Orlando Politics (Seminole: rent, crime, home)

[stablegenius]

I just moved here so I'm not too familiar with this. How is Orlando in terms of politics? I know there's a large gay population here so people must be somewhat liberal. How do people vote most of the time? Democrat? Republican? Does it vary a lot from election to election? What do people in Orlando care most about in their city? Anyone have any insight on this? Is it roads? Crime? Illegal immigrants? Letting prisoners out early? more housing?


I'm not looking for one persons bias either way, I'm hoping someone has observed the trends and has an unbiased account of how things often go (as much as that's possible)...

[brinkofsunshine]

According to Orange County's voter registration website:
September 2017 Month End Statistics
Total- 797,153
Dem- 337,188
Rep- 216,263

Other/Minor Party- 3,532
No Party Affiliation- 240,170

Orange County pretty much always goes blue in the presidential elections.

[stablegenius]

Thanks I guess I could have looked at that website myself....

[bmw335xi]

Orlando is pretty cut down the middle, but tends to lean Democrat. However, they aren't as Liberal as Californian Democrats as building projects tend to get approved, people seem to appreciate gentrification, people don't want state income tax etc. I like the politics here because I'm a moderate.

[theoldnorthstate]

The current Orlando mayor is Democrat but I believe overall well regarded. The orange county mayor is a republican also well regarded from what I have seen.

It is all about getting things done not ideology IMO. And for that matter Jeb Bush governor during the 1990s made several decisions that were all about growth and Florida's future that are still paying dividends. Getting things done

Biggest argument has to do with growth and development and politicians being in the pocket of development donors.

[WithDisp]

Orlando City is very corrupt in the sense they focus solely on the interests of big development, some of which is short sided.

Pet projects here have long term nasty effects on our tax base and aren't addressed.

That said the current administration has made good strides on crime and urban blight.

Politically, as a young (demographic) city, there's more 'blue'.

Florida in general though is a very fiscally conservative state- so even policies like social housing which are viewed as liberal likely wouldn't and couldn't fly here.

State law prohibits a lot of social programs like rent control, so they are just non issues.


At the end of the day though, Disney World's upper management is the most powerful controlling agency in Orlando.

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by WithDisp

Orlando City is very corrupt in the sense they focus solely on the interests of big development, some of which is short sided.

Pet projects here have long term nasty effects on our tax base and aren't addressed.

That said the current administration has made good strides on crime and urban blight.

Politically, as a young (demographic) city, there's more 'blue'.

Florida in general though is a very fiscally conservative state- so even policies like social housing which are viewed as liberal likely wouldn't and couldn't fly here.

State law prohibits a lot of social programs like rent control, so they are just non issues.


At the end of the day though, Disney World's upper management is the most powerful controlling agency in Orlando.

I love the management of Orlando in terms of developments etc. It's one of the reasons I moved out of California because so much of the buildings and home look like crap because the government is willing to block everything for thousands of years, so they can focus on all their welfare pet projects.

OP, if you are pro-development, pro-projects, pro-new buildings etc... you'll most likely like how the city is operated. Things don't take 100 years to get approved here.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

OP, if you are pro-development, pro-projects, pro-new buildings etc... you'll most likely like how the city is operated. Things don't take 100 years to get approved here.

If the OP is pro-unsustainable growth is more like it. The Orlando area has a long history of green-lighting development whenever or wherever it's desired minus the planning process (i.e. infrastructure needed) to sustain it currently and more importantly for the future. The general attitude of those in the "planning" process is build it now and we'll figure it out later. It's not just an Orlando issue either as the four county region (Orange, Seminole, Osceola and Lake) can't even get their acts together or have interest in establishing any kind of a collaborative regional planning council, this is in what is currently the 23rd largest metro area in the country growing at a double digit percentage clip the past several years.

[chopchop0]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

If the OP is pro-unsustainable growth is more like it. The Orlando area has a long history of green-lighting development whenever or wherever it's desired minus the planning process (i.e. infrastructure needed) to sustain it currently and more importantly for the future. The general attitude of those in the "planning" process is build it now and we'll figure it out later. It's not just an Orlando issue either as the four county region (Orange, Seminole, Osceola and Lake) can't even get their acts together or have interest in establishing any kind of a collaborative regional planning council, this is in what is currently the 23rd largest metro area in the country growing at a double digit percentage clip the past several years.

Could be worse....just look at Houston

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

If the OP is pro-unsustainable growth is more like it. The Orlando area has a long history of green-lighting development whenever or wherever it's desired minus the planning process (i.e. infrastructure needed) to sustain it currently and more importantly for the future. The general attitude of those in the "planning" process is build it now and we'll figure it out later. It's not just an Orlando issue either as the four county region (Orange, Seminole, Osceola and Lake) can't even get their acts together or have interest in establishing any kind of a collaborative regional planning council, this is in what is currently the 23rd largest metro area in the country growing at a double digit percentage clip the past several years.

Compared to California we get a lot more stuff done and the traffic is so much better along with our infastructure here. We have so many parks, schools, new developments, it's great. One of the main reasons I chose Orlando.