Please help clear things up

[LMK171]

Originally Posted by sandefjord

45 minutes to an hour is nothing! ha I sit in that with Twin Cities traffic to and from work everyday!

Schools would be the toughest part, MN is known for having some of the best education in the country and is very clean too. There is a lot of good that is in MN (economy, schools, lakes, clean) but there is so much that is bad (taxes, taxes, cost of living - this one surprises most people-, taxes, rude people, and weather, did I mention taxes and cost of living?)

Yes yes and yes! I lived in Minneapolis for a year and hated it. I've also lived in MI, OH, and IL, and have been happy in FL for a year now!

[sandefjord]

LMK, do you have any kids?

[Crane's Rooster]

The crime in CFL really is concentrated to certain pockets and mostly in the urban core. For example, I 'm not citing exact statistics, but last year there were near 100 homicides in Orange county, the largest county with just above 1.2 million people. By comparison Seminole county, just north of Orange where Lake Mary is located, had just 12 with only 6 the year before. Seminole County has close to 450K people so the crime is disproportionately lower in Seminole and concentrated in other areas.

As far as schools it really just depends on the school. Lake Mary HS is considered traditionally very strong, as are just about all of the Seminole county schools. I can't say they are as good as MN schools but for Florida they are considered the better district.

Friendliness just depends on the neighborhoods. As one other poster stated, they lived one place and people seemed friendly, they moved to another neighborhood and no one talks to each other. My own personal experience. I grew up in Altamonte Springs which is a typical middle/working class community. My neighborhood was not very transient so most of the homes were owned by longtime residents. I knew most of my neighbors, cut their yards for them etc. I moved to other areas of CFL and in more transient areas nobody really talks to takes time to get to know one another because they figure eventually everyone will be moving on. Now I live downtown and people are the wave and say hi types. People hold doors and are polite in public for the most part but no one is trying to become your friend. In fact, most people would probably be suspicious of you if you tried to be too friendly. My family lives in a new cookie cutter neighborhood in Apopka but everyone knows each other by name and there's always a kid's party or something going on that everyone attends. So it really just depends on the neighborhood but generally speaking the less transient, the more open people will be.

[tinytrump]

I'm friendly

[theurbanfiles]

The Orlando area is definitely not a perfect place, there are no perfect places.

However, I don't think that safety, schools, and family orientation would be among those concerns. I think Florida and the Orlando area does well at all three of those. As far as affordability, it certainly may be more expensive here (though with Minneapolis' economy right now, I'm not certain), but honestly, I wouldn't say it is overly expensive by any means, as other posters have pointed out though.

However, I would recommend at least making a list of things you like and dislike about Minneapolis and Orlando based off preferences before making the move. It also wouldn't be bad to spend a couple weeks in the area also, just to see if there is a "fit" before making the move.

Good luck!

[LMK171]

Originally Posted by sandefjord

LMK, do you have any kids?

No, I do not.

And, ok, hate was a strong word. Minneapolis is a beautiful city, as is the entire state,, with a lot to offer. The bike paths were amazing and I loved that! And someone commented about the MN schools, which are really impressive. The program's my clients and my clients' kids had opportunity to participate in really amazed me. I lived close to my job so traffic didn't bother me because I didn't have to travel across the Cities, but on those occasions I did...not as heavy as Chicago, but worse drivers. It was the passive aggressive culture I experienced was really difficult for me. And I know it wasn't just my perception because several other "outsiders" had similar experiences. And I did make friends there, it was just more difficult.

I find FL more welcoming and the people generally more friendly than what I experienced in MN. More akin to the friendliness of Chicago/MI, etc. I hear really good things about Lake Mary, and there are lots of websites to look at crime in the Orlando area, as I found when it looked like I was moving there (I'm moving further south). Cleavelander has excellent points on another thread comparing some of the areas. I spent a couple weekends looking around areas I thought I would probably choose to live in, and that was invaluable for sure.

Good luck!

[Joey Falcon]

There are tons of thugged out people in Orlando. They dress hard, walk hard.

[HokieGCC]

I think schools are your biggest challenge. It is rough going in Florida in general. There are some good ones but don't roll the dice...