I toured a Miami apartment to see how it compared to my NYC apartment, and I'm still daydreaming about the extra bathroom and outdoor space

During a trip to Miami, I was curious what it would be like to live in the sunny city.

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2022-11-23

So I took a look on Zillow and found several apartments in Miami listed around $1,650 a month, which is what I pay for my apartment in Brooklyn.

I was intrigued by a two-bedroom apartment, which listed on Zillow during my visit for $1,700 in Little Havana. That's about 40 minutes to downtown Miami on public transit.

Source: Zillow

The apartment, which is no longer available to rent as of publishing, was spread over two floors, came with extra amenities I don't have, and covered 1,100 square feet. That's more than double the size of my Brooklyn apartment.

In Brooklyn, I live in an apartment that's less than 500 square feet that is about 30 minutes from lower Manhattan by train.

According to my lease, I technically have a one-and-a-half bedroom apartment. But I only use one room as a bedroom, and have two extra tiny spaces that I use for work and recreation.

While I love my Brooklyn apartment with all its quirks — I'm looking at you, windows that face each other — I decided I had to tour this Miami apartment to see what I might be missing.

As I walked in, I was greeted by a bright, sunny kitchen about the same size as my kitchen in Brooklyn. I think it also had the same amount of counter space and cabinet storage.

My kitchen also has windows that bring in natural light, which I love.

But one cool thing about the Miami apartment kitchen, which I don't have in Brooklyn, was an interior window looking into the living room. I imagined myself being able to watch TV while doing the dishes.

In Brooklyn, my sink faces a wall, and the fridge blocks my view into my small living room.

The living room in the Miami apartment, on the other hand, felt enormous to me. I thought it appeared to be nearly triple the size of my Brooklyn apartment's living room.

I was excited when I saw a sliding patio door in the Miami apartment's living room leading to a small balcony.

I thought the patio overlooking loads of greenery in the yards below was just large enough for two people to leisurely enjoy.

Back in Brooklyn, my bedroom window opens up to a fire escape overlooking a sidewalk that I use as outdoor space.

But the fire escape in Brooklyn doesn't have enough room for two people to sit comfortably, so when I have someone over, one of us has to sit on the window sill.

As I continued my Miami apartment tour, I saw there was a half bathroom downstairs in addition to a full bathroom upstairs.

At home, I only have one small bathroom, and I thought it would be nice to have a second, especially when I have friends over.

Upstairs, the Miami apartment had two decently-sized bedrooms that I thought were a little smaller than my main bedroom in NYC. It also came with windows and large closets.

I don't have a second bedroom in Brooklyn, but my apartment has two other very small rooms that lead to the main bedroom. One I use as my music room, but I've thought about using it as a workout space or for other activities.

The other tiny room is my office, which I also use as a guest bedroom. Both of these small rooms are in the middle of my railroad apartment, so you have to walk through one room to get to the next, and neither room has natural light coming through.

But my bedroom at the back of my apartment is much larger than the other tiny rooms and has natural light coming through two windows.

My closet leaves something to be desired, though, and is about a third of the size of the wardrobes in the Miami apartment.

While the two bedrooms in Miami were about the same size as mine and had larger closets and more light, I appreciate that my Brooklyn apartment has three separate rooms, however small, that I can use for different purposes. I like the versatility.

The Miami apartment's full bath was pretty similar to mine, except it came with a neat organizer above the toilet, which I would appreciate.

At home, I stuff all my toiletries into the top two shelves of a bookcase that's crammed into a corner.

While I was touring the Miami apartment, I noticed that it had tiled floors throughout. While I prefer the wood flooring in my apartment, I thought tiles were a smart option for a humid climate like in Miami.

Overall, while I still love my tiny Brooklyn apartment and don't plan to move, I can't help but fantasize about the Miami apartment's bigger footprint, larger closets, extra outdoor space, and natural light.