Miami is developing what's called Wall Street South and it's taking massive business away
from New York San Francisco and even Chicago so definitely more affordable the cost of living is
uh cheaper 20% 30% the founder of amazon.com taking his talents to Miami Miami I think
represents the future of America work life balance and that's something I needed leaving New York as
well I was burned out I was exhausted New York has lost more than $1 trillion do in business
much of it going to Florida most people here are telling me better weather and lower taxes
are their main reasons on the average Miami is one of the safest big cities in the United States the
pandemic started it a lot of people left the city it was getting dirtier crime rates went up Miami
seemed to be like an attractive destination during covid they're like oh wow you can live
here too there's no personal income tax we have a business friendly environment great weather
all year out and the Summers aren't that bad today construction is booming prices are surging you've
got McKenzie KPMG Equinox we work I mean these are all Staples of any big city and then you're seeing
guys like Jeff Bezos retiring here Citadel Ken Griffin like coming down here who are like later
in life wanting to like have a change in Pace Ken Griffin his thing was obviously taxes but he felt
that Chicago was not business friendly and not safe I'm discovering that amidst Rising crime
and high taxes in places like New York and San Francisco Miami feels a bit unreal but is this
all just too good to be true those articles got me down here and then I haven't really heard
much since pay like two grand a month to like take women out like it's stupid dude and what does it
mean for locals here who can no longer afford rent and how is this city becoming a booming Financial
Hub and Gateway to Latin America I do notice a lot more New Yorkers here and I think honestly
when I was younger Miami always had for lack of better wording like spice the city has it
all it has the beach it has the party scene it has creative people during Co during The Way We Were
we're talking about more people came from Latin America but not the regular one that just wanted
to buy an apartment or real estate but people with ideas with money willing to change and to
to impact and also to show the world that they were not just successful in their own country
it used to be a pit stop now it's the destination Citadel is a more than $50 billion hedge fund and
it moved its headquarters from Chicago to Miami meanwhile Goldman Sachs Blackstone and 72 have set
up offices around here it's these moves that are setting up Miami to take on New York head on but
if Citadel which is like one of the best paying hedge funds in the world can really relocate and
then attract all that Talent who's still going to make 300K out of college they're going to be
right there people going to come they're going to stay I meet several people who have moved to
Miami in recent years this place is called the Hub at office logic it's a 20,000 space for startups
and companies and it's the former headquarters of Crystal Cruises which went out of business in
2020 one of the biggest draws here is housing in real estate the average price per square foot in
this building is about $500 now compare that with Manhattan where the average price per square foot
is over $1,500 and this is a beautiful building I'm in the 19th floor it's very spacious and check
out this view this kind of spaciousness is hard to come by in New York City the cost of living is far
lower it is high compared to Florida and the South but not San Francisco and New York City Miami's
government is investing lots of money to position itself as a hub it's attracting tech companies and
startups into Miami there's an organization called Venture Miami their mission is to make Miami the
capital of capital and then there's this program called built in Miami a six-month program for
early stage entrepreneurs to help them grow their business in Miami and provide resources mentorship
and access to investors this place in Miami is really beautiful and honestly it's so much nicer
so much cleaner and less chaotic than New York and it's hard to even compare it to San Francisco
because of everything that's happening there but housing in beaches aside the one thing everyone
I interview here brings up is taxes see Florida has zero state income tax but New York's top tax
rate is almost 11% and if you live in New York City itself the top rate is 14.8% while in Miami
it's zero Miami has always had those benefits the taxes the business fail but it was always
perceived as a place you could just go and party it wasn't a place that was perceived as somewhere
you get work done during Co everyone's would have figured out oh wow you can live here a year round
it's beneficial to spend 6 months here and maybe like 5 months and 29 days in y I own the business
business tax in New York was 15.3% down here it's 6 so like that alone is crazy but this massive
shift isn't just Tech and finance but other Industries as well I meet this shop owner in Miami
I see it happen there's so many people that just moved here and then in their early 20s but before
really it was New York or La she stopped living in New York and stopped living in Los Angeles
and set up her business in Miami the creative scene has just expanded so much so many creative
[Music] people nowadays but that wasn't the case before others say the work life balance is so much
better in Miami than New York the healthiest James like me like lost 30 lbs has been in Miami because
I'm able to prioritize myself but over the past few years Miami Rent prices have surged like crazy
making it much less affordable than in the past they have dramatically gone up when I first moved
here I had a studio in like on the 35th floor of a great building for like 1,600 those go for $2,500
$3,000 now if you're a project manager where you can make like anywhere from 100 to 130 in New York
but you're making maybe 80 to 90 here but you're paying the same in rent it's might not be worth
it when everyone their mother moved here from New York City it filled those up and the developers
weren't ready for that influence luux and we were right at the end of a boom there are 26,000 new
units under construction or in process in Miami and that is just in this downtown area which
is about 3 m by 2 mies all of this has led to a housing crisis as some people who have been here
for decades say they can no longer afford to live here a lot of New Yorkers a lot of international
people are moving to Miami with a lot of money and the people that are in Miami don't have enough
salary to keep up with the increasing rent since 2019 rent here has soared 56% I wouldn't blame
the new wave of people because I think they're creating wealth here and giving more opportunities
I also understand that there's people that have been left behind there's just not enough
infrastructure here yet to really support such a growth I think the city needs to invest a lot in
uh you know roads and subway system there's huge influx of people but the city cannot support it
despite the surges if you're coming from New York or San Francisco well you still can't compare the
value you get here in Miami because the average monthly cost to rent a unit in Manhattan is
around $5,500 while in Miami that's around $2400 according to data compiled by Business Insider
but let's go over four big challenges that Miami is facing to really take on Wall Street head on
number one New York's Financial ecosystem and infrastructure are deeply entrenched and to
challenge that Miami needs to build its own robust network of banks trading firms and legal services
number two talent pool while Miami is attracting Talent especially in Tech Wall Street requires
a really specific skill set and building a deep pool of experienced Financial professionals will
take time and investment number three is cultural differences Miami's atmosphere is less fast-paced
and intense than New York's and that might not appeal to all Finance professionals that are kind
of used to high pressure environment and number four is regulatory burdens building a financial
Hub requires navigating complex regulations and that can be daunting for smaller or newer players
in the market like Miami in fact a lot of VCS seem to still not take Miami all that seriously they're
not really investing locally they're still going to San Francisco and New York to attract more
people it's just really going to take time not the best quality here right of like homegrown
Miami Founders it's a lot of transplants another challenge that Miami is facing is actually global
warming a lot of things could happen in in between but preparing the city for global warming that's
the biggest challenge especially a place like South Beach or Miami Beach which they say will
go underwater in 15 years Miami is considering building a 20 foot seaw wall in anticipation for
Rising seaw walls but if Miami can overcome challenges like these I really can see it
being a prime hub for not just the us but Latin America as well see its proximity and strong ties
to Latin America offer access to a massively growing Dynamic market and that's providing
opportunities for lots of invest investment and expansion nowadays it has the creative people
it's becoming more and more aesthetic in terms of creativity and I do notice that there's a lot
more New Yorkers here I just think like people finally saw the potential of Miami and I like
it now because the thing about New York and La is that I would walk around and off the bat you meet
creatives people will purchase their secondary homes if you're from New York and I've sort of
noticed this trend over the last few years that I've been here but it's really easy to get tired
of New York it's it's a lot it's a big city there's a lot going on so people always like
to have little getaway homes and Florida is a fantastic Place well think about in New York
no one makes eye contact you see a million people a day like you're just walking past everybody no
one says hello everyone's mad at you I do think Miami is in next New York which is so crazy for
me to say because 3 years ago I would have said you are insane but nowadays I'm like I see it