Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
hey everyone. i'm new here as i was searching online for a few stuff about moving to orlando and i came across this forum which looked perfect for me to ask.
i'm tell a little about myself first. i'm 23 years old, live in hudson county, nj, dont go to school as i have no money for college, so to me is the usual ****ty jobs, working at restaurants, construction, painting, moving. i hate the cold and winter, i love the hot weather, the hotter the better when its 100 degrees here in nj everyone hates it and are inside with their ac on, i'm loving it either out playing sports and lifting weights or watching a movie or playing video games. I have a bad back and neck thanks to when i first started lifting weights and knew nothing about it and than working with moving company.
now that you know a little about me.. i wanted to know what do you guys think. i was planning on driving to florida so i can take all my stuff, laptop, clothes, dvd collection which is 600, ps2 and super nintendo, tv, ipod, and some other junk. some i can take with me if i go by plane but others like super nintendo, ps2, tv and my dvd collection wont be possible.
i was doing some calculations and it would be a 16 hour drive with no sleep, with sleep 25 hours to get there. my car is like 28 gallon so it be like 84 gallon total of gas which by approximally $3.20 of gas would be around $268 in gas. and the toll that i have no idea how to calculate.
am i better off driving taking all my stuff or flying? which would be cheaper? i can get a ps2, super nintendo and tv once i get there again but i wont let go of my dvd collection, clothes, laptop and ipod.
also i hear all kinds of stuff about florida.. my friend has been living in orlando for 6 years now and hurricanes has never come close to where he lives in orlando so he never had that problem. he also tells me that there are a lot of jobs at like hotels and restaurants cuz of a lot of tourist go there, what other jobs are there that are a little better? how much is the minimun they pay for the hour? like nj is $7 i think, how much is there? are things there expensive? clothes, food? what about rent? what am i better off doing renting a room or an apt? how much would be pseg? do they include hot water and heat? actually how cold does it get in orlando on winter or is it hot all year around? whats the gas price like there? is it true that nothing is close to anything that you need a car to get around? are the beaches any close? are they nice? are there actually waves on them that i can actually surf? college any cheaper in florida than here in jersey? how much the internet a month or is it easy to get wireless internet there and "borrow" the free internet? how much is slice of piece? how much to get into a club? how much is a case of 12 coke cans?
i think thats it for now. i know too many questions but please if you guys can. i'd appreciate. thank you very much.
Will
he also tells me that there are a lot of jobs at like hotels and restaurants cuz of a lot of tourist go there, what other jobs are there that are a little better? how much is the minimun they pay for the hour? like nj is $7 i think, how much is there? are things there expensive? clothes, food? what about rent? what am i better off doing renting a room or an apt? how much would be pseg? do they include hot water and heat? actually how cold does it get in orlando on winter or is it hot all year around? whats the gas price like there? is it true that nothing is close to anything that you need a car to get around? are the beaches any close? are they nice? are there actually waves on them that i can actually surf? college any cheaper in florida than here in jersey? how much the internet a month or is it easy to get wireless internet there and "borrow" the free internet? how much is slice of piece? how much to get into a club? how much is a case of 12 coke cans?
i think thats it for now. i know too many questions but please if you guys can. i'd appreciate. thank you very much.
Will
Gas is about $3.20-$3.50 or so. Be careful filling up in the airport or Disney areas, as there are some issues with price gouging and tricking the naive.
Rent is generally about $800-1200. If you stay in a nice neighborhood it is going to be toward the higher end or more. You can find rent less than $800 but the quality and nature of the other tenants will be questionable. Getting a roomate will also help to split the cost of course.
It can get cooler from about mid December to mid to late February. The daytime high usually stays at or above 55-60 degrees at the coldest point. There is usually 1 or 2 days where the overnight low temp can get below freezing. Nothing like you would be used to in NJ.
The high temp ranges from mid 70s to upper nineties throughout the rest of the 10 months. The only difference is it gets considerably more humid from May/June-Oct/Nov, which some people really do not like.
You do need a car in Orlando for the most part, unless you live very close to work and don't mind possibly being isolated to one area of town. You will also need an EPass or SunPass as all freeways in Orlando are toll roads with the exception of I-4.
The nicer beaches are on the west coast of Florida along the Gulf of Mexico, about 1.5-2 hours away. Daytona is more bar/biker/spring break atmosphere about 45 minutes away. There are some smaller less populated beaches directly east of Orlando, Cocoa and Melbourne. They are nice, but the West coast beaches are nicer.
Most of the available jobs are in the service industry and pay less, but there are better jobs available as Orlando is trying to diversisfy the economy. I think there is more competition for these jobs, so it may be more of a challenge getting out of that industry.
I love Orlando and think it is a great place to live in general but there are unsafe areas of town and things it could improve on like any other city that you should be aware of. Some of the other questions you had I do not have as much specific information on, but feel free to ask me any questions you have!
Gas is about $3.20-$3.50 or so. Be careful filling up in the airport or Disney areas, as there are some issues with price gouging and tricking the naive.
Rent is generally about $800-1200. If you stay in a nice neighborhood it is going to be toward the higher end or more. You can find rent less than $800 but the quality and nature of the other tenants will be questionable. Getting a roomate will also help to split the cost of course.
It can get cooler from about mid December to mid to late February. The daytime high usually stays at or above 55-60 degrees at the coldest point. There is usually 1 or 2 days where the overnight low temp can get below freezing. Nothing like you would be used to in NJ.
The high temp ranges from mid 70s to upper nineties throughout the rest of the 10 months. The only difference is it gets considerably more humid from May/June-Oct/Nov, which some people really do not like.
You do need a car in Orlando for the most part, unless you live very close to work and don't mind possibly being isolated to one area of town. You will also need an EPass or SunPass as all freeways in Orlando are toll roads with the exception of I-4.
The nicer beaches are on the west coast of Florida along the Gulf of Mexico, about 1.5-2 hours away. Daytona is more bar/biker/spring break atmosphere about 45 minutes away. There are some smaller less populated beaches directly east of Orlando, Cocoa and Melbourne. They are nice, but the West coast beaches are nicer.
Most of the available jobs are in the service industry and pay less, but there are better jobs available as Orlando is trying to diversisfy the economy. I think there is more competition for these jobs, so it may be more of a challenge getting out of that industry.
I love Orlando and think it is a great place to live in general but there are unsafe areas of town and things it could improve on like any other city that you should be aware of. Some of the other questions you had I do not have as much specific information on, but feel free to ask me any questions you have!
thank you so much. i do have more question..
i do not drive yet as i dont have a car. and i'm in between, buying a car here and going by car to orlando, going by train or plane. as i said i have over 600dvds which out of all the stuff i have i'll sell everything but not my dvds haha. plus if i go buy car i can take some more of my stuff. by plane i wont be able to as i'll pay extra baggage. but i have no idea how train works.. what do you think its best? oh and what about car insurance over there?
I dont mind the 50s-60s for 2 months, as long as the rest of the year is over 70 i'm happy, what i do not want to is really really cold and snow ever again.
whats the epass and sunpass?
so the west cost beaches is where the better beaches are? with waves that i could probably surf on?
i been looking on roomates.com and craigslist for rooms for rent.. i think i'm better off like that at first, than going out and and getting a place for $800 plus all the utilities and me not being able to find a job fast.
i hear there is like no buses at all in orlando. is that true?
thank you so much.
thank you so much. i do have more question..
i do not drive yet as i dont have a car. and i'm in between, buying a car here and going by car to orlando, going by train or plane. as i said i have over 600dvds which out of all the stuff i have i'll sell everything but not my dvds haha. plus if i go buy car i can take some more of my stuff. by plane i wont be able to as i'll pay extra baggage. but i have no idea how train works.. what do you think its best? oh and what about car insurance over there?
I dont mind the 50s-60s for 2 months, as long as the rest of the year is over 70 i'm happy, what i do not want to is really really cold and snow ever again.
whats the epass and sunpass?
so the west cost beaches is where the better beaches are? with waves that i could probably surf on?
i been looking on roomates.com and craigslist for rooms for rent.. i think i'm better off like that at first, than going out and and getting a place for $800 plus all the utilities and me not being able to find a job fast.
i hear there is like no buses at all in orlando. is that true?
thank you so much.
I would suggest you do not bother with trasporting the DVDs with the methods you stated, but having them shipped via UPS, USPS or FedEx. But Insure them!!!! At least price that out. If it is insanely high, I would drive them down. When I moved here, I had just bought my car and so I drove all my stuff over LOL.
With a roomate, you can easily pay closer to $350-600 over the $800 by yourself.
My car insurance went up from where I used to live, Oregon/Washington, but from where you are it will probably be about the same or less. I know having a car is really expensive up there (NY/NJ) because they try to motivate people to not have them. There are a lot of car accidents down here, so you just have to be defensive. People are aggressive usually in town, and unsure of where they are going when you are down by Disney/I Drive.
The weather is awesome, I cannot complain.
The E-Pass and Sun Pass are transponders that you keep in your car to pay tolls. They are attached to and debit from a debit or credit card that you set up in increments (like $25) as you drive around. Most trips can take about $2-$3 in tolls. You can spend more to drive all the way across town. It is about $20 to take the toll freeway all the way from here to Miami.
The E-Pass is more for local Orlando roads. The SunPass is designed for the Turnpike to Miami. Having one will save you some money. I am sure it adds up over time, but it is not dramatic. It is so you can remain at freeway speed on most toll roads. I know there are toll roads in NJ, but your current transponder will not work in FL.
The gulf side beaches are prettier, but most surf culture is on the east side like Cocoa. There are a lot less waves here than California. Surfing is not my expertise so maybe some other posters can help you on that topic. But I do know the east coast beaches are better.
There are buses in Orlando, but they could be better. They are slow and come once an hour I think. Compared to most cities, it is less than usual. If you find out where you will be working or living first, try to get the other one fairly close until you get a car.
just in case you havent moved down here yet, look into the Auto Train - you could the load the hell out of your car with ur stuff and drive down to Lorton VA, board the train(with your car) and it brings you to sanford which is right out side orlando (30 mins) sure as hell beats that long drive
First, you NEED to have a job lined up. You're 23 now, believe me when you hit like 25 and up Orlando sucks. You won't even be able to get an apartment by yourself because most places require you make triple what the rent is and that's near impossible in Orlando. You NEED a car also. If you like working 1 full day just to pay gas to get to the beach then you'll be okay. I would NOT move to Orlando with the limited job types. Perception is NOT reality in Orlando.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
