I can't wait to move to Orlando despite the Naysayers (Miami: real estate, property taxes)

[stugots32837]

Originally Posted by THASPECIAL

35 YEARS ago = ORLANDO didn't have crack......oh now i remember all the crackheads in Orlando back in 72'


you been on here the same amount of time....dont play like you dont have other important things either....we all have a little free time and we do things like this to entertain our brains ......if my schedule was different maybe i would go be a security rent a cop with no power to really do anything for a couple hours but im sorry chief.....i get out of work from anywhere around 3:40am - 5am.....so i really dont know who can use my citizens patrol from 6am-9am in my doing chores resting after work time......you have free time to ....why are you always on this site?

I have been on the past few days because I've been under the weather & took a few days off.

But I do volenteer my time & money to better my community. I can write a post & do other things, sir. Good try though.

If you don't think crack has been around as long as coke itself, then you are the one mistaken.

People cooked coke in their homes. Richard Pyor caught himself on fire cooking coke in the 70s. Look it up. It shouldn't be that hard to prove.

[THASPECIAL]

Originally Posted by stugots32837

I have been on the past few days because I've been under the weather & took a few days off.

But I do volenteer my time & money to better my community. I can write a post & do other things, sir. Good try though.

I'm just saying that we are all on here within that gap of free time in the day where we relax from working....its not like i am not trying to do something with this life....im just taking steps to get there but might be way behind others my age ....as for people wanting to move to Orlando .....good luck.....just keep some things you've heard in your mind .......i think alot of people on the Orlando forum like myself are not directing our views on Orlando to people that live here really, but more to those people who ask about the area and just visit the tourist area ......some of those people dont realize the actuall city of Orlando is not the area where the hotels are....and someone should inform these people about the good areas (which people in better financial situations can do) and the bad areas (which people like me and others that have experience in these issues can inform them on)......i dont want to fight ....i just want to state what i see as real in Orlando for people like me living here nowadays....others can say what they want...all i know is how to explain the issues ive had here and report the good things and places you can go living here...

[Keeper]

please get back on topic or post will be closed. If you want to discuss the drug problem, create a new thread

[Magnulus]

Originally Posted by oresident

Oviedo is just a suburb so I don't know if the employment situation within its boundaries really indicates much. The people there obviously work somewhere. Maybe you've been around Oviedo longer so you aren't seeing change as fast as you'd like, but from my perspective it looks like it has potential.

I've lived in Oviedo 12 years. The changes here have been mostly negative. It started out as a rural city/town (it is an actual city, not an unincorporated area) with very little traffic, and has grown into just a bunch of strip malls. There are a few areas that are decently developed but mostly it is just the same junk you'll find in the rest of the country- suburban sprawl. The growth has made traffic worse, and the road network is inadequate during rush hour. It's not that the roads aren't wide enough, there are not enough of them. The area has basicly only four major roads Broadway, Mitchell Hammock and McCulloch (which run east and west) and Alafaya Trail running north and south. The roads are spaced far apart and there are few, if any intermediary roads. I live right next to Seminole Community College as the crow flies, but via the streets it is more like 2 1/2 miles. That's how inefficient the road networks are.

Oviedo and every other Florida town does need local employment, because the area is so big and traffic is generally bad, especially at rush hour. People who do commute long distances to get a job or whatever are sacrificing alot of sanity and family/leisure time. It really isn't like a traditional city with suburbs, because Orlando as such doesn't have much of a downtown to commute to- most of the jobs are in the suburbs and surrounding cities/towns. You are just as likely to have to commute to Lake Mary, Sanford, or Kississimmee as you are Orlando. Atlanta or Southern California is much the same, and both are considered traffic nightmares. So Central Florida's future is going to be lots of gridlock just like those cities. That should be chilling for anybody to consider.

[bdpop]

I have always thought of the Oralndo area as one big suburb with no big city to support it.

[oresident]

Originally Posted by Magnulus

I've lived in Oviedo 12 years. The changes here have been mostly negative. It started out as a rural city/town (it is an actual city, not an unincorporated area) with very little traffic, and has grown into just a bunch of strip malls. There are a few areas that are decently developed but mostly it is just the same junk you'll find in the rest of the country- suburban sprawl. The growth has made traffic worse, and the road network is inadequate during rush hour. It's not that the roads aren't wide enough, there are not enough of them. The area has basicly only four major roads Broadway, Mitchell Hammock and McCulloch (which run east and west) and Alafaya Trail running north and south. The roads are spaced far apart and there are few, if any intermediary roads. I live right next to Seminole Community College as the crow flies, but via the streets it is more like 2 1/2 miles. That's how inefficient the road networks are.

Oviedo and every other Florida town does need local employment, because the area is so big and traffic is generally bad, especially at rush hour. People who do commute long distances to get a job or whatever are sacrificing alot of sanity and family/leisure time. It really isn't like a traditional city with suburbs, because Orlando as such doesn't have much of a downtown to commute to- most of the jobs are in the suburbs and surrounding cities/towns. You are just as likely to have to commute to Lake Mary, Sanford, or Kississimmee as you are Orlando. Atlanta or Southern California is much the same, and both are considered traffic nightmares. So Central Florida's future is going to be lots of gridlock just like those cities. That should be chilling for anybody to consider.

There is definitely an issue with strip malls around here. These disgusting tasteless patches of concrete are everywhere, including Oviedo. Doesn't anyone ever just build a store by itself? Why do we always need 15 stores and a giant parking lot? Like how about a local store near some houses so people can walk over and get something without a car?

But I'm not sure I'm following your concern with commutes and jobs. You make it sound like the fact that everyone doesn't need to commute downtown is a bad thing? Isn't that actually better for traffic because it distributes it in different directions? I really don't understand why you think there needs to be a huge business sector in Oviedo, which is a nice place to live precisely because there isn't one. You really want a bunch of office towers to move into the middle of Oviedo? There are plenty of jobs in the surrounding area. The research park is 4 miles away- a very short commute by any city's standards.

ores

[Magnulus]

Research Park employs mostly just engineers, though. I know exactly where it is, and it isn't that far (it is more like 5-8 miles away from where I live), but the only job listings I see, I am not remotely qualified for. Maybe there are clerical positions. I signed up with a temp agency so maybe I will get lucky. I have some skills such as I am multilingual and can type 60 words per minute, I know a little about Excel, and I'm computer literate.

I don't own a car as such. I only own several large scooters and certain parts of the Orlando area are absolutely scary to ride around. I do have access to a car that me and my mom share but I don't want to deprive her of a car. I did some test rides one time in downtown Orlando (unusual for motorcycles/scooters but I agreed to buy if I crashed it and I was paying in cash), around Orange Blossom Trail and it was an absolute madhouse, the only place I've had people actually cut me off several times and I got to test out the brakes real fast. I would never commute down there if I had a choice, it is one big ugly mess, strip malls gone wild and equally bad drivers. Frankly it's a dump.

Honestly I am thinking if the Spherion temp business doesn't work out, that I'm going to sell some of my lesser-used bikes and with what little money I get, get the hell out of Orlando. I just can't make it here. I'm a military brat so I didn't exactly choose to live in Orlando, I was just following the parents around. There used to be a DFAS and Naval base here that my dad worked at as the head of the defense finance accounting service, but that got shut down (near current Baldwin Park). Except for a year and a half living in Tulsa with my grandparents, this place is as close to a home as I have had in the last 14 years, and I really don't feel like I fit in here. My cousin has a heck of alot easier time finding a job in Tulsa than I have in Orlando, and we have similar educational experiences. I've even got alot more skills he doesn't have.

I tell you I really noticed Orlando going to **** around 1999-2000 timeframe. Wild developement, and the individual towns like Casselberry, Oviedo, Winter Springs, and Winter Park started blurring together with the islands of strip malls. I think the housing bubble caught up with Orlando and that's why there has been so much growth here. I ride out to the outskirts near highway 50 and you can see some deserted houses and lots of "for sale" and "for rent" signs., so I believe the growth is slowing down. There are also far, far more Hispanics here than there were a decade ago, the character of Orlando has changed quite a bit. It's more like Miami now.

Actually what is needed for traffic are lots of local jobs. People commuting across town create traffic. The shorter the trip you make, the less traffic you get. Also, they need more roads, in a semi-grid layout. Folks say there are so many lakes you cannot have grids, but that is an excuse more or less. You might not have a perfect grid but you can have something close. For local trips sometimes you have to compete with the same traffic that is going all the way across town. In alot of more traditional cities that are on a grid, there are always other ways for traffic to get to where it wants to go, by use of side streets or neighborhoods. That's also why U-turns are so common in Orlando. If you miss a turn you cannot simply turn right a few times like you would in a traditional city layout. Often you must turn left several times instead, or do a u-turn, which are far more risky manouvers and tie up traffic moreso.

[oresident]

Originally Posted by Magnulus

Research Park employs mostly just engineers, though. I know exactly where it is, and it isn't that far (it is more like 5-8 miles away from where I live), but the only job listings I see, I am not remotely qualified for. Maybe there are clerical positions. I signed up with a temp agency so maybe I will get lucky. I have some skills such as I am multilingual and can type 60 words per minute, I know a little about Excel, and I'm computer literate.

I don't own a car as such. I only own several large scooters and certain parts of the Orlando area are absolutely scary to ride around. I do have access to a car that me and my mom share but I don't want to deprive her of a car. I did some test rides one time in downtown Orlando (unusual for motorcycles/scooters but I agreed to buy if I crashed it and I was paying in cash), around Orange Blossom Trail and it was an absolute madhouse, the only place I've had people actually cut me off several times and I got to test out the brakes real fast. I would never commute down there if I had a choice, it is one big ugly mess, strip malls gone wild and equally bad drivers. Frankly it's a dump.

Honestly I am thinking if the Spherion temp business doesn't work out, that I'm going to sell some of my lesser-used bikes and with what little money I get, get the hell out of Orlando. I just can't make it here. I'm a military brat so I didn't exactly choose to live in Orlando, I was just following the parents around. There used to be a DFAS and Naval base here that my dad worked at as the head of the defense finance accounting service, but that got shut down (near current Baldwin Park). Except for a year and a half living in Tulsa with my grandparents, this place is as close to a home as I have had in the last 14 years, and I really don't feel like I fit in here. My cousin has a heck of alot easier time finding a job in Tulsa than I have in Orlando, and we have similar educational experiences. I've even got alot more skills he doesn't have.

I tell you I really noticed Orlando going to **** around 1999-2000 timeframe. Wild developement, and the individual towns like Casselberry, Oviedo, Winter Springs, and Winter Park started blurring together with the islands of strip malls. I think the housing bubble caught up with Orlando and that's why there has been so much growth here. I ride out to the outskirts near highway 50 and you can see some deserted houses and lots of "for sale" and "for rent" signs., so I believe the growth is slowing down. There are also far, far more Hispanics here than there were a decade ago, the character of Orlando has changed quite a bit. It's more like Miami now.

One thing though I think you're wrong about is that they should build more big roads. The big roads like Mitchell Hammock are the REASON there are strip malls everywhere. Big roads are impossible to walk on so everything is build around them for cars. The fact that Oviedo has only four big roads is great news, not bad news. What we need more of are small roads so that there are "back routes" between nearby places that don't require going on the main roads. The problem is that everywhere you go requires going onto one of the main roads. If there were small roads connecting places, then they could put business in between the large roads that people would actually walk to on the small roads. So don't tell anyone to build more atrocious massive roads!

ores

[Magnulus]

Oh, I agree completely and I think you misunderstood my point. We need more small streets you can cross on foot.

This layout (the one used predominantly in Orlando and the rest of the US in suburbs) is what developers and urban architects/planners call "pods". Pods are the stuff that people need- schools, shopping, churches, houses, hospitals, etc. Each pod is segregated and does not directly connect to another pod area. The roads are setup with feeder streets and arterial roads. Neighborhoods feed into feeder roads or avenues, which in turn feed into arterial roads. It is sort of a "tree" like structure with a hierarchy of roads.

The pod layout's problems are that traffic gets increasingly congested the further up the hierachy you go, and the roads have to get wider and wider as well to keep pace with the traffic. Because most of the traffic is along the arterial roads, businesses rarely have a reason to locate onto feeder streets, so the arterial road gets even more congested. Also, it doesn't necessarily make good use of space since trips sometimes are longer using the arterial roads than they would be "as the crow flies". The example of me being only about 1 mile from SCC, but 2 1/2 miles driving is a perfect example. It's extreme, but it's an obvious example.

The pod layout is a decidely modernist invention inspired by the automobile and the mechanization of society, and infatuated with anything on a superhuman scale or speed. They literally took the human factor out the equation, replacing the needs of people with the needs of cars. The US in particular was the main "beneficiary" of this design philosophy since Europe was already built up.

[kastika]

actually, women can use ur citizens patrol, thaspecial, 5 am is the most likely time for women to be kidnapped and raped.

this is why i dont go to the gym in the morning. at our gym in ny we had a security guy sitting out in the parking lot in a car.