OT: Anyone here have info/opinion on living in Orlando, Florida?

festeringZit · Jan 5, 2011

My wife and I have an opportunity to relocate to Orlando, Florida area.

She'd be working in Winter Park, and I'd be working from home.

I like the idea of living close to the coast, and w/in lakes.

The cost of living seems comparable to where we are now
(Austin, Texas).

Any input/opinions would be appreciated.

Thanks, FZ

bigtendominator · Jan 5, 2011

I loved living in Central Florida and South Florida.

Austin is great place, but I love having the water close by.

If given the opportunity, I would move back to FL from Dallas in a second.

ProPokerPlayer · Jan 5, 2011

My cousin moved there, opened a flooring and carpet buisness and loves it. Weather is 2nd only to SanDiego with the occasional hurricane thrown in. But its just like everywhere else, the people who have money and can afford to stay away from the bad things are doing great. The 9-5 regular guy is living just slightly above the poverty level as they find new ways to tax and regulate everyday.

JudgeWapner · Jan 5, 2011

My brother in law lives there. Personally I don't like it. Urban sprawl and jungle hot.

festeringZit · Jan 5, 2011

Judge Wapner said:
My brother in law lives there. Personally I don't like it. Urban sprawl and jungle hot.

It looks cooler than where I live now, though humidity is higher - which might make it feel hotter...

barman · Jan 5, 2011

Central Florida heat is a walk in the park compared to Texas in July and August and as you know I've now had plenty of experience with both since moving here in 1998.

Fishhead · Jan 5, 2011

Better place than most........

However, I've had enough of Florida.

High taxes
Horrible food
Humidity
Mold
Lightning
SEC fans

VIVA LAS VEGAS BABY!!

festeringZit · Jan 5, 2011

Well the most important factor is, how far are the nearest poker rooms?

ha

djmatt · Jan 5, 2011

traffic sucks!!

JustinCruise · Oct 4, 2018

Lived there for a little over 6 months in a college internship. Prev poster is right about the horrific traffic.

For the most part I really enjoyed the city. A lot to do. Diverse people. Very nice weather in the winter but the summer is pretty excruciating. As a midwest guy having the sunshine every single day was nice. I hate the miserable winters where I live now.

Have a friend who was on the same internship and loved orlando so much he never left. Hes now a professional theme park vlogger and makes great money on YouTube.

I was mid 20s at the time. Not sure I would feel the same now at 32.

seldomseen · Oct 4, 2018

Prefer Austin to Orlando. If you're there now I don't think the heat here will bother you. Although you won't get an ocean breeze like you would at the coastal cities. Traffic sucks and lots of tourists. Lots of stuff to do especially if you have kids with the theme parks. If you're wife doesn't mind the commute I would go as far east as possible but that might just be me.

seldomseen · Oct 4, 2018

Hache could probably over the best perspective. I'm pretty sure he lives in that area. I'm up in the Jacksonville area.

festeringZit · Oct 4, 2018

Glad I ended up staying in Austin for now anyway... I like the Tampa area if I was to move to Florida...

unusualsusp11 · Oct 5, 2018

just do not venture into any dark alleys downtown at night.

Knightrofins · Oct 5, 2018

Orlando is only a touristy area of living by Disney. If u live north or east it’s not bad at all. I4 traffic sucks!!

Bloker · Oct 5, 2018

I was born there in 1965 and spent the first 30 years of my life in the Pine Hills area (way before it became Crime Hills lol), later moving out to the Oviedo area. Graduated from UCF in 1989. It was basically a land of orange groves when I was a kid. Remember going to Disney in the early 70's when it was just Main Street and not a whole lot else lol.

Go back every year around Thanksgiving to visit family and it gets more unrecognizable with each passing year. Unbelievable how it continues to grow. I get lost in the UCF area now; I went to school there when Alafaya Trail was a 2 lane road out in the sticks lol. The university itself was just a handful of buildings and nationally ranked football was a long, long ways off.

If someone would have told us that UCF would be NCAA football National Champions in the 2017-2018 season (sorry, Alabama) we would have asked for some of what you were smoking. (I'm kidding, of course, but only slightly lol).

About the only things I miss are the beaches, and I liked the gambling action there with greyhounds, horses and jai alai. Horses are about the only thing left but they did add poker rooms. I was also a big fan of baseball spring training.

The major downside for me was that I just never got used to the never-ending heat and humidity. Prefer the weather up north over that any day.

It was a good place to grow up overall. It seems to have remained family oriented even today.

This thread is giving me a lot of flashbacks lol. Good times!

CoachCB · Oct 5, 2018

Fishhead said:
Better place than most........

However, I've had enough of Florida.

High taxes
Horrible food
Humidity
Mold
Lightning
SEC fans

VIVA LAS VEGAS BABY!!

High taxes? Where did you live in SE Florida (Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, WPB?). Property taxes in NE Florida are laughable (i.e. very low).

festeringZit said:
Glad I ended up staying in Austin for now anyway... I like the Tampa area if I was to move to Florida...

So you never moved? Nice bump!

I often ask people who live in middle Florida....Why? If you live in Florida and don't live at the beaches....why are you living in Florida? Florida is all about the beach life...or "Salt Life" - surfing, water sports, beach cruisers, flip-flops, cold beer, fishing, paddle boarding, seafood, sand, heat, sea breezes, sunrises or sunsets (depending on what coast you pick), the keys, etc. If you live inland you might as well move. It's hot, thunderstorms, not scenic, white trash everywhere, etc.

So, in short - if you ever decide to move to Florida or live in Florida - live at the beach. You'll love your life!

Knightrofins · Oct 5, 2018

CoachCB said:
High taxes? Where did you live in SE Florida (Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, WPB?). Property taxes in NE Florida are laughable (i.e. very low).

So you never moved? Nice bump!

I often ask people who live in middle Florida....Why? If you live in Florida and don't live at the beaches....why are you living in Florida? Florida is all about the beach life...or "Salt Life" - surfing, water sports, beach cruisers, flip-flops, cold beer, fishing, paddle boarding, seafood, sand, heat, sea breezes, sunrises or sunsets (depending on what coast you pick), the keys, etc. If you live inland you might as well move. It's hot, thunderstorms, not scenic, white trash everywhere, etc.

So, in short - if you ever decide to move to Florida or live in Florida - live at the beach. You'll love your life!

The schools arent that good if u live by the beach and private school is expensive at hell.

I live in the suburbs about a 30 min drive to Deerfield Beach. I'll take it

For the person talking about property taxes, they are CRAZY HIGHER in south florida than central florida as home values are MUCH higher in south florida

CoachCB · Oct 5, 2018

Knightrofins said:
The schools arent that good if u live by the beach and private school is expensive at hell.

I live in the suburbs about a 30 min drive to Deerfield Beach. I'll take it

For the person talking about property taxes, they are CRAZY HIGHER in south florida than central florida as home values are MUCH higher in south florida

Schools are hit or miss. In NE Florida the two high schools (Fletcher and Ponte Vedra Beach) are good (PVB is brand new and much better - Fletcher is a little more ghetto, but it's the beach school). I imagine things are different in SE Florida....but as a north Floridian, I don't consider Miami as "Florida"!!

(just kidding). I plan to - hopefully - move to the Tampa/Sarasota area after I retire from the military. Property taxes are reasonable there, but not like in the NE (I live in Arlington, VA and our city council is all Democrat, so anytime they need more money they raise taxes - I pay over $5,000/year on a little shitty 1200sf house!).

Knightrofins · Oct 5, 2018

CoachCB said:
Schools are hit or miss. In NE Florida the two high schools (Fletcher and Ponte Vedra Beach) are good (PVB is brand new and much better - Fletcher is a little more ghetto, but it's the beach school). I imagine things are different in SE Florida....but as a north Floridian, I don't consider Miami as "Florida"!! (just kidding). I plan to - hopefully - move to the Tampa/Sarasota area after I retire from the military. Property taxes are reasonable there, but not like in the NE (I live in Arlington, VA and our city council is all Democrat, so anytime they need more money they raise taxes - I pay over $5,000/year on a little shitty 1200sf house!).

I'm in North Broward (not too far from palm beach country) so I agree when we say that Miami is in "another world". I worked down there for years. I dont miss it at all!!