So we don't fault Miami for engaging in a bit of back-patting promotion to counteract the occasional bad press related to local political corruption and crushing South Florida living costs (not to mention our never-ending string of machete attacks).
But if the city is going to tout itself as the best of the best, it’d behoove those doing the promoting to complete some basic research on their flex. Flattering surveys declaring Miami a premium tourist destination or solid place to open a business are fair game – but puffery only works until you start blatantly misleading your audience.
And the City of Miami tends to do just that in the name of marketing itself.
In a social media post on Tuesday, the city incorrectly declared Miami "the world's most desired city" after botching the results of a survey by Remitly.
"Miami tops global ranking of most desirable cities to live," the city's since-deleted slideshow declares. "Google searches for 'Move to Miami' topped 164 countries, outpacing Paris & NYC. This ranking highlights Miami's booming appeal as a vibrant, attractive relocation hub."
Remitly, an international money transfer company, conducted the survey by analyzing Google search results for the phrase "move to [insert city name]" from October 2022 to September in more than 160 countries and territories. The survey, entitled "Where the World Wants to Live," ranked each city based on the number of countries in which the city was the top search – which Remitly claimed was a solid indicator of the most desirable relocation destinations.
It didn’t take much muckraking for New Times to see that Miami ranked second in the study – not first as the city had proclaimed. So the city’s headline was malarkey from the get-go.
Dubai was the most searched city in 60 countries and territories, whereas Miami came in second with 12. Those dozen locations where people supposedly dream of starting a new life in our palm-tree-lined paradise include Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Greece, Belize, Chile, Argentina, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Haiti.
As far as the most desirable moving destination among U.S. states, Miami didn't even crack the top five. While New York and Portland, Oregon, ranked as the top destinations for folks looking to move out of 12 states, Miami was the top destination only for those trying to escape Connecticut and New Jersey, according to the study. (Shhh — No one tell them we are the least affordable housing market in the nation.)
The methodology of the study itself is worth scrutinizing, as tracking search volume for the phrase "Move to Dubai" might not be a comprehensive means to crown the most desirable city to relocate across the globe. Moreover, it could be argued that ranking as the most searched in countries with smaller populations like Kyrgyzstan (home to six million people) should not hold the same survey weight as being the most searched in a heavily populated country like Brazil, with some 210 million residents.
The City of Miami's social media post would have been more accurate to say, "Remitly analysis reveals Miami as
The misstep is reminiscent of another self-promotional slip-up last December, when the city's chief cheerleader and baloney peddler, Mayor Francis Suarez, proclaimed on Twitter, "Miami Ranks #1 Best City in the U.S. to Live & Work!" and linked to a CNBC story.
If he had taken the time to read past the headline, he would have realized the 2022 story was based on a survey of expats (not exactly a wide sample group) and that Miami and New York were the only U.S. cities that met the minimum number of survey responses to be included. So Suarez’s Miami-pumping post would have been more on-point to proclaim, “Miami ranks slightly better than New York on expat survey.”
Nearly a year later, Suarez, true to form, reposted the City of Miami's erroneous take on the Remitly study this week.
New Times reached out to the city's office of communications about Tuesday's back-patting blunder, and a spokesperson responded, "We researched a bit further, and as a matter of fact, you are correct."
The city took down the survey post and then dropped a new flex: "Miami has claimed the title of the 3rd most fun city in the U.S.A., according to Wallethub's latest ranking!"
