Need Info on Orlando or other florida towns

I live in Ormond Beach which is on the east coast of central florida. http://www.ormondbeach.org/ http://www.ci.daytona-beach.fl.us/ I can cross the highway by my house and I'm on the beach. Just my personal opinion I dont have a great like for Orlando. It is an area that has grown very quickly and continues to do so. I am originally from Ft. Lauderdale/Miami area but lived in small towns in Kentucky also. Daytona Beach is 2 miles south of me so I still get all the benefits of a larger area, but not too large to get lost in lol. Orlando is high in crime, traffic and many other problems although I'm sure it has it's benefits in employment and housing. I have left my doors unlocked many times in my neighborhood. No matter where you go in florida at this time property taxes and cost are high!! Thanks to the past hurricanes seasons and hungry insurance companies lol. Even if you are a renter it's high due to this. Jobs arent an issue in this area either but I will say the pay scales arent as high as other places. My son attended schools which were all magnet and rated highly compared to many other schools in central florida. (Ormond Middle and Seabreeze High - specializes in Aeronautics/Aerospace education) and the state requirements here to graduate are pretty stringent. You must maintain a C average and also pass the state test. You can be a straight A student, fail the FCAT and you wont graduate until you do. If you dont maintain at least a 2.0 gpa you dont graduate either. Cut school loose your drivers license also. If my son misses one class I get a phone call without fail!! It well prepped him for college (Hopefully Embry Riddle). Most schools start in 1st week of August here compared to most northern states (Sept). One big benefit NO STATE TAXES on your pay check lol. Although my area has a 6.5% sales tax ( I believe it's 7.0 or 7.5% in Orlando). They do have a Tax-Free Week just before school for supplies and clothing. Being originally from Florida I researched areas before coming back as I knew I didnt want to be in areas like Ft. Lauderdale etc again due to the crime, population etc. It's an easy commute to anywhere from my location although Orlando is about 90 minutes away if the traffic isnt too bad in that area. There are also areas just outside of Orlando to live which makes an easier commute to the hospitals also. In Daytona Beach area there are always adds for RN's and LPNs. We have some excellent hospitals here also. A large retirement community so lots of assisted living and nursing homes also. A state VA nursing home and VA clinic. New VA hospital expected to be built in Orlando also in next few years (dont think they have broken ground just yet) but it's been approved. We get great events here also like Bike Week, Speed Week (Nascar), Biketoberfest and the list goes on. Very hard to get bored in this area as something is always going on. If you do decide anywhere close to Daytona give a yell and I'll be happy to send or find any info you would like to inquire about. There are a few others on this forum from Daytona Beach area also so hopefully they can comment.

Hi. I live in Jacksonville. It is very far north in Florida--about 30 minutes north of St. Augustine, one hour south of Georgia.

I, too, would never move to Orlando. It's a great place to visit, do the Disney thing, and then I am very happy to go home.

I really like Jacksonville. We're on the Atlantic ocean, and can be in the mountains of Georgia or North Carolina in 6-8 hours.

We have Shands Teaching hospital here, which is affiliated with the University of Florida, and is a Trauma One hospital. We also have Mayo Clinic, along with 4 more hospitals (one of which has like 5 locations around town).

Should you choose to go back to school, we have the University of North Florida, Jacksonville University (private) and Florida Community College all in town.

We really like it here. I moved here as a young child in 1979, left for college and grad school, and returned here with my husband 7 years ago when I finished school. We have no intention to leave.

Hope this helps.

Carla

I actually lived in Orlando for 4 years and my family and I loved it there. There is tons to do, lots of great community parks if you're into that. Everything from dining, shopping, and fun is all close by.

I lived out East of Orlando, in the Waterford Lakes area and loved it there. Of course though it's been 2 years since I sold my home there and there has been a huge real estate boom so the price of homes has gone up considerably. Property taxes ran us about $4000 annually. Sales tax was about 7.5% if memory serves me. You can get much more home and property for you money by going outside the city and or county lines. When we left you could still get property at a decent price in areas such as Sanford, Titusville, and Oviedo. If you want to get out in a more rural area but still be close to Orlando there are areas such as, Bithlo, Christmas, Leesburg and Mount Dora, or Wildwood.

The schools in the area that I lived (Waterford Lakes) were all grade A schools. It's close to one of the main highways that gets you from one side of town to the other, but there is tolls to deal with.

I don't know much about the hospitals though, as I didn't work when I was there for the 4 years, I was staying at home with my kids.

There are lots of hospitals to chose from in the Orlando and surrounding areas, you have....

Orlando Regional

Lucerne Medical Center

Arnold Palmer (women's & children's)

Florida Hospital (has several locations through out the area)

Winter Park Memorial

Central Florida Regional

Titusville Hosp

Parish Medical Center

South Lake Hosp (Clermont, FL)

Osceola Regional Medical Center (Kissimmee, FL)

....to name a few.

Good luck in where ever you decide to go. Orlando is nice if you like a larger town with lots of things to do. But if you like more of a small town feel then there are those areas close by that you still have room to breath.

Are you open to living in other states? If so look other than Florida! I own a home in lake Nona FL.( on the boarder of orlando) and my property taxes went from $5900 to $7017 this year and that is with the homeowners exempt. Home owners insurance is high in Florida with most Insurance companies refusing to insure any homes along the coast or near the coast. The cost of living is high and wages are low with over 2 million Floridians living below the national poverty level. Nursing conditons and salaries are among the worst in the U.S. I would not live in Fl. if I had school age children. Florida has the worst graduation rates in the country and when I checked the Orlando area on the familywatchdog.us website for child predators the map lit up like a christmas tree. My husband retired at 54 and always wanted to live in Florida because of the warm weather in the winter months. I live and work as a RN in Minneapolis Mn. and winter in Florida. I've heard nothing but bad about Florida health care from every RN I have talked to so I choose not to work there. We signed papers to build our home in 5/04 and it took 1 year to complete and was horrified by the acceptable quality of home construction. We will be leaving Florida soon.

Im in Orlando now, came here last year with my 3 kids. We moved from NJ. I have to say I am disappointed. Its OK at first but totally overrated the parks get old and expensive after a while the drive to the beach is long either way.The saleries are wayyyyy less than up north and the workload is the same. Orlando is a melting pot of everyone some very quick northerners and the more laidback southerners (slower) ((sorry)) so it makes for a difficult mix and sometimes tempers flair! LOTS of car accidents.But if you come here Id go to Hunters Creek area great schools great neighborhood but beware there are getto's all around dont come blindly And stay away from kissemmee areas they look nice on paper but thats all!!

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hey recoyle... just read your reply and i would say that some of your statements are way off. what do you consider to be the ghetto? any where around hunter's creek is nice and expensive. you must be talking when you go further down south obt, where it's more of a "middle class" neighborhood. i don't know where you are coming from with the term "ghetto". what areas are you referring to as being ghetto? alot of ppl get that term mixed up with areas that have a lot of minorties and communities without gates and expensive cars. that's not cool. you can't advise someone where not live based on what you feel is "ghetto". that comment you made could be offensive to some people

Hunters Creek? Isn't that in New Tampa? If so, anything remotely resembling getto is miles down Bruce B. Downs Blvd. If not, disregard.

Wow, lots of nice areas near orlando and just outside. I'm in Ormond Beach just outside of Daytona Beach and I love it. My son lives in Palm Coast where housing is much cheaper and reasonable then my area also. No "ghetto" in that area or in the Ormond Beach area. Although we dont have a swimming pool in every back yard and I dont drive a Hummer so maybe then we'd be ghetto lol. Really please check your areas out as there are alot of wonderful places in Central Florida. I literally can leave my doors unlocked where I live and then cross the street to the beach. Couldnt really ask for more.

Hunters Creek? Isn't that in New Tampa? If so, anything remotely resembling getto is miles down Bruce B. Downs Blvd. If not, disregard.

Hunters Creek is in Orlando on Orange Blossom Trail. I believe it's considered West Orlando. Expensive area