Where to begin when learning C? Start at http://c.learncodethehardway.org/. It's going to be tough to top Zed Shaw's approach. The best way to learn code is by writing code.
Local Miami resident here and I'm glad to see the startup community is finally getting some investment. I moved from DC 2 years ago and the only jobs I found were enterprise .NET/Java position about 30-60 min away from Miami in Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton. I really enjoy living in Miami, but it's difficult to find a well paying job here, good devs will make about $90K. The reason is there's just not enough demand for the skillset. Hopefully that will change once the startup community here matures. One note about cost of living, compared to other cities the cost of living in Miami (proper or Miami Beach) is on par with any other large metro area (excluding NYC and SF of course). This coupled with the lower salaries makes moving to Miami a tough sell.