Miami vs Orlando

Miami sprawls. Outside a few dense pockets it is a car city through and through, with low walkability and neighbourhoods stitched together by highway rather than sidewalk, much like Los Angeles.

Built around a low-density footprint, Orlando offers limited day-to-day walking and a strong dependence on the car. The reward is space, with roomier homes and comfortable, if generic, suburbs.

Serious violent crime is lower than its reputation suggests, but day-to-day petty crime and how safe the streets feel after dark sit in middling territory, on par with Los Angeles and a notch below New York. Driving is the real hazard, with traffic safety worse than most large US peers.

Safety sits in the middle of the American range. Serious violent crime is uncommon in most residential areas, though perceptions of safety and comfort walking at night are only average, much like Miami and Los Angeles.

Across several industries, Miami offers a solid English-speaking market. The medical care itself is strong, with good hospitals, capable specialists, and English spoken everywhere in the system.

For English speakers, Orlando offers steady employment and low unemployment. Care is solid and entirely English-speaking, with reputable hospitals and reliable emergency rooms across the metro.

Nightlife is world-class, the restaurant scene is broad and ambitious, and the Cuban and wider Latin American influence gives the food a character no other US city replicates. Miami is glamorous and clean where it wants to be, grittier across the sprawl beyond.

Culture here is broad rather than deep. Orlando is maintained in a uniform sunbelt way, but it's pure car country with little genuine public space beyond parking lots and the parks you pay to enter.