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Ask HN: How's the Miami Scene?

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21–30 of 32 posts

Re: Ask HN: How's the Miami Scene?

#21
post #3

>>> moving down to Miami from Boston About as large a culture shock as one can get in Modern America today ;) Not to hijack, but have heard tech incubation in Gainesville, FL is getting some buzz and is attractive to startups frugality-wise. Anyone down there?

>Gainesville, FL never a more laughable thing has there been uttered. UF has an "incubator" that consists of wet labs repurposed for house software startups (we were literally in a room with test tube holders and sinks and no proper desks). there are some random coworking spaces (like the one that doubles as a dorm lolol) but mostly everyone is a complete wantrepreneur. tech talent coming out of UF is also solidly me…

LOL, thanks for the view tubby!

My thinking was: it's close to Cape Canaveral, so I can film launches ;)

Re: Ask HN: How's the Miami Scene?

#22
Local here. Brickell is a great place to start. There are lots of open air shopping and restaurants within walking distance. The mayors, both city and county, have really endorsed new urbanism and Project Zero ideas. I moved back to Miami about 5 years ago. 10 years before that you were taking your life in your hands by walking out the door. But they are building out dedicated bike lanes, public transit, and actual sidewalks.

If highrises aren't your deal across the bay is Miami Beach. The apartments and bungalows are smaller and low slung, the city is infinitely walkable, and you are a few blocks from one of the best beaches in the world. It's still relatively affordable, but not for long.

The actual tech scene is miniscule and feels like I'm at a dentist convention happening weekly. A lot of our co-work, makerspace, and VCs host mixers and happy hours. This is more for new arrivals than anything. Old tech prefers to live out west and north. There is still a lot of radio and aviation tech that happens away from the startup scene. They don't attend the meetups.

Job wise it's not the best. If you come here with remote work contract you are golden. There is a lot of LatAm and Caribbean tech companies who tend to be penny-wise and pound foolish. Salaries are lower because why pay NYC/SV rates when you can get a fresh CompEng immigrant for cheap and who'll culturally be a better fit.

What we do have is a lot of regional sales and finance offices in the downtown core. This masks the fact that they are just the go between and don't have a lot of decision making/innovating going on. For example, Miami technically has the largest number of banks in the US outside of NYC. Microsoft, Google, Dell have a regional office here but no actual engineering goes on there.

At one point career wise I got trapped here and vowed never to return. But wanted to have my family be closer. I had a remote job with a European tech company until that didn't work and now I'm working for another tech company in a different field. A lot of companies are supposedly looking for senior engineers in a city where there barely any mid-level engineers. So the benefits to local talent seem to be wasted and creating some resentment.

The entire tech scene is just a pocket. It entirely fits in a few square miles; almost all of it east of I-95. Living here is going to be a culture shock for a lot of new arrivals. You'll wake up one morning and see Santeristas sacrificing a chicken and that sort of thing.

Re: Ask HN: How's the Miami Scene?

#23
post #8
post #4

I'm a recent arrival in Fort Lauderdale, from San Jose (though I spent several years in Boston as well). The vibe is uniquely its own down here. The biggest difference is that tech feels like a minority in South Florida. That is, unlike the experience of Boston or SF, you'll be an oddity, and a curiosity. Wow, app developer? Really? People are friendly, the drinks are strong, and the pretty relaxing, cheap beachfront…

What's the housing and rent situation like where you are? Do you need a car or is it generally a walkable place?

I lived here 3 years without a car. South Beach is a great walkable beach town. For anything further I used: Zipcar (day), Lyft/Uber (<1 hour). I only bought a car during the early stages of the pandemic, rideshare and rentals basically shutdown and leased cars were being firesaled.

Re: Ask HN: How's the Miami Scene?

#24
We like summers in Miami. It rains just about every day and you get a breeze off the ocean. Much better than elsewhere on the east coast. Miami is amazing.

Dont worry about pre-existing geographical concentration of "startups" - this will become less important over time.

Brickell is awesome.

Re: Ask HN: How's the Miami Scene?

#25
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the housing and rent situation like where you are? Do you need a car or is it generally a walkable place?

No OP, but I will offer this: Some may say downtown areas are walkable, but you are severely limiting your access to resources. Public transportation in South Florida is poor. One train line runs north/south between Miami to West Palm Beach and it is not the most reliable. Miami has an above ground metro train which gets you to most areas there and is actually pretty decent. There are many buses but I have not invest…

Is the metro what's referred to as the "people mover" and runs on the elevated tracks?

Re: Ask HN: How's the Miami Scene?

#26
post #23
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the housing and rent situation like where you are? Do you need a car or is it generally a walkable place?

I lived here 3 years without a car. South Beach is a great walkable beach town. For anything further I used: Zipcar ( day), Lyft/Uber (<1 hour). I only bought a car during the early stages of the pandemic, rideshare and rentals basically shutdown and leased cars were being firesaled.

Interesting. That's pretty good chunk of time to be car free. Are the rents expensive in South Beach? My mental image of it is a wealthy place.

Re: Ask HN: How's the Miami Scene?

#27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No OP, but I will offer this: Some may say downtown areas are walkable, but you are severely limiting your access to resources. Public transportation in South Florida is poor. One train line runs north/south between Miami to West Palm Beach and it is not the most reliable. Miami has an above ground metro train which gets you to most areas there and is actually pretty decent. There are many buses but I have not invest…

Is the metro what's referred to as the "people mover" and runs on the elevated tracks?

Yes: https://www.miamidade.gov/global/transportation/metrorail.pa...

Re: Ask HN: How's the Miami Scene?

#29
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How did Boston and San Jose compare in your experience? Any notable differences, VC money and Biotech aside?

I guess I’d describe SJ as a kind of monoculture. Everyone I knew was a fellow tech person, and escaping the programmer scene was impossible. When I lived in Revere Beach, my neighbours were chemists, doctors, geologists, professors… a brainy but varied bunch. I earned more money in SJ but had a better work life balance in Boston. Companies in the former were more expecting of the grind, raising and deploying capital…

In which decade were your stays in SJ and Boston?

If you had to make the choice all over again would you choose to live in Boston, or even pick another city entirely?

Re: Ask HN: How's the Miami Scene?

#30
Thanks for all the great comments! Much appreciated!

My wife and I are not in the tech scene. I am a marketplace founder and she's a Big Law attorney (real estate). We're in our 30's. I'm less concerned with the tech scene and more with the overall startup/entrepreneur community.

Finding a job is not a huge concern for either of us. She'll be fine anywhere she goes and I'm sure I can find something remote if my startup doesn't succeed.

I think our main concern is around culture and community. We like to party and be in the "scene" but also plan on having kids soon(ish). Our current circle of friends in Boston is small but they're all very educated and great to spend time with. They're all in finance, law, or entrepreneurs. One of our worries is that it'll be harder to find those educated but fun people down in Miami area. Maybe this is totally wrong. This may sound crazy but the concern is that the people down there are either South American millionaires, bottle girls, OnlyFans, etc...haha. I know it's a huge stereotype of FL.

Again, really appreciate all the thoughtful comments here.

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