What is it like living in a neighborhood without any trees, & rows and rows of houses in Orlando? (Davie: neighborhoods, schools)

[blueoktober]

Downtown is covered in trees.

[GLS2010]

my subdivision has many big old oak trees. i love it

[rogercobb]

Unfortunately, this is very common around Orlando and points east. If you're lucky enough to have trees they are short and scrawny and provide very little shade from the intense sun. As soon as you head west towards Sumter, western Polk, and eastern Hillsborough counties and the gulf side of the state there are many more big live oaks and thick forests. Lake county and south and east have a lot of flat land with scrub growth.

[annerk]

Originally Posted by rogercobb

Unfortunately, this is very common around Orlando and points east. If you're lucky enough to have trees they are short and scrawny and provide very little shade from the intense sun. As soon as you head west towards Sumter, western Polk, and eastern Hillsborough counties and the gulf side of the state there are many more big live oaks and thick forests. Lake county and south and east have a lot of flat land with scrub growth.

Have you ever been to Lake County? Flat land and scrub growth?

How about rolling hills full of old growth live oak draped in Spanish moss.

[FL Developer]

Originally Posted by chaotix

In some states developers are required to plant/replace a certain percentage of trees in new subdivisions/new construction, for preservation and conservation, i.e, for every x amount of trees they remove they are required to replace them with x amount. I don’t know what the forestry/tree department laws are in Florida, if any, but it makes sense to keep/plant trees especially in new construction/ subdivisions. I do not understand why this is not the case in Florida, maybe someone with knowledge to this effect can chime in.

You are correct for specimen trees. Remove a 16" oak and you must replace it with 2 - 8", 4 - 4" and so on. Most municipalities have strict landscaping requirements for subdivisions. I have never seen a subdivision without any trees. To develop land in florida, most sites require fill (dirt) to bring the grades up for drainage and bring it out of the floodplain. Most trees can not survive with fill being placed in and around their dripline, so they are removed. Some build "tree wells" with retaining walls, but I have yet to see these trees last more than 5 years. Tree relocation is another option depending on the size of the tree. Relocated trees have about a 50 / 50 chance of surviving.

[FL Developer]

Originally Posted by ComSense

There's no trees in my subdivision either. I wish builders would keep some trees instead of tearing them all down. Al lthe houses in my subdivision have the exact same landscape, one tree by the road, and 2 palms next two house.

Did you not notice this when you bought the house? If you buy a new house many builders offer a upgrade landscaping option, for more money of course, which will include more trees, plants, etc.

[StreetSmarts]

Everyone has the exact same landscape. The HOA is so nitpicky, they wont even let you remove a tree. I have added some trees myself though.

[Infinite loop]

IMO, the fewer trees, the better.

• Hurricanes. If an area has many trees, hurricanes will push them down and make a HUGE mess all over the streets and even fall on some houses. Believe me, I've been through many hurricanes and have seen it all.
• Plumbing. Many trees may grow roots into the pipes and that's a major headache. Even small bushes can be a big problem.
• Clear view of sky. I don't need to worry about some big trees blocking my view of the space shuttle launches. I find it relaxing to look at the beautiful blue sky from my patio.
• Less garden work. It is so easy to cut the grass and rake. My last house had many pine trees, the pine sap would get on the cars and average yard work had 20 HEAVY bags of pine needles.
• Keeps animals away from property.

I don't mind some bushes and a SMALL tree or two on a lot. Many subdivisions (mine included) have conservation areas - plenty of trees there. That is where the animals belong.

[DavieJ89]

I think if you live in a subdivision thats just row after row of similar looking homes and few if any trees my best suggestion is to plant a few trees or perhaps try to get a home with no rear neighbors and have the woods as your backyard, though this can be risky as who really knows whats living in there

In the 32837 and 32824 zip codes which are South Orlando for those who don't know. A lot of subdivisions that opened between 1980-2000 in Hunter's Creek and Meadow Woods have rows and rows of homes with fairly large trees, while still being cookie cutter subdivisions. The same could apply for several subdivisions in Buenaventura Lakes in Kissimmee as well.

A lot of subdivisions built in the 80s or 90s have lots of trees. And thats actually when a vast majority of Orlando's subdivisions were built. The exception being Avalon Park which is all brand new, along with Independence out in Windermere, Lake Nona, and Lee Vista Blvd area as well

[StreetSmarts]

Originally Posted by DavieJ89

I think if you live in a subdivision thats just row after row of similar looking homes and few if any trees my best suggestion is to plant a few trees or perhaps try to get a home with no rear neighbors and have the woods as your backyard, though this can be risky as who really knows whats living in there

In the 32837 and 32824 zip codes which are South Orlando for those who don't know. A lot of subdivisions that opened between 1980-2000 in Hunter's Creek and Meadow Woods have rows and rows of homes with fairly large trees, while still being cookie cutter subdivisions. The same could apply for several subdivisions in Buenaventura Lakes in Kissimmee as well.

A lot of subdivisions built in the 80s or 90s have lots of trees. And thats actually when a vast majority of Orlando's subdivisions were built. The exception being Avalon Park which is all brand new, along with Independence out in Windermere, Lake Nona, and Lee Vista Blvd area as well

Yeah, it takes a while for trees to mature, so it looks pretty "blah" in the early stages. But I think that once the trees are 15-20 yrs old, they'l be big and it will look good. The problem is, the subdivision itself (the homes and the folks living in them) dont always hold up real well. That's even worse.