Florida trip report (live in, stations, gas)

[Nomoresubways]

You know what I liked the most? The speed limits! 70 in the turnpike, 65 just about anywhere else! We have 55 everywhere that I drive on, who can drive 55 anyways??!

[Dennis P]

Originally Posted by OC2OC

It's actually quite refreshing to see that we're not the only ones. Sometimes it scares us to be in a brand new place, but this is what makes life exciting- the challenges and the opportunities that are created along the way.

By the way, my commute in LA was from Orange County to Woodland Hills... I-57 North to I-210 to I-134 to I-101- That's about 90 miles round trip. Crazy jobs... The I-4 is a little playground.

45 miles one way to work---in L.A. traffic??? My hat's off to you! And I complained about driving down the 405 south every morning from Long Beach to Irvine (27 miles) which usually took an hour and 15 minutes.

Best wishes to you in Orlando; I lived there 35 years ago as a youngster, before Disney World, etc., was even there!

[OC2OC]

Originally Posted by dennismpat

45 miles one way to work---in L.A. traffic??? My hat's off to you! And I complained about driving down the 405 south every morning from Long Beach to Irvine (27 miles) which usually took an hour and 15 minutes.

Best wishes to you in Orlando; I lived there 35 years ago as a youngster, before Disney World, etc., was even there!

Yep. Had to do that for a project for about 9 months- every day... Sometimes I even had to be in Malibu in the morning. Crazy times... But the 57 and the 210 aren't as bad as the 405 anytime during the day.

[pdxleclerc]

If you think Orlando traffic is bad, you never lived in the Pacific Northwest. Try Portland or even worse, Seattle on any given day. Housing prices are skyrocketing here as well. My wife and I are flying down on the 11th of January to check out the different neighborhoods. Yes, we will be staying at a resort (Disney vacation club), but we are not visiting Disney. Are 6 days will be filled with touring all the different areas of Orlando. So far, we have researched Thornton Park, Baldwin Park, Baldwin harbor (can't afford it, but I'm intrigued about it's development, Celebration, Windermere, Winter Springs, Winter Park, Winter Garden (my wife's company is there), Avalon Park, MetroWest, new condo construction like Reunion, 55 West, Tradition Towers, Village of Imagine, Copley Square, Veranda Park,etc. We are going as locals this time and not doing the tourist thing. I'll give my own full report when I get back. I have been going Orlando 2x year for the last 15 years and never encountered any problems with the city. Most of the people that complain about how bad Portland is are the locals that have been there all their life and most of them resist change. They still consider Portland a sleepy little river town even though the metro is now pushing over 1.5 million.

[BOOMELA]

Hello emilyy, thank you so much for making me feel better about moving to orlando. i have been so worried and fearful about making the move because of all the negative things i have read here on this forum, i relocated to Atlanta from New york and i love it very much but i am into fleamarkets and i wish to get a booth and do some retail sales, which i cannot find here in atlanta, my husband has gotten a job offer with davis maus toyota dealership,in the sanford area, he is a car sales man, but upon reading so much negatives i have been telling my husband i no longer want to move because i am afraid, i have been so discouraged after reading these messages. i lived in new york for 25 years worked in manhattan for 10 years on the 4:00 p.m to midnight shift and travelled by subway to brooklyn with absolutely no fear but people make orlando seem so bad that i had blatantly refused to make the move until reading your post. I just really want to thank you for enlightening me, you have no idea how your positive observation has helped, yes there is crime every where but they just make orlando seem so bad. thank you so much i will sleep good tonight i can't wait to tell my husband. you're simply awesome.

pam

[pianogal]

Boomela, the husband of a couple who have been friends of ours for years works at David Maus Toyata in Sanford. He really likes working there, started as a salesman a year or so ago and has already gotten at least 1 promotion. They are a very successful dealership in the area.

I have lived in Orlando for 25 years, my husband was born here and we have NEVER had any problem with crime. Of course, we don't frequent Pine Hills or the Parramore area (although we just our his mother to move from there about 6 years ago). I know crime can hit anywhere, but it's not on every street corner as some posters here would have you believe. There are many nights a door gets left open, we have all kinds of things in the yard, pool area etc. that never gets touched.

The traffic can be bad at times, but it has been bad in every metro area I've ever visited. Please don't worry. I enjoy living in the Orlando area. If you've already experienced Atlanta, I don't think Orlando is going to be a big deal for you at all.

[Jammie]

Originally Posted by BOOMELA

Hello emilyy, thank you so much for making me feel better about moving to orlando. i have been so worried and fearful about making the move because of all the negative things i have read here on this forum, i relocated to Atlanta from New york and i love it very much but i am into fleamarkets and i wish to get a booth and do some retail sales, which i cannot find here in atlanta, my husband has gotten a job offer with davis maus toyota dealership,in the sanford area, he is a car sales man, but upon reading so much negatives i have been telling my husband i no longer want to move because i am afraid, i have been so discouraged after reading these messages. i lived in new york for 25 years worked in manhattan for 10 years on the 4:00 p.m to midnight shift and travelled by subway to brooklyn with absolutely no fear but people make orlando seem so bad that i had blatantly refused to make the move until reading your post. I just really want to thank you for enlightening me, you have no idea how your positive observation has helped, yes there is crime every where but they just make orlando seem so bad. thank you so much i will sleep good tonight i can't wait to tell my husband. you're simply awesome.

pam

Boom, you'll do just fine in Fla. We have family there and they love it and wouldn't consider living anywhere else anymore. We also plan on living there in about another year, but we're still not sure exactly where yet. Hopefully we'll know more in March when we go touring a few areas.

My husband doesn't post on here, but he reads many of the posts. Subconsciously he must be getting cold feet because he's been starting to dream about us going through an awful time when we move there. Even though some of the things posted are realistic problems, some things posted are really nothing to worry about. For instance, the high cost of homes, insurance, and taxes are concerns along with the canes. But things like bugs and crime and low wages can be found everywhere.

[Floridasunshine]

I am sorry you did not check out Lakeland, We happen upon it by accident 2 yrs ago. We love it here, so much better than tampa or orlando.

[spunky1]

The truth is that crime is escalating in the Central Florida area. There is no way around it, it is. But does one have to "watch his back" when one goes to the grocery store, well that to me is an exageration. There is crime: home invasions, drugs, crazy aggressive drivers etc. And is some of the crime sporatic, yes. But I do not think Orlando is a more dangerous city at this moment than other large cities (Chicago, Atlanta, NYC etc) however, IF the police does not get a hold on it and soon it is just going to continue to escalate out of control. I guess people who live here are just not use to all this crime, it is a realitively new concept, and they are just trying to warn people who are looking to move here. Hopefully that is the intent and not to scare people to death!

[clarabell]

Originally Posted by Emilyy

I've been contemplating a move to Orlando for some time now. I've been there many times, and lived there during the summer of 2000. For the past few months I've been coming on this board to get an idea of what the area is like now and what I should expect.

Well, like many of you, I was pretty blown away by all the negativity....crime, traffic, an influx of illegal immigrants, nobody speaks english? None of that matched my memories of Orlando, but I was willing to accept that maybe things had changed.

So this weekend, I went for a visit to take a look for myself. Just so I am not accused of having a resort area perspective, "Yeah well you were on vacation, wait until you live here, etc," let me say the following: I stayed in a VERY modest hotel on 192, visited places that a resident would (grocery store, walmart, malls, drove on I-4, and didn't set foot in a theme park, on a beach, or even a nice restuarant.

So here are my impressions:

I arrived in Orlando Friday afternoon at 4:00 and was driving on I-4 by 4:30. I drove from the airport to Winter Park and back to my hotel on 192 by around 8 pm and did not once hit any traffic. Yeah, it was slower between 4:30 and 5:30 or so, but never was it stop and go. I didn't think I even went below 50 MPH at any point. This is Friday afternoon rush hour. At home in Baltimore, it takes me an hour to go 20 miles.

Throughout the rest of the weekend, the only time I hit any traffic was on I-Drive and Sand Lake Road, which makes sense, as its basically a tourist area. In fact, I was nervous because people were driving so fast. I stayed in the right lane, mostly because I was a little lost. Anyone thinking of moving to Orlando from the northeast will have NO complaints about what Floridians call traffic.

I checked out neighborhoods from St. Cloud to Winter Garden to Altamonte Springs and most areas in between. The only place that really scared me was Pine Hills and other places around northwest Orlando. Oh and the Florida Mall on Saturday night was a little intimidating. The other malls I went to were great though, especially Millenia. Winter Park was just perfection....charming, walkable, and clean.

During my 3 day visit, I didn't get panhandled once. I did not see a single person standing on the street corner with a sign asking for money. I don't know about the rest of you, but in Baltimore, there's a panhandler on every corner. Usually, its the same one on the same corner everyday. It was a very nice surprise to see that Orlando authorities must crack down on this.

As far as immigration.....I paid pretty close attention to this, because from reading this board, I was starting to wonder if there were any non-hispanic, english speaking people left in Orlando.

My impression....which I'm sure will be hotly debated.....Probably about 20% of the people I saw were hispanic. I only heard Spanish spoken about 4-5 times throughout a 3 day period. It seems like a nice blend to me.

Anyway, this visit eased a lot of my fears and now I really can't wait to move. I wanted to share my experience for those of you who are thinking of moving, but were turned off by what you've read on this board.

Good luck to everyone!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! You made me feel so much better too! I'm in the Portland, OR area and I see panhandlers on almost every major road. We have a huge problem with this. And as for illegal immigrants, you should see the mess we have here and not just from Mexicans but also from Russians. So thank you so much for your trip comments!