I'm moving to Florida... HELP?

[Divameow77]

I'm moving to the Orlando area with my 2 boys and my boyfriend at the end of February and I know very little about the area. We are starting to look for apartments but having some trouble, what's with all the income restrictions? We make too much money? Are we looking at less then desirable neighborhoods? My boyfriend will be attending MMI, I think that's southern Orlando, and we would like to be kind of close to his school.

We are coming from Minnesota and I am completely clueless... any advice would be greatly appreciated :)

[Mojorabbit]

1. I'd avoid the pine hills (crime hills)area

I don't know much about the rental situation though. Welcome to the area!

[Synnical]

2. Income restrictions?

Sounds like you're looking at Section 8 housing. Have you tried the Orlando Sentinel's classified section?

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/classified/genmerch/search.classified

Don't know much about the Orlando area, but welcome to Florida. :hi:

-Cindy in Fort Lauderdale

[Divameow77]

3. That's what I thought too

but the employees for these complexes we have talked to denied it was section 8 housing :shrug: it puzzles me...

Thanks :hi: I hope I like it.

[Skarbrowe]

4. The SW part of Orlando was once one of the safest parts of Orlando

but I've heard so many bad things about apartment break-ins and car thefts since I left in 2003. I came to this forum to ask if any people living in Orlando still think it's a great place to live. I want to move back there myself. I had an apartment at Plantation Park and I loved it. Had to have some health problems taken care of that caused me to move back to South Florida.

I wish I could give you more current information, but I'm looking for that myself. :) Hopefully someone else that lives in Orlando will chime in here. I know that the east side of Orlando can be a bit dangerous. I've heard of the problems with the Pine Hills area and that the Guardian Angels are coming in to help around the Parramore ( not sure that's spelled correctly, and I don't know where it is exactly ) because the crime is unbelievable. There is crime everywhere and I'm sure Orlando has more than it's share due to tremendous growth and the fact that the tourist are probably protected more than the people who actually live there. That's just a guess on my part.

All I can say is that the SW part, the Lake Buena Vista area was very nice when I lived there 2001-2003. Unfortunetaly, I've heard that it's gone down hill quite a bit too.

I'm looking for someone to give me some hope about things not being "too bad" everywhere in Orlando because I really, really want to move back there around February or March also. Good luck!

[Lost-in-FL]

13. FBI: Murder rate soars in Orlando

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-fbicrime1906dec19,0,2369860.story?coll=orl-home-headlines

The city's murder rate more than tripled from January through June, compared with the first six months of 2005.

Other violent crimes spiked as well. Orlando posted the third-biggest jump in rapes and robberies among the state's 10 largest cities and had the largest increase in arsons, according to the report.

The city (Orlando) tied Miami, which has nearly twice the population, with the second-largest number of murders -- 30 -- in Florida. Only Jacksonville, which is nearly four times bigger, had more: 70.

Orlando has since shattered its all-time record for murders, reaching 46 after the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old late Friday. There were 22 murders in all of 2005.

[iamjoy]

5. I Live In East Orlando/More Advice

Where I live really isn't too bad - it's less than 10 miles west of the University of Central Florida. East Colonial Drive (Hwy 50) out this way (east of SR 436/Semoran Blvd) does have a lot of "Buy Here/Pay Here" Auto Dealers, but you go a mile or so north to University Blvd and there are a lot of nice subdivisions. Not luxury gated communities, but nice homes.

And I think the area near the airport (southeast Orlando/Lake Nona) is set to boom, especially if that Burnham Institute and Nemours come through. I think it's still affordable and nice enough if you can tolerate the noise.

But, I think MMI is SW Orlando. I wouldn't live anywhere off of South Orange Blossom Trail (SR 441) between I-4 and the Bee Line Expressway (528). It still has a bit of a rep as the red light district. 5 miles west of that is the tourist area of International Drive. But 441 south of 528 is okay, except the train switching station (or something like that)is in the Taft area. Kissimmee (Osceola County) is further south and might be more affordable.

Problem in Orlando is, because we're a tourist town and service based economy, wages are fairly low. Then we got caught up in the housing boom, so the median house price is way more than some one making the median wage can afford. With all the apartments that went condo, the squeeze has started to affect the rental market too.

I know there's a way you can request crime statistics from the county sheriff's office - not a bad idea if you are concerned about a neighborhood. Also, since you have kids, look into schools too. If your boyfriend can put up with the drive and you can afford it AND you can tolerate a red county, try Seminole County. The schools are better, crime is lower and the roads are less congested. Seminole County includes Altamonte Springs, Casselberry, Longwood, Lake Mary and Sanford (among others)

[Divameow77]

6. Thanks!

Great advice and I will look into it :hi:

[Skarbrowe]

7. Sorry, I didn't mean to imply east Orlando was bad, although that's

exactly what I did. I don't really know much about all of east Orlando. I remember having to go to an appointment somewhere on the NE side of Orlando that was kind of scary because a bunch of police cars had several people pulled over. I shouldn't have made a comment about the whole east side. Oh, and I do know about the area off South Orange Blossom Trail. I kept getting lost in that area trying to find places.

How's the Winter Park area? I liked to move a bit closer to the VA Center. :)

[DarkTirade]

16. I completely disagree about the schools part of Seminole County

They're one of the counties who have stopped actually teaching and are just doing what they can to shuffle kids off to college.
At least that was the case where I lived.

[recoveringrepublican]

8. I'm not from Orlando, but why would you leave beautiful MN for

this hell hole! Just kidding! I'm from Minnesota, moved to the Tampa/St. Pete area. Not a day goes by I don't wish I could talk my husband into moving back to MN.

[Lost-in-FL]

11. ...

I don't blame you.

[Divameow77]

14. Just while my boyfriend is in school

but he hates Minnesota and I'm not too attached, I'm originally from Georgia and he's from Chicago, there's no place like home for him... I'm not sure where we will go after he finishes school.

[orolinger]

20. Wondering

What is the most u miss about Ga. since you relocated?

[Divameow77]

21. Besides my family?

The weather in Minnesota sucks in the winter, it can get just too damn cold. Homes and apartments are too expensive in the twin cities area. There are things nice about Minnesota too but aside from the way a lot of the people think down there I really miss the south.

[Lipton64]

9. Sure thing, I live about 20 or so miles to the West of the Orlando area....

Um, you can always move down to the Kissimmee area. Real estate is rather high in areas but you can probably find apartments and/or condos away from the tourist traps and tourist areas that may be lower. I know the farther you go out towards Clermont, to Orlando's west, the lower real estate gets in comparison to most upper-scale areas in the city. I've also heard to look for retirement areas because wherever older people tend to live - that's also where crime tends to be lower.

I have to ask: are you looking for a house, apartment, condo, trailer, etc? Because obviously that affects your rent/mortgage rates. Overall though it's a great place to live. I find crime to be fairly low here in comparison to other cities of its size and our city is pretty middle class so you don't have to worry about too many slums around town.

But overall, welcome to Orlando!! :)

[Divameow77]

15. Thanks

:hi:

I am looking for an apartment for now, and I have to fly blind since we really can't afford to come down and look first.

[IWantAChange]

10. Orlando Sentinel should be available online

your best bet to lead you either to a real estate company or the listings you are interested in. check out the Hunters Creek area just north of Kissimmee - great access to everything.

[Lost-in-FL]

12. The reviews here are very accurate IMO

http://www.bestplaces.net/city/Profile.aspx?city=Orlando_FL

About Crime in Pine Hills (Crime Hills)?? There's more robbery in my area which is a Middle to High Income Area than in Pine Hills. My In-laws own a house in Pine Hills and it is very quiet there (at least their immediate area). They bought that home in 1983 and not one time they had a break in (or their Neighbors). In my area, there have been about 4 break ins in my immediate area in the last 4 months and I cannot even go out walk my dog at night. Of course, we pay a high Home Owners association fee just to make the area look exclusive but at the end there's too many break ins. I am begging my husband to leave, but we will as soon as he finishes his school.

Even places like Dr Phillips, Windemere (where Tiger Woods lives :eyes: )and Metrowest which are considered in the high income bracket are high crime areas. Crime happens all over Orlando.

If you have kids, there are plenty of things to do if you are willing to pay $500 dollars per child to get a Disney season pass. If you are married without kids like my hubby and I, there's only three things to do; watch bad movies in the theaters, go to one of the malls and buy nonsense cause there's nothing better to do and pray every time you get on your car and hope you don't get into a car accident. There's plenty of places to eat (way too many restaurants). Seems like in a normal strip mall 60% of the business are RESTAURANTS, 20% is a REALTOR, 10% Nail business and 10% a CHECK CASHING business.

[Broca]

17. I have an interest in this topic

as well. I realize that on my budget I would be aiming for an aging trailer in some forgotten corner but as an aspiring snowbird it is either that or this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/27971213@N00/344477117/

[Synnical]

18. But Wisconsin in so liberal!

Central Florida, not at all. Plus, you have to deal with tourists. Don't get me wrong, tourism prevents me from paying state income tax, but . . . you have to deal with a bank and a church on every corner.

-Cindy in Fort Lauderdale - lived in Lakeland for ten years

[orolinger]

19. Helping hand

Hi I recently decided to move to Florida myself with an 11 yr.
old son.  I'm have read everything about Florida and it seems
to be scary and I should think about staying in georgia.  The
apartments seem to be turning into condos making it hard to
get and it seems the neighborhoods are all going down hill.  I
would like to hear anything positive about Florida from anyone
because right now there seem to be no love for new comers.  I
have checked out Forrent.com, Apartmentguide.com and
apartments.com and rentclicks.com  I received these from other
websites and people.  I really thought about Tampa until the
negative vibe I received I know hope to find a decent apt. in
Orlando.  I wish you the best. Just pray about it and take in
all the information and you will end up in the right area and
place.  My move is before July 07.