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Brightline from Ft.Lauderdale to Orlando definitely sounds interesting and I honestly haven't been keeping up to tabs with that project. IMHO it would be better if it was a HSR from Downtown Miami straight to Downtown Orlando. Will there be a transfer to commuter rail when arriving at ORD?
I don't see how Orlando/Tampa being the the southern most peninsula, is closer to major cities. Where can you drive to those major cities? Miami? Jacksonville. Atlanta is like 9 hours north. Charlotte, Birmingham, Nashville and Raleigh are even farther.
Austin/San Antonio is closer to New Orleans than Orlando is to Atlanta or no farther. A/S is 4 hours tops to Dallas/Fort Worth, and 3 hours to Houston and 5 hours to El Paso. Austin is 6 hours to OKC, 7 hours to Tulsa. Drive I-35 aka the NAFTA highway you realize how much commerce comes through those towns.
As far as flying, yes, Central Florida is closer to larger populations of the U.S. but you've got to fly to NYC Boston, Chicago, D.C. and NC. Central Texas is closer to resorts of Mexico. Central TX is 2 hours to Denver and closer to Chicago than Florida. And of course its 3 -3 1/2 hours to the west coast. Skiing opportunities are even farther for those in Florida. Up to PA/NY or NE. The southern Rockies are a 90 minute flight to Santa Fe, NM.
Just to correct a couple of things:
9 hours to ATL? If it's taking you 9 hours to drive from Tampa to Atlanta, you should speed up because you're a hindrance to traffic. It's really about a 6.5 hour drive.
Also, the closest skiing to FL isn't in the NE; it's in the Southern Appalachians.
I assume your post is in response to my reply.
First, Orlando at 114 square miles is less than half the size of the City of Austin which covers 327 square miles. Austin is more densely populated (3,162 people/sq. mile vs 2,628 for Orlando) but compared to most US cities of 500K residents or more, there is plenty of space within city limits in which to build. https://www.governing.com/archive/po...ities-map.html
Nobody uses useless city limit size or population figures, they're redundant. Metro is what counts. As far as density goes, Orlando is plenty dense. There are over 1,000 lakes in Orange County, of course you can't
build on them - but I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to in Texas.
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Second, while Orlando's drivability ranks very high, per a Wallethub study, Austin is also top 20. https://wallethub.com/edu/best-worst...64#methodology. I would rank Austin worse myself but its not my methodology.
Orlando is just about to wrap up the complete reconstruction of 24 miles of I-4 through the core of the Metro. Meanwhile, Austin has been dragging its feet for years re: the total train wreck that is I-35.
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Third, Orlando's public transit ranking is pretty dismal https://www.orlandosentinel.com/busi...512-story.html A second study is more favorable to Orlando for public transit, placing it at 56th but Austin ranks considerably higher at 20th.
Orlando has Sunrail, commuter rail that spans 4 Counties. They also have free BRT Downtown in its own dedicated lanes. Brightline to South Florida (and soon Tampa) starts next year.
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Fourth, Austin is a state capital. One thing can be said is state capitals, like the nation's capital, are less prone to economic slumps. That's because while spending will be cut in a recession, the capital is hurt less with job loss than satellite office areas of a state. There's also the UT at Austin there to provide stability. Last, Austin's core industries are leading/core economic businesses unlike Orlando's reliance on a discretionary/luxury industry of AMUSEMENT parks and conventions., i.e. tourism.
Orlando is much more diverse economically than you give it credit for, the large majority of the workforce has nothing to do with tourism. That being said, conventions are a huge business, and Orlando consistently goes back and forth between the #1 or #2 spot with Las Vegas. LockheedMartin has major facilities employing thousands, and Orlando is the center of the Simulation industry, with lots of associated R&D. The University of Central Florida has become huge, with double the enrollment of UT. Their new Downtown campus incorporates the Innovation District, which just landed the HQ's of EA. There is also a solid FinTech segment, with multiple divisions of FiServ, BNYMellon and Truist based there. The new Medical City at Lake Nona has multiple large hospitals, and also employs thousands. When it comes to air service, Orlando Int'l totally obliterates Austin-Bergstrom in both size and destinations.
Orlando is a vibrant, growing Metro area that also happens to be the tourism capital of the world. Thankfully, all of that is located in the SW corner of the Metro and 90% of residents don't even interact with it.
I don't see how Orlando/Tampa being the the southern most peninsula, is closer to major cities. Where can you drive to those major cities? Miami? Jacksonville. Atlanta is like 9 hours north. Charlotte, Birmingham, Nashville and Raleigh are even farther.
Austin/San Antonio is closer to New Orleans than Orlando is to Atlanta or no farther. A/S is 4 hours tops to Dallas/Fort Worth, and 3 hours to Houston and 5 hours to El Paso. Austin is 6 hours to OKC, 7 hours to Tulsa. Drive I-35 aka the NAFTA highway you realize how much commerce comes through those towns.
Not sure what math you've been using...Orlando and Tampa are 6 hours from Atlanta. Austin is 7 1/2 from New Orleans, San Antonio 8. Tampa is closer to New Orleans - by a good margin, than Austin is to ATL.
Orlando and Tampa are within an 8 hour drive of:
rest of Florida
Atlanta, GA
Charleston, SC
Savannah, GA
Charlotte, NC
Asheville, NC
Chattanooga, TN
Wilmington, NC
Birmingham, AL
Biloxi, MS
Mobile, AL
Myrtle Beach, SC
1 more hour to New Orleans
San An/Austin:
rest of Texas
Oklahoma City, OK
Tulsa, OK
Little Rock, AR
Fayetteville, AR
1 more hour to Memphis
That's about it. Favorite cities is subjective, but I clearly give central Florida the edge here over central TX. More diverse set of cities in more states. It's clearly easier to get out of Florida more than people think. Central Texas is perfect if you like exploring Texas...or Oklahoma.
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Originally Posted by walker1962
As far as flying, yes, Central Florida is closer to larger populations of the U.S. but you've got to fly to NYC Boston, Chicago, D.C. and NC. Central Texas is closer to resorts of Mexico. Central TX is 2 hours to Denver and closer to Chicago than Florida. And of course its 3 -3 1/2 hours to the west coast. Skiing opportunities are even farther for those in Florida. Up to PA/NY or NE. The southern Rockies are a 90 minute flight to Santa Fe, NM.
Central Texas closer to Mexico yest, and central Florida is closer to the Caribbean, its the same thing. Orlando and Tampa also have more nonstop flights and more international destinations.
The only international destination that Austin has over Tampa is Amsterdam on KLM coming in 2022, overall TPA is stronger. Orlando is obviously a monster. Central Florida clearly offers more destinations overall both domestic and international.
So I'd say Central Florida beats Central Texas in both flying and driving. It is clearly not as isolated as people think.
rest of Florida
Atlanta, GA
Charleston, SC
Savannah, GA
Charlotte, NC
Asheville, NC
Chattanooga, TN
Wilmington, NC
Birmingham, AL
Biloxi, MS
Mobile, AL
Myrtle Beach, SC
1 more hour to New Orleans
Tampa to Asheville and/or Wilmington would both be very big stretches in being described as "within 8 hours" with Google maps times coming in at 9hr 45min to Asheville and 9hrs 25min to Wilmington.
Tampa to Asheville and/or Wilmington would both be very big stretches in being described as "within 8 hours" with Google maps times coming in at 9hr 45min to Asheville and 9hrs 25min to Wilmington.
I meant either or, for both. Tampa is closer to some, Orlando is closer to others. Same for Austin and San Antonio. Didnt feel like breaking it down individually since the debate is about the regions. Either way, Central FL still has TX beat in that regard.
The claim that you'd have to go through NYC, Boston, Chicago to get to real destinations from Tampa and Orlando is clearly false. Also ridiculous considering MCO and TPA and the #2 and #5 destinations from ATL. 4 of the top 5 destinations from ATL are Florida.Tampa and Orlando's secondary airports have more destinations than San Antonio. They both have more international options. Austin is starting to rack up destinations with more American presence, but Tampans and Orlandoans still have to rely less on connections.
Also Orlando on average is 10 minutes closer to Chicago by plane than Austin and Austin is 30 minutes closer by car. Tampa is closer than San Antonio by 40 minutes. When youve been driving 17 hours, another half hour is nothing. Moot differences in the grand scheme. So not sure what that poster was talking about. Theres not much comparison.
Nobody uses useless city limit size or population figures, they're redundant. Metro is what counts. As far as density goes, Orlando is plenty dense. There are over 1,000 lakes in Orange County, of course you can't
build on them - but I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to in Texas.
I agree with you that metro is more relevant but for density that is a hard statistic to find. But for cities its
available. Did you find it? I'm thinking not since you provided no link. Second what do lakes have to do with density? I've visited Orlando more than once and most lakes in Orange county arent relatively small. Looking at this list confirms that. https://www.lakelubbers.com/florida-...-acres-L20-C1/
Orlando is just about to wrap up the complete reconstruction of 24 miles of I-4 through the core of the Metro. Meanwhile, Austin has been dragging its feet for years re: the total train wreck that is I-35.
Orlando has Sunrail, commuter rail that spans 4 Counties. They also have free BRT Downtown in its own dedicated lanes. Brightline to South Florida (and soon Tampa) starts next year.
Orlando is much more diverse economically than you give it credit for, the large majority of the workforce has nothing to do with tourism. That being said, conventions are a huge business, and Orlando consistently goes back and forth between the #1 or #2 spot with Las Vegas. LockheedMartin has major facilities employing thousands, and Orlando is the center of the Simulation industry, with lots of associated R&D. The University of Central Florida has become huge, with double the enrollment of UT. Their new Downtown campus incorporates the Innovation District, which just landed the HQ's of EA. There is also a solid FinTech segment, with multiple divisions of FiServ, BNYMellon and Truist based there. The new Medical City at Lake Nona has multiple large hospitals, and also employs thousands. When it comes to air service, Orlando Int'l totally obliterates Austin-Bergstrom in both size and destinations.
Orlando is a vibrant, growing Metro area that also happens to be the tourism capital of the world. Thankfully, all of that is located in the SW corner of the Metro and 90% of residents don't even interact with it.
Um just becuse Orlando has rebuilt something doesn't me its more progress. There was n 80 mile tollways build parallel to I 35 about 10 years ago. But lets not let facts get in the way. Now where I think Orlando has the edge is in rail connectivity.
Orlando is NOWHERE more economically diverse or as strong. Central FL is highly dependent on TOURISM. Every website I searched showed STRONG correlation to Tourism/entertainment. https://www.zippia.com/company/best-...in-orlando-fl/ The biggest employers by far are in Tourism/travel. Even in much is in one part of metro Orlando, it permeates the economy.
Your economy suffered BIG when Covid hit and when there's a general recession, the economy falls markedly.
UCF has 66K enrollment UT has 51K enrolled. Oh UT is top 20 ranked public school with the 2nd largest endowment behind only Harvard. Some famous alumni from UCF? no one really but sports guys. UT blows UCF away. Just one UT guy, Michael Dell, has had more impact than all UCF grads.
Um just becuse Orlando has rebuilt something doesn't me its more progress. There was n 80 mile tollways build parallel to I 35 about 10 years ago. But lets not let facts get in the way. Now where I think Orlando has the edge is in rail connectivity.
Orlando is NOWHERE more economically diverse or as strong. Central FL is highly dependent on TOURISM. Every website I searched showed STRONG correlation to Tourism/entertainment. https://www.zippia.com/company/best-...in-orlando-fl/ The biggest employers by far are in Tourism/travel. Even in much is in one part of metro Orlando, it permeates the economy.
Your economy suffered BIG when Covid hit and when there's a general recession, the economy falls markedly.
UCF has 66K enrollment UT has 51K enrolled. Oh UT is top 20 ranked public school with the 2nd largest endowment behind only Harvard. Some famous alumni from UCF? no one really but sports guys. UT blows UCF away. Just one UT guy, Michael Dell, has had more impact than all UCF grads.
I-4 is kind of a big deal... The scale of the project is quite massive. (An additional 20 miles of work is in plans by the way.)
And if we're going to discuss tollways, the metro is no slouch either. Tons of work has been done in recent years, including the Wekiva Parkway and all. You're vastly underestimating the work that has been done (and continues to be done) in Orlando.
Um just becuse Orlando has rebuilt something doesn't me its more progress. There was n 80 mile tollways build parallel to I 35 about 10 years ago. But lets not let facts get in the way. Now where I think Orlando has the edge is in rail connectivity.
Orlando is NOWHERE more economically diverse or as strong. Central FL is highly dependent on TOURISM. Every website I searched showed STRONG correlation to Tourism/entertainment. https://www.zippia.com/company/best-...in-orlando-fl/ The biggest employers by far are in Tourism/travel. Even in much is in one part of metro Orlando, it permeates the economy.
Your economy suffered BIG when Covid hit and when there's a general recession, the economy falls markedly.
UCF has 66K enrollment UT has 51K enrolled. Oh UT is top 20 ranked public school with the 2nd largest endowment behind only Harvard. Some famous alumni from UCF? no one really but sports guys. UT blows UCF away. Just one UT guy, Michael Dell, has had more impact than all UCF grads.
You clearly don't know what you're talking about, but let's not let facts muck things up.
I-4 is kind of a big deal... The scale of the project is quite massive. (An additional 20 miles of work is in plans by the way.)
And if we're going to discuss tollways, the metro is no slouch either. Tons of work has been done in recent years, including the Wekiva Parkway and all. You're vastly underestimating the work that has been done (and continues to be done) in Orlando.
Trust me, if the I-4 rebuild had happened in Texas walker1962 would be crowing about it all over the forum.
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. It's really about a 6.5 hour drive. 
