walking around my neighborhood in Brooklyn.
I often — incorrectly — assume smaller, or highly car-dependent cities won't be as walkable as New York. However, I was pleased to find that Miami had many walkable neighborhoods all over the city, not just in the downtown area.
South Beach, Wynwood, and parts of Coconut Grove all had walkable streets that were dense with restaurants and stores.
I visited Miami in October and knew it had a reputation for being warm year-round. But I didn't know it was one of the warmest locations in the US in winter, with highs of nearly 80 degrees.
On average, winter highs are around 80 degrees, but when I visited Miami in October, it was typically 85 degrees during the day, which was much warmer than a fall day in NYC.
The warm weather also came with high humidity, which I found to be unbearable at times.
Miami was quite humid in October when I visited.
New York gets humid, too, in the summers. But in Miami in October, my glasses immediately fogged up as I walked outside, which I've never experienced back home.
As I explored, I thought people seemed more eager to talk to strangers than in New York.
I had a lot of pleasant, random run-ins with strangers during my week in Miami, which almost never happens near my home in Brooklyn. Some people even greeted me on the street from their car windows.
I also sampled Miami nightlife, and while New York is known as the city that never sleeps, after a night in South Beach, I'm convinced it could share the title.
I could hear people partying from my hotel room in the streets below until the early hours of the morning.
One of my favorite discoveries in Miami was the abundant street art.
From Wynwood's murals to South Beach's art deco buildings, Miami's streets were just as colorful as New York's artsy neighborhoods like Bushwick.
Of course, no trip to Miami is complete without a stop at the beach. Miami Beach may be the cleanest beach I have ever seen.
I expected Miami's beaches to be clean, especially compared to New York's sandy shores, but was blown away by how beautiful they were. According to The Culture Trip, Miami Beach imports sand from Caribbean beaches.
Before visiting Miami, I never thought of it as a nature destination. But it's bordered by two national parks — Biscayne and Everglades.
Miami is bordered by Biscayne National Park on the east side and Everglades National Park on the west side.
When I shopped for groceries at the local supermarket, Publix, I found items I buy in New York, like Justin's Peanut Butter, available for a few bucks cheaper than at the market near my apartment.
I've paid $15 for Justin's Peanut Butter at the market near my NYC apartment, so I was surprised to see it selling for $12 at Publix.
I was also able to tour a 1,100-square-foot apartment in Miami and discovered that I could live with double the space for roughly the same price as my 500-square-foot Brooklyn abode.
The 1,100-square-foot Miami apartment was listed for $1,700 a month. Back then, I was paying $1,650 for my 500-square-foot Brooklyn apartment.
Overall, I found my week in Miami to be a warm, friendly change of pace from my life in New York City.
I'll certainly be back soon for the clean beaches, colorful streets, and more affordable peanut butter.
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