Miami is a city that many people associate with beaches, the sun, and carefree vacations, and while some of these assumptions are true, others are merely myths. The city is located in the United States of America, on the south side of the country. It offers a lot of interesting entertainment and its embankments are home to magnificent views of the sea.
Miami is situated in the southernmost state of the USA – Florida. It is located on the peninsula of the same name, the territory of which is completely part of this region and seems to point its shape towards Cuba located nearby. The coast of this region is washed by the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the Florida Straits, and the Atlantic Ocean. The relief for all the described territories is low-lying, with a few hills (Gallagher & Cattelino, 2020). The city of Miami is the administrative center of Miami-Dade County. This is the largest metropolis situated in the southeast part of the United States. At the same time, it is the second-largest in its state and the eighth in the country.
The terrain of this state-territorial unit is characterized by a flat relief. The city is positioned on a plain; moreover, most of it can be found on the coast and on natural and artificially created islands. On the one hand, the territory of the metropolis is washed by the waters of the Atlantic, and on the other, swamps approach it. What can be considered an amazing feature of the city, the swamps, is its gift and, at the same time, a curse (Fraile-Jurado et al., 2021)? A similar statement concerns the fact that Miami is close to the ocean. At the same time, almost the entire city of Miami can flood even a small wave that came here from the ocean.
Even in winter, the air temperature can only sometimes drop below 20 degrees. That is why the inhabitants are unlikely to encounter snow in their home state. In the period from May to October, Miami is dominated by the rainy season. At this time, the air at the resort is especially hot and humid, but the stuffiness is relieved by breezes coming here from the Atlantic. Tropical species of plants and animals represent the nature of Miami. For example, you can often see pelicans on local beaches, crocodiles, and alligators in the nearest Everglades Park. In addition, there is a large number of prestigious schools in Miami. The prices paid by students include accommodation (host family, less often – campus), meals, educational materials, school curriculum, and extracurricular activities.
The Greater Miami agglomeration has more than 5 million people, putting it in fourth place in the United States (Gallagher & Cattelino, 2020). The city of Miami is home to only 418 thousand of those inhabitants. This is very little, and even in Florida, there is a larger city – Jacksonville. Its history is vividly reflected in the national composition of the metropolis (Schöls et al., 2017). The percentage is strongly dominated by Latin Americans, among them Cubans.
The city has gained fame as one of the banking centers of the country. Moreover, transnational, not purely American, financial institutions are most often based here. For example, the concentration of international banks on Bicknell Avenue is higher than anywhere else in the United States. The Miami seaport rightfully occupies a place among the largest on the planet. Offices of many cruise companies are based here, and on the water, you can always see tourist ocean monsters resembling floating cities of luxury. However, the number of homeless people is growing rapidly in US cities, which creates unsanitary conditions on the streets of settlements.
Miami, a metropolis in southeastern Florida, is experiencing increased levels of air pollution typical of urban areas. Emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere result from traffic congestion, domestic energy consumption, regional ports, industry, electricity generation, and natural sources, including wind-borne salt and sand. Despite the large urban population, the air quality in Miami is higher than in most cities of comparable size due to the geographical location of the coastal peninsula.
The number of homeless people in Miami has increased to such an extent that the city has become a competitor to San Francisco regarding the volume of human excrement smeared on the sidewalks. Miami is a multicultural city, but most of the population comes from Latin America, where the driving culture is fairly low. Among the anti-record holders, Florida ranks first. The most dangerous place in the state for pedestrians is the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford area.
In conclusion, the advantages of living in Miami include proximity to the ocean, a warm climate, high-level medicine, and nightlife in the area. However, there are a certain number of disadvantages: high humidity, the threat of a tsunami, a large number of homeless people, and a lack of motivation to work. Moreover, Miami has a poorly developed public transport, IT sphere, and low driving culture. In addition, the easy availability of drugs is also a problem.
References
Fraile-Jurado, P., Villarín, M. C., Leatherman, S. B., & Fernández-Díaz, M. (2021). Alternative approaches to medium-long term sea level rise mapping in Southern Miami Beach (Florida, USA). Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 255, 107365. Web.
Gallagher, M. F., & Cattelino, J. (2020). Youth, climate change and visions of the future in Miami. Local Environment, 25(4), 290-304. Web.
Schöls, L., Rattay, T. W., Martus, P., Meisner, C., Baets, J., Fischer, I.,… & Schüle, R. (2017). Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia Type 5: Natural History, Biomarkers and a Randomized Controlled Trial. Brain, 140(12), 3112-3127. Web.