Zip Codes: 32828,32825,34761 and 34787. Here's my take. I've lived in East Orlando for two years now. I moved here to be with my grandkids and moved from the Midwest. I am very familiar with Avalon park, Waterford Chase, Altamonte Springs, Winter Park, Downtown Orlando, Ocoee, and Winter Garden. 1. Finding a place to live. Finding a rental can be hazardous to your health. The rental market is hot and if you have bad credit, open bankruptcy, or any complaints, life could get real hard for you looking for a rental. You could go practically broke paying non-refundable application fees which can range from $45-$60 per applicant, and people will yank rentals out from under your feet as soon as a few hours on the market. Plus you lose your app fees. If you're looking to buy a house, you need to have 20% down. Another thing to note is the HOA can say there are too many rentals for a neighborhood and sell your rental as soon as your lease comes due. They are not obligated to help you find another place to live. You could spend up to 2 months looking for a decent rental. So you will need to stay on top of it. I mean it. Also, housing is strange here as in you may find a $200K home for sale next to a trailer park which is a complete dump. You'll be scratching your head on that one. Things look pretty here, but take a turn or two off of Colonial (50) and the view will quickly turn into a crap heap. Once again, I'm not kidding. So there are nice subdivisions tucked in with trailer parks and crap properties. 2. The people. Since I come from the Midwest, I'm used to seeing white people (like me), Mexicans, and black folks. We all acted a like in the Midwest where I'm from. Same habits, smart assed comments. Here in Orlando you have people from all over. I think this is where the rude part comes in. I've noticed some people appear rude, when the truth is they just appear that way until you get to know them. It doesn't help when you do get some rude New Yorkers who come in and muddy things up. But this isn't with everyone. Many of these folks are tight knit with their own families and shun outsiders until they really get to know you. It takes time. It really does. So be patient. There are rude people everywhere. Now off to Puerto Ricans. Orlando is becoming the Puerto Rican capital of the U.S. Miami the Cuban capital. Just about every PR we'll say, know English. So it's complete BS to say you have to know Spanish. My question back would be "Which Spanish" are you talking about? Mexican Spanish is different than Columbian and PR. PR's are close to their families and will generally talk English around their family and Spanish with their families when you're around. That might be the frustrating part. I do get upset at times when I hear them speaking English as they approach me, but speak Spanish as they pass me. I just chalk it up to their own matters and it's not about me. You will run into more native (not Indian) Floridians the more inland you go. This is generally where you will run into the old fashioned "My whole family grew up here" deal. East Orlando is mostly a transient population who have moved in from all over. Mostly northerners and several Canadian's believe it or not. Now New Yorkers are hard for me to get used to because they always appear to be gruff and loud. Also, please note that Florida also accepts food stamps and aid from people moving from New York. So guess where they are moving too? So as far as cultures, when I do get pissed off, I make myself remember it's just a front these folks are putting on, because they came here to escape something somewhere else or they'd still be there right? 3. Traffic. This is where the gloves come off. Traffic is absolutely horrible. I4 and 408 (toll) can be an absolute nightmare. Please be advised that if you are looking to move here. Try to find a place close to work. Orlando has the worst drivers period. But not because of Orlando. It's because of all the people who have moved in from other states. I've often asked my boss if these jerks own multiple cars because of all the wrecks I see every other day. Most the time it's a rear end job, and I'd say once a week it's multiple vehicles. I see a ton of people texting and driving. I also see a bunch of people tailgating. I would say this is where most of my frustration resides in Orlando. A persons driving habits can also show how a persons attitude is as well. This is the area that I would say people are the biggest A-Holes. The traffic and drivers. I see people passing on the shoulder, cut in front of me while waiting to turn. It really is that bad. I don't have enough time to document that crap I've seen on the road. Colonial (50) is generally a parking lot in East Orlando. So I'd never advise taking it home. 4. Cost of living. Ok, this one is tough. It's tough because it really depends where you are moving from. Me being from the Midwest has a different outlook on cost than one who comes from New York. Gas is fairly reasonable. Food prices are reasonable, utilities can be high because of the summer heat. Rental properties are high in my book. Here's where I've paid the most money. Getting my drivers license transferred cost me $50. The impact fee for getting our two vehicles licensed cost a crap load of money too. That hurt my wallet. Florida generally pays less than other states. Some say it's the cost of living. But if you add up tolls and other fees, you're losing out. You will generally take upwards to a 12% cut in pay coming to Florida. So you better come down here with some $$$ if you want to get planted in Florida right. I think it cost me around $8000 to get established in Florida. That includes the move, transfer plates, rental deposit and first months rent. Now one thing I don't understand is the amount of BMW's and Mercedes I see here. Not everyone can be a doctor. Not everyone has the same high paying job. So I'm assuming that much of this is for show and they are in debt up to their eye balls. I'm an experienced IT pro and took a decent hit to come down here. Then I see the sports and luxury cars and wonder where they got their $$. 5. Jobs. It took me two months to land an IT job. Most places wanted local talent and not being hassled bringing people down. So I used my daughters address in Orlando and told everyone I was already in the process of moving. That sealed it for me, it worked. I've noticed a ton of contracting jobs with no benefits. I mean it. More than anywhere else I've seen. The number of temp or contracting jobs with no benefits at all is staggering. My wife is one of them. She's been a contractor for a year and still hasn't been hired on full time. As mentioned I took a hit in pay. Actually I took a 10% cut in pay to come down here. I miss the money. I've received a total of 8% increase for the two years I've been here. So that's not bad. Generally folks get a 2% - 5% raise if they are lucky. But the contracting job is a very scary deal to me, and yes, the pay is generally pretty weak. 6. What I do enjoy. I have a $35 yearly pass to Canaveral National Seashore. Oh I love it! I just let my mind drain. I love going swimming at jetty park as well and watching the cruise ships go out. It's pretty cool. I love the winters. Nothing like Wichita -12 in Jan. I also like the night time storms and lightning. Now that might not be a perk for some lol. But I sure like it. I like anything beach. St Augustine, Cocoa, Melbourne. We can also watch the space-X and NASA rocket launches up to 50 miles away. Now that's a cool sight to see if the darn thing doesn't get scrubbed.
JH71 | Orlando, FL | Report Abuse