Ask HN: Is Miami a legit tech/startup city or was that just a meme?

The education system isn't highly rated overall so you'll have to choose carefully if you have kids. Similar if you're depending on a pool of local tech talent.

There was some social media stuff about it being a tech city but that was based on the mayor's Twitter exchange with Elon and then some sort of sales guy in the mayor's office and their hype.

For all the social media blips it generated, no major tech companies have moved any offices there since and many of the local companies are looking to move either upstate to areas like Orlando (or even out of state) to get away from of the Miami issues.

Take objective results like cost of living, rent, education quality (if you have kids it's one measure and hiring is another of course), traffic, crime, average income, etc. Maybe even go and visit for a couple months in the summer since people from up north would sometimes complain about our heat and humidity lol.

I would say the Miami tech scene post-2020 was a meme brought about by crypto hype and our politicians trying to court them. The scene here became a cryptobro scene sometime in 2021 which made me drop out of going to meetups or hackathons because everything was some blockchain, NFT ponzi scheme. I had someone try to sell me on developing what amounted to a timeshare-apartments-on-the-blockchain startup, that was the last straw for me lol.

Outside of the illusion created during COVID, the tech scene here is somewhat limited. That's both in it's size and also the domains you can work in. There's a strong bias towards fintech so if you're not interested in something in that realm you're going to have a harder time. Generally though I found that salaries also tended to be below average for comparable metros. My first job out of college locally started me at $45,000 and two years later I was able to go up to ~$70,000 but that was basically the ceiling at that job unless I moved into management. After that I moved into working fully remote because it was more difficult to find jobs that paid well enough locally. Generally Ft. Lauderdale a bit north gives a lot better opportunity both in salary and domains, so maybe look into those.

Salary issues with the local scene aside, S. Florida also has an extremely cut throat business culture. I've never experienced more wage theft and outright fraud in the workplace, so something to consider if you're trying to start a business down here.

I'm happy to give input if needed, or you could email me.

The meme seems to come from people who dislike NYC/SF cheerleading widely publicized relocations from there to Miami. Tons of VC types moved their executives' offices* down here during the pandemic to take advantage of taxes and basically start their retirement early.

* Generally speaking they didn't move most of their minions out of NYC, so the minions still need to shell out for the rent and taxes.

There isn’t any large, well established old money universities that push tech innovation.

There isn’t any large, well established new money funds that give away money to spur new innovation.

There isn’t a large cohort of super nerdy, super risky people in Miami.

Miami is super sensitive to the elements, and very prone to natural disasters.

Without all cool the tech equipment in the area, the nerds aren’t going to follow.

I believe it was a made up Crypto tech hub by those trying to further enrich themselves.

Which is really about at the same level as Jim Cramer telling you Lehman Brother's risk management team is top tier.

Just recently came back from yet another trip to Miami and in my opinion it puts most other US metropolitan cities to shame. Miami's sprawling development, balance of urban density and natural open spaces, network of enclaves / hubs of activity, relative cleanliness, paved roads, coastal access, and obviously weather, have all made me seriously consider it for my next move. I've lived in both LA and NYC for over a decade each and have grown so disheartened by their states of utter disrepair. When people start to believe the grunge and filth of a city is part of its charm, you know Stockholm Syndrome has set in. I used to be that way until I started spending extended time in cities with more thoughtful planning and a modicum of self-respect.

But with the interest rate increases and the follow on impact on lower startup funding and layoffs, plus the AI boom in SF, I think it didn't become reality.

- the Spanish language is more prevalent than English and there might be even some prejudice against people who don't speak Spanish; - it's primarily a vacation and retirement place where people go to have fun, drink, and engage in shady business (florida man) - it doesn't have good universities - the primary other industry is real estate only