Central Florida remains a farce: Light Rail defeated

[DailyJournalist]

Originally Posted by FrozenShores

That's part of the reason I'm leaving this crap hole. If it weren't for friends and family, I'd have been gone years ago.

I have a feeling Orlando is going to lose some serious population in the coming years.

[FrozenShores]

Yeah, I really thought it had potential when I first moved here. They were talking highspeed rail between all the Florida cities in 2000 and then killed it in 2004. Maybe in another 20-25 years it may be more a "real" city.

[DailyJournalist]

Originally Posted by FrozenShores

Yeah, I really thought it had potential when I first moved here. They were talking highspeed rail between all the Florida cities in 2000 and then killed it in 2004. Maybe in another 20-25 years it may be more a "real" city.

I highly doubt it, Orlando will never be a "real" city until Disney and the theme parks leave. Until then Orlando will revolve around tourism and whatever is best for tourism. The Orlando resident is not a priority.

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by DailyJournalist

I highly doubt it, Orlando will never be a "real" city until Disney and the theme parks leave. Until then Orlando will revolve around tourism and whatever is best for tourism. The Orlando resident is not a priority.

DailyJournalist - I know you and I often butt heads on opinions, but I have to agree with you about Orlando. As a Florida native I remember Orlando when it was just a tiny, sleepy little conservative and religious town. Just a tiny downtown that you would pass through on your way to the east coast beaches. Once Disney came, buildings and theme parks sprung up like mushrooms. I don't know if Olando can ever become anything more than what it is, and I wonder if it even wants to?

It seems to have so much crime and disjointedness now, and there is no real history there since everything is so new - I know it has some nice areas and there are people who live there and are happy, but as a whole, Orlando is one of those cities that gives me a "cold" vibe, like it has no cohesive community.

As to the rail, CSX was recently approved to build their large transfer facility in Winter Haven. Maybe there is still hope for some light rail in the future, I hope so.

[Alphaman]

Orlando has history, I don`t know why people say it has none look it up.

It`s nothing like the North eastern cities but neither do alot of other western and southern cities.

I have confidence that Orlando will improve.

[DailyJournalist]

Originally Posted by Alphaman

Orlando has history, I don`t know why people say it has none look it up.

It`s nothing like the North eastern cities but neither do alot of other western and southern cities.

I have confidence that Orlando will improve.

Any history that Orlando may have had was wiped out by Disney and the tourism that followed. Orlando is a manufacured city, no different than Las Vegas. People come to Orlando to see the tourist attractions, just like they go to Las Vegas to see the Casinos. No tourist cares about Orlando history, so the leadership of Orlando never cared to preserve it (as evident by the destruction of Church Street). Orlando history began when Disney opened shop and that is all Orlando will ever be known for!

[YankeeRule]

Thanks for speaking the truth, I really see cities like Orlando that offer nothing and are known for nothing and have no culture or history becoming ghost towns like those in the American West that served as hitching posts for get rich quickers during the gold rush. Orlando resembles John Carpenter's New York on 1987's Escape from New York. I spent a week there and agree entirely, it is like the suburbs of Vegas without the benefit of the shows and good food, or Atlantic City a mile off the strip. A true dump!!

[cmj_fla]

This thread is getting a bit off track. The topic being Light Rail and not the "history" of Central Florida. If anyone wants to continue the later subject then you are more than welcome to start a new thread.