Thoughts on Orlando (Miami, Kissimmee: crime rates, neighborhoods, school)

[VaNative]

Originally Posted by Kali's Grandma

Sorry you weren't warned about Florida Mall. Lots of us locals call it the Tourist Mall and avoid it.

I avoid that whole area like the plague.

[Darin77]

Pullleaze Orlando is for the rich....if you working class your can barely afford it. the road network is terrible and the police pray on the people who are not criminals. Prostitutes walk freely and good citizens get ticketed!

[corderobrown]

Originally Posted by Jonotastic

There are a lot of people on this forum who have made it their life goal to prevent people from moving to Orlando. You have to wonder why it has one of the highest population growths in the United States, if it is such a horrible city.

Don't be surprised, there are a lot of people getting the hell out of there. I moved there in 2007 and soon realized it was a mistake, but I had spent so much money on my move and with my measly $10.00 an hour job, I could not afford to move right away. Finally 18 months later, I was able to put some money together and I was gone. Did not even look back. Orlando, nice place to visit, not to live.

[Wilshire81182]

Originally Posted by corderobrown

Orlando, nice place to visit, not to live.

Your opinion, not a fact...

[jbphillips]

Pullleaze Orlando is for the rich....if you working class your can barely afford it. the road network is terrible and the police pray on the people who are not criminals. Prostitutes walk freely and good citizens get ticketed!

From this post and your last one about Orlando being a "redneck" town I am guessing you are spending your time in Parramore and Bithlo... If you truly want to give Orlando a chance you might want to explore communities that others have recommended on here. If you do your research to find the right community for you than it can be a wonderful place to live.

[blueoktober]

Originally Posted by corderobrown

Don't be surprised, there are a lot of people getting the hell out of there. I moved there in 2007 and soon realized it was a mistake, but I had spent so much money on my move and with my measly $10.00 an hour job, I could not afford to move right away. Finally 18 months later, I was able to put some money together and I was gone. Did not even look back. Orlando, nice place to visit, not to live.

I have to ask - did you do any type of preparing before you moved here? Like, find out how much money you would need to live, or have a job lined up with the money to pay for your living?

I don't have any sympathy for people who just came down here because they heard from a friend how awesome it was and never really looked into, or prepared for a life here. It's not like Orlando just popped up yesterday or anything.


Orlando is not for the rich. I am far from rich - I would say middle class - and I live a very nice life here.

[itsajourney]

Originally Posted by Darin77

Pullleaze Orlando is for the rich....if you working class your can barely afford it. the road network is terrible and the police pray on the people who are not criminals. Prostitutes walk freely and good citizens get ticketed!

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING! I am sorry that your view of Orlando is as it is. You are entitled to your opinion and I would not attempt to try and change it or convince you otherwise.

I must comment on your post though--because I believe you are conveying a very negatively distorted picture of Orlando. I will say right off the bat that I have considered leaving Orlando for a very long time--and I believe that will probably happen within the next few months. And no, I am not leaving because I hate it here. I neither hate it or love it.

In 2001 I moved here after having spent my whole life up north--so yes, there were some major adjustments to make. You either learn to change your attitude or you let your attitude change you--for the worse. You will always feel like a victim--because that is what you believe.

You were put here for a reason and it would be in your best interest to figure out what that reason is. Have you ever noticed the same negative things and the same negative problems keep coming up over and over in your life? They will--until you learn the lesson with that problem. Only then can you move on.

I personally don't agree with anything you stated in your post. I have not encountered any of it in the 8+ years that I have been here--and I am not rich...not even close.

They are constantly building new roads and working on maintenance on other roads. In areas of this country that experienced huge population growth, it is very difficult to keep up with all of the infrastructure. Thousands of families can move here in a few months time,but It takes years to build a new expressway.

Neither I or anyone in my family have ever been targeted by the police. In fact, of 5 drivers in my family--no one has ever even received a ticket.
Nor have we been arrested for anything else--and I have 4 teenagers.

Unfortunately, Orlando is and has been a city that has relied on hospitality jobs--which are low-paying jobs. The city has known that for years and they have attempted to address that issue by bringing other types of industry to Orlando--just recently a med school and a new hospital. It's hard to diversify when the economy of the whole country is in the toilet.

Prostitutes freely roaming around--This is confined to a few areas of the city and you know it. If you are going to frequent South OBT and the other areas where this occurs, yes, you will see it. This occurs in every large city--you know that too if you have lived any place else. Does Miami have prostitutes? Does Tampa have prostitutes? Does Baltimore have them? How about Philadelphia, Chicago, Nashville, etc.? Towns of a much smaller size have them too. It is certainly not confined to big cities. I've seen them walk streets in Peoria, IL for pete sake.

As I said earlier, your experiences are uniquely yours--but don't try to make it sound like the whole city and all of the population is the city from hell. Look on the bright side--you obviously have no where to go but up....no one can make those changes for you--it's all up to you to make it happen. Good Luck to you!

[Wilshire81182]

I have been reading a lot about Orlando in the thoughts and posts of others on this forum and in other places and observing things as I drive around town between work and school, etc. Orlando is kind of like going through puberty in a way; that is how I am looking at it. I feel like Orlando has asked to be taken seriously as a city. It has grown a lot in the past 15-20 years and is has now started to diversify the economy. We have a world class airport, entertainment options, hotels, restaurants and some great neighborhoods as well. Orlando is starting to experience some things that I think come with being a larger city. It is being forced to look at better infrastructure, better and more diverse jobs, rising crime, more graffiti in the area, juvenile delinquency, foreclosures, job loss. It is also being forced to look on some mistakes made along the way and developing haphazardly. All in all, I think Orlando is a great city and place to live, raise a family, and for me go to school (college) and work (there are some great jobs out there, I found one). I think right now, like for most of the country is a rough patch that we can get through and learn from and hopefully come out of stronger and wiser. I believe in Orlando or I would not live here. I would not tell anyone not to move here because of what Orlando is or what it is like to live here. I would tell someone to not move here if they have not done their homework or do not know what they are getting themselves into. I would tell someone not to move here if they are struggling making ends meet where they are now. I think the posts on this site and others point out that Orlando is not the perfect fit for everyone, but for some like myself it is a great fit. I love the weather and the entertainment options, the nice neighborhoods, shopping, nearby beaches. I like the diversity and I like living in a great city to host friends and family who visit from out of town. They are always impressed with Orlando and enjoy themselves. When they ask, like the advice I give and try to be true to, I try not to paint a rosy picture of Orlando and show and explain the bad with the good. I think the good aspects of life here outweigh the bad and I hope that it continues to remain that way. I think you will see that as soon as the economy improves, a lot of other things will come back like spending for schools and law enforcement, lowering crime and bringing more employment. I also think people have some very unrealistic expectations of Orlando as well that they need to get over.

[GloryB]

I think Wilshire makes some excellent points. Orlando, just as any other city or town in the world, has positives and negatives. Obviously, for a great many people, the positives outweigh the negatives or the city wouldn't be inhabited.

From the older locals, it is my understanding that Orlando was just about perfect....until Disney. After that, a tremendous growth took place that the town never really did catch up with. Kissimmee, Clermont and Orlando were overwhelmed. Then the immigration waves began and theses towns struggled even more to accommodate the onslaught. So in light of this, Orlando deserves an extra break from all the bashing. At the end of the day, it is still a wonderful place to live and raise your family.

[Premier]

Originally Posted by Jonotastic

There are a lot of people on this forum who have made it their life goal to prevent people from moving to Orlando. You have to wonder why it has one of the highest population growths in the United States, if it is such a horrible city.

But look around at WHO is moving to Orlando. And also look at WHO is moving out.

My biggest complaint is the people. Driving around Orlando is so frustrating, and the people are so rude. You really should spend more time here before saying that you found the people to be friendly and Orlando seems safe. Just a thought.

Orlando can be a very frustrating place to live, and I am not sure what the city has that other cities don't have with better climate, less crime, and more sane drivers. Orlando is a different place.