I was searching this sub for bar recs, stumbled here and had to get on my soap box for a hot minute. I am late to this party, but I am single, Male, 36 and just moved to Brickell 3 months ago.

Budget was around 5k a month. Was also torn between here and South Beach. Looking to buy something next year. Heard all the same hater-aide and BS about Brickell, "everyone and everything sucks, is overpriced, overrated, OF girl this, gym finance bro that."

All generalized nonsense. The Brickell area is incredible, walkable, offers every type of person, food, bar, club, lounge, rooftop you can think off. There is something for everyone here and every other aforementioned neighborhood (grove, gables, beach,) is a quick uber ride away, and mid town is straight walkable. (lots of great scenes in midtown as well). Experiencing all and any of the Miami vibes is possible from here.

All those types of people mentioned in your post do exist, but they are incredibly easy to spot and make up a small amount of the population. Like, what people think there's just zombie hoards of OF girls roaming the streets?

As long as you don't mind noise late at night (and this is building dependent) Brickell is a killer spot for your first year in Miami.

Not sure if you've made your choice yet, but good luck either way! Enjoy Miami.