T+ 32 hours

I landed at 3 PM, Saturday, August 7, 2010.  Three nights a an apartment I am considering renting were prearranged.  I took the 150 Airport flyer ($2.35 well spent) to Lincoln Rd. and Washington Ave. and walked 5 blocks to my possibly future home.

Internet was freely commandeered from a neighbor as promised (Thanks owner of the "Rockhard" router near 1460 Ocean Dr.)

All three additional apartments visited were also close to the most touristy area of SoBe.  Further research revealed no real grocery stored within a mile of the my current apartment.  I don't want to have a car, so this created some icconvenience.  In addition, walking around revealed no restaurants appropriate for regular consumption, meaning high quality with reasonable prices.  All were targeted towards SoBe tourists.  Typically, tourest restaurants are in the best locations and serve the blandest food, unless you consider salt tasty.  With a low probability of creating a long-term customer, why not maximize single visit profits.  Tourists typically have inferior information to locals, so the resaurants who cater to them are not nearly so concerned with reputatsions, though the internet and sites such as Yelp.com are changing that.  Finally, the typical south beach tourist does not appear to be here for the food so much as the drink, causing the food to suffer.

Today, Sunday, I visited two apartments down by 5th St. and found a pleasant local grocery, Meridian Market, with a butcher shop where I witness the cutting of, I think, top round.  A good grocery store is a sign of a neighborhood where people actually live as opposed to show up to escape reality.  To the extent you can locate a good grocery store, consider finding an apartment near by.  By this was a good, small, cheap, restaurant obviously catering to locals.  Another good sign.  A good grocery and a couple good hole-in-the-wall restaurants are far more happing enhancing than all of the view proprietors who also sell food and drink.

Surprisingly, the distance from where I am staying now and where I will live is only about a 1.2 miles.  The new place is 5 blocks from the beach.  Think I can manage?

Lessons:

1. The high rent in the most touristy areas does not equal high quality of life.

2. Get a place where the businesses rely on repeat customs (locals) for survival.  Demand externalities can be your friend.  Because locals will only come back if the food is good and the business relies on locals to survive, you will get a good deal thanks to the locals.  Of course some businesses have developed ways of price discriminating between locals and tourists.  The gym, Equinox, today asked what I did for a living prior to giving me a price, because they have a discount for people in the hospitality industry.  Do the love bartenders or simply realize that this group is more price sensitive than the millionaire condo owners who live near by, plus the gym is nowhere near capacity so the cost of servicing a new member is nearly zero.