Everyday life in Kissimmee area? + Celebration seen by 0rlandoans. (Orlando: lawyer, gated)

[magnyseb]

Hello!
I'm from Val d'Europe, France, (30 miles east of Paris) a town created by Disney and the French government. It's actually composed of 4 old villages around the Disneyland Resort Paris.
Most of it, and the resort, emerged from fields of beets.
Some people criticize this city as having no culture or history, being just another Disney theme park etc.
I wanted to have the feeling of Orlandoans as to Celebration: what do you think of people who live there, why don't YOU live there etc.


Kissimmmee area inhabitants:
Do you like your city? Why did you choose to live there? Are you a Disney fan? Do you work for Disney?

At first sight, one could compare Celebration to Val d'Europe but I'd rather compare Val d'Europe to Kissimmee, as we are not a closed community like I think Celebration is.
if you want to learn more about VDE, here is the official web site:
Val d'Europe - Entreprise, société & idées neuves
If you want to read about VDE, as seen from its inhabitants, here is MY forum.
Deleted
It's in French, but there's an English section which i'd love to get more lively. So feel free to register and post!

We set up an inhabitants non profit organization and I'm sure we could exchange about our experience as the first world tourist destination (for you) and 1st european tourist destination. (us) Everything is being built here, schools, shops, a hospital, of course many houses and apartments, soon a new tourism resort by Disney and Pierre et Vacances called "Les Villages Nature"...Unfortunately, like I read in another post, cows are replaced by houses even if everything is made to maintain a certain balance between city and nature.
Come and share your experience.
thanks!

[AJ67]

Celebration is way to Expensvie to live in For the Average Floridian...most that live there are Drs, Lawyers, Disney Execs...and so on...Im not so sure that Celebration is as close nit as you think it is ...

[magnyseb]

I didn't say Celebration is close knit.
I said it seems to be a closed community, meaning a "gated" one.
Your answer seems to confirm this. (high salary jobs) But i sthi strue or just you're feeling?
because that's exactly what people thought of Val d'Europe and it isn't true.

[AJ67]

oh Sorry, I missed read your post...I don't think its gated.. because it has become almost as much as a Tourist Attraction as its Big Brother Disney world...

I can't speak about Living in Celebration, because i could never afford it, well i could but , i would rather spend my money on other things. such as a good Education for our Child...
Celebration is a lovely little town, with alot to offer...
we go there alot to do some Cacheing and To the Festivals and stuff...

[magnyseb]

I'm sorry the url of my site has been deleted by Sunrico90. It isn't an ad as my forum isn't a paying service and I posted the URL only because I'd like to share your experience with my inhabitant association and maybe twin our city with Kissimmee city. I remind you that we live in France. By the way, the only ads I see on your pages are from Google, for villas and stuff.

Anyway, I learned Celebration isn't owned by Disney anymore so maybe it's more open to the outside world. What do people think about it?

Is Kissimmee a nice place or is it becoming unsafe like Orlando?

[gimme5]

Salut Seb!

I'm originally from France (Marseille), now living in the Poinciana area of Kissimmee.

What do I think of Celebration? Beautiful town, nice homes, too expensive for me. I'd probably live there if the prices were lower. The people who live there are for the most part more well to do than the average inhabitant of Central Florida. Celebration is NOT a gated community. You can come and go as you please.

What do I think of my city? I like it, I enjoy living here. I like the weather (except in summer), I like being pretty close to the parks, I like seeing my area improve little by little (new stores, new restaurants...). I like not being too far from the beach (a little over 1 hour drive), and being able to watch shuttle launches from my backyard

Why did I choose to live here? My wife and I used to live in San Jose, CA, we came here on vacation and we loved it. Being a self-employed web designer, I can work from anywhere in the world, so why not here? At the time we decided to move, the house prices were an absolute bargain, so we took the plunge and moved cross-country.

I'm not necessarily a Disney fan, but I love theme parks in general. We have annual passes to Universal Orlando and we use them quite a bit.

[magnyseb]

Cool!
Indeed, being a web- designer, you can work anywhere!
Poinciana!!!
I read in another post this is THE place one should avoid, Puerto Ricans blablabla.
So being French, what do you think of this issue?

[gimme5]

Originally Posted by magnyseb

Cool!
Indeed, being a web- designer, you can work anywhere!
Poinciana!!!
I read in another post this is THE place one should avoid, Puerto Ricans blablabla.
So being French, what do you think of this issue?

What do I think? Quite honestly, I think it's blown out of proportion. In my opinion, the problem is that a lot of people bought a home in Poinciana in order to get away from the city and the headaches that come with living in a city (traffic, crime...) and with the population increasing so much and so fast (2000: 13,000 inhabitants - 2007:67,000 inhabitants), well there are going to be problems. The roads are not adequate to support rush hour traffic out of town (they're working on that --adding new roads--) and with an increase in population, there's going to be an increase in crime. Perhaps not in crime per capita, but in the general number of crimes you hear about in the papers, and in the news.

As far as I can see, it's safe around here, everywhere I go, I feel safe. The crime here is usually small time, nothing like what the situation is in (some) big cities. But, yes, I do own a shotgun just in case

Yes, there are a lot of Puerto Ricans here, but there's nothing wrong with that. There are good people and bad people of every color and nationality. At least, that's how I see it.

[AJ67]

I don't think think its unsafe, BUT i do think its starting to look like the Ghetto in some areas because no one takes care of their Property, and No one Enforces it !
The Traffic is a nightmare BUT WAY better then it was 2 yrs ago.. The New High School is offering a bit of a challenge on Pleasant Hill with Traffic jams .. but its brand new im sure they will figure out a traffic cure there!

[gimme5]

Yeah, they are a bit too lenient on people not maintaining their property.

The other day, I was walking my dog on my block, I saw that all the houses with ridiculously overgrown lots (snowbirds, or empty rentals) had received a notice from the APV. That brought a smile to my face .
A few days later, all but one have mowed their lawn.

We also had some kids putting a couple of graffiti on the street. One call to Road & Bridges, and now it's gone.