Are you looking to move to Orlando? One word: Don't! (Miami: real estate, cheap apartments)

[SinDonor]

I just wanted to share my opinion (and some facts) about living in Orlando, which I did over the last 6 years. I've lived all over the world, in big cities and visited many 3rd world countries, so you can heed my warning, or don't.

It's a long read, but if you are considering moving to Orlando, it'll be worth your time. I don't mean to offend any of you already stuck in Orlando, as I have family and a bunch of good friends who are still there, and some of which actually still like Orlando. Although, they are in the minority. Many of my friends want to flee Orlando like rats off a sinking ship. If the economy were better, they'd probably do it.

Well, here's some important data for you about "The City Beautiful".

Click this link, then enter in a 2nd city to compare Orlando to and then be prepared to be shocked:

Mod Delete: Removed link to competitive site


Sure, murder pits like Detroit, New Orleans and Baltimore still take the cake, but Orlando beats or equals them in most other crime categories. When Orlando is compared to BIG cities like NYC, San Fran, Denver, Boston, Seattle, etc, it's not even close!

Orlando is now in the top ten in the USA for overall violent crime, which includes murders. It's not like every square inch of O-town is horrible, but I don't care where you live in the Orlando Metro area, the "bad neighborhood" is only a mile away:

* Downtown Orlando has to deal with the wonderful spot called the Triangle, which is the area contained between I-4, Colonial, and the FL Turnpike.

* Winter Park has the few bad blocks north and south Colonial to deal with.

* Altamonte Springs has the area around the Mall that's high in thefts.

* Maitland's got Eatonville, where the theft crimes skyrocket during the summertime when the lil hooligans are out of school and have nothing better to do.

* Ocoee's got Clarcona-Ocoee Road where my friend, a cop with the Winter Garden PD, has been randomly shot at while on duty just cruising in his (thankfully) fully-bullet-proof cruiser a few times this past year.

* South Orlando's got Orange Blossom Trail (aka OBT) to deal with. Heck, all of Orlando has to deal with "The Trail". Hint for you lonely guys out there: Don't pick up a hooker on OBT, half of them are cops! Same goes for those "happy ending" massage parlors.

* Dr Phillip's/Metro West gets all the crime from Kirkman Rd/Pine Hills area.

* Kissimmee/St Cloud has been just going downhill ever since the hurricane trio 5 years ago and then after, all the low-income Katrina refugees had moved there. I have even been shot at by some random thug on the side of the road while leaving the Ice Factory hockey rink on a Thursday night. Cops found 9mm casings in the area but no thug. Lucky for me, the crackhead had horrible aim.


I was born near NYC. I've lived in NJ, NYC, DC metro, Chicago, Miami, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Mexico and Milan. I've visited all over the USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, many countries in Europe, a handful of countries in southeast Asia, and a few of the Carribbean Islands. I've seen the good this world has to offer, and I've seen some of the bad too.

I moved to Orlando back in 2002. It was a nice city back then. I've lived in Altamonte Springs, Orlando, Kissimmee, Winter Park, Metro West, and even the cesspool of north Davenport. I'm particularly fond of Davenport since my old neighbors made national news by being associated with a 30-person gang that got busted with tons of meth and a cache of weapons. Here's that article:

http://www.theledger.com/article/200...721388614/1039


Not to say there's nothing good about Orlando. If you like the sun and heat and are a Disney maniac, then you may have a great time there. There are a few good local restaurants, (although there are way more chain types, like fast food joints and Fridays, Chili's, and etc). The Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf are only 1-2 hours away, great for beach lovers and fishermen. You can meet some good people, I have quite a few great friends I've met in Orlando over the years, although most were originally from other cities/states/countries.

But there are 3 major issues with Orlando that finally pushed me to want to move away from the great friendships and family members who still live there:

1) Crime.

Folks, it's no joke. 6 years ago, Orlando was a "safe" city. Now, it's in the top 10 for violent cities in the USA. How is that even possible? The most recent "official" crime stats are from 2006, and it's gotten worse since then. Orange County (northern "Metro Orlando") topped out at 113 murders in 2006 and they had *only* 98 in 2007 (woo hoo?). This year (2008), by the end of November, the murder count was at 117. Wow.

Good news is that it's pretty easy to get a concealed weapons permit if you're a good, law-abiding citizen. I got my permit and a Glock-17 immediately after getting shot at in St Cloud. Carried it with me wherever I went. I didn't feel any safer, but heck, at least I could shoot back at the scumbags and hopefully stop them before they killed me. On that note: I bought my gun at Rieg's Gun Shop on OBT north of Oakridge Rd. See Stavros, he's a good guy, very knowledgeable and will get you the right weapon.

2) Traffic.

Yeah, okay, maybe it's not as bad as Boston during the Big Dig. Or trying to get into Manhattan on a Saturday night through the Lincoln. Or stuck behind a 10 car pile-up on the DC Beltway near the 270 interchange. But for a small city, it's horrible. When I got there in 2002, they had just started working on the 408 interchange. They're still working on it. I hope it's done soon for the sake of my friends who still live there. Only problem is that many of the side roads, Like Fairbanks, Colonial, OBT, Orange, etc are unable to handle the increase in population O-town has seen in that last few years, so traffic's bad everywhere.

If you move there, and you're smart: You won't work downtown unless you live downtown. Don't work at Disney/Universal if you live north of downtown. Heck, just try to avoid I-4 all together if you live or work near the attractions, b/c those g'dammed tourists are maniacs and make last-second 4-lane changes in order to not miss their exit. Don't take the 408 or 528 to I-4 unless you work off-hours. Try to live and work near the 417 or 429, those highways are awesome and fast (for now).

3) Education.

To sum it up in local-yokelish: Derr ain't nunn! If you are looking to raise a family, you'll want to look somewhere else. Orlando Counties' school systems are failing fast. Their budget keeps getting cut year after year. It always irked me to see that f-ing billboard off of I-4 that states "Florida Lottery: Donated over $18 billion to education!" I wonder where all that money went? Sure as heck didn't go to teach the kids or pay the teachers well.

I have a good friend of mine who has been a teacher for 4 years. She taught 6th grade health, which is pretty important since the kids learn about why drugs are bad, STDs, teen pregnancy, etc. Well, her school had their budget cut, so they cut health class. Great. That's just what Orlando needs: Even more pregnant, teenaged, crack-users with AIDS. My friend had the choice to either teach social studies (which she has zero knowledge in), be an assistant gym teacher, or quit. She took the gym class for now, but is looking for a new job ASAP. One less person in Orlando's school system unable to mold the local youth into good citizens.

So...

I no longer live in Orlando. I feel really lucky that in today's tough times, I was able to find a great job near Seattle, WA. Yeah, it's cloudy and it rains a bit (more like drizzle compared to the Central Florida afternoon storms). Plus, most of my friends and family are on the east coast, so it's quite a shock to my social system. But hey, at least I have a job, I'll make friends easy thanks to my hockey-playing habit, and I'd rather get pelted with rain drops than gun shots. Per capita, Seattle has 25% the crime of Orlando. Whew!

My sister also moved from Orlando last year. She found a good job in Boulder, CO. My mom is also leaving O-town as well, as she just bought a house in a quiet suburb northwest of Charleston, SC. (I didn't want her to move to SC, b/c of crime problems too, but she's in a safe town and her brand new 3-bdrm house cost her next to nothing!)

Anyways, feel free to ask me any Qs about the area, I'll try to reply. I will say that my friends in the Orlando Police Department are looking to hire big time (they even sent me an invite). So, if you're looking to fight crime and want to be a police officer, then Orlando NEEDS YOU! Get ready for some overtime.

[**NoodLes**]

Hate to burst your bubble but Orlando has crime just like any other larger city out there. I don't know why ppl think just because Disney is around Orlando doesn't have problems(imagine that) BTW I would choose Orlando ANY DAY over cold rainy Seattle in a heartbeat. Orlando has more culture in 1 city block than most cities have put together. I'm not saying that Orlando is perfect, but its definitely not as bad as you make it.

[SinDonor]

Originally Posted by **NoodLes**

Hate to burst your bubble but Orlando has crime just like any other larger city out there. I don't know why ppl think just because Disney is around Orlando doesn't have problems(imagine that) BTW I would choose Orlando ANY DAY over cold rainy Seattle in a heartbeat. Orlando has more culture in 1 city block than most cities have put together. I'm not saying that Orlando is perfect, but its definitely not as bad as you make it.

Uh, yeah, you obviously DIDN'T read my post, or at least you didn't understand the message. Orlando has MORE crime than cities even bigger than it! Orlando is not a "larger city"! It's a puny city, by population, it's not even in the top 50! HA!

My post is to WARN people who think Orlando is as safe and wonderful as Disney makes it seem. You can have the heat and humidity of Orlando, it's not worth the crime, traffic, and bad schools. Seattle has on average less rain than Orlando! Betcha didn't know THAT, eh? Seattle's average yearly rainfall is 36.2" and Orlando is at 49"! HA! Gotta cut n paste these, cause they're not linking up properly!

Seattle: www.see-seattle.com/weather.htm

Orlando: http://www.ci.orlando.fl.us/public_w...in/history.htm

So much for that logic of yours.

More culture? Are you serious? Where are you from, the ex-planet Pluto? I can name 100 cities that have more culture than Orlando, unless you're one of them crazy Disney season ticket holders that spends everyday in Epcot thinking that's culture. "Ooh, look, it's France, right next to China, hey sweet Mexico! I'mma gonna git me a chimichanga!"

Sheesh, I'm starting to regret replying to you.

[Jonotastic]

I think there are many more cities that are worse than Orlando, than better. With that said, of course after living in some of the top cities in the world Orlando doesn't seem that good. However, if you haven't and can't afford to live in NYC, Milan, Hong Kong Orlando isn't a bad option for that middle class family from Kansas. You know what I mean?

Stats for the most part can't decide whether a city is good or bad. America has horrible stats as far as crime, that doesn't mean it's a horrible country. America has horrible school ratings, that doesn't mean there aren't good schools or good education to be found. San Francisco has a horrible crime rate, but it's one of my favorite cities and one of the most desired areas to live in the United States. Crime is all relative to where you live in that specific city.

You're talking about Boulder, Colorado etc all these beautiful and expensive cities. Yes if you have the choice between the two definetly choose the other, but for the cost of living Orlando is pretty damn good. When I used to live here, we never locked our doors at night, we had a huge pool and an outdoor jacuzzi, lakefront house with a large yard and a jet ski...something like that in California would cost a couple million at least.

Once again, you get my point...Orlando isn't that high on my list either, but I've lived in many places and have been fortunate, but I know most people do not have that kind of luxury and have seen many of the other major cities that are so much worse than Orlando....Pittsburg, Alexandria, Austin, Phoenix, Cleveland, Buffalo, Albany, the list continues.

*add*
My cousin from Boston, MA when he came down to the Dr. Phillips area of Orlando said this is the safest city he has ever been to...he found it boring, but he thought it was crimeless.

[Lakeland Yankee]

Originally Posted by SinDonor

Are you looking to move to Orlando? One word: Don't!

Nice post.

[SinDonor]

[quote=Jonotastic;6429964]I think there are many more cities that are worst than Orlando, than better.....quote]

I just cut your post to save space. Thanks for the reply.

If you want to visit the world, it's easy, you don't hafta be rich. All ya gotta do is join the military. I was in the USAF.

Of course there are a lot of worse cities than Orlando, but for crime, sorry, the statistics don't lie. Orlando is the #10 most violent city in the US of A. If crime isn't a big concern of yours, or you're a cop, so you need the crime to support your job, then cool. I personally don't wanna get mugged by some meth addict, which central FL has a lot of. Polk County led the country in meth-related drug busts in 2006.

Cost of living is not as nice as you make it sound. In '02 I lived in a small, old 2-bdrm 1-bth apartment (built in the 70s) in Altamonte Springs. Back then, it cost me $750, plus utilites (summertime electricity bill was almost $200 a month). Now, that same apartment is over $1000 a month. I moved because there were an increasing amount of robberies and assaults in my complex.

Then, later, I moved to Metro West off of Hiawassee. Small 2bdrm-1bth cost me $1200. It wasn't gated and we had two "unknown attacker" rapes happen in our community in one year. Also a few car thefts. Too close to Pine Hills I guess.

Now, I am here in Redmond, WA. Go ahead and Google it. It's home of Microsoft, and it's pretty much paradise. I have a 1200 sq ft apartment 5 miles from my job (which I bike to) and my rent WITH utilities included is only $950. Hmmmm.

Went to the Publix-style foodstore here (called QFC) and food prices were the same.

There are CRAZY restaurant deals here like sports bars that have free buffets and half-price beer when the seahawks are on tv. And there's a restaurant near the REI HQ in Seattle called the Southlake Grill, it's like a small Ale House, that has their entire menu 50%-off on sundays! Huge burgers for $4 and 10 wings for $3! Woo hoo! There's a Pho restaurant near my job that servers up gigantic bowls of noodles and meat for $4 everyday!

Trust me, if you can afford O-town, you can afford Seattle. Just gotta get a job that pays you more than $30K a year.

[SinDonor]

Originally Posted by Lakeland Yankee

Nice post.

Thanks, just trying to help ppl out...

[Jonotastic]

[quote=SinDonor;6430161]

Originally Posted by Jonotastic

I think there are many more cities that are worst than Orlando, than better.....quote]

I just cut your post to save space. Thanks for the reply.

If you want to visit the world, it's easy, you don't hafta be rich. All ya gotta do is join the military. I was in the USAF.

Of course there are a lot of worse cities than Orlando, but for crime, sorry, the statistics don't lie. Orlando is the #10 most violent city in the US of A. If crime isn't a big concern of yours, or you're a cop, so you need the crime to support your job, then cool. I personally don't wanna get mugged by some meth addict, which central FL has a lot of. Polk County led the country in meth-related drug busts in 2006.

Cost of living is not as nice as you make it sound. In '02 I lived in a small, old 2-bdrm 1-bth apartment (built in the 70s) in Altamonte Springs. Back then, it cost me $750, plus utilites (summertime electricity bill was almost $200 a month). Now, that same apartment is over $1000 a month. I moved because there were an increasing amount of robberies and assaults in my complex.

Then, later, I moved to Metro West off of Hiawassee. Small 2bdrm-1bth cost me $1200. It wasn't gated and we had two "unknown attacker" rapes happen in our community in one year. Also a few car thefts. Too close to Pine Hills I guess.

Now, I am here in Redmond, WA. Go ahead and Google it. It's home of Microsoft, and it's pretty much paradise. I have a 1200 sq ft apartment 5 miles from my job (which I bike to) and my rent WITH utilities included is only $950. Hmmmm.

Went to the Publix-style foodstore here (called QFC) and food prices were the same.

There are CRAZY restaurant deals here like sports bars that have free buffets and half-price beer when the seahawks are on tv. And there's a restaurant near the REI HQ in Seattle called the Southlake Grill, it's like a small Ale House, that has their entire menu 50% on sundays! Huge burgers for $4 and 10 wings for $3! Woo hoo! There's a Pho restaurant near my job that servers up gigantic bowls of noodles and meat for $4 everyday!

Trust me, if you can afford O-town, you can afford Seattle. Just gotta get a job that pays you more than $30K a year.

I lived in Seattle and know all about Redmond. Regarding crime, like I said, it depends on which area in the city you live. In Dr. Phillips we literally slept with our doors unlocked. I would jog at midnight when the sun was down and never feel like I was in danger. Orlando is a sprawled out city, so different sections have different crime rates. $750/month is dirt cheap! When I was living in San Francisco...$1900 for a small 1 bedroom plus $300 to park my car. Hong Kong...shoot lol..4000 sq ft house could easily cost $10 MILLION! Redmond is considered far from Seattle, which is why it is cheap. Seattle is a lot more expensive than Orlando, I find it a much nicer city, but it's a lot more expensive. Our house when we lived there cost $1 million in 2000 and at one point during the housing boom it was wort $3.3 million. That same house in Orlando would have cost around $600,000 when the value was $3.3 million. Every city has bad areas, crime ridden areas. I don't think you understand my comparison. America has one of the highest crime rates in the world. Does that mean it's a dangerous country to live in? No why? Because some cities are safer than other and within each city some districts are safer than others and withing each district some streets are safer than others.

*add*
Check Seattle real estate prices compared to Orlando.
Redmond isn't Seattle, it would be considered somewhere like Sanford

[SinDonor]

[quote=Jonotastic;6430273]

Originally Posted by SinDonor

*add*
Check Seattle real estate prices compared to Orlando.
Redmond isn't Seattle, it would be considered somewhere like Sanford

In 2002, $750 for an old apartment in Altamonte was not "cheap", it was the average. NOW, it would be cheap! Which is why my same apt is going for over $1000.

Also, while it does take me 20 minutes by car to get into Seattle from Redmond, this place is not "cheap" because it is far from Seattle. Average income in Redmond is $80K and average home price is $500K. There are cheap apartments and rooms for rent around here if you look for them. But Redmond is also one of the "keep your doors unlocked" places. Which I never do anyways, being raised in big cities.

If I wanted to waste my money and be closer to the "action", I'd rather pay $2000/month to live in an apartment in a nice area of Seattle than pay that same price for an apartment around Lake Eola (I have a friend who lives at the Waverly, his rent is $1800 for a small 2-bdrm). Seattle is a huge sprawling city with art and music and a thousand bars and restaurants. Orlando downtown is about 6 city blocks. No comparison at all and yet people pay big city $$$ to live in downtown Orlando.

Also, to clarify the USA crime rate thing. We have one of the highest homicide rates in the industrialized world (probably excluding Africa and central America, etc). But our overall violent crime rate is equal to most industrialized countries. Check out;

Crime in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Jonotastic]

[quote=SinDonor;6430475]

Originally Posted by Jonotastic

In 2002, $750 for an old apartment in Altamonte was not "cheap", it was the average. NOW, it would be cheap! Which is why my same apt is going for over $1000.

Also, while it does take me 20 minutes by car to get into Seattle from Redmond, this place is not "cheap" because it is far from Seattle. Average income in Redmond is $80K and average home price is $500K. There are cheap apartments and rooms for rent around here if you look for them. But Redmond is also one of the "keep your doors unlocked" places. Which I never do anyways, being raised in big cities.

If I wanted to waste my money and be closer to the "action", I'd rather pay $2000/month to live in an apartment in a nice area of Seattle than pay that same price for an apartment around Lake Eola (I have a friend who lives at the Waverly, his rent is $1800 for a small 2-bdrm). Seattle is a huge sprawling city with art and music and a thousand bars and restaurants. Orlando downtown is about 6 city blocks. No comparison at all and yet people pay big city $$$ to live in downtown Orlando.

Also, to clarify the USA crime rate thing. We have one of the highest homicide rates in the industrialized world (probably excluding Africa and central America, etc). But our overall violent crime rate is equal to most industrialized countries. Check out;

Crime in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

lol you cannot compare the entire area of Seattle to 6 blocks of downtown Orlando. If you do that you have to compare it to downtown Seattle, which is VERY EXPENSIVE!

Find me a 3 bed/3 bath condo or house in DOWNTOWN Seattle for less than $800,000...it's impossible.

There is no debate that Seattle is a better city than Orlando, BUT it is A LOT more expensive. I've lived there and I've lived in Orlando too...I'm not just talking out of my blank lol.

*add*

There is no arguement that America has one of the highest murder rates out of developed nations