Are you looking to move to Orlando? One word: Don't! (Boca Raton: crime rate, home)

[luvthatmouse]

Our jewlery store in Celebration (very upscale, expensive town) has been robbed at gunpoint 3 or more times this past year. Middle of the day-police everywhere.

The Publix right outside of Celebration has been robbed at gunpoint several times the last year. One young girl that worked the lotto counter lives in Celebration. She had a gun held to her head while they took the money. Middle of the day with a store full of people shopping!

The Checkers in Old Town (right outside of Celebration) had a hold up several months ago. A mother was shot by the gunman. Early evening from what I recall. Old Town is a busy tourist spot on 192.

There was a bank robbery gone bad right up 192 from Celebration not too long ago. Guy who lived here was involved and several people were shot. Police standoff.

Cars and strollers are being stolen from Disney more and more every day. From secure hotel parking lots!

Lots of break-ins in town. One woman was home with her children the other day and a man started to come through the wondow of their house! She locked her self in the bedroom witht he kids and called 911.

That's just our local area lately! I live in a very nice area 5 minutes from Disney. I can not imagine what is going on elsewhere.

[annerk]

Originally Posted by luvthatmouse

That's just our local area lately! I live in a very nice area 5 minutes from Disney. I can not imagine what is going on elsewhere.

In all honesty the proximaty to Disney is probably hurting rather than helping the situation. I ran into a friend who works in security for Disney at Downtown Disney last night, and he warned that crime has been up at Disney, especially thefts out of parked cars and stuff people leave in strollers in the parks. Basically crimes of opportunity. Tourists are pretty easy marks, and there are plenty of them in the area you live in.

I'm on the north end of Clermont, and we've had some uptick in crimes of opportunity and burglaries, but nothing near what you are going through. I think a lot of the crime these days is a result of people being desperate due to the economy, but part of it is also just a downturn in overall morals.

[ConfusedInDFW]

First of all, I’m not a big Orlando basher. I went to college in West Palm Beach then lived in Orlando and Tampa for another 10 years. I’m in Dallas now, but I still refer to O-Town as “home".

My comment is this: I don’t get all the “crime can happen anywhere” comments. While I know that’s true, I don’t get the mindset. A plane can drop out of the sky and land on your head anywhere too, but living close to the airport certainly increases your chances! In general, the crime in Orlando and OC is disproportionate to other cities of similar and even larger size, and in my opinion, living in *many* parts of Orlando increases your chances of being affected by crime. By affected, I don’t mean you have a 99% chance of being shot on your way to the grocery store, but I mean you have an increased chance of plummeting property values, getting caught up in a crime, poor schools, and putting up with what (in my view, at least) can only be described as “people looking for their souls”. I always felt so sad when I’d meet people who just moved to town to run away from their problems. They always seemed so happy and positive at first, then they finally realized their problems stemmed from a long and sordid history of making bad decisions.


Say you love Orlando for the weather, stuff to do, it’s better than the crap hole you lived in up north, etc., but trying to paint a smiley face over the crime factor seems a bit odd to me.


By the way, my “ideal” Orlando was the 1994 – 1998 era. Maybe I’m romanticizing it a bit, but it seemed that the economy, population density, crime rate, and traffic weren’t too bad back then…

[SinDonor]

Hey, even in 2002-2004 I didn't notice the crime that much. But starting in '05, people I knew personally started experiencing the crime firsthand. I had a friend in Thornton Park who had her house broken into and robbed while she was in it. I had another friend I played hockey with who got jumped by 6 punks in the Central Ave parking lot downtown, even with a cop station on the bottom floor. He was in a coma for a week after getting beatdown with a bat. Then I had a friend and his girlfriend get shot at randomly downtown while they were in their car leaving a Magic game.

It wasn't until I got shot at near my ice rink in St Cloud (Ice Factory) that I decided to get my concealed weapons permit and start carrying a gun. Where I got shot at, cops at the scene found spent casings, but no shooter. Even the gun store I purchased my gun from has been robbed 3 times this year!

The stats don't lie and this poster above me is correct. Orlando has a very high rate of crime for a city its size AND it's getting WORSE not better! Only police officers and vigilantes should be moving to the area, lotsa hard work for you lawbringers. Where's Charles Bronson when you need him?

[BornInFL]

"By the way, my “ideal” Orlando was the 1994 – 1998 era. Maybe I’m romanticizing it a bit, but it seemed that the economy, population density, crime rate, and traffic weren’t too bad back then…"


Yup, Orlando is MUCH DIFFERENT NOW. Nobody is doing themsleves any favors by moving to Orlando. Trust me, I moved here from NC, although born in FL. Family is here in FL and in NC, but if family would follow me up to NC, I'd be outta FL. FL isnt FL anymore, it's NY and Latin America.

[SinDonor]

I know a lot of good people from both NY and Latin America. So you may not want to generalize. The crime in Greater Orlando does seem to gravitate towards the lower-income area populated with various minorities. But believe me, I was surrounded by enough white trash meth addicts to make me move out of Davenport in '06 and back up to Otown.

Still, I feel much safer walking the streets of Manhattan at night than around downtown Orlando.

[BornInFL]

"I know a lot of good people from both NY and Latin America."


And? I know good people from those places too. Some are nice and friendly and some arent. It just so happens that before Orlando got the influx of people from certain areas, the city seemed like a much friendlier and safer place. FL does resemble Latin America and NY now; it aint what it used to be. I have met more people from NY and Puerto Rico in Orlando than all other places probably combined.

[SinDonor]

Well, since the tone of your post felt negative (as do most of mine when referring to Otown), once you bring in specifics about the people there, you're generalizing. I'm originally from the NY Metro area and I have family in Mexico and Brazil. None of them are criminals and most of them are college educated with good jobs and healthy families. Orlando could use more real New Yorkers and hard-working friendly Latinos.

My point is that it's not where they're from, it's if they are good people or not. Besides, the situation in Orlando got much worse after our three big hurricanes and then later when we got many of the Katrina refugees who couldn't afford to go back home. How are you gonna blame NYers for that? If Otown was like NYC, it would have more culture, less violent crime(per capita), a million restaurants and bars to go to, and a great public transportation system.

I do understand your point, but you come off as a finger pointer. If you think there's a strong Latino influence in Otown, and it bothers you, I urge u to steer clear of Miami, El Paso, Phoenix, and San Diego.

[BornInFL]

"I do understand your point, but you come off as a finger pointer. If you think there's a strong Latino influence in Otown, and it bothers you, I urge u to steer clear of Miami, El Paso, Phoenix, and San Diego."


Oh, I will.

And I agree, Orlando needs more hard-working Latinos.

[sandandwater]

Here's a couple of thoughts for you.... I skimmed through these posts because they got too long, negative and boring.

Let's look at the numbers! Back in the hay day of the 90's there were over a 1000 people a day! Yes, a day! moving into Florida. Let's analyze that... most had issues, problems and compaints about the north and they moved south thinking it was "magical". They took out home loans they couldn't afford and over spent thinking the perfect job was just around the corner. When they didn't get the job they turned to crime to survive. A good percentage of those fit in the lower income and lower social skills group that tend to congregate around the opportunity that the tourist industry attracts. What I'm saying is just that Orlando by virtue of Disney is an easy attraction for scumbags trying to cheat and steal from decent and honest people. -easy economics. As a bonus for those hooligans they can even sleep in their jilopy cars and stay warm. Well, all those people got here and found out their troubles came with them plus they weren't alone.

Now if you look at the numbers there are actually more people leaving Central Florida then coming in. AWESOME!!! Take your crime and drugs and complaints and go back up north, west or I really don't care where. I can't wait until all these complainers can scrounge up some cash and get the heck out of here. The decrease in home values because of over supply is exactly what we need to weed these people out and get home values and crime levels back to where they should be.

The City should look at new options for crime control. They should offer scumbags a free moving service to get the heck out of O-town.... any moving trucks going north on 75 should get their move paid for by the city... that would get rid of alot of the losers that wreck havic on the area. Ok, that's not going to happen, but you see my point.

One last thing... those people complaining about the robbery at the jewelry store in Celebration and the Publix close by - come on seriously, what the heck did you expect? That has to be the biggest target for creeps to attack. What a more perfect place to rob - you have innocent people with money confined in a small place right outside Disney. How can you be so naive that none of that stuff is going to happen in that area? Seriously, try putting candy in front of a child, I mean money in front of a crack head - who do you think is going to take what they want?

Orlando is a great place to live and raise a family. You just have to make smart decisions and educate yourself on how to get the most out of where you live. Don't depend on "the system" to provide you with a "magical" place to live - it isn't going to happen. It's all up to you. There are a couple of incredibly good schools and great parts of town. I'm not going to mention them because I want them to remain hidden gems for those who do the research and appreciate their value.

If you don't like it... please think about leaving. You're either miserable anywhere you live or just like to complain. Those of us who think Orlando is a great place will not miss you.