Interesting Commute Statistics... (Orlando, Davie, Deltona: houses, income, living in)

[Crane's Rooster]

The seminole county burbs are better planned. As a teenager in altamonte with no car I could still get to school, the grocery store, park, best buy and the mall fairly easily. At that time thats all that I needed. For parents it was also very convenient as they didnt always need to pick me up and take me places but more importantly, it gave them another reason to justify not buying me a car yet!

[DavieJ89]

Being a teen on the far south side of Orlando is different. There's really nothing within walking distance in Hunters Creek or Southchase. And even stuff that is, walking just isn't something people here do.

I had to ride Bus 4 on OBT or bus 57 on JYP to get anywhere before I bought my car. It's a true necessity if you live in south Orlando or anywhere in Osceola County. I got my license at age 19, most all of my friends got learners permits at 15, licenses and brand new cars bought by parents for their 16th birthday.

As far as commuting is concerned, Lynx has really stepped up its game lately. I see lots of brand new buses driving around, and I've seen quite a few 60 foot articulated buses on OBT as well as I-4. And now they have several 'FastLink' routes that only run during rush hour and make infrequent stops, made just for commuters. I also hear buses are running much more frequently as well

[StreetSmarts]

1st time to Oviedo, DavieJ? Really?!?

[Infinite loop]

Wouldn't you say it's easier to drive to Lake Eola, Florida Mall or OIA from Hunters Creek than from Lake Mary?

[chopchop0]

Originally Posted by ComSense

1st time to Oviedo, DavieJ? Really?!?

Unless you take the 417 and make the point of going out there, why would anyone make a special trip out there

[DavieJ89]

Originally Posted by ComSense

1st time to Oviedo, DavieJ? Really?!?

Yes ComSense really. I met a girl who works at the Oviedo mall a week before that and went to pick her up for a date. I had to be in Seminole County Friday afternoon anyway.

The only time I had ever been to Oviedo before that was the few times I went to the Meridian Hookah bar on Alafaya

[DavieJ89]

Originally Posted by Infinite loop

Wouldn't you say it's easier to drive to Lake Eola, Florida Mall or OIA from Hunters Creek than from Lake Mary?

The Florida Mall, and OIA are both closer to my area than for Lake Mary but Downtown/Lk Eola is roughly the same distance. It's about an 18 mile trip to Downtown Orlando from Hunters Creek by way of JYP, the 528 & I-4

[Nevezan]

Originally Posted by ComSense

1st time to Oviedo, DavieJ? Really?!?

This is not really hard to believe, actually. DavieJ's experience is pretty common here in South Orlando, especially among those of us who are younger. Kind of like him, didn't get my first car until I was 18, my license at 19.

You are limited to travel especially when you are from a lower middle income family because of the cost of gas and limited car use. We have shopping, entertainment, and the airport right around the corner, sure--- but you have to drive to all of it because neighborhood planning here is abysmal. Not sure how often people are willing to drive even further out except for maybe Cocoa Beach. If you live near Hunter's Creek, there is the Loop, but no one actually bikes or walks there.

That and I imagine the large amount of immigrants from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic find their enclaves here in the South and are satisfied for the most part, and probably don't venture far enough north (this is a guess though; there are other Hispanic areas like Azalea Park, of course and much of 436, but easy access from South Chase and Meadow Woods to 436).

I'd wager that most South Orlando-ians probably know at most as north as Park Avenue in Winter Park and the Downtown core. Actually, I've had friends who have never even heard of Winter Park until I brought it up. Then again, I've also known people here who have never been north of Sandlake or Oakridge roads. It's a bit depressing, I must admit, lol.

[DavieJ89]

Originally Posted by Nevezan

This is not really hard to believe, actually. DavieJ's experience is pretty common here in South Orlando, especially among those of us who are younger. Kind of like him, didn't get my first car until I was 18, my license at 19.

You are limited to travel especially when you are from a lower middle income family because of the cost of gas and limited car use. We have shopping, entertainment, and the airport right around the corner, sure--- but you have to drive to all of it because neighborhood planning here is abysmal. Not sure how often people are willing to drive even further out except for maybe Cocoa Beach. If you live near Hunter's Creek, there is the Loop, but no one actually bikes or walks there.

THIS! And yeah you're right, most South Orlando residents don't venture too much further north than Downtown Orlando or Winter Park. I usually don't go much further than that myself unless I absolutely HAVE to. But I do spend time in Downtown about 2-3x a week just because I like being there.

Hunter's Creek, Meadow Woods, and Southchase are more like "Kissimmee suburbs" in a sense that even though our address may have an Orlando zip code, we are closer to downtown Kissimmee than downtown Orlando, and even though I live just 3-4 miles north of the Osceola County line, I NEVER go there unless its to visit a friend or shop at the Loop

Crane's Rooster made a good point that Seminole County's suburbs are better planned, this also applies to Winter Park, Maitland and the older areas of Orlando around the downtown core. These areas are "old" and had slowly been developed on over a period of time. Of course there are newer developments in these areas as well but my point is, areas that grow more slowly seem to be better planned if that makes sense.

All the residential development in Orlando south of the 528 pretty much sprang out of nowhere in the 1980s and 1990s into a typical 80s-90s built exurb. Far from the downtown core, spread out, very little within walking distance, lacking public transportation, with strip mall after strip mall lining South OBT all the way to Town Center Blvd, and cookie cutter subdivision after cookie cutter subdivision

I'm not bashing my area, I actually like the south side of Orlando but Nevezan is right, it wasn't really planned well.

One positive about the far south though is that traffic congestion isn't too bad, not as bad as the central and northern areas of Greater Orlando, not too much crime here either

[StreetSmarts]

Originally Posted by chopchop0

Unless you take the 417 and make the point of going out there, why would anyone make a special trip out there

Because it's nice, friendly and awesome like myself.