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So, we have something in common! If you can deal with all the bull S H * T
that goes on in Florida with all the false promises from the government,
the problems with the insurance and taxes, then you should do just fine.
As for us, we want out!!!! This state is over-rated for sure.
The government here is run by a bunch of idiots. You need to read local papers here. They really don't plan anything here. They just want to build expensive developments but don't have the money to improve the roads and whatever else needs to be fixed first. IDIOTS!
I disagree with you i live citrus and soon i won't be but they been repair and expanding our roads and on top of that all kinds of new business are coming here, they take forever doing it but it does get done.
I lived in Orlando for several years before I moved out of state. There are a couple of things I notice about Orlando (and Florida) in general:
1. Salaries are very very low.
2. No one wants to pay any taxes of any kind.
3. Floridians seems to elect corrupt government officials on a regular basis. I guess they think "If they are sneaky for themselves, they are gonna be sneaky for me too -- and we'll both make out!"
Without a higher tax base and less corrupt government, Florida is never going to change! You need taxes to have good community services and you need honest politicians to spend the money wisely.
Orlando had truly lousy public transportation 30 years ago. They've had a long time to think about it and fix the problems -- but what have they done?
I've always found it interesting that Disney is so big in Florida (where there are no personal taxes) yet the executives (who rake in the big bucks, like Eisner) live in California where the personal taxes are huge. In Florida, Disney preaches the "no tax mantra" while here in California, Disney doesn't say a dang thing.
Oh -- and that's another thing -- Florida taxes businesses, not individuals. If Florida stopped taxing businesses so much and started taxing individuals more, you'd hear such an UPROAR, politicians would have to be accountable to the people, not the businesses!! That's something to think about!
I lived in Orlando when I was a kid WAY back in the late 60s/early 70s, before Disney World, et al., appeared on the scene (to give you an idea of how long ago this was). The reason my family and I lived there was that my dad was in the U.S. Navy at the time and was stationed at the U.S. Naval Training Center in Winter Park (not sure if it's still there). From a kid's perspective, here's what I remembered about living in Orlando:
1) The weather was oppressively hot and muggy most of the year. During the summer, there would be these rather spectacular thunderstorms.
2) There were LOTS of mosquitoes and gnats flying around constantly.
3) We were warned that there were lots of snakes in the wooded area behind our house. The area we lived in was located next to Semoran Blvd. I could remember one time a coral snake (venomous) was lying still on our front porch under one of the patio chairs. My mom killed it by pouring boiling hot water on it.
4) On our front lawn, we had these red ant nests/mounds. Before my dad would mow the lawn, he would set these ant nests on fire to kill the ants first, because those ants could give a rather nasty, painful sting.
5) My dad suffered from allergies and living in Florida made them worse. He was popping pills constantly, as though they were candy.
6) The cars have license plates only on the back. Is that still the case?
7) Lots of toads/frogs everywhere, especially after it rained. I could remember seeing squashed ones (from getting run over by cars) all over the street.
8) I could remember seeing armadillos scurrying about every now and then.
9) I could remember my parents talking about how worried they were about the high crime.
We moved back to California in early 1971, and haven't been back to Orlando since. I'm sure if I were to go there for a visit, I wouldn't recognize the place.
Dennismpat, I too was born and raised in Orlando - since 1963.
Yes, this place has changed and you would not recognize much. The Navy Base is long gone and it is now "Baldwin Park" - a residential village type community, with it's own downtown etc. I don't think you have anything like that In Cali.
You probably remember Semoron Blvd. (436) as a two lane road that deliniated the outskirts of town. It's now a 6 lane congested road, and you would need to drive about 15 miles east past 436 to get to the outskirts of town. It is still hot and muggy, pleanty of Armadillos, snakes and frogs around. Funny thing, my allergies aren't as bad as they were when I was a kid - must have outgrown them, but I can certainly relate to what your dad went throug. Still have fire-ants, but now better chemicals to get rid of them. No, we don't have license tags on the front of our cars....yet.
You might recognize a little of Winter Park - there are some areas that haven't changed too much. Probably one of the first things you would notice is that there are no more orange groves - killed off in several bad freezes. Downtown Orlando looks nothing like it did in the 70's - but that's a good thing. Anyone who remembers downtown Orlando in the early '70's knows that it was nothing but warehouses and dead 5&dime stores. But, you might recognize some of the same homeless people - I swear that these people look exactly like they did in the early '70's
Mead Gardens, Azalia Park, and even Phelps Park might look familiar to you. Other than that, I don't think you'd recognize a anything else, its changed that much.
Thanks for filling in a 35-year gap of time! How interesting to learn what has changed (a lot) in Orlando since leaving there in early 1971.
With the aid of Google Earth, I was able to get a general idea of what the neighborhood I lived in looks like now, more or less. You're correct in stating that Semoran Blvd. is now six lanes instead of two. I can see that the wooded area behind the house I used to live in is still there (the one with all the snakes). I kind of panned around the area using Google Earth, and recognized the streets in the neighborhood. I also noticed that there are many buildings in the area that have since been built that weren't there before.
Interesting news about the old Navy base in Winter Park, where my dad worked. I found it funny that the name of the self-contained community now located there is Baldwin Park. That's also the name of a city here in Southern California. And you're right---we don't have anything like that out here.
I do remember the numerous orange groves that covered the landscape. That's kind of sad news that they died off due to freezes. As I recall, citrus was pretty big business in Orlando, before Disney changed the face of the region forever.
That was a fun trip down Memory Lane! Thanks once again for all the information.
I would stay here if it was like it used to be...10 years ago. Now, you can't get anwhere without fighting traffic, then when you get to where you are going, you have to fight the people inside the stores. Then you have to fight to get in line to check out. Then you are in your car again fighting the traffic. It is a never ending battle. I am to the point now that I drive to and from work and go to the store when I need to. I choose not to fight it anymore. Let everyone else who is out on the roads deal with it. This area (central FL) has the rudist and worst drivers that I have ever seen.
Now, lets talk tourism in the Kissimmee area. All of our wonderful motels on 192 are filled with unfortunate tourists. I say unfortunate because they come down here on vacation and get a room in Kissimmee because it is cheaper than staying at the Grand Floridian. Little does the poor innocent tourist know but the room next to his is probably occupied by a family living out of it or a criminal or a meth lab. There is a good chance that his car or room will get broken into while he takes his family to Disney or become a victim of identity theft which are both the most common crimes in this area. Poor Mr. Tourist did not know what he was getting himself into. I feel bad for these people (tourists) and I hate to be so negative, but I have seen this pattern for 9 years with the job that I have. I hate to say it but the majority of motels in Kissimmee, not too familiar with Orlando, have at least a 40% occupancy rate of locals. Why? Some are criminals, yes, but others are people who cannot afford to live here. They might have moved down here with nothing or for whatever reason they lost everything while being here. I know that this isn't the worst place to live and that every area has its problems, but nobody is doing anything about it here. Hey, let's raise everyones property taxes, let's build a 100 acre subdivision here but we will worry about the roads later when there are 500 additional cars on the roads from the new homes...more traffic jams. I have never seen so much road construction in my life and it doesn't help because it never gets done or its 5 years too late.
Our school systems suck, kids having classes out of portables. I guess the growth is too much for the school system to keep up with.
People are rude here. I myself am turning into a rude person because I am fed up. I do not mind people from up north moving down here, I did so myself and I have yet to meet a rude New Yorker, etc., but my opinion is the agry people are the ones who have lived here their whole life and can't stand the changes or myself who have been here 16 years and have seen the changes and remember how clean, nice and friendly this area was. My gripe is all the poor pre-planning for growth this area has had. Our road system makes no sense and has no system. That is one of the main reasons traffic sucks here. To get from Poinciana to Saint Cloud will take you at least 40 minutes when they are only 5 minutes if that apart. Guess nobody thought of building an extension off of Southport Rd so that you would not have to drive the whole way around Kissimmee to get there?
And here's an interesting thought. With all of our "specialty tags" we have, shouldn't the school systems be better and the manatees, turtles, the whatever else be saved?
This area needs good leadership now to fix all the poor planning it has endured. I just hope I won't be in the area much longer so that I will not have to worry about it.
Did I mention how bad the crime is???????
I was born and raised in Orlando which used to be the City Beutiful, but things started rapidly declining in the early 90's when we received an influx of New York Ricans. They are the most obnoxious/rude/self centered people you will ever meet. They think they are better than mexicans and other people from Latin America. I can't go to wal-mart without seeing P.R flags on cars or people wearing Yankee's hats. I can't drive in my neighborhood without seeing P.R flags in car ports. I think they should be proudly showing the U.S flag. Wake up and smell the coffee..You are not in NY or P.R anymore. You are in Orlando. If they love their little island so much why don't they stay there? Could it be because crime is rampid? Have you driven down Semoran lately? The place looks dirty and run down and don't get me started with Kissimmee. I don't have a problem with people from other nationalities in fact I welcome it, but if you are in Orlando you need to show respect to people from other nationalities. Do me a favor and don't turn Orlando into another Bronx.
I'm like you I also welcome other nationalities or races, especially being from Miami I'm used to practically everything. I did notice lots of people from PR there and in Kissimmee there are even more. It's like you said there are many from the Bronx. What's odd is that even if born in PR they are U.S. citizens by birth - unlike the rest of the spanish speaking immigrants in the U.S. I just found it odd that they don't display the U.S. flag instead & wave the PR flag in homes and cars. I saw one home displaying a huge PR flag on a pole even in Marion Oaks, Ocala.
Well, I guess N.Y. is so expensive for them, that Central Fl is becoming their affordable home, now.
Location: Orlando, FL - used to be nice, a dump now. Anyone speak English down here???
340 posts, read 432,795 times
Reputation: 77
There is plenty wrong with orlando.... lots and lots of crime, extremely high cost of living, staggering wages, jobs being created are all Disney jobs or hotel or fast food jobs that pay $7.50/h, etc. People here are constantly ticked off and fight people in traffic. It is rare not to see an act of violence in traffic in Orlando these days.
Traffic is another thing that kills Orlando a lot. I-4 (the interstate artery of Orlando) is a madhouse. We spend 1h to 1 1/2 hours each way to and from work daily. That is a 13 mile drive!! Crazy man.
Not to mention that Orlando is the Angriest City in the USA.
The last time an entire U.S. city got monumentally mad was back in 1864, when a guy named Sherman paid a little visit to Atlanta. This isn't to say that it takes 100,000 invading troops to make a town lose its temper -- Orlando has never been a strategic military target, and yet the folks there are furious. Yes, Orlando, home of the Magic Kingdom and mandated happiness. Who knows? Maybe living in Goofyville wears thin after 35 years.
The bottom line is that you need to surround yourself with better people. Everyone from any city can tell you that there are areas in their city that are less attractive. If that is the case, move away...there are 100's of locations in the Central Florida Area that are filled with very friendly people.
I can tell you right now that if you believe that Orlando is more hostile than LA, Miami and New York than I question how travelled you really are.
By the way, no one is forcing you to stay here. Keep travelling. I love Orlando.
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Orlando Memories
Filling in the gaps
How interesting to learn what has changed (a lot) in Orlando since leaving there in early 1971.
I kind of panned around the area using Google Earth, and recognized the streets in the neighborhood. I also noticed that there are many buildings in the area that have since been built that weren't there before.
And you're right---we don't have anything like that out here.
