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I've been in Orlando for over 5 years now, and have lived in various places of Florida for most of my life. With a military family, I had the benefit of 'test driving' other locations across the nation and world. Although my parents retired to the Destin, FL area, I ended up finishing college and finding a job in Orlando. If it weren't for a fantastic career for my current and immediate future, I'd have left this state upon college graduation. My girlfriend moved here after growing up and graduating from college in the Ohio/Pennsylvania area, and after a year and a half in Orlando, she's ready to leave as well.
I have friends who have taught or still teach in the Orange county school district, and it's atrocious. The ones who have left for better education (Illinois, Virginia, Washington, Ohio) understand this problem all too well. The ones that are still here only stay because of family or relationship commitment. Faculty have absolutely no power to control the schools - kids are out of control and they'll threaten fraudulent lawsuits if you give them a reason to do so.
Crime continues to be a major problem, and has only been getting worse every year I've been here. Unless you're living in Isleworth or similar community (think million dollar homes), there are problems. There are a few decent communities on the east side of Orlando, but none is far from neighborhoods with crime problems. If I were forced to stay here, I'd demand to be in Seminole county north and northeast of downtown Orlando. Sanford, Lake Mary, Winter Springs, Oviedo (my current location) - would all be places to look into.
Unfortunately, we hit the next problem - property taxes. My roommate built his house two summers ago. It's about 1800 sq ft 3/3 on .20 acres of land. Not a great neighborhood, but not bad - in Oviedo. It was appraised at nearly $350,000, and he couldn't sell it for $250k if he wanted to, but the county is still collecting nearly $6,000 a year in property taxes from him - and that's after his $50k exemption. There's a comparable house down the street that was finished with construction just over a year ago and still hasn't sold for $240k. I wouldn't be surprised if the house flipper just walked away from the loan - the house has never been occupied. County government doesn't want to take a loss in tax revenue by reassessing house values to where they should be now that the boom is over, so everyone is stuck paying far more than they should.
Is government going to change? I highly doubt it. Retirees don't see value in pumping money into school systems they won't use. Crime continues to get worse as schools continue to fail on the youth - I can't tell you how many daily crime stories I read involving felonies committed by those under 25. Yes, crime is in every community, but the trend of the Orlando area is going in a very bad direction.
I'm sure some will come to defend Orlando from my comments, and they have the right to state their opinion as well, however, they can't deny the direction of the city as a family-oriented location hasn't been righted yet. My advice - if you want to raise a family in Florida, keep far away from the larger metro areas. Melbourne on the Atlantic coast is a decent place, and although it's too far from any large city for me, the Destin / Ft. Walton Beach / Niceville area is alright as well.
What you described can be said about every major U.S. city; so, IMHO Orlando is no worse than anyplace else. The education system in this country has been going downhill for years, with no hope in sight. Crime is generally directedly correlated with the economy, so the whole country is in the same boat.
I would have to say that if you lived here once and you returned to the north because of reason's mentioned then I would not want to repeat the mistake.
I have lived here 12 years now and I live just south of Kissimmee and am not too happy with what is going on here anymore. You have family here and I understand the desire to be close but you have to put you and your family interest first...you can always move closer to Florida where you can make more visits during the year without actually moving back here. The crime is getting really bad and the education is getting worse although Orlando schools are much better than most around here...the drugs, teenage parents, crime etc should be taken into consideration also. I loved living here when I moved in many years ago because it was quiet, safe and beautiful and now it's crowded, not so safe, and the beauty is fadding with all the up-growth that is taking place. I would suggest going to a website www.****.com and taking the quiz, it will give you several different areas that may interest you to move with much detail and you may then find something that will be a great compromise for all involved.
Good luck with your move.
I've been in Orlando for over 5 years now, and have lived in various places of Florida for most of my life. With a military family, I had the benefit of 'test driving' other locations across the nation and world. Although my parents retired to the Destin, FL area, I ended up finishing college and finding a job in Orlando. If it weren't for a fantastic career for my current and immediate future, I'd have left this state upon college graduation. My girlfriend moved here after growing up and graduating from college in the Ohio/Pennsylvania area, and after a year and a half in Orlando, she's ready to leave as well.
I have friends who have taught or still teach in the Orange county school district, and it's atrocious. The ones who have left for better education (Illinois, Virginia, Washington, Ohio) understand this problem all too well. The ones that are still here only stay because of family or relationship commitment. Faculty have absolutely no power to control the schools - kids are out of control and they'll threaten fraudulent lawsuits if you give them a reason to do so.
Crime continues to be a major problem, and has only been getting worse every year I've been here. Unless you're living in Isleworth or similar community (think million dollar homes), there are problems. There are a few decent communities on the east side of Orlando, but none is far from neighborhoods with crime problems. If I were forced to stay here, I'd demand to be in Seminole county north and northeast of downtown Orlando. Sanford, Lake Mary, Winter Springs, Oviedo (my current location) - would all be places to look into.
Unfortunately, we hit the next problem - property taxes. My roommate built his house two summers ago. It's about 1800 sq ft 3/3 on .20 acres of land. Not a great neighborhood, but not bad - in Oviedo. It was appraised at nearly $350,000, and he couldn't sell it for $250k if he wanted to, but the county is still collecting nearly $6,000 a year in property taxes from him - and that's after his $50k exemption. There's a comparable house down the street that was finished with construction just over a year ago and still hasn't sold for $240k. I wouldn't be surprised if the house flipper just walked away from the loan - the house has never been occupied. County government doesn't want to take a loss in tax revenue by reassessing house values to where they should be now that the boom is over, so everyone is stuck paying far more than they should.
Is government going to change? I highly doubt it. Retirees don't see value in pumping money into school systems they won't use. Crime continues to get worse as schools continue to fail on the youth - I can't tell you how many daily crime stories I read involving felonies committed by those under 25. Yes, crime is in every community, but the trend of the Orlando area is going in a very bad direction.
I'm sure some will come to defend Orlando from my comments, and they have the right to state their opinion as well, however, they can't deny the direction of the city as a family-oriented location hasn't been righted yet. My advice - if you want to raise a family in Florida, keep far away from the larger metro areas. Melbourne on the Atlantic coast is a decent place, and although it's too far from any large city for me, the Destin / Ft. Walton Beach / Niceville area is alright as well.
Couldn't have said it better myself. There's not really a point in education in Florida because 90% of the population speaks broken english and are from different countries all trying to make a quick buck, the white people are mostly racist, and spanish people don't know how to drive and look at white people funny because they can't believe any white ppl are left in Florida! It's not what you know in this place, it's who you know.
yes i see where everybody is coming from. My husband is actually Puerto Rican and I speak spanish, so that is not the problem. I do agree that many foreign born people are coming here and bringing their problems and crime with them. Maybe we should blame the police a little more? I mean these people are obviously getting away with a lot or not being punished enough if they keep repeating the crimes or crime is not starting to diminish...lets be honest here Orlando is big, but it's no NYC. That being said, what about Winter Park or Winter Springs? Anybody know of any good apartment places out that way, areas or neighborhoods? Maybe I will start to look elsewhere...my husband will not give up on the idea...he says "give it a year, if we don't like it we can move to another town or maybe near Atlanta" Any more suggestions??
I am thinking of relocating from the Northeast (Massachusetts) to Orlando...again. I think Florida is beautiful and I am a city kind of person. I left Orlando to come back to the Springfield area of Massachusetts where I am originally from. I was scared of Orlando, I basicly moved because of all the crime I was hearing about last year. I was a stay at home mom at the time with a new baby and used to watch the news and just be scared. I lived in a gated community in lee vista area at the time. I miss the weather and so many things to do. I hate the snow and our winters up here are so gray and ugly. But, I hear the crime, education and health care down there are AWFUL. One of the other things that scares me is the critters and animals down there. I have a two year old and i get scared of aligators and fire ants. I hear of little kids dying because of attacks and it freaks me out. We don't have to worry about animals like that up here. The only bugs we worry about are bees. Am I just being paranoid? Should I even bother to relocate? I will soon be a registered nurse and am looking for a place were jobs are abundant and my little girl will grow up safe. Please leave any comments......or suggestions on other places, etc.
Springfield, MA & Orlando equal in Crime (well, maybe Orlando's has more) in Springfield, the Police will Kill You. In Orlando..... wait a minute... we have Police here?? You would never know it!
I have a friend in Cape Coral who is a registered nurse, she has been working as a waitress for the past 10 years beacause she could not make enough $$$. She is actually moving back to Ohio, where she can actually make a living. I have heard there is a nursing shortage, and it is due to the fact that the nurses cant earn enough.... now I could be wrong on this point, please correct me if I have misinformed.
My point is, you may not be able to make a living here. I know here in Ocala that the economy has slowed down to a crawl, so you might want to re-think moving here.....
Springfield, MA & Orlando equal in Crime (well, maybe Orlando's has more) in Springfield, the Police will Kill You. In Orlando..... wait a minute... we have Police here?? You would never know it!
Yeah well Springfield's crime is actually mostly drug related and unlike Orlando is limited to small areas...if you don't live in a specific area...nobody bothers you. The police don't play around here...they keep most crime in check...not many acts of random violence here...if you mind your business nobody will bug you. I live in a Suburb maybe 10 minutes outside of springfield, worst thing that happens here...someone robs a bank, nobody ever gets hurt, and they're caught 5 minutes later. This happens maybe once a year. Yeah...can't really compare it with Orlando....which is what worries me. I was hoping Orlando would get better since I lived there, but it seems to be the same.
Yeah well Springfield's crime is actually mostly drug related and unlike Orlando is limited to small areas...if you don't live in a specific area...nobody bothers you. The police don't play around here...they keep most crime in check...not many acts of random violence here...if you mind your business nobody will bug you. I live in a Suburb maybe 10 minutes outside of springfield, worst thing that happens here...someone robs a bank, nobody ever gets hurt, and they're caught 5 minutes later. This happens maybe once a year. Yeah...can't really compare it with Orlando....which is what worries me. I was hoping Orlando would get better since I lived there, but it seems to be the same.
I hear You on that one. I use to Live in Northampton, and Loved it! Spent alot of time in Springfield (hmm... now I am missing the Red Rose & Student Prince!
I am thinking about moving to Florida too. Crime and murders are everywhere. We have had 9 murders in Charlotte in the last 6 days. 80 so far this year. Mostly in the same areas and most are either gang or drug related. Are most murders in Orlando in the same sides of town or all over. Of course it can happen anytime, anywhere.
What would you say is the safest large size city in Florida?
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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Different area
I am thinking of relocating from the Northeast (Massachusetts) to Orlando...again. I think Florida is beautiful and I am a city kind of person. I left Orlando to come back to the Springfield area of Massachusetts where I am originally from. I was scared of Orlando, I basicly moved because of all the crime I was hearing about last year. I was a stay at home mom at the time with a new baby and used to watch the news and just be scared. I lived in a gated community in lee vista area at the time. I miss the weather and so many things to do. I hate the snow and our winters up here are so gray and ugly. But, I hear the crime, education and health care down there are AWFUL. One of the other things that scares me is the critters and animals down there. I have a two year old and i get scared of aligators and fire ants. I hear of little kids dying because of attacks and it freaks me out. We don't have to worry about animals like that up here. The only bugs we worry about are bees. Am I just being paranoid? Should I even bother to relocate? I will soon be a registered nurse and am looking for a place were jobs are abundant and my little girl will grow up safe. Please leave any comments......or suggestions on other places, etc.
