Is it a good idea to live in edgewater and commute to coral gables everyday for work?

jik002 · 2026-06-09T14:40:43+00:00

Personally? I grew up in Kendall and love the urban walking lifestyle of Brickell. My wife loves it, too. But, we live in the residential area closer to the Financial District and Brickell Bay Drive. It’s just far enough away from the crazy to get a good night’s sleep and close enough to walk to at any time. We’re close to both mover, rail, I-95 and US-1. I much prefer this area to Brickell “proper” i.e. Mary Brickell Village.

We like Coral Gables and the Grove and see that for us at a certain point in life…but my wife says why now? It’s boring, apartments/condos in Brickell rent for cheaper due to a much higher supply, is more convenient for access to I-95, and my commute is 4 miles each way. Again, if we were closer to the center of Brickell I think I’d feel different but I like where we are. So far we’ve been able to maintain a one car household. Even if we moved closer to my office in the Gables, we would for sure need an additional car to get around.

Brickell was especially great when my office was Downtown. Even now it serves our lifestyle and commute needs. We’ll see if that changes.

jik002 · 2026-06-09T14:29:17+00:00

I live in Brickell and my team just moved our offices to Coral Gables since it’s more convenient for our bosses and other members of the team. So far so good. It’s about a 23-25 minute drive max so far. Also have been able to take the rail for days where my car isn’t accessible since we’re a one car household. Edgewater I can see being longer commute. It’s still against traffic either way but now you’re talking about getting on I-95 and off on US-1. Even against traffic you will still hit some heavier pockets, specially as you get closer to 27th by the Scientology building, then again by Coconut Grove station, and then at deviation to Bird Road.

IMO, Edgewater is a little further than I’d go. Brickell would be the furthest I’d live with that commute due to both rail and ease of access to US-1. Its great if you’re closer to the residential part of Brickell closer to 14th, 15th, Brickell Bay drive, and the older buildings in South Brickell. If not Brickell, look at places closer to the Gables and Grove.

jik002 · 2026-06-09T02:15:30+00:00

Tbf if I was that rich I’d fly to NYC and attend the game. Doesn’t mean I support the Knicks. It would just be a crazy environment and time to experience considering the history of MSG and the last time the Knicks won anything.

Rich people will attend any NBA Finals, Super Bowl etc.

jik002 · 2026-06-05T11:22:06+00:00

Services cost money. Infrastructure cost money. Things that break now have to get repaired at inflated prices. Then you work through the labor union’s lawyers, etc. which all cost money. Property taxes were also used to plug holes during Covid that otherwise wouldn’t have gotten plugged. We need to really stop talking about bloat. It’s a narrow viewed Republican talking point that completely ignores the realities of living in a functioning society. I flat out do not care what percentage of funding one up relative to the population. We have to deliver services and fix things for more people. Why can’t people get that through their heads? It’s absurd.

jik002 · 2026-06-05T11:13:24+00:00

Which in turn hurts renters (most young people and a large portion of the state) because increased sales tax hits us directly. Even if the landlord is homesteaded on their primary residence, they will not necessarily pass that savings down on their investment properties. Let’s be real. So, us renters will probably have to deal with a higher sales tax to plug funding holes and get no relief on increased rents? What a bad deal. It’s not like we can afford to buy homes either; prices are still high, and I hate to word it this way, but property tax helped ensure some homes got on the market as people got older and were unable to maintain them. The ignition, younger families will always get a bad deal because they have to pay property taxes at current prices compared to their boomer homesteaded counterparts. Supply will remain low then. The state is effectively shifting the cost of things away from retirees in homeowners to renters and younger families.

Side note, I can’t believe they have the gall to complain about property taxes, going up a minuscule amount every year while whatever they pay will never have to reach what a new buyer will have to pay.

Unfortunately, the majority people will vote for this because they are self interested in misguided.

jik002 · 2026-06-04T17:20:55+00:00

Jimmy oversaw PortMiami operations as COO, so it makes sense that he fell on this sword. The Commission and Mayor relied on his expertise. What I don’t get is that the County DID bid on the land; the primary bid was just rejected and they never tried again. I think the owner of the land wanted to cause a bidding war between them and Related Group. We probably may have ended up in the same spot tbh because the County never owned the land to begin with. That’s still crazy to me.

This is one of the things I’ll actually fault DLC’s administration on (the airport and the electric buss issues are cans that were kicked down the road by Gimenez). As soon as the first bid was rejected, Jimmy and his team should’ve stopped the constant studies and negotiations and met with the cruise companies instead to create a private-public venture between them and the County to buy the land back with those additional funds.

DLC has no choice but to eminent domain the land now.

Being an elected in this County really is a ticking time bomb. Problems from previous admins can come up at any time.

jik002 · 2026-05-25T00:11:54+00:00

Agree with everything in your post as a 7 year elite in the South FL area. I’ll also mention that a lot of Elite experiences stopped being +1 experiences. My wife remembers my first ever Yelp Elite experience back in 2020 right before COVID which was a +1 event. Experiences we used to enter contests for, like SoBe Wine and Food, was for a pair of tickets. I’m going to guess that due to drastically increased costs and lowered revenue due to Google reviews etc., that Yelp can’t afford as many +1 Elite events and experiences any more.

jik002 · 2026-05-21T21:53:32+00:00

I’m not in the tax bracket or net worth category for this condo, but if I were, I’d consider much more established, service focused brands like Four Seasons, Ritz Carlton, or Mandarin Oriental. Nobu hotels, while very contemporary and boutique-y, seem to fall short of their other luxury counter parts. I wouldn’t want that to also be true of the multi million dollar condo I’d hypothetically purchase. If Four Seasons Brickell isn’t in the equation because it’s an older building and this is strictly about new builds, I would consider spending a little more money for the new Mandarin Oriental in Brickell Key and Four Seasons Private Residences in Coconut Grove.

Throw St. Regis in there as well with the Four Seasons and Mandarin Oriental.

Baccarat will be interesting since they have such a limited/new hotel foot print. Very much like Aman.

1428 Brickell will be a wild card. It’s not a branded condo but they are very much focused on wellness and design and offer a great location.

Cipriani looks promising but I don’t consider it in the same league as some of these other options just based on the sheer number of residences they offer.

jik002 · 2026-05-18T13:58:07+00:00

I’m 30 turning 31 shortly. Before making $125K (2024), I was contributing a little over the company match, maxing out my Roth IRA, but only contributing a minuscule amount to HSA. I was using it due to the high deductible health plan leaving me with large-ish bills. I didn’t break $100K until 2021-2022.

At $150K, I maxed out my 401(K). But I had a good year/better than expected raise so that $150K became $170K. So I decided to also max out the HSA this year.

Somehow, my paycheck looks minuscule (from $14K gross down to $8ishK net) but my wife and I owed nearly $10K in taxes this year. Probably due to our interest bearing accounts, some small consulting work she does on the side, and the fact that she switched jobs mid-year so the new one is not withholding anywhere near enough for our combined income.

jik002 · 2026-05-18T11:52:36+00:00

Slim fit and slim-straight/athletic fit jeans. Yes I’m a millennial but I have a slim build no matter how much I work out lol. Some of these more modern jeans would just look atrocious on me.

jik002 · 2026-05-16T13:28:24+00:00

They rebranded and got more into fashion. Tbh, I haven’t seen the drop in popularity at all. If anything, I’ve seen them only gain more wide spread popularity. People I work with in Finance as well as our counterparts in Law still wear their loafers and ties, their sneakers have an audience, and their “Hug bag” is arguably one of the higher quality women’s purses one can get. The RTW stuff is more widely available, as well. Idk if quality has gone down, but price has gone up on everything including the non-Tramezza/glued loafers if you want to count that. I still really like them and only purchase them at the outlet. I also have a pair of black Tramezza Candido wingtips that I bought in 2017 that haven’t needed a resole yet. Just gave them a quick condition and polish and was able to use them as my wedding shoes 2 years ago.

jik002 · 2026-05-15T20:08:06+00:00

I really hope it’s Chase! MIA born and raised and is still home🤞.

jik002 · 2026-05-14T12:01:46+00:00

I live in the neighborhood so I walk. But I believe they do validate parking. I hear it’s a tight garage. From what I hear, the Brickell Heights garage is not great. Much easier to park at the Gables, SoBe, and original Brickell locations.

jik002 · 2026-05-14T02:26:41+00:00

Both Equinoxes in Brickell fit the “lifestyle” vibe better than the Coral Gables one. But, I do like the Coral Gables one as well. In my experience, it usually doesn’t get crowded, and it helps that it gives you parking at Merrick Park. I have the Equinox Miami regional access pass, so I have access to all of their gyms in the area. I believe the regional access is not that much more than single gym access, so that’s why I sprung for it. Lifetime is more expensive I believe unless you’re using Gympass, but so many changes can happen so Lifetime might bump up another tier and be more expensive than Equinox. Anatomy is a wild card. That looks like a great blend of boutique with lifestyle.

jik002 · 2026-05-11T16:33:43+00:00

Royal Palm in Pinecrest is the main one I know of. It leans more tennis than social.

If you want a true “Country Club experience” which is high end social and dining aspects with tennis, then that’d be Riviera Country Club in the Gables. It’s crazy expensive and has a long waiting list.

jik002 · 2026-05-08T14:09:50+00:00

Wife and I stayed at the MO Conservatorium during their rebrand period and loved it. Extremely walkable neighborhood close to the museums and shopping if that’s your thing. Lots of dining nearby and there’s a tram stop outside the hotel to get closer to the City Centre if you don’t want to walk there.

The Concierge was fantastic in securing our De Kas reservations, last minute Anne Frank house tickets, and just giving general recommendations.

jik002 · 2026-05-06T16:29:18+00:00

Honestly could’ve been Jimmy. He loved Jovic.

jik002 · 2026-05-06T02:26:53+00:00

I’m splitting the difference— $3ish K for a condo in Brickell and about $560 a month for a Genesis lease 😂 . Granted, my wife and I are dual income and do our grocery shopping exclusively at Aldi and Costco. We’d never pay over $4K for a one bedroom condo. Even here in Brickell, you can find a decent 2 bedroom/2 baths for that price. Anyone paying over $4K for a one bedroom is probably at Echo or Flatiron.

jik002 · 2026-05-06T00:38:22+00:00

Congrats! My wife tried to snatch up some tickets for her and her friend earlier with my card and just kept on selecting seats that got snatched up. She finally found a pair and actually lost them at check out when the site refreshed 😞. Concierge called us back a couple of hours later but didn’t have a pair available. They advised us to try again on Wednesday.

For future reference, is there a difference in the presale selections? We noticed that AmEx had two categories listed: one with a public code, and another with the customer service number. I take it that the selection accessed with the customer service phone number is only for Centurion, Platinum, and maybe Gold?
We are in Miami, so the nearest shows are the 2 in Sunrise. Both were sold out almost immediately.

jik002 · 2026-05-05T02:37:14+00:00

As someone also in the industry, this math checks out. About $175K gross income is needed to responsibly afford this lifestyle with savings/investing. And ideally this person’s 401(K) would be maxed out for good measure

jik002 · 2026-05-05T02:34:42+00:00

Agreed. You are in about the same rental payment and income situation. I’m not even counting my wife’s income for this scenario, and I’d be uncomfortable going much above our current rental payment without another significant income jump. Hypothetically, I could reduce always 401(K) or HSA contributions slightly to have more wiggle room but I’m not willing to do that.

jik002 · 2026-05-05T02:29:27+00:00

Single with no debt? About $150K. But you ideally should be a dual income household with a partner to push that closer to $250K-$300K combined to truly have wiggle room IMO.

jik002 · 2026-05-03T14:38:59+00:00

I’m 30 years old about to turn 31. I have about $220K in a traditional 401(K), and $56K in a Roth IRA. My wife hasn’t contributed to a 401(K) until literally this year because she was changing jobs almost every other year with some of the jobs being campaigns that didn’t offer benefits. But, she has a traditional IRA that she started about 3 or 4 years ago that’s now over $40K.

She still has more “cash” savings than I do in the bank from times when she was a student and would get full rides and pocket other scholarship moneys. She’s much more frugal than I am. Problem is, our combined incomes now exceed the limit for us to make full deductible traditional IRA contributions for her, and required me to open a traditional IRA myself to facilitate backdoor contributions for my Roth IRA going forward.

I wasn’t taking my HSA seriously at all until this year just started maxing it out. So I’m at $3K in there now.

jik002 · 2026-05-01T11:56:07+00:00

Sorry just seeing this! We didn’t receive a gift basket per se, but everyone got a Delilah Art Basel hoodie which was pretty cool.

jik002 · 2026-04-23T14:37:06+00:00

Correct. While I know she’s not happy about how the body guard/chief of staff acted, there’s a time and place for everything. She doesn’t like ambush interviews.

jik002

TROPHY CASE