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South Florida Babies
Jeezz we really suck...
On a list of 100 cities (1 being the best and 100 being the worst), Miami ranks # 99 as the best city to raise a family. EWWWWWW. 
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/Childrens-Health-Magazine-bw-2454761270.html?x=0&.v=1
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Jeezz we really suck...
That IS crazy! ...but really, who wants to live in Fargo, North Dakota??
$10 to whoever knows where that is on a map without looking LOL
What about New York, NY???? Really???
IT's actually based on crime rate statistics, school ratins (like "a" school vs "f" school) and also on the amount of local parks and children friendly facilities in the neighborhoods (along with museums stuff like that.)
New York is actually not a bad place to raise a family. Granted, in the city there aren't many houses, unless you're uber rich, but you have parks and great schools... and believe it or not, miami's crime statistics are WAY higher than New York's.
Confession: It is still too far away to tell anything but there have been some rumors that DH's company might close in about a year and relocate to the headquarters up in North Carolina. While I will truly miss my family and friends, I am secretly hoping that pans out some how! : /
give me $10!! i do! but i also LOVE the movie Fargo :-D
I would have never thought! That is an eye opener! ugh.
I went to an F school in a bad neighborhood where teachers spent a lot more time discipling than educating. However, I was raised in a house by parents who were on top of me to do well and who I could talk to about everything. Probably because of the school I was in and the neighborhood, they were extra aware.
Isn't it interesting how the school shootings/massacres are in little towns where everyone assumes they are safer than cities? I wonder why that is.
I think there are going to be bad people and bad kids everywhere. We can only insulate our kids to a certain degree. I am going to be very careful with the schools I choose but honestly - there is always a chance they can get pulled into the wrong crowd at an A school just as well as an F school or here in Miami just as much as in Fargo, ND. The important thing is to talk to your kids about everything and make sure they know that they can talk to you about everything.
Just sayin.
Just wanted to say that NY is better than Miami even though no one would think so. The crime rate in the past 10years has gone down tremendously there. But like Jen said to live in the city you have to be super rich.
Also, EVERYONE and their mother is moving to NC! lol
And Texas. I have known so many people who have moved to Texas that its crazy.
I am hoping to send her to a private school - what I am trying to avoid is an F school, honestly. That is the part that has me the most concerned - the education system is in the toilet and Miami Dade schools are BROKE. But I don't think that is better in any other area of South Florida because there is a shortage of property tax money coming in, which is what pays for our schools. It freaks me out when I hear that my friends complaining that their kids school does not have enough paper to print hand outs. WTF? That is crazy.
I eventually hope to move up near my family in WPB. Mainly to be closer to them. A plus is that the schools up there are a little better. The crime rate is close to the same, tho. Even at the richer schools up there you have kids selling dope and girls having sex in the bathrooms. That crap freaks me out. To me talking is more important than anything because I don't see a 100% clear path to a good education and upbringing unless I am on top of her and talking to her every day. I am just as freaked as you, Lauren, I just don't think that a new demographic will solve the problem - although I think it may help a bit just not enough. However, I totally understanding wanting to try and do what you can.
I loved growing up in Miami and I love living here as an adult. I can't imagine raising my kids anywhere else. Not only because I would never want to raise them away from our parents and our extended family, but because I really like it here and I think that under certain circumstances it can be a GREAT place to raise a family. I really like the culture and lifestyle here and I think the city has a lot to offer that you wouldn't get in small town America. Yes, it's definitely a trade off and I can see the appeal of wanting to move somewhere like NC or Georgia or Texas, but it's just not for me. I really think I would go stir crazy living in one of those places. And I could never deal with the climate of most of those cities that came ranked in the top 10 on that list (Fargo...seriously?). Anything that entails having to shovel 4 feet of snow off your driveway before you can leave your house and dressing your kids in 10 layers of jackets and sweaters before they can go to school for several months out of the year does not equal a good quality of life for me.
I know my opinion is skewed because both DH and I, along with most of our family and friends, grew up going to private Catholic schools down here. I really loved that environment and it made for a very tight-knit community. All the families knew each other, the parents were all friends, and you grew up with the same kids from kindergarten to high school. And yeah, at the high school level, I don't care what town you live in or whether you send your kids to private or public schools...they will be exposed to sex and drugs. You can't escape that. You have to rely on your own parenting skills and your child's personality to avoid having problems in those areas. The one advantage I will say we had with private schools is a) there was never really a concern with violence and b) the schools had the financial resources to provide a good education. I agree that the public school system in general is pretty bad in Miami. Maybe if we didn't have the option of sending our kids to private school or if we didn't have the option to live in a neighborhood with a good school nearby (at least a C school or above), then I would feel differently.
P.S. I'm shocked that Orlando was ranked 98...WTF?! What's so bad about Orlando?
My blog
Yeah, I think this is a huge part of it. Sure, a lot of big cities are "bad," but if you can afford to live in a nice suburb right outside the city, you definitely get the best of both worlds.
agreed
omg yeah!! I forgot about Texas but it's true a lot of people I know are moving there too! Supposedly there are a looot of jobs available there and the houses are cheap.
OK, I just looked at the complete list. Washington, DC was ranked 17 and Norfolk, VA was ranked 63. I live up here, so I feel like I can make a pretty informed decision on at least these 2. Personally, I would rather raise a family in Miami than in DC or Norfolk. DC is all city. There are no "little country roads" and I would even bet to say that it's more metropolitan than Miami (think Downtown Miami city-wide). 100% of the people I know who live in "DC," actually don't. They live in cities outside of DC. Alexandria, Manassas, Prince William County, etc. People don't live in DC because although there's a ton of money in the city (buildings and political stuff), housing isn't great.
And Norfolk....I wouldn't even consider it. Norfolk schools are terrible and the crime rate is RIDICULOUS (as in that's usually the city that all the news stories come from).
Now Gloucester (where I live now) is a VERY small town with dirt roads and all. Although it is a really nice place to live, I'm not sure that I would want to raise children here. I feel like even though small towns are "safer" and have pretty good schools, everyone knows everyone, IMO the kids kind of "miss out." There isn't a whole lot of exposure to real world things whereas in Miami/South Florida children have an opportunity to learn real life things and therefore be a little more well-rounded and capable of handling different situations. I was guilty of complaining about Miami and how I would never raise a family there, but now that I've seen what it's like in other cities, I've had a change of heart. I'm not, by any means saying that Miami is the best thing since sliced bread, but really, it's not as bad as we sometimes make it out to be.
Every city is going to have its quirks. In the end, we just have to do what we think is best for our families and go from there.
This is just so sad to me - I couldn't have said it better myself.
Jen, I feel exactly as you do. We come from similar backgrounds so I understand your thought process. But even though I do plan to raise my kids in Miami, we are open to relocating if the opportunity and time is right.
BFP #3: 01/28/12, EDD: 09/23/12, MMC (BO), D&C 2/16/12 at 6.5 wks
BFP #4: 05/23/12, EDD: 01/31/12, Early MC at 5 wks
RPL Workup: + LPD (7DPO Prog = 7.8, Endometrial Bx = out of phase)
Elevated Alpha 2-glycoprotein IgA and antiphosphatidylserine IgM -->
Hematologist said not to worry and no need for treatment!
Dx: LPD
Cycle #1(08/2012): Clomid 50 mg CD3-7, Ovidrel CD13 + Progesterone = It worked!
BFP #5 on 09/10/12 (11 DPO). HCG #1 @ 14DPO = 131.6 HCG #2 @ 16DPO = 509
EDD: 05/23/2013
Except DH didn't go to private schools, just me. I couldn't leave my family, I really think that raising kids around a support system of extended family is just as important as the school and the neighborhood. It was how I was raised and I am so close with my 2 aunts and my cousins that I always have people to call. When I was a teenager, if there was something I didn't want to talk to my mom about, I could go to my aunt and I know that gave my mom great peace of mind.
However, our decision to move to Miramar was based on getting out of Dade County to a place that was more family-friendly and I am so happy about that decision every day and I truly look forward to raising my daughter here.
Let me just say, it doesn't matter if the child goes to private shchool or public school.... they'll find drugs either way.
I went to catholic private school and my friends found better drugs and a wider scope of them than my friends who went to public school.
doesn't matter where you go, what you do, or how "Perfect" your school is, regardless of the city... drugs will find them.
I really liked living in South Florida for the first 7 of the 8 years we were there. Once I had Nicholas, I did not want to raise him there. The amount of crime is just ridiculous and there are just so many low-class, shady people in South Florida. Everyone has tons of problems and the drug use down there is crazy.
NYC is not just apartment living in Manhattan. There are four other boroughs. We live in Staten Island, which is completely suburban. We have excellent schools, great parks and it is not transient, so most people grew up here and know a lot of people and will keep an eye out for eachother's kids. I am 100% happy with my decision to move back here and raise kids here.
I, like many here was born and raised here. My experience in Miami was wonderful, and I went to public school, and I don't regret it one bit. HOWEVER, the Miami I grew up in is not the same Miami I live in now. The city has changed, the culture (or lack of) has changed. There are no manners AT ALL, it's a total rat race. I haven't been happy here for the last two years ( i guess ever since Sofia was born)...But I should say my main reasons for wanting to get out of Florida are more about not being able to give Sofia the quality of life she deserves. My DH and I don't make a lot of money...we're paying property taxes up the wazoo, and we're having a hard time making ends meet, frankly. When that happens, both parents have to work...a lot...hence, less time with our daughter. I don't want to live somewhere where I spend more time in in traffic than home with Sofia. That's the bottom line.
Yes, there is danger everywhere you go. You cannot shield our children from it no matter where you go...but statistics and math don't lie. Take a cross-section of Miami and take a corss-section of NC, or GA, or wherever Smalltown, USA, you want...byt sheer population alone, there will be more danger in a bigger city than not. I like my odds in a smaller city. A friend of mine had to move 20 minutes outside of Atlanta because her DH couldn't find work here as a firefighter back during the housing boom here. She's a teacher...they moved to Woodstock, GA. She loves it...wouldn't move back to Miami for anything in the world. I've been up there a few times, and I have to admit, I LOVE it there. She paid 200k for a 4/3 with a finished basement in a closed community with 7 tennis courts, two huge playgrounds, a huge pool where they play movies at night on a big screen...and they pay $850 in Maintanance fees A YEAR...not a month. People there still say hello to each other on the street and open doors for each other and are kind.
Now, I don't want to sit here and badmouth Miami, because if I had to stay here, I could make it work somehow. But, if DH and I have the ability now to give Sofia a better quality of life, why not do it? I can understand those that say they can't leave b/c of family being here...I'm there with ya, I wasn't even considering moving away from here until i asked my mother flat out if she considered herself tied to miami, and she answered that she would go wherever Sofia went (my dad said that two years ago). 3 years ago she said she'd never move, but that Sofia changed that. My dad is close to retirement, so it helps make the move even possible.
I do have my reservations about being in a place where sofia won't have diversity...but honestly, all these cities are changing at very rapid speeds, and it's up to my to remind her of who she is, where she came from, and expose her to different people and places.