I live in Miami and I find it almost impossible to find real tech people. I was just wondering if anyone had a theory on why certain cities have so many coders and techies while others are barren.
One of the problems with the rest of Florida is that Orlando seems to attract all of the talent in the area. So it leaves the other areas such as Miami, Jacksonville and to a lesser extent Tampa at a loss for talent (not saying there are not talented people, just that many head for other areas) due to the fact that many developers that stay in Florida eventually wind up in Orlando and to a lesser extent Tampa.<p>On a personal level, I had the choice of going to Miami or Orlando when I started my career. I opted for Orlando due to less crime and a generally friendlier community. Miami has been voted the worst city to drive in for several years for a reason. Given the option of Orlando or Tampa if one wants to be on the water, many opt to forgo Miami. I did, and I know many others that do for the same reasons.
<a href="http://www.meetup.com/south-florida-hack-and-tell/" rel="nofollow">http://www.meetup.com/south-florida-hack-and-tell/</a> - run by Mike Greenberg<p><a href="http://refreshsofla.org/" rel="nofollow">http://refreshsofla.org/</a> - run by Brian Breslin<p><a href="http://miamitechevents.com/" rel="nofollow">http://miamitechevents.com/</a> - run by Brian Breslin<p><a href="http://agustinaprigoshin.com/oec" rel="nofollow">http://agustinaprigoshin.com/oec</a> - run by Agustina Prigoshin<p>But, what I've found... in most cities, programmers get off work and like to talk. South Florida? 5pm... out to SoBe or any of the other spots - office/work isn't thought of until 9:30 Monday morning.
I and 3 of my best friends are moving to Florida at the end of this month. So don't say its devoid of programmers just yet.<p>Whilst not as premier as Silicon Valley, Florida has great things going for it as a hacker:<p>1. It's cheap living in warm weather<p>2. It has concentrations of paying customers in clear demographics and dilineated geographic areas (i.e. state-wide suburbia and ethnic enclaves).<p>3. It's a nice place to find angel investors if you have the right product---the next facebook might not find investment here, but something that makes the lives of baby boomers easier will.
Tech people are young, like the presence of others their type/age, cool enviroment, etc. Based on CSI Miami (seriously, how else am I meant to know :P) it's none of those things. Pretty high murder rate, I doubt there's many tech people in Vegas either.