Home buying in Miami can be a scary prospect for young professionals. The cityâs average wages arenât keeping up with increasing home prices and finding a place for less than $300,000 is almost impossible.
But renting is also really tough. Many SoFlo residents are spending more than half their income on rent and thatâs not even taking into account rising rents and all the little costs that come with having an unpredictable landlord.
Given those challenges, when is the right time to buy a house in Miami? We asked New Tropic readers to share their experiences and tips for what to do when youâre ready to make the leap. We rounded up some of those responses in this video. (Thanks to Ross Padfield, Lauren Rodriguez, Monica Gonzalez, and everyone else who shared their stories!)
Hereâs some of what they told us:
This is the first in a series of videos digging into what Miamians should consider when buying a home. We want to know: how does it make you feel when you think about home buying in the 305? Express yourself in the comments on our video with a GIF (and donât hold back).
10 Days of Connection is flying by, and weâre loving the conversations going down. Yesterday locals shared what questions they ask to get to know a new person. Here are a few that weâre definitely planning on using in the future:
Got one to share? Join the group and drop it here.
HOW TO CONNECT TODAY
Itâs âLetâs Do Lunchâ Day, so if youâve got a midday break, we recommend ditching your #saddesklunch and asking someone you donât know very well to eat with you. (If you feel weird about that, tell them The New Tropic told you to do it. đ)
You could join this massive blind group date that formed over in the 10 Days of Connection group, or post your own invitation. (P.S. Weâll be at Madruga Bakery in South Miami if anyone wants to #LetsDoLunch with us at 12:45! Hit reply to the newsletter to let us know if youâll be dropping in.)
Canât do one in person? Seandra Pennie is hosting a digital lunch date. Join her here.
Plus, thereâs a free drum jam tonight at the South Florida Center for Percussive Arts. Find info on that here.
HOW TO CONNECT THIS WEEKEND
Itâs #MiamiWalks time! There are at least 15 free neighborhood tours led by residents going down between Friday and Sunday, from Coconut Grove to Allapattah. Find them all here and if you go, be sure to tag your pics with the hashtag #10DaysofConnection.
Is this the first youâre hearing about the 10 Days of Connection? Itâs an initiative to help Miamians build empathy, kindness, and connection across lines of difference, in person and online. Read more here.
A nice problem to have. Both Miami Commissioner Ken Russell and State Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez raised a whole lotta money in order to run for U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinenâs seat. Now that theyâve both dropped out of the race so they can hold on to their current seats, theyâve got a new dilemma: figuring out what to do with all that campaign cash (a cool $700,000 between the two of them). We wish we had that problem. (Miami Herald)
Are we next? Hawaii just banned the sale of certain sunscreens because some of the ingredients are killing off the stateâs breathtaking coral reefs. About 14,000 tons of sunscreen ends up in coral reefs every year, where the chemicals strip the coral of its nutrients, causing it to break down. Hawaiiâs the first state to do this, and weâre wondering if Florida, which has a bunch of beautiful reefs of its own, will follow suit. (Buzzfeed)
Alternative views. A University of Miami researcher recently came across a whole bunch of old renderings of projects across Miami that never came to be and turned them into an interactive slideshow so we could compare that with what Miami looks like today. We highly recommend finding a few minutes to geek out over it like we did. Once upon a time, officials proposed making Biscayne Boulevard a pedestrian friendly boulevard, kind of like Parisâs Champs Elysees. (Curbed)
Scary science. Fun fact: Sand temperature during the incubation period determines what gender sea turtles will be when theyâre born. Less fun fact: microplastics â those tiny beads that are found in things like exfoliating soap  â can cause sand temperatures to rise if enough of them accumulate, which means that they could cause a gender imbalance in the sea turtle population. South Florida is a major sea turtle nesting spot, so weâre ground zero for this problem. Yet another reason to ditch those microbead products⌠(Miami Herald)
A green light on the red lights. The Florida Supreme Court has handed down some news that drivers wonât like: local governments can use red light camera to catch drivers running red lights after all. The cameras have been super controversial, with some saying theyâve become an unfair revenue source for cities and others saying theyâre a constitutional violation. The City of Miami decided earlier this year to end its own program, but  other SoFlo cities havenât made the same call, so punch that gas on yellow with extreme caution, friends. (Miami Herald)
Spooky. Apparently the Miami Herald had a newsroom visitor it didnât know about back in the 1960s: the CIA. According to the JFK assassination files recently declassified by the CIA, longtime Latin America editor and reporter Don Bohning was approved to serve as a âconfidential informantâ for the spy agency. Another colleague, Alvin Burt, actually passed on information to the CIA about exilesâ plans to infiltrate Cuba. Whoa. (Miami Herald)
Itâs not easy being green. Miami-Dade is on a mission to plant 1 million trees by 2020, and itâs about more than looking pretty. As temperatures rise because of global warming, local officials are looking for natural ways to take the temps down a notch, and a healthy tree canopy can actually lower temperatures in an area by a few degrees. Grab your shovel and watering can, folks. (WLRN)