South Florida NPR affiliate, WLRN, is teaming up with FIU Caplin News, along with other local media outlets, to produce a series of stories that put a spotlight on South Florida’s housing crisis. Readers can find all the stories here.
Peter Gutierrez, 21, has lived in Cutler Bay for much of his life, but when he reached adulthood, he began to question whether Miami was where he wanted to settle down.
“There wasn’t really a specific moment I realized I wanted to move away,” Gutierrez said.”It was more of an encroaching feeling.”
After developing a love for theater, he decided to move to New York City to pursue his passion after graduating from Florida International University next year.
“I just knew if I want to be successful in my career, I can’t stay in Miami,” Gutierrez said.
He’s not alone. Miami ranked the third-highest city in a national survey of young people, ages 18-34, with no children who said they were “very likely” or “likely” to leave their town, according to Gensler, a global design and architecture firm that conducted the survey.
In contrast, San Diego and Boston have much smaller percentages of young people fleeing, with both cities under 30 percent. The Gensler study, conducted last year and released earlier this year, stated the cost of living, jobs, health care, crime and public transportation are among the most important factors when young people choose where to live.
The survey found 51.8 percent of Miami’s young residents were likely to leave, while Baltimore ranked the highest with 61.6 percent and Charlotte, North Carolina, came in second with 58.3 percent ready for greener pastures. Detroit placed just behind Miami in fourth with 51.6 percent of young people very likely or likely to leave.
Dr. Edward Murray, associate director of the Metropolitan Center at FIU, said the area’s economy is a key factor in the trend.
“Miami-Dade county is reliant on three major industry sectors — leisure and hospitality, health care and retail. They comprise about 60% of Miami Dade’s employment base yet most of those jobs in those three sectors are low-wage service jobs,” Murray said. “Those occupations in our core industries do not provide enough for anybody to be able to afford the current rent and home prices.”
Ryan Gleicher, 24, was born and raised in Westport, Connecticut, before he moved to Miami in 2019 in order to attend the University of Miami, where he double majored in broadcast journalism and public relations.
After graduating, he jumpstarted his career by working as a producer for “CBS Miami” for two years, where he covered local news. Until he got the opportunity to work as a writer for “Fox News” in New York City.
“I knew I had to take it,” Gleicher said. “It was the opportunity of a lifetime, and I don’t regret it at all.”
He left Miami last August and temporarily moved back to Connecticut to “get his ducks in a row” before moving to New York in October.
While he describes the move as a “difficult decision,” Gleicher says he’s been thriving in New York.
“New York City has a lot to offer, it’s where I got my big break and I’m sure many other people did as well,” Gleicher said. “I don’t think the same can be said for Miami.”
Cara Gilliland, 25, was born and raised in Vero Beach before moving to Miami at 17 for six years. While she enjoyed the different cultures the city had to offer, overcrowding and high cost of living was what ultimately led her back to Vero Beach, where she now works at Citrus Elementary School as a third grade English Language Arts and Social Studies teacher.
“Keeping up in Miami was just very expensive, and now I don’t have to deal with its traffic anymore,” Gilliland said. “I wanted to move somewhere that was less populated so that led me back to Vero, which is a much smaller town.”
During her time in Miami, she worked as a waitress at “Forno Italiano Pizzeria” and then as a receptionist at “Love Nail Salon,” while attending the University of Miami.
After graduation, Gilliland longed to become a teacher but felt the salary ultimately wouldn’t be adequate enough to sustain a comfortable, stable life in the city.
“I just don’t see how it would be worth it to stay there if you want to be smart with your money,” Gilliland said. “We don’t have it like our parents used to, back in the day.”
For his part, Gutierrez, the FIU student who is set to New York for theater after he graduates next year, agrees it’s the Miami job market that is driving many young people away.
“Entry-level positions basically do not exist here, it leaves college students feeling stuck after they graduate,” Gutierrez said.
While specific data for Miami isn’t available, the national unemployment rate for college graduates, ages 20-24, was 9.3 percent in August, more than double the overall during the same time period, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Having to rely on the FIU bus system between campuses to attend his classes, which some days would be on both the Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay campuses approximately 20 miles apart, Gutierrez also hopes that Miami will improve its public transportation.
“I wish I could take the train everywhere, to school or downtown, that would be a blast,” Gutierrez said.
“I do love Miami as a whole but realistically,” he added, “there’s so many other places out there where I could have a better life and be at peace.”
