As a kid growing up in West Virginia, living in Florida felt like a sunshine-filled dream. So when I finally secured a job down here after graduating from college in 2017, I was ready to move.
Over the years, I’ve lived in various neighborhoods throughout Miami-Dade County. I spent a few months in Edgewater in Miami proper before relocating to North Beach, one of Miami Beach’s quieter neighborhoods, where I remained for several years.
After years landlocked in Appalachia, it was exciting to be close to the city’s pastel-colored buildings and the ocean. However, living in Miami Beach wasn’t perfect.
Although I really enjoyed my three years in North Beach, there are three key reasons I ultimately decided to move off the beach in 2021 and settle down in mainland Miami instead.
I didn’t have the risk tolerance to buy property in Miami Beach
One of my favorite things about living on Miami Beach was how close I was to the ocean. However, when I considered buying property in the area, I found the location to be more of a liability than an asset.
Many coastal cities across the US are slowly sinking, and Miami Beach is no exception. For example, a recent study found several beachfront high-rises on Miami’s barrier islands were sinking faster than experts had predicted.
This is a long-term concern I considered when I was ready to settle in Dade County. I wanted to invest in a place where I could hopefully see myself living for many decades to come, and this meant looking in areas less vulnerable to coastal flooding and erosion.
So, when it came time to finally purchase my first house, I chose a spot farther inland, where land sits highest.
Tourism could be a problem, especially in the spring
For years, Miami Beach has had a reputation for being a major spring-break party destination. With this has come crowds (and sometimes chaos) in popular spots throughout the city.
Naturally, traffic also increased on the Beach during this time, and public-transportation options, like the city’s free trolley, would be swarmed by visitors. This sometimes made it more difficult for residents like me to ride the routes we relied on.
During spring, I felt like a lot of the benefits of living in Miami Beach were negated. It was nearly impossible to comfortably visit the beach because of how crowded it got, and the traffic to reach beautiful destinations on South Beach was terrible to navigate.
Now that I’m further inland, life’s a bit quieter, and I don’t encounter as many tourists come springtime.
My parking situation also felt far too stressful
Right before I ultimately decided to move from Miami Beach back to the mainland, I bought a car. I had gotten a new job teaching in Miami and needed a vehicle to commute.
During my final months in Miami Beach, finding parking was incredibly stressful. I was living in a compact two-story complex that, like a lot of smaller condos on North Beach, didn’t have a parking garage.
Each night after work, I had to search for free parking spots near my building, sometimes circling blocks for a half hour or more until a space opened up.
One morning, when I went out to get my car for work, I was packed into my spot so tightly by a car that squeezed in front of me, I almost couldn’t get out of the space.
Miami Beach is also a popular spot for locals to visit on the weekends, which means there was a lot of new traffic in the neighborhood on Saturdays and Sundays.
So, if I’d found a good, free parking spot on Friday, I often wouldn’t move my vehicle at all on the weekends. I didn’t want to risk someone taking my spot because if I couldn’t find anything, I’d have to park in a paid lot until the beach cleared out for the day.
Parking in Miami still isn’t always a breeze, but being further from a popular coastline has definitely helped.
Miami Beach wasn’t my forever home, but I appreciate some of the changes the city’s made since I left
For what it’s worth, in the five years since I left, Miami Beach seems to have taken steps toward making the city better for its residents.
For example, in 2024, Miami Beach officially “broke up” with spring break and implemented measures such as DUI checkpoints and curfews to help address common issues throughout the season.
In recent years, North Beach has established new resident-only parking zones throughout the neighborhood, which could lessen the competition for certain spots. Miami-Dade County has ongoing projects to help deal with coastal storms and rising sea levels, too.
Ultimately, I am still very happy with my decision to move back to mainland Miami, even though the city definitely has its quirks as well.
Although I’ll always love my time in Miami Beach, I save my visits for special occasions only — and I’ll still totally be avoiding the area during spring break.
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