Jonathan Blow

Miami is a 1000% nicer better place to live than anywhere in the Bay Area right now. Except for the temperature... not sure what to do about that.

SF, and the major cities in California generally, seem to be overwhelmed by people whose implicit mission is to make life miserable. There is none of that here, and you feel the difference very quickly.

Miami has some wonderful parts, and Art Basel, but it is like the rest of FL, pretty terrible once you actually live there. There is very little sense of prosperity in FL and very little sense of economic development beyond "build more houses for the snowbirds".

I lived there from 11 years old, until 28 years old. Met my wife there and started our family. We think of returning sometimes but then start to remember the housing and infrastructure, the weather and culture... the unfocused and disappointing political climate.

It could change though! Who knows what the future holds. We still have friends and family who'll never leave. Just as many that were relived to be gone. I'd advise against Miami though. Experience some of the gulf coast first. Ft Lauderdale, Naples, Sarasota, Venice and so on.

To be more clear, the advisement against Miami here is a property value consideration. It's a disaster area. If you find a place near enough Miami to regularly visit and enjoy the good parts you'll be better off.