Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Every place has its good points and bad. Hawaii put out a small brochure many years ago to warn tourist what to do and not do, so they would not get robbed or items stolen from their rental cars or hotel rooms. Hawaii has a lower crime rate than many other states. The problem was that people know what to do when they are in their home towns, but do not do these safe things when they go on vacation. The east coast is humid, while the west coast is nice and dry. The problem with that is the West may be hurting for water much more than the East according to many articles in the news media. Some people may want to stay inside during the long hot, humid summers in the East, but in the cold climate of the USA, some people want to stay inside during the long cold winters, so it is your choice. So you sweat much in the hot summers in Orlando, so just drink more water and shower every day. People can appear rude when they do not know you, but after you make friends with them, they open up and become more friendly. It is true since this is a tourist town, which is a service industry town, there are more low paying jobs. Jobs are hard to come by right now. One article says jobs might be a little easier to get in Nebraska, Iowa, the Dakotas, but would you be making much money? If you want a better paying job, go back to school and learn a trade that pays more and is in demand like the medical field such as nurse or physical therapist.
Blueoktober, yes FL is nice in the winter, but Orlando and FL in general is miserable during the summer months. You become a prisoner of air conditioning.
I always try to tell family that who think it is perfect here because it doesn't snow. They may have months of being trapped in the house in the winter, well in the summer you see no one outside here unless they have to be.
It is the same thing, the only relief you will get is when a storm comes through and then it heats up again and the humidity will knock your socks off.
I believe the reason you see so many overweight people here is they are stuck in the house eating and watching TV in air conditioned comfort.
Not comfortable to go outside even at night when it is 86 degrees and 90% humidity and take a walk. You are drenched in sweat after a few minutes.
Sorry, San Diego beats the pants off FL when it comes to nice weather all year round.
I 2nd that thought about San Diego, Seain Dublin. Not as humid, and between 50-80 degrees year round. While Orlando was freezing at 25 degrees this winter, San Diego was chillin at 50 degrees. And compare Orlando's 110 degree comfort zone in August with SD's 85 degrees; a no brainer. San Diego's crime rates are less than a third of Orlando's.
And all you guys who are defending Orlando, that's perfectly fine that you like it. I did for the first three years as well. I was so excited about the growth of downtown, the possibility of light rail, and a performing arts center. However it all fell through, and now we're going to have to wait out a prolonged recession before this city can have what other comparable cities now have or have had for years. So as they say, have fun sitting on I-4. (Especially earlier today when it was completely closed down in one direction.)
I'll give you a fact: Orlando hasn't had rain (any significant amount) in over 6 months. Also fact, I can maybe recall about 5 days total all of last year where the day was totally gray and cloudy. It just doesn't happen here. So yeah, if you count the afternoon showers which Orlando is known for, then that might put Colorado ahead of us. But since that really isn't accurate due to the fact this is a TROPICAL climate and the rain goes away in a hour and sunshine pops back out again I can tell you there is hardly any cloudy days here. Why is Disney in Orlando and not Denver? Seaworld? I'll tell you why, because the weather is more favorable in Central Florida year round than anywhere else. Tell me next Christmas what you are going while us Floridians are sitting on a beach in our shorts.
Hmmm, interesting how you report your recollection of 5 cloudy days as fact. I bet some actual research might prove that wrong.
Over the 7 years I lived in Orlando, I was always the one trying to get my friends to the beach. Last summer, it rained nearly every single day and on the few that it didn't, I was able to orchestrate one solitary trip to the beach for the year. And when it rains, you don't always know when it's coming and the rain drops the temperature enough to make you not want to hang out on the soggy beach anyway. And for those rainless winter months, try hanging out at the beach when it's in the 80's in Orlando. The beaches are about 10-15 degrees cooler and not that comfortable to enjoy the beach like you should (laying out in the sun and swimming in the ocean.) For good winter beaching, you must go to South FL. But have fun on I-95 or the expensive FL turnpike.
Hmmm, interesting how you report your recollection of 5 cloudy days as fact. I bet some actual research might prove that wrong.
Over the 7 years I lived in Orlando, I was always the one trying to get my friends to the beach. Last summer, it rained nearly every single day and on the few that it didn't, I was able to orchestrate one solitary trip to the beach for the year. And when it rains, you don't always know when it's coming and the rain drops the temperature enough to make you not want to hang out on the soggy beach anyway. And for those rainless winter months, try hanging out at the beach when it's in the 80's in Orlando. The beaches are about 10-15 degrees cooler and not that comfortable to enjoy the beach like you should (laying out in the sun and swimming in the ocean.) For good winter beaching, you must go to South FL. But have fun on I-95 or the expensive FL turnpike.
Those all sound like personal problems to me . I suggest the main problem is your trying to go to a beach in Orlando. Are you sure your wernt sitting in the sand box of a playground . I do assure you that going to south Fla is unnecessary. I live in Tampa and enjoy the Bay area's beaches year round . Orlando residents can too.
I hope something happens to San Diego soon that will bring it down to earth in people's eyes because I wasn't that impressed with it; it is definitely not flawless. I have said several times that California is the one possible place I may pick over Florida and the climate is the reason, but San Diego itself was not that impressive to me. In San Diego like other cities, I experienced horrible traffic, aggressive driving and saw questionable individuals all over the place. It was like a smaller LA without the excitement to go with it. I did like it there, but it was brought down several notches from the utopian ideal it was painted out to be. I would never tell someone that Orlando is utopia, but it has treated me quite well and Orlando and Florida have several redeeming qualities.
Some things that come to mind right off the bat that Florida has over California though are cleaner air, more greenery, better beaches, warmer ocean water. On the flip side California has less crime, more moderate or tolerable weather, more hills and scenery, etc. Other things are pretty comparable to me, like budget crisis, foreclosure rates, good retail and dining, etc.
If you read the San Diego boards they are starting to hate it like people hate Orlando. People love to complain.
As far as it raining every day at the beach? LOL. I have a pass to the National Seashore and I go EVERY SINGLE SUNDAY (I call it my church). I honestly don't recall missing a single Sunday. So it rains for 25 minutes? I go eat. Then I come back to the cooler temps.
Has it ever occurred to you that some people like the hot weather? I guess I am just so used to it that I don't feel it as last Summer to me was very mild. And you're telling me that as hot as Orlando is you cannot sit on a beach when the temps drop from 87 to 75? Are you kidding me? That's why most people love to live on the Ocean! You just arent made for Orlando and it would better suit you to leave.
Again people just love to complain. There is no utopia in this world and anyone looking for it will always be disappointed. It's all subjective to what one loves in life and if we love it here or you hate it here those are perfectly ok opinions. However trying to come up with every single little nitpicky and meaningless reasons to hate it here is really getting old.
Again, I hope people stop debating this. Help those that want to move here and stop defending it to the people that want to leave. They just want someone to agree with them so they feel justified.
Anyone else out there move to Orlando to find out it just wasn't what you thought it was when you came here on vacation?
Sure I realize that every day isn't going to be "Magic" no matter where you live but I figured that there must be some good reason so many are moving to Orlando.
I moved to Orlando from Colorado Springs back in 2001 and it seemed great. It's a bigger city, more nightlife, diversity, and warmer weather. It was a lot of fun for the first 3 years; although I was wondering where in the country they were referring to when they coined the term "Southern Hospitality." People were quite rude here compared to Colorado. After about 4 years living in Orlando and getting robbed 3 times, the "magic" veil started coming off. However though, I was partially blinded by the fact that I was making much more money than in Colorado and the real estate boom was in full swing. I decided to hop on the band wagon and not only buy a property but sell real estate as a profession. About the same time as I was licensed as a Real Estate Agent, the market peaked and was headed south. My condo went from $160,000 to $40,000 in 3 years and the money from real estate completely dried up.
About that time, when I was stuck working a menial job to get by, the short comings of Orlando became more stark and noticeable. When you're making a lot of money, you're willing to say, "Oh it's okay if I get robbed every now and then, that's city life for you." So I decided to actually start researching city stats to find out if there are any better places to live in the country. What I found was astonishing. Orlando has some of the highest crime rates for any city in this country. To make it simple I will use Denver as a comparison city since I know the stats and it is similar in size. Using the numbers given on City-Data.com I found that Orlando had 2-3 times the murder rate of Denver and more the double the overall crime rate. No wonder I see so many women walking alone in Denver compared to Orlando.
Weather
According to Money.com, Orlando has an average of 24% clear days compared to Denver's 32%. They also have 82 thunderstorms per year to Denver's 40. This doesn't even count those years that have high hurricane activity. So much for being the sunshine state. And yes, Denver is colder than Orlando, but I find it much easier to go out in the cold than in the drenching rain that Orlando receives at a rate of 50 inches per year compared to Denver's 11 inches. And then there's the humidity that is frequently above 90% in the summer and makes 95 degrees feel like 110.
Traffic Safety
According to the DOT, Denver has 68 fatalities per million people per year. Orlando has 208. Orlando also has double the pedestrian fatalites as Denver. In personal experience, I was once struck by a speeder in Orlando and broke three ribs as the paramedics cut me out of my car. Riding my bike I noticed people do not yield at cross walks even though I had the walk sign!
Water Quality
According to a readers digest study, Orlando scores a 23/50 on water quality as Denver is 50/50. I noticed for water to taste good in Orlando you must have an expensive water softener and a good quality filter. I made the mistake of drinking out of the tap when I first moved here and got sick from it.
Mass Transit
What mass transit? Orlando has one of the worst transit systems in the country as they have no trains and rely only on buses. If you live in winter park, which is the closest nice area to live in near downtown, don't count on taking the bus to party. They are not frequent(1 hr headway times), don't run late, and take FOREVER to get anywhere(1 hr from Winter Park to Downtown.) Denver on the other hand has buses that run every 5-10 minutes and an expanding Light Rail system that runs until 2am nightly. You can get from the furthest south suburb in Denver to Downtown in about 35 minutes.
These are only some of the main factors that made me want to look into another city. Others may find these factors unimportant to them or see them in a different light. My goal is only to present the facts and hopefully save some people time in choosing the best place to live. I did my research on Denver and am very happy with this city. There are many great places to live in this country, but in my opinion Orlando is not one. Happy hunting,
Frozenshores
Great points. Hope you find a better state and city to live.
Great points. Hope you find a better state and city to live.
Thanks DailyJournalist, I am happy with Denver but may end up settling in San Diego to satisfy that beach craving.
And to Blue Oktober, I refuse to argue with you because my goal is not to change your mind about living in Orlando. If you reread my original post above, you will see I only stated facts and a story about my time here. My purpose was only to save others time and maybe spark some interest in researching their move a little more.
well I tend to agree with frozen shores on many of the issues pointed out. My circumstances were different since I moved here against my will (family circumstances). I find Orlando to be rather monotonous and bland city compared to Miami and the theme parks get old after the 10th time. I miss the beach, friends, the nightlife and the crime here is shocking. You would think you were in Miami instead but at least you know where the bad parts are Miami. The amount of robberies at any restuarant, the shootings at random places throughout the area is surprising to me. Yes I'm biased but due to family I can't move back now but I would in a heartbeat if I could.
Thanks DailyJournalist, I am happy with Denver but may end up settling in San Diego to satisfy that beach craving.
And to Blue Oktober, I refuse to argue with you because my goal is not to change your mind about living in Orlando. If you reread my original post above, you will see I only stated facts and a story about my time here. My purpose was only to save others time and maybe spark some interest in researching their move a little more.
San Diego is a great city, I visted many times when I lived in Long Beach. You really can not go wrong with California, it is truly a great state, I enjoyed living there very much.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
. I suggest the main problem is your trying to go to a beach in Orlando
. Are you sure your wernt sitting in the sand box of a playground 
. I do assure you that going to south Fla is unnecessary. I live in Tampa and enjoy the Bay area's beaches year round 
. Orlando residents can too.
And then there's the humidity that is frequently above 90% in the summer and makes 95 degrees feel like 110. 
