What is so great about living in/near Orlando? Who loves or hates it & WHY? (Miami: real estate)

[VaNative]

I live in NW Orlando near Apopka and Ocoee and really like it. I've been in the area for 3.5 years now and have no plans to move in the near future. I like the variety of stores and restaurants and love being close to the theme parks.

[topher441970]

Originally Posted by MaryLou2007

I live in Windermere and lived in Metro West, and Lake Mary. Been here in FL "Serving hard 5 years in FL... time for my 'sentence' to be over, I am going back to where I should have never moved from".

Traffic: I-4 (all day, any day, 24/7) massive congestion. Kirkman Road is mass chaos, lots of ghetto people with illegal guns. 436/434 in Altamonte Springs feels like an anthill. East side of Orlando (Semoran/Goldenroad, Old Cheny Hey, Colonial) mass traffic, bumper to bumper, cars overheat and people go nuts. Hiawassee road - thanks to Verandas, traffic has literaly quadrupled, it sucks there now.

Rentals: The had an article I read on Yahoo news today that rents in 2007 will go up something line 10%. So in Orlando, if you pay $1,500 for a 1/1 apt (which is typical, unless you live in the ghetto or government housing), then you would pay an additional $150 in rent every month. Now, the fun part is that rent in FL is market controlled, so the landlord can say your rent is "way below market value" and jack it up $300 or $500, if they want to.

Condos, you will be paying to experience a living hell. It sucks to have a condo, I feel bad for people that have one. They get stuck with special assessments, high HOA fees, bad neighbors. In a condo, you live in an apt, except you pay a lot for it.

Crime: Will be bad, watch the local news (well, they have been distracted showing tornado damage only lately, so we are getting 1% of the crime news these days). Overall, crime sucks in Orlando, it's very bad. I doubt anyone will disagree with that.

Cost of living vs wages: NO ONE I know has had a salary/pay increase in the last few years that has even gotten close to the massive cost of living increase. I am serious. If you work at Disney or any of the parks, you will make between $7.50 - $9.15/h (their advertised pay at the Orlando job fair and the local paper, Disney had a page-long ad about it). You will have to live in a motel in order to be able to make ends meet.

Wages keep going down or not increasing for newly created jobs. Companies have a surplus of applicants. Unless you atre the "lowest wage taker" you will have a real hard time finding A job that is not Taco Bell.

I agree with you 100%, and it's not limited to Orlando, Fort Myers/Cape Coral is getting worse consistently. Cape Coral has the largest number of Pot houses busted in the US..... Crime here is bad, lot's of murders and shootings.... Florida sucks.

[backtofla]

"Crime here is bad, lot's of murders and shootings.... Florida sucks."


yup, i dont know of any other states that have crime issues. esp. one's with 18m ppl.

[gatorace]

Florida has changed a lot since I was a kid (born and raised in Orlando), but the last ten years have been crazy. Depending on where you are, the change can be good / bad. I find that anything immediately south of the theme parks is pretty much worthless to me as a local Orlandoan, but most of what's north (especially north of downtown) has been welcome improvements. The theme parks themselves are welcome, too, especially Islands of Adventure and the soon to open Aquatica at SeaWorld ...

There's a lot to do these days in Orlando ... Living Orlando | A guide to the cultural and entertainment opportunities in Central Florida

[flluv33]

I lived in florida for a few months from wisconsin. The cost to live there is realy high the schools are very low rated. I lived in west palm beach and it was a nice area but very expencive.Long story short i'm back in wisco and i realy would love to move back but all i can say is plan well and have a job already set up. All the condos/apartments they say are for rent end up selling and i was given a 30 day notice so be carefull they want buyers not renters.That's why i ended up back so fast .

Originally Posted by LauraerieL

Just wanting opinions and comments from people that actually LIVE in or near the Orlando area...including Winter Park, Oviedo...
What are the pros and cons?? What should someone beware of?
Are there busier areas...constant traffic issues in particular places? Are there any affordable rentals left or is everything a condo?
Not to be mean, but this is for those actually living IN the area, NOT from a tourist point of view.
What is it REALLY LIKE living in or near Orlando???
All comments are greatly appreciated. Thanx!
What is YOUR experience?

[krwhite333]

Hi! I moved here from Atlanta, GA( Midtown area) 4 years ago. I will be happy to give you a little insight. Orlando is a very beautiful place to live. Every city has areas that need improvement or areas with lower incomes and Orlando does have pockets of those neighborhoods- Pine Hills, Parramore, South Orange Blossom Trail areas tend to be the areas I always heard about. I reside in the College Park area which is 5 minutes from Downtown Orlando and I own two investment properties in the Metrowest area. In and around downtown you will find brick paver streets, lakes, fountains, an ever changing skyline( granted the real estate market has slowed but that is nationwide and not specific to Orlando), a varied demographic ranging from college students to retirees. One thing I did have to get used to was the laid back pace in Florida. In Atlanta everything seemed to be rush, rush, rush. I would sit in traffic for hours. Living intown in Orlando you are not as subject to the traffic woes of the surrounding suburbs. Basically if you want a bigger house at a cheaper price then you will sit in traffic during a typical rush hour. If you choose to live intown in smaller square footage you will benefit from very little traffic other than Colonial/HWY 50 which is usually busiest during the holidays around the mall area and other "big box" retail such as Best Buy, etc. I love the diversity in Orlando. Coming from Atlanta it was refreshing to see all ethinicities represented fully. As a white male it was really nice to learn and experience more cultures than I had previously been exposed to in Atlanta. Orlando did experience a bit of a crime wave about a year ago but the city has taken it in stride and the crime particularly in Metrowest has subsided significantly. One thing I love about Orlando is that you can stay in your intown neighborhood or drive 20-30 mintues to Univeral Studios Citywalk or Downtown Disney and literally meet people from all over the world. Most people take those options for granted because they've been here forever. I on the otherhand understand the value of those amenities and utilize them. I hope this helped a bit. Also, you will find on all of these blogs that many of the same people post consisitently negative comments. Most of the time I write it off as if that's all they see then it may be their warped perception of life so take it all with a grain of salt. Anyone who's ever lived in a major metropolitan city( which I do not clasify Orlando as major metropolitan) understands that there as a cities grows and expands the horse and buggy traffic of yesteryear will be replaced with increased time in the car if you choose to live outside of the intown neighborhoods. Also with growth unfortunately you will encounter increases in crime simply because there's more people moving here...good and bad. I will say the job market is tough for some of my friends and there is a deficiency of white collar jobs however in time that too will change. Good luck and best wishes!

[vincero]

Attitude about a place depends on personal experience. It hasn't been all roses for me in Orlando; that said, I really don't recognize the Orlando I read being described in some of these posts.

Compared to many medium sized cities, Orlando is lovely to look at. Everywhere you look, there are lakes. The downtown skyline is beautiful, and getting better. It has very little of the tired, derelict, "abandoned warehouse" quality that many downtown areas in Midwestern and Northern cities of similar size seem to have. It is also easy and pleasant to walk around, once you get there and find a place to park(!)

I have noticed that when I have reason to go further south, especially along Colonial Drive, the "mood" of the area changes sharply. It appears a lot less hospitable. If I lived around there full time, I'd probably have a much worse impression of the city.

I live in Seminole County, and outsiders will probably note that most of the positive Orlando posts come from there. I personally haven't had the slightest problem with crime in any way, shape or form, and I've lived here since 2001. I by no means live in a fancy neighborhood, either.

I'd concur with a previous poster's 32792 zip code for affordable housing in Seminole, although I'm not sure I'd choose Eastbrooke. When the housing boom was going strong, every other property offered on the MLS in 32792 was in Eastbrooke, which signaled to me that people were anxious to move. I just recently took some relatives who were house hunting through there, and although a beautiful home was for sale, they just weren't interested, because of the general look of the neighborhood. It is also right off Aloma, which is an incredibly busy street and must be a huge pain to get into and out of, every day.

Go onto Realtor.com and check out these subdivisions in 32792: Garden Lake Estates, Howell Estates, Pelican Bay, Country Lane. These neighborhoods are zoned in Seminole County, even though they are on the border of Seminole and Orange. They are also (as far as I know) zoned Winter Park, even though they are more like Cassellberry. They are centrally located and close to everything, except I4. You can pick up a 3/2 with a pool for a little over $200,000 now (which, for Seminole County, is cheap housing). The schools are rated very well. These neighborhoods have also retained their front and back yards, complete with full grown trees. What contributes to the lack of charm in so many Orlando neighborhoods is the slash and burn mentality of builders who mow down every tree to get as many houses in as possible, and then plant twigs in place. That also contributes to the big problem with flooding that so many houses nearer Kissimmee have to deal with, every time it rains. Our family used to vacation in Kissimmee before we moved to Florida, and I can remember going out of the vacation home when it rained heavily and marveling at the lawns disappearing under water. Winter Park's elevation is high enough to avoid most flooding and is one of the things that attracted the earliest settlers here.

Winter Park "proper" area code is 32789. That is where the "cool" Winter Park is; with beautiful houses on brick streets, lovely Rollins College, great, walkable shopping, close to a park. For most people (including me), the house prices are not affordable, though. Check out the dif between the house prices for the two zip codes on the MLS. However, living in 32792, it is a quick ride over to the charm.

I agree that the biggest draw back by far to enjoying life in Florida is the ridiculously low wages. I first lived in Florida in the 80's, when my first husband was transferred to Melbourne. Residents complained then about "paying people with sunshine"; twenty years later, that hasn't changed a bit. The difference is that back then, the housing and living costs were so inexpensive that it was possible to have two people, say, working at a gas station and as a janitor, and still be able to afford a nice little house in a safe area. The problem, as has been stated many times, is that Florida used to be a "low wage, low cost" state, and has very swiftly become a "low wage, high cost" state. The change has happened just in the last few years, and has hit Florida like a tidal wave. Salaries and wages have remained stubbornly in place, while housing costs have doubled and tripled. Employers in Florida have become addicted to slave labor and want to pay every employee as if he or she is a high school kid, looking for a part time job. Unless you are highly skilled (and I mean a medical doctor or successful lawyer), or a great salesperson, it is almost impossible to break out of the $30,000 to $40,000 wage ghetto, even with a degree. With kids, two people earning that amount and trying to pay all the bills really struggle. Tallahassee gives a very good impression of actively trying to create a state comprised solely of the rich and those who serve them.

Don't shy away from considering renting a house, instead of just an apartment. You'll get a much better feel of a neighborhood. Go to Rentals.com, and check out Oviedo. There are usually several good rental houses there, and Oviedo is another great area. The kids get bored, I think, but it is suburban mom heaven.

Another great aspect of Orlando is what a previous poster brilliantly described as the "celebratory atmosphere" of the area around the parks. I don't know what it would be like to live right next to the parks, but to live in a place where you can go down whenever and enjoy is loads of fun. I love being surrounded by the buzz of happy people on holiday. Orlando has a fabulous airport, as well.

[**NoodLes**]

Originally Posted by vincero

I agree that the biggest draw back by far to enjoying life in Florida is the ridiculously low wages. I first lived in Florida in the 80's, when my first husband was transferred to Melbourne. Residents complained then about "paying people with sunshine"; twenty years later, that hasn't changed a bit. The difference is that back then, the housing and living costs were so inexpensive that it was possible to have two people, say, working at a gas station and as a janitor, and still be able to afford a nice little house in a safe area. The problem, as has been stated many times, is that Florida used to be a "low wage, low cost" state, and has very swiftly become a "low wage, high cost" state. The change has happened just in the last few years, and has hit Florida like a tidal wave. Salaries and wages have remained stubbornly in place, while housing costs have doubled and tripled. Employers in Florida have become addicted to slave labor and want to pay every employee as if he or she is a high school kid, looking for a part time job. Unless you are highly skilled (and I mean a medical doctor or successful lawyer), or a great salesperson, it is almost impossible to break out of the $30,000 to $40,000 wage ghetto, even with a degree. With kids, two people earning that amount and trying to pay all the bills really struggle. Tallahassee gives a very good impression of actively trying to create a state comprised solely of the rich and those who serve them.

In Orlando you don't make money, you make other people money, this is a straight up slave state. Everything you said right, I've talked to all types of professional people from construction to medical and entertainment and they all say its ridiculous here. There's a reason why no professional people live here. A few years ago you could live off of $12-$15/hr but today its impossible. Go looking for any job in the paper and you won't find much above $9.00/hr. Sorry but we all do not live with 4 roommates or relatives to split the bills, Orlando is a joke.

[BeenAroundTheBlock]

Interestingly enough, I know dozens of people who make over 100k. I guess it all depends on the circles you travel in. Generalizing that no one makes money in Orlando is a gross mis-statement.

[bdpop]

Originally Posted by BeenAroundTheBlock

Interestingly enough, I know dozens of people who make over 100k. I guess it all depends on the circles you travel in. Generalizing that no one makes money in Orlando is a gross mis-statement.

What do those people do? Maybe it is a field I should consider.