Irish locating to Central Florida (Orlando, University: day care, house prices, unemployment rate)

[thepinksquid]

tonihowe, if you don't mind me asking, where are from in Ireland? Most of my family lives in Galway.

I'm a dual Irish-US citizen, and I used to live in Orlando. Honestly, it's going to be a huge culture shock from Ireland. However, most your everyday items are vastly less expensive because there's no VAT. I didn't care for Orlando, and my husband & I moved to California last May. How many times have you visited Orlando?

Good luck whatever you choose!

[hscottgraves]

Hi Tonihowe- there's hurling afoot in Orlando nowadays. Can't say it's improving anything but my spirits, but there you have it! Wherever you land, come on over and show us a thing or two www.orlando.florida.gaa.ie Seriously though, I live in the "Dr. Phillips bubble" and it's actually quite nice. I've also heard good things about Lake Mary too.

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[seain dublin]

Originally Posted by thepinksquid

tonihowe, if you don't mind me asking, where are from in Ireland? Most of my family lives in Galway.

I'm a dual Irish-US citizen, and I used to live in Orlando. Honestly, it's going to be a huge culture shock from Ireland. However, most your everyday items are vastly less expensive because there's no VAT. I didn't care for Orlando, and my husband & I moved to California last May. How many times have you visited Orlando?

Good luck whatever you choose!

They're not Irish. They're British citizens if you read their posts. I am guessing they reside in Northern Ireland. But they're not Irish.

[Kappy]

How about Clermont or Oviedo?

[thepinksquid]

Originally Posted by Indurain

Fort Myers is set in a nice location : Naples (the wealthiest place in the USA) is an hour up the road.

Plenty of economic activity in that part of the world.

Naples is most certainly not the "wealthiest place" in the US, by any parameter that you're saying that "place" my mean. It is an area that is wealthier than many areas in SE Florida due to a majority retiree population. The only strong job market there is health care and hospitality...and even that has been faltering due to the economy.

No offense, but where the hell did you get that information!?

PS -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highest..._United_States

[CraftLadyKim]

Have you considered the Sarasota, FL area on the west coast. A lot of the Arts and culture here as well as Ringling School. Construction is starting to pick up again and recently was chosen to by the Today Show (msnbc), as the number one place to purchase a home. Here's a list of what the area has to offer. Oh, and the beautiful sandy beaches which encompass one of the Top 10 Beaches in the World Siesta Key.
Asolo Repertory Theatre
Art Center Sarasota
Backlot, The
Banyan Theater Company
Caples Fine Arts Complex
Florida Studio Theatre
Golden Apple Theater
Gulf Coast Men's Chorus
John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art
The Players
Sarasota Arts Council
Sarasota Ballet of Florida
Sarasota Film Society
Sarasota Folk Club
Sarasota Key Chorale
Sarasota Opera
Sarasota Orchestra
Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall
Happy to answer any more questions about the area. Just do your homework before you decide to move anywhere.

[lolitasaylor]

I am also moving to casselberry and would like to know what areas to avoid. Are the homes near Walmart and Fern Park safe?

[hscottgraves]

Kappy- hurling wise?

[tonihowe]

The pinksquid, I'm living in Mayo Seain Dublin is partly right, I am a dual citizen, British/Irish and my husband to be is born and bread in Ireland.
It won't be as much of a culture shock for me I grew up just outside London in a very densely populated and developed area. My town and area is like a replica of American towns!
It was more of a culture shock coming to Mayo, the population of my current town and area is only 10% of the size of population of home town. There's was no cinema or theatre, no shopping mall (the nearest was over 2hours away!), theres housing estates in the town centre (around a mile radius) then the houses are really scattered and spread out, we don't even have a theme park in Ireland! You can only get a train to Dublin and buses only go from city to city, local buses are non existant. People were different, they were more trusting, extremely laid back (too laid back! Everyone is late and unreliable. 30 minutes - 1 hour late is the norm, it's known as Irish time! If someone says they'll call you tomorrow, it'll be a week later, etc), and the pace of people and life in general was so much slower. People are very set in their ways here too, they don't like change or variety much. Most people I know havn't left the country, always use the same shops/service, even eat and do exactly the same things all the time, no matter how much you recommend something new, most still won't accept it or take it on board, I guess thats why development in Mayo is slower that other parts. Schools are seriously deprived, most don't have halls for PE or fields/sports areas, only a couple provide food, facilities here are pretty bad. The sports facilites for the town made me laugh (I though my friends were joking around when they showed me), the athletics club had 1 sand pit and the track was a 400 metre dirt track in a field! My home town was the complete opposite, we had a large theatre with major event and a large concert hall in the next town, 2 cinemas, one which is about the size of the cinema on I Drive and 3D, several large shopping malls in the town and surrounding areas, there was no such thing as a rural area in my town, all schools had fields and PE halls, my school had full athletics track and facilitys including shot put, javelin, dicus, hurdles, high jump, etc, several pitches, tennis courts and netball courts etc, all gymnastics facilities except for asymetric bars, etc and my school was considered to have low level facilities compared to others, we had full restuarant and; every school, including pre-schools and creches provided food. We had 3 theme parks fairly close to us. You could get to pretty much anywhere by bus or train. You could get a bus to the next housing estate if you wanted (though they're a little unreliable). Sports facilities are 10 times better and there are much more variety of sports, things to do and facilities. You can pretty much do anything and for main sports there are many options. Everyone in my hometown is constantly in a hurry, rushing and pushing. They're much more untrusting too, people won't talk to you unless they know you, everyone assumes everyone else is going to rob them, kidnap them or hurt them or something. People in my hometown are much more into variety and change, everyone needs constant stimulation or something and they're very quick to take new things on board, too quick sometimes. They constantly have to have the newest stuff and do the newest thing and go to the newest places.
In my times in America it just reminds me of my hometown, just a bit bigger! I don't think it will be as much of a culture shock. It's relaxing living in my area, but the laid back nature of the people can be extremely stressful. We desperatly need the change to be honest. We want the large population, busyness and variety. Some people like the comfort of little change and monotiny, but to people like me and my husband it just feels like its dragging us down and we are starting to get extremely fed up and bored to be honest!

[JRAEBURN]

Oviedo is 30 minutes Northeast of Orlando and was just named one of the best cities in the U.S. to live. It is family-friendly, there are festivals such as an Octoberfest, Fourth of July celebrations and a nice small-town feel. Also, University of Central Florida is here so there are lots of yoing people around. I think you would like it here. It also has lots of restaurants and shopping. Check it out. My daughter took ballet lessons at a place called University Performing Arts Center in Oviedo. There is a place in Casselberry, not too far away, that teaches Irish dancing. Also, former Olympian Bart Connor, has a gymnastics gym in Oviedo called Gold Medal Gymnastics.