Why Miami Feels So Transient: The Revolving Door Reality

A friend of mine went on a girls’ weekend to Chicago a while back and as she sat on the tarmac waiting to fly back to Miami, she felt I might appreciate her observations on the windy city’s male population.

“There are SO many nice, cute American guys here! You think I could convince one of them to move to Miami?” she texted me. “I mean, it’s so cold here. Who wouldn’t want to move?”

“You might be able to get one to move,” I texted back, “But getting him to stay? Ain’t gonna happen.”

Such is the revolving door that is the population of Dade County. When people talk about where they’d like to move, Miami is always on the top of the list. But if this town is so great, how come nobody ever stays? How come it is that of the countless friends I had in college who were not from Miami, exactly 3 are still left in the city? How come it is that when you work at a bar or restaurant in South Beach, every week somebody else has moved back to New York?

The first inclination would be to blame the language and cultural barriers. Americans aren’t really used to having to play by another culture’s rules, and to some it seems preposterous to have an American city where English is not required. So while one might be drawn by the awesome nightlife and phenomenal weather they see on the Travel Channel, the real Miami turns out to be a bitter disappointment.

And though the local “Latin Flavor” might be charming for the first six months or so, the first time you’re in a hurry and walk into a store and have to find three people to help you before you find someone who speaks English, it starts to wear a little thin. If you are female, it starts to wear thin the first time you feel uncomfortable leaving your apartment because of the stares and catcalls you get from the neighbors. Playing by other people’s rules is tough. It just takes moving to Miami for most Americans to realize it.

But it’s not just the cultural barrier. This city is fast-paced and synonymous with drugs, sex, violence and partying. And if you are the sort of person who wants to put down roots and raise children, well, that’s just not the best environment to do that in. And even if you are ok with that, the cost of living here can make it prohibitive. Yeah, Miami is ok if you are single and renting a small apartment and only feeding yourself. But if you want to have a house and 2 cars and 2 kids, well, that can be pretty draining down here.

Career wise, unless you are in the Latin American Finance or Cruise industries, it is hard to rise to the top of your profession. Yeah, we have plenty of businesses, but career-minded people don’t see Miami as a place to spend their whole lives. Maybe to start out, but once you get serious about life, this is a hard place to go far.

I think the retention percentage past 2 years here is about 10 percent. Of all the folks I know who’ve tried, that’s about how many made it stick. Maybe it’s the culture, maybe it’s the people, or maybe it’s the cost of living, but whatever it is Miami still seems to remain a place that people can’t live in for too long. You have to be a certain kind of individual to put down roots in this city, and for many Americans, that’s just not the kind of person they want to be.

Oh, and my friend who wanted to put a Chicago boy in her suitcase and bring him home? She moved to New York in January.

Editor’s Note: Originally published March 03, 2009. Updated in 2026 with new photography; Matt Meltzer’s original writing remains unchanged.