An introduction to Miami

This is the story of a Midwesterner in Miami.

So how did a girl like me get to Miami? I never saw myself living in a big city, I never yearned for the glitz and glamour, the fastness of a place like Miami. What I did want to do was study tropical fruits, and so that's what brought me here, to do my doctorate research.

I have been here for almost two years now, and I am beginning to be able to see some of the good of the city, although the bad is always still there. Let's go through some of my impressions of Miami:

The weather. A lot of people come here specifically for the weather. The winters are beautiful, the summers are hot! (and I think the heat makes people even more crazy). I love waking up to the sunshine almost every day.

The people. Anytime you have this many people in a small area, everyone gets a little nuts. Of course the Latin influence is very strong here, and can be overwhelming if you can't learn to embrace it (I'm working on that right now). My friend Robert loves it here, because he says it is like living in another country. Being from the Midwest, where people are painfully polite, Miamians are too pushy and rude. I am seeing first hand the metropolitan epidemic of self absorption, and it ain't pretty. But on the flip side, there is a vibrant energy here, mostly due to people's zest for life.


The food. It's great. Sure, there are about a billion Cuban restaurants (many of them very good), but if you want other type of cuisine you can definitely find it. One of my favorite activities is enjoying a good meal, and Miami has plenty of those. There are great Argentinian grills, Italian pizzerias, and heavenly gelato.


The sights. Everyone thinks of the beach when they think of Miami. In my opinion, the beaches on the gulf and up near Jacksonville are prettier. But if you want to watch people, you'll have a feast for the eyes on Miami beach. You never know what you'll see when strolling along the Boardwalk or Lincoln Mall. The drawback to living in Miami instead of vacationing on the beach is that you have to drive a while to get there. So you end up going not so often. There are plenty of other great places to visit: Vizcaya, FairchildTropical Gardens, the Redlands, Bayside, the Everglades, the Keys, and plenty of others that I haven't gotten to visit yet.


The traffic. Horrific. I am lucky that I commute against the traffic every day. I can't imagine driving downtown everyday for work. Gridlocked traffic and hot tempers abound. Even without traffic jams, it is kind of like being in one of those Driver's Ed simulators all the time. Within a fifteen minute drive, you may have several people cut you off, several others will honk at you for no apparent reason, a few pedestrians or bicycles will run out in front of you, and you will almost get side-swipe by an SUV that is mysteriously drifting into your lane. If you can, walk!




The lifestyle. I have some problems with the general worldview in Miami. Of course, Miami is a big city, and there is the diversity of lifestyles and opinions. But my overall impression is that Miami lives up to its glitzy reputation to the detriment of the city as a whole. Image is everything, from the car you drive to the clothes you wear. It all seems pretty empty to me, and the "me" attitude here is unhealthy for the sustainability of the city. People live outside their means to maintain the appearance of wealth.




These are my general impressions of Miami. And while my heart still longs for the Midwest, I want to use this blog to investigate what else this strange place has to offer, to try and improve my experience here and see what I can take away from it.