Orlando is a great city but.... (Miami, Winter Springs: condos, crime, chapel)

[mickey mouse is dead]

Its residents have a very low opinion of it. I know why, is because of Disney. No visitor to Orlando goes to downtown or actually Orlando for that matter. Tourists visit Disney, Universal, Wet n' Wild, but they don't know the many other great things that Orlando has to offer. Is funny how a lot of people talk about Austin being the "Live music capital of the world", but here in Orlando we have House of Blues, Hard Rok Live, and The Social, one of the most important indie rock clubs in the US. We have one of the best "indie" films movie theaters, Enzian. Paris Hilton's club 'Club Paris' is located in downtown. By the way, Orlando's downtown is one of the few city's downtown that has a real and vibrant night life. Park Avenue CD, a big indipendent record store is located in Winter Park, a few minutes from Orlando. In fact, the store have been so succesful, that just recently they moved to a bigger location. We have an NBA basketball team that is doing really good. An university that is growing like crazy, and will soon have a medicine school. More and more immigrants are moving to the city, making of Orlando a really international place. Yes we have bad traffic, but damn, have yo go to L.A. or Atlanta? C'mon, which big city do not have heavy traffic? But you know what? Residents do not care. A city is what you make of it, and if you are negative, even San francisco will suck. Orlando is a city in growth, give it some time, and we will have a metro rail, better roads and better jobs. We gotta take pride on what we are, I mean, look at Las Vegas. Embrace Orlando, and you'll see is really good. Besides, we are in Florida, and the weather is nice, and we have the best beaches, and we have Miami down south, and we have NASA.....for me there's 4 states that matter, New York, California, Florida and Texas (I love Texas)...the rest is parking. Viva Orlando carajo!!!!!

[bmurphy]

I'm glad to here something good about Orlando, and Florida in general. Thanks for the info! Even I'm guilty of thinking Orlando = theme parks, not much else. Thanks!

[silvio]

That's funny, I just had friends from New Jersey come down and they wanted to go to the parks (of course). I picked them up at the airport but had to stop by my office in downtown Orlando...and they were amazed that there actually is a City of Orlando far removed from the parks. It does irritate me that all people of think of Orlando is Disney and Universal, but I can't complain because it keeps this area's economy afloat. However, I'm quick to point out that the Disney is Lake Buena Vista...not Orlando, LOL.

And as a proud UCF graduate, I get highly irritated when folks refer to UCF as the Disney college or something close to it.

[PamT726]

Originally Posted by mickey mouse is dead

Its residents have a very low opinion of it. I know why, is because of Disney. No visitor to Orlando goes to downtown or actually Orlando for that matter. Tourists visit Disney, Universal, Wet n' Wild, but they don't know the many other great things that Orlando has to offer. Is funny how a lot of people talk about Austin being the "Live music capital of the world", but here in Orlando we have House of Blues, Hard Rok Live, and The Social, one of the most important indie rock clubs in the US. We have one of the best "indie" films movie theaters, Enzian. Paris Hilton's club 'Club Paris' is located in downtown. By the way, Orlando's downtown is one of the few city's downtown that has a real and vibrant night life. Park Avenue CD, a big indipendent record store is located in Winter Park, a few minutes from Orlando. In fact, the store have been so succesful, that just recently they moved to a bigger location. We have an NBA basketball team that is doing really good. An university that is growing like crazy, and will soon have a medicine school. More and more immigrants are moving to the city, making of Orlando a really international place. Yes we have bad traffic, but damn, have yo go to L.A. or Atlanta? C'mon, which big city do not have heavy traffic? But you know what? Residents do not care. A city is what you make of it, and if you are negative, even San francisco will suck. Orlando is a city in growth, give it some time, and we will have a metro rail, better roads and better jobs. We gotta take pride on what we are, I mean, look at Las Vegas. Embrace Orlando, and you'll see is really good. Besides, we are in Florida, and the weather is nice, and we have the best beaches, and we have Miami down south, and we have NASA.....for me there's 4 states that matter, New York, California, Florida and Texas (I love Texas)...the rest is parking. Viva Orlando carajo!!!!!

I guess it must be your age group, but I wouldn't be caught dead in a club sponsored or owned by Paris (get my fame anyway I can) Hilton, and I don't consider Hard Rock any version of a music that I'd pay to hear. Orlando is a wonderful town, but it's geared for families -- and there's nothing wrong about that. I find it very limited in "old school" venues, food diversity, and late evening entertainment opportunities for anyone over 40. And yes, I am moving. To each his own.

[Bull City Rising]

Originally Posted by mickey mouse is dead

Its residents have a very low opinion of it. I know why, is because of Disney. No visitor to Orlando goes to downtown or actually Orlando for that matter. Tourists visit Disney, Universal, Wet n' Wild, but they don't know the many other great things that Orlando has to offer. Is funny how a lot of people talk about Austin being the "Live music capital of the world", but here in Orlando we have House of Blues, Hard Rok Live, and The Social, one of the most important indie rock clubs in the US. We have one of the best "indie" films movie theaters, Enzian. Paris Hilton's club 'Club Paris' is located in downtown. By the way, Orlando's downtown is one of the few city's downtown that has a real and vibrant night life. Park Avenue CD, a big indipendent record store is located in Winter Park, a few minutes from Orlando. In fact, the store have been so succesful, that just recently they moved to a bigger location. We have an NBA basketball team that is doing really good. An university that is growing like crazy, and will soon have a medicine school. More and more immigrants are moving to the city, making of Orlando a really international place. Yes we have bad traffic, but damn, have yo go to L.A. or Atlanta? C'mon, which big city do not have heavy traffic? But you know what? Residents do not care. A city is what you make of it, and if you are negative, even San francisco will suck. Orlando is a city in growth, give it some time, and we will have a metro rail, better roads and better jobs. We gotta take pride on what we are, I mean, look at Las Vegas. Embrace Orlando, and you'll see is really good. Besides, we are in Florida, and the weather is nice, and we have the best beaches, and we have Miami down south, and we have NASA.....for me there's 4 states that matter, New York, California, Florida and Texas (I love Texas)...the rest is parking. Viva Orlando carajo!!!!!

I dunno, man. I'm a third-generation Floridian who grew up in Winter Park, moved to Boston for college (and stayed more or less another six years), and has now settled in Durham, N.C.

No way would I ever move back. I've moved to a metro area just smaller than Orlando (1.2m people in Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill), but with much better traffic, far better jobs (#1 for creative-class workers in the US; #1 for jobs overall in recent Forbes rating), and, dare I say it, more culture and better dining. (The Enzian and Park Ave CDs, plus Stardust Coffee, would have been on my top-culture list of Orlando ten years ago, and I don't think anything has yet matched them!)

In my town of just 200,000 people (one part of the so-called NC Triangle), we have a world-class university, the fifth-best hospital/medical center in the country, a better arthouse cinema than the Enzian, the 11th-best restaurant in the US per Gourmet Magazine, about half the per-capita crime rate, gorgeous old renovated brick warehouses serving as condos and workspace... plus the largest ad agency in the southeast, the world headquarters of IBM's old PC division (Lenovo), major engineering and operational centers for Cisco, Nortel, Sony Ericsson, GlaxoSmithKline, Fidelity Investments, Credit Suisse... the list goes on and on.

I loved growing up in W.P. in the 80's and 90's. Park Avenue and Rollins didn't yet have the unapproachable "Palm Beach" look to them (witness the change with the kids' artwork at Christmas now being posted on Morse Ave instead of Park Ave because it wasn't 'classy' enough), but were comfortable, attractive places to be around. I was blessed to live in a great neighborhood and to attend some of the best schools in the area (Park Maitland and Trinity), but looking back and hearing from friends as to what's happened to the public school system -- which was struggling when I was there in Orange Co., and apparently is in even worse shape now -- it would be another reason to never return.

My mother -- a second-generation Floridian herself -- has already bought her retirement property in Tennessee and will be selling her home of the past 30 years later on this year, which is heartbreaking for her. Fortunately, the benefits of selling an acre of Winter Park lakefront should ease the pain a little once she sells. :-) My father still has family and business ties to the area but wants to move out at least as far as Lake County if he can.

I'd like to hope that there will be better roads and schools in the future; perhaps with Doug Guetzloe finally getting strung up (he's successfully opposed taxes for roads going all the way back to the mid-80s, and I-4 hasn't been widened much since!) it will be possible. Still, though, too many folks in Fla. are of the mindset that taxes aren't needed because the growing tax base will just pay for itself. Hasn't yet been the case, but I hope things change.

Sorry to sound so negative about my old stomping grounds. I do have some fond memories of the area, and there have been some great changes (can't believe what happened to the old Orlando NTC -- Baldwin Park??!), but honestly, I think from the total picture of culture, jobs, education, and affordability... it's possible to do a lot better than Orlando. I hope things turn around!

[Prichard]

I'm not a big fan of Baldwin Park, but the Navy Base was certainly no prize! I remember that area before the Navy Base bought up all of that land. It was mostly wooded pine forest. The squids would invade winter park and the downtown nightclubs - as a kid, I remember hearing pleanty of complaints about them from the old timers. Also, no one could quite figure out why Orlando, a landlocked city, had a Navy Base. I guess it was just someone's pork project. It was so loaded with pork, that the construction crews were still finishing new buildings after the word came that the place had been decommissioned. What a monument to the waste of our federal government.

[bigboyhighflyer]

I'm from Miami born and raised. I come to Orlando a lot in my travels to and from Miami. The problem with Orlando is it has no identity. It's only known for disney. The people who actually live there do not go to the theme parks. The crime is crazy because people are not close in the nieghborhoods. Thats because they are all from somewhere else and there is no common bond. In Miami people look out for there nieghborhoods because they grew up together. There is more of a bond. Yes there is crime but not like in Orlando.Crime in Miami is usually drug related. If your not involved in drugs you will probably not have to worry in Miami. If you are you will need to pray very hard.Miami has a budding and exploding infrastructure. Orlando has virtually none. You have to build the city for the people not just for the tourist.Then there is the rudeness and the racial tension between ricans , whites and blacks. You can feel it. It's there. In Miami Cubans and blacks have worked hard to get along and bridge there differences. Cubans are more progressive than ricans which make for a more positive atmosphere.Imagine a Rican having the nerve to be prejudice against blacks. Its a joke right.Don't be prejudice, be smart,innovative,resourceful and positive minded. Ya dig.

[Juliefootiechick]

Originally Posted by mickey mouse is dead

Its residents have a very low opinion of it. I know why, is because of Disney. No visitor to Orlando goes to downtown or actually Orlando for that matter. Tourists visit Disney, Universal, Wet n' Wild, but they don't know the many other great things that Orlando has to offer. Is funny how a lot of people talk about Austin being the "Live music capital of the world", but here in Orlando we have House of Blues, Hard Rok Live, and The Social, one of the most important indie rock clubs in the US. We have one of the best "indie" films movie theaters, Enzian. Paris Hilton's club 'Club Paris' is located in downtown. By the way, Orlando's downtown is one of the few city's downtown that has a real and vibrant night life. Park Avenue CD, a big indipendent record store is located in Winter Park, a few minutes from Orlando. In fact, the store have been so succesful, that just recently they moved to a bigger location. We have an NBA basketball team that is doing really good. An university that is growing like crazy, and will soon have a medicine school. More and more immigrants are moving to the city, making of Orlando a really international place. Yes we have bad traffic, but damn, have yo go to L.A. or Atlanta? C'mon, which big city do not have heavy traffic? But you know what? Residents do not care. A city is what you make of it, and if you are negative, even San francisco will suck. Orlando is a city in growth, give it some time, and we will have a metro rail, better roads and better jobs. We gotta take pride on what we are, I mean, look at Las Vegas. Embrace Orlando, and you'll see is really good. Besides, we are in Florida, and the weather is nice, and we have the best beaches, and we have Miami down south, and we have NASA.....for me there's 4 states that matter, New York, California, Florida and Texas (I love Texas)...the rest is parking. Viva Orlando carajo!!!!!

We have been to Orlando 5 times as tourists, yes we love Disney but we also love all the things you have mentioned too...see some tourists do discover the hidden Florida and appreciate it greatly.

[NuName]

"Viva Orlando carajo!!!!!"


Umm, this is one reason why many of us dont like living here. Many of us Floridians that have lived here for a long time have seen all the changes, non-assimilating new residents, and so forth. Too many ppl in Central and South FL dont speak english, even if they can!!!

[Magnulus]

I live in the area and I never go "downtown". I've lived here for almost 14 years and don't even know where "downtown" Orlando is. I don't even bother anymore going much farther than Winter Springs, Waterford Lakes, or rarely, Winter Park (Skycraft has alot of stuff I occasionally need). Now that CompUSA has closed in Altamonte, there is really very little reason to go up towards that area, either. Most of the area is cut from the same suburban cookie cutter cloth and there isn't much reason to ever go and see what's in a different area.

Orlando is also one of the few Metro areas where almost everybody lives outside of the main city. There aren't even that many good jobs in Orlando proper. That's going to complicate those things you were talking about, like rail. Already the Lynx service does dumb stuff like takes you downtown even if you are going to some place that isn't in Orlando itself.