Introduction
I would like to discuss today the best places to live in Miami. Being basically a nomad I’ve stayed in a lot of different places in Miami and the broader area of it. In this post I’m going to try to break down which locations are worth it in terms of three main factors: Money, Quality of living and services in the area. In most of the areas I lived as a single person but the same would apply to a couple. These are not ideal for a family or a bigger group of people living together. Finally let me just say I’m a big fan of convenience and for me it was good to have things like a pool, gym and parking area in my condo. Also I like having access to healthy grocery stores and restaurants.
Midtown Miami
This area is my favorite it’s where I owned a condo before it became unsustainable in terms of HOA fees and high insurance rates. Let me be clear if I was to stay here again which I am not because now I have a family with kids I would RENT not buy, the reason being is that it’s much cheaper overall to rent and I believe the value of the area is depreciating as it’s going below water level and there’s a lot of new builds that are unoccupied. Having said that there’s a lot of things that are good about it, first it’s a few steps from a lot of restaurants, it’s a quick drive to downtown Miami so you get to live in walking distance without getting the noise, you get stunning ocean views and the view of south beach at night (which is semi-exciting) and you have access to a lot of services if you have a pet or like to go to the gym or watch movies. Finally you get a decent place without the price-tag of living in downtown but essentially you are in downtown.
If you would like to learn more about the general Midtown area you can go to this resource as it has a lot more information about transport, restaurants and other things you can do.
Brickell
Brickell is one of those hit or miss areas that some people would love at first sight and some people would say no way I’m living here. Why? It’s because it’s a semi-business district and residential at the same time. So while you are staying in your condo in your day time you’d get a lot of workers going to offices etc. But this comes with the advantage that there’s a lot of nice restaurants and bars in the area that you can walk too and enjoy happy hour on (not that I’m a big fan of it but I’ll take the cheap food). Moving on the prices are decent compared to downtown although they do fluctuate a lot over the years due to the endless construction going on in the area, which takes me to the next point before you rent or buy make sure there’s no signs of construction near you, usually developers advertise that stuff years in advance and if it’s active well you know you can just see it or hear it.
If you would like to learn more about the general Brickell and downtown area you can go to this resource as it has a lot more information about transport, restaurants and other things you can do.
South Beach
Well this couldn’t have been an article without South Beach. I was actually tempted to exclude South Beach from the list as I’m on the urge of whether or not it’s still good to live at. I was lucky to have experienced South Beach back in the early 2000’s when things were still good and not as commercialized. These days with urban weekend and other events happening every other day plus the major influx of tourists wanting to get drunk on ocean drive and licoln road make it a bit unapproachable. I’ve rented in two different locations here one near the quiet west side of it and one by licoln road. At the time it was great as you had at footsteps a plethora of restaurants at licoln road or little cafes in the west side of it. Now those things still exist but they are x3 as expensive and the quality is half of what it used to be. Having said that if you like the buzz and the crowds of people it’s still a good place to be at.
If you would like to learn more about the general South Beach area you can go to this resource as it has a lot more information about transport, restaurants and other things you can do.
Conclusion
I personally now prefer living a bit outside Miami in the outskirts in areas such as Pinecrest and South Miami which I believe are honorable mentions but may not be the best for everyone unless you have a family and really don’t care to be in the center of action. I understand each person based on their age and interests will pick accordingly as every part of Miami is unique and has different things to offer. If you are in the mood for finding a good place to eat in Miami please read my article on Miami value dinning. Please tell me if I forgot to mention something or if you believe there’s an area worth adding and talking about as I’m very familiar with most parts of Miami.
