moving to Kissimmee from KS? (Orlando, Trinity: real estate, house, neighborhoods)

[kissimmee lady]

I love where I love (other side of the Loop area)..We live in a gated safe community and our hoa's are very reasonable....under $200.00 and they take care of the properties here too. Living here since Dec. 08

[annerk]

I see it as a three prong problem.

1. Poverty. Many of the people who live there are poorly educated and barely eeking out a living. The good people live there because they can't afford to live elsewhere, the bad people live there due to the easy pickings in category #2. (See below)

2. The number of tourists that flock to the area and don't take a common sense approach to basic security.

3. The number of empty/vacant homes due to foreclosures and seasonal/short-term rentals. Neighbors don't know who does and doesn't belong, and criminals can easily identify unoccupied homes that are easy to burglarize.

[StreetSmarts]

Originally Posted by annerk

I see it as a three prong problem.

1. Poverty. Many of the people who live there are poorly educated and barely eeking out a living. The good people live there because they can't afford to live elsewhere, the bad people live there due to the easy pickings in category #2. (See below)

2. The number of tourists that flock to the area and don't take a common sense approach to basic security.

3. The number of empty/vacant homes due to foreclosures and seasonal/short-term rentals. Neighbors don't know who does and doesn't belong, and criminals can easily identify unoccupied homes that are easy to burglarize.

Good post, Annerk. Combine that with what Benny Blanco said above, and it's a problem. I wouldnt live there if the house were free, I guarantee it.

[scott34746]

I have seen first hand what kissimmee has gone through, and the decay is rapidly spreading, a few of the vacant buildings have new businesses, and these businesses dont even have signs, other than banners alone, lol, and the rest of the buildings are empty, just look at the old Twin Dragons restaurant, it is literally covered in weeds, no exageration needed, and by the way, i am NOT exagerating with any previous statements, you need to know what I know, this town is dying, the farther from disney you go, and guess what,,, even getting closer to disney, it is. Poinciana does have daily robberies, but Altamonte is not so bad,,, pretty much, stay away from Sanford and Kissimmee and south orlando, and stay away from metrowest area too, all other areas are better.

[StreetSmarts]

^^^ Sanford has some nice areas though, and although I'm not a big fan when I take into account the entire city, I wouldnt put it in the same category as Kissimmee.

[Corn starch]

There is a lot of crime in Kissimmee and believe it or not St. Cloud is getting bad. Kissimmee has a nasty crack problem. Actually, I'd say epidemic. I lived there when I was single but I would NOT raise a child there. Best of luck to you.

[**NoodLes**]

^^I guess the All-America City Award 2008 can be thrown out the window then.


Kissimmee, Florida | Welcome (http://www.kissimmee.org/news_releases_detail.aspx?id=4790 - broken link)

Kissimmee named All-America City - Orlando Sentinel

You guys are ridiculous.

Or how about this $2 million house. http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...747_1113821883

I guess the Houston Astros Spring Training are afraid of all the rampant crack addicts running around too?

[doom1001]

I've driven down 192 in Kissimmee for the last 20-25 years to get to the theme parks and as many have said in the last 10 years I've seen a steady decline in the area.I mean it seems like 3 out of 4 restaurants and stores have closed in the last 5 years and the amount of shady characters walking the streets has probably increased 1000% every 2 years,so I do believe the area has a major drug problem.When the real estate market collapsed we looked in to possibly buying something in Poinciana,now I had never been to Poinciana before and what I found when we went to look at it was a planned community that could have been pretty nice become basically a suburban ghetto.The areas that had construction completed just seemed to be in rough shape with many shady characters and honestly I just wouldn't feel safe there.We did see a house we liked in village 8,I think the furthest one out,less built up,more open and empty lots but very far away and from what I heard from a neighbor it could take almost 2 hours to get to Kissimmee during rush hour since it's one road in and out.So while it was a good house at a good price,it was too isolated,too far away and possibly in a couple of years look as rough as the other areas we saw,so safety is another concern.

[**NoodLes**]

Originally Posted by doom1001

I've driven down 192 in Kissimmee for the last 20-25 years to get to the theme parks and as many have said in the last 10 years I've seen a steady decline in the area.I mean it seems like 3 out of 4 restaurants and stores have closed in the last 5 years and the amount of shady characters walking the streets has probably increased 1000% every 2 years,so I do believe the area has a major drug problem.When the real estate market collapsed we looked in to possibly buying something in Poinciana,now I had never been to Poinciana before and what I found when we went to look at it was a planned community that could have been pretty nice become basically a suburban ghetto.The areas that had construction completed just seemed to be in rough shape with many shady characters and honestly I just wouldn't feel safe there.We did see a house we liked in village 8,I think the furthest one out,less built up,more open and empty lots but very far away and from what I heard from a neighbor it could take almost 2 hours to get to Kissimmee during rush hour since it's one road in and out.So while it was a good house at a good price,it was too isolated,too far away and possibly in a couple of years look as rough as the other areas we saw,so safety is another concern.

So, by your logic one highway and a development that has one road access is representative of an entire small city. Yep, makes sense. I guess all that development and upgrades to 192 near Poinciana and Celebration are my imagination? There are works of spending alot of money developing and upgrading the eastern part of 192 also. It's pretty ridiculous, that's like saying Highway 50 or Colonial is representative of all Orlando. I can go down to Lake Toho or East Lake Toho any day of the week and see plenty of "normal" people LOL. I was there a few months ago, seemed fine to me. Hunter's Creek, the so-called "promise land" on these boards might as well be considered Kissimmee then, too. It literally borders the county line.

[annerk]

Originally Posted by **NoodLes**

Hunter's Creek, the so-called "promise land" on these boards might as well be considered Kissimmee then, too. It literally borders the county line.

It's not?

I think that overall Osceola County is far from desirable. Yes, a few developers have come in and built a few pockets of higher end gated communities, but even some of those have been far from successful and have HOA's struggling financially and a lot of foreclosures. And some of those are also deeded for short-term rental--which is very undesirable in a residential neighborhood in my opinion.

Given the choice of living in Poinciana or moving to Alabama, I think I'd choose Alabama, and that is probably about as low on my list as it gets. The traffic getting in and out of there is horrific whether people want to admit it or not, and between the high foreclosure rate and number of rental (short and long term) properties in the area, it has attracted overall less than desirable residents and more than it's share of crime.