Miami, Florida

Miami has one of the most fascinating populations on the planet due to its location at the intersection of the Caribbean, Central America, the Northeastern United States and Canada.

Economic and snowbird expats combine to give Miami both the most and least American vibe of any city. Economic ambition has always been a hallmark of immigrant populations but these communities brought along the culture, beauty, food and language or their native countries and made Miami the capital of the Latin diaspora and the city with the highest percentage of foreign born residents.

The average Miamian only stays for 4-5 years. That makes living here feel like a constant influx of new and departing neighbors. This transience is only increasing as northerners flock south to escape the pandemic and live in a city with better weather than New York. Some who have lived here claim it is more like a multi-year vacation than a real permanent home.

Miami is justly celebrated as a gorgeous city, with beautiful people and a wonderfully diverse cultural and social scene. If you enjoy a night out then expect some amazing food from across the Latin food world with a particular brilliance in authentic Cuban dining and one of the better music scenes in the country. Warm nights out in Miami are unlike any other city in the U.S. so again, if nightlife is your passion then you’ll love it here.

In the daytime weather and water color much of Miami's lifestyle. It gets seriously hot here but the Atlantic provides comfort and hitting the beach is a big part of weekend and summer days.

If you're curious what locals do in Miami check out the calendar of events.

During Covid Miami became popular as a destination for finance and wealthy techies to flee their northern cities. That trend aside, many people think of Miami as a place to move for the lifestyle rather than work. One of the challenges of working in Miami is that it’s very expensive and not particularly family-friendly downtown so if you’re commuting in then you’ll typically be stuck in your car for an hour.

There’s virtually no public transport and so many people commute into the commercial district downtown. While some of that may be changing, a heavy service, real estate, and tourism economy means in-person dominates much of the job opportunities. There is a growing tech economy here as the lack of state taxes and cool culture is pulling VC and startup businesses down here.