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Originally Posted by jd3189
Well, you pretty much shared some similarities already, despite them being general. Miami isn't a beach town either, and I was referring to the metros themselves in terms of their coastal beach towns ( Santa Monica/ South Beach) vs their more inland suburbs (Inland Empire/ Homestead,Loxahatchee, and everything bordering the Everglades.)
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My argument has always been that the similarities between the two places are superficial, not that there aren't any similarities of any kind whatsoever. Beaches, Latinos, and warm weather are comparisons that run skin-deep. It's not unlike someone calling Chicago a "smaller, cleaner version of NYC" because of tall buildings, cold weather, and a legacy of European immigrants.
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Although LA and Miami are the largest and most dominant cities of their respective metro areas, they aren't the main action around. At least in South Florida, you can live years in Palm Beach or Broward county without ever having to go to Miami Dade. West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale have good downtowns for their size and several other towns that complement them like Boca Raton, Delray, Pompano, Hollywood, etc.
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I agree with your first point, but disagree with the second. I wouldn't qualify large, independent municipalities with their own sphere of influence as "nodes".
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Even in Miami Dade county, a lot of the action is in South Beach as opposed to downtown Miami, which is similar to Downtown LA in that it has some old bones but is still on the path of becoming "solid".
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But downtown Miami and Miami Beach are only separated by four miles (of water). Most of the activity and appeal generally associated with "Miami" is confined to a small area of the region.
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So it can be safe to say that LA shares some similarities and differences with its Sunbelt peers. The similarities don't demean it. In fact, it makes it a bit more familiar, at least for me.
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I'm just pointing out what I see. It's not about trying to avoid associations with other Sun Belt metropoli.