What is so great about living in/near Orlando? Who loves or hates it & WHY? (Pine Hills: for sale, rent)

[midget2000]

I just left Orlando. It is not bad to living in this city, the damn thing is that the slary is very low here for professional position.

[jemelb]

I am a little confused on the comments made about Orlando....

How many of you are negatively commenting about Orlando, but yet you still live here?? It can't be that bad...LOL

I have yet HAD to speak Spanish (in which I am fluent on) to any clerk, or to do any kind business. There is a large concentration of Hispanics in the area, but like I said speaking Spanish is not necessary to live here. It is beneficial to speak a second language whatever that maybe, after all Orlando is a destination for tourism.

Crime (skateboarders, blacks, white, hispanics) comes in all colors, and flavors. Orlando is a growing city with many growing pains.


I currently live in the Metro West area, and have lived in Orlando for 10 years.

As far as Real Estate, the market is stabilizing and all the craziness from 05 housing boom is no longer. Believe it or not it is cheaper to rent than buying a home at this time.

[sunnymom1952]

I love Florida even with the hurricanes. Beats the cold weather!!!

[Martini]

I live in Dr. Phillips and I love it here. Its very quiet and when I want to act like a tourist, Disney is only 15 mins down the street.

I do have to agree with a poster above, the salaries here are not great. I transferred here from DC so I didnt have any salary woes, but compared to where I am from, the salaries are pathetic.

[ORLguy]

Originally Posted by MaryLou2007

Final thought: My goodness, that is not living, that is EXISTING! If you live in a $800/mo apt, your life will be a living hell.

MaryLou, you sound like a racist in your posts. You also can live in Park Avenue for 800 a month easily if you know people. You apparently do not, and with that attitude I am not surprised at all.

[vickiesflores]

Originally Posted by sunnymom1952

I love Florida even with the hurricanes. Beats the cold weather!!!

Are there poisonous snakes and spiders everywhere? They really freak me and the family out and we want to relocate to the Orlando area. PLEASE TELL ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you!!!

[momto4boys]

I have lived in Florida for almost 33 years and have seen all the changes along the way. The good, bad, and ugly. I've lived in many cities across Central Florida, and can honestly say that Seminole County is overall better than most of Orange County with the exception of a few areas. Our schools are much better rated with most of them being A schools, our property taxes are lower (not that any are low anymore), we generally have less crime, and don't have to worry about learning another language (yet!). We live in a beautiful area of Longwood with A schools, walking/biking trails everywhere and people all around who keep up their homes and yards. The only crime we've had in a long time in our neighborhood was a break in last year by a few teenage kids in one of the more expensive houses. It's not eutopia, don't get me wrong. Some people in here are pretty stuffy, but there are nice ones to be found too. Like another poster said, Dr. Phillips is nice, as are some other parts of Orlando. It just depends on where you want to be. If feels more "suburbia" here and not so much "city". My husband works downtown off Gore St. and his commute is 30 minutes in the morning and 35-45 in the evening. As for salaries, they aren't great here, that's for sure. He is at the top of the pay scale for his field. Which means, 3% raises is all he gets from here on out. But, considering all else, we're thankful that he has a job that puts food on the table and a roof over our head. Good luck with your decision. I know you'll enjoy the weather and all Florida has to offer!!

[blueoktober]

About 8 months ago I was like many of the negative people on this board. I had taught myself to HATE Orlando. The traffic, the crime, the people....I believe people talk themselves into almost anything if they are unhappy because Orlando, in reality, is nothing like what most people make it out to be...myself included.

I moved back to Nashville, my hometown, because I had to get out of here.
What I learned was that I was being very stupid and was so spoiled I couldnt see the great things in front of me. Nashville was a big, nasty, boring mess. The wonderful things I was going to find there were all self imagined. The crime was just as bad if not worse. The commute was a 1000000000 times worse. Seriously I laugh at people now who think Orlando has traffic issues. The people there were so close minded and gossipy.
So I moved back here 6 months later. And I cannot tell you how much I appreciate Orlando now. It's all in the attitude. Negativity attracts Negativity. You look for it, you feed off it.
I get smiles and waves from people here now. I get polite people at stores and people who say thank you. I don't spend my life fretting over crime, I just stay street smart and aware. I don't flip out over housing prices - I rent a house now on an awesome block on a lake downtown. I got a job making 10k more than I had in Orlando last job and 25 k more than Nashville.
I love the sun, the theaters, the parks, etc. Orlando has a lot to offer people that aren't exiled to the negative part of the brain. No, everyday isnt sunshine and roses. It's just a heck of a lot nicer to me now that I got out and witnessed Nashville. (I also moved to Austin - the IT city - which is quite nice, but still isnt as fun as here).

The beaches, the theme parks, the food. No Orlando doesnt have the culture that NYC has, but if that's what people look for then move to NYC. If you want less hispanics, then move to......I dont even know. Nashville is completely full of hispanics now. Something I thought I'd never see. At least people here are more tolerant. I felt like it was KKK day every day there.

I'm rambling. Just wanted to give perspective.

[Rhett_Butler]

Originally Posted by blueoktober

About 8 months ago I was like many of the negative people on this board. I had taught myself to HATE Orlando. The traffic, the crime, the people....I believe people talk themselves into almost anything if they are unhappy because Orlando, in reality, is nothing like what most people make it out to be...myself included.

I moved back to Nashville, my hometown, because I had to get out of here.
What I learned was that I was being very stupid and was so spoiled I couldnt see the great things in front of me. Nashville was a big, nasty, boring mess. The wonderful things I was going to find there were all self imagined. The crime was just as bad if not worse. The commute was a 1000000000 times worse. Seriously I laugh at people now who think Orlando has traffic issues. The people there were so close minded and gossipy.
So I moved back here 6 months later. And I cannot tell you how much I appreciate Orlando now. It's all in the attitude. Negativity attracts Negativity. You look for it, you feed off it.
I get smiles and waves from people here now. I get polite people at stores and people who say thank you. I don't spend my life fretting over crime, I just stay street smart and aware. I don't flip out over housing prices - I rent a house now on an awesome block on a lake downtown. I got a job making 10k more than I had in Orlando last job and 25 k more than Nashville.
I love the sun, the theaters, the parks, etc. Orlando has a lot to offer people that aren't exiled to the negative part of the brain. No, everyday isnt sunshine and roses. It's just a heck of a lot nicer to me now that I got out and witnessed Nashville. (I also moved to Austin - the IT city - which is quite nice, but still isnt as fun as here).

The beaches, the theme parks, the food. No Orlando doesnt have the culture that NYC has, but if that's what people look for then move to NYC. If you want less hispanics, then move to......I dont even know. Nashville is completely full of hispanics now. Something I thought I'd never see. At least people here are more tolerant. I felt like it was KKK day every day there.

I'm rambling. Just wanted to give perspective.

Some definately exaggerrate the negative aspects of Orlando.... I give you that.

I've always laughed at people complaining about Orlando traffic because it's not bad, comparatively speaking, to other cities. That said, it WILL get worse and the city has no plans that seriously address the problem adequately.

Violent crime statistics cannot be ignored. Things have gotten much worse in the Orlando area, but that said, some make it sound like it's a war zone and it simply isn't. I walked circles around downtown Orlando trying to find a friend of mine. Walked by bums, panhandlers, and (oooooooooooo) some "inner city hood-lookin' fellows" and simply said "hello" and got the same in return (well, except for the panhandlers who asked for money, but Orlando doesn't have a monopoly on that... Been to D.C. lately???).... The increase in violence is primarily due to increased drug trafficking which doesn't give anyone warm fuzzies, but it also explains how violent crime can increase while the safety of the general populace isn't really compromised.

My issues always were with weather and the end of the economic fantasy land that Orlando (and much of Florida) had been years past (which was a great reason to stay....). Now it's gone and so am I, but dang.... The place wasn't as bad as all this..

[georgiadawn]

Way to Go Marylou, I agree. My husband and 2 children moved to Winter Garden (By Animal Kingdom) 3 yrs ago. I love the excitment of things to do, But you have to have a Professional income to be able to afford it. My husband worked for Disney which was a joke, the pay was 9.39 for a bus Driver with a CDL license. The perks were great, but we were told that we could do it with all the overtime he would get. PLEASE, they had him working 6 days a week and not even doing 40 hrs. There is no justice working for Disney. Anyhow I just received my last electric bill and I don't know how I am going to pay it. I am now on welfare, get food stamps. The wages are disgusting down here, but until we find better employment we just keep trying to make ends meet. We work and we Work, but I don't see any light. We are a paycheck away from losing the little we have left. Too many sleepless nights, and just to scared to think of the future. My children 8 and 4. I feel they deserve so much better, Sadden, georgiadawn