give me the pros and cons about living in orlando? and im a male nurse so would i be able to buy a nice single family home for $375,000? and what is the weather like year around? just tell me everything you know please. thanks. I am from the Uk and this is one of my favorite places in the world. Being the sunshine state it has year round good weather and its not just theme parks....its so much more then that. House prices are good and I am sure you will find something really nice and affordable, I managed to make plenty of friends while there as the people are really friendly and they are not only from all over america but also the rest of the world. There seems to be plenty of jobs as well with disney as one of the biggest employers in the area.. First, being in the nursing profession it will be easy to find employment. Check the Orlando Sentinel online for local job offerings, look at the Sunday paper. With housing prices in decline you can expect to find some nice houses and areas to live. Weather, we get hot and humid in the summer, but hardly ever get a real freeze in the winter. We may have a couple of freeze warnings each winter but they don't usually amount to anything. Hurricanes, we rarely get them, the last ones in 04 were the first to hit Orlando in like 80 years.
Some of the pros, theme parks, easy drive to beaches (either gulf or ocean), a thriving arts district with many touring broadway plays each year. A wonderful international airport to reach anywhere in the world. A newly established medical area being built with many companies, hospitals, research centers and medical school.
The cons, traffic can be a problem until you learn the 'backways' to get around traffic jams. A growing crime problem that is spreading outwards from the city center. Property taxes and home insurance rates are a continuing issue. And if you can't stand humid weather you could find it a problem. Some people gripe about a lack of seasons, but in reality we do have them, just not as extreme. You will also hear that the schools aren't good, again that you need to decide for yourself. Like any community, some schools are better then others.
Hope that gives you a starting point. I live outside Orlando and I love it! We are about 40 minutes from the theme parks, so we don't get a lot of tourist traffic where I am (SE Orlando). That's not to say that traffic isn't an issue. Your best bet would be to find a home in an area that is fairly close to your work to minimize commuting time.
Nurses are in demand here, so finding a job shouldn't be a problem. I also don't think you would have a problem finding a home in a good neighborhood. The housing market is off the spike it had a while back, so prices are back where they should be and many houses are for sale, so it's a buyers market. It's a good time to move here, because so many people want to sell.
The weather is wonderful! However, you do have to consider the heat in summer. Summer here is like winter elsewhere. When it's the worst, you just don't go outside. There is nothing like going out in shorts in January, though. Of course, hurricanes are a consideration. I've lived here for eight years and most years we don't have anything, but of course, we had three come through here in the year 2004. Hopefully that will never happen again!
Here are a few neighborhoods to get you started: Waterford Lakes, Eastwood, Avalon Park. These are all in close proximity to the Florida Hospital East. It just had a major expansion. This area also has great schools, shopping and dining. Plus it's only a few miles from the UCF main campus.
Florida also has no state tax, so your salary goes further here as well.
Good luck in your search! this is the best place in the world over 2 billion tourists come here and they love it orlando has weather thats not 2 cold or doesnt do over 100* around 90. There is not enough space to write everything I know about living in the City of Orlando, or in the metropolitan area surrounding Orlando....:) Here are a few things to consider.
Check into the the salaries before making your move and deciding on where you want to live. Florida is a 'right to work' state and so unions are not very strong here. Nurses from the north east US and California are sometimes surprised that the salaries seem low. However, it is possible to buy a very nice single family home for a bit less than $375,000. For example, my house is about 2 miles from the center of downtown Orlando; it is a 3 bedroom 2.5 bath house...great neighborhood, and is appraised at just over $200,000. Single family houses in nice neighborhoods run from $200,000 to over a million dollars....the million dollar homes are more like McMansions.
The two main hospital systems here are Orlando Regional Healthcare System and Florida Hospital/Adventist. Independent hospitals include West Orange Hospital in Winter Garden; Central Florida Regional in Sanford, and Osceola Regional in Kissimmee. You will likely easily find work in whatever your specialty is. There are hundreds of surgical centers, private practices, clinics, and urgent care centers. Also, there is a new Medical Research center and VA Hospital in the planning stages near Orlando International Airport, in an area called "Lake Nona". The residential neighborhoods near Lake Nona are very nice, except for the homes near Odyssey Middle School in Orange County-those neighborhoods were built on old an old bombing range, and oops they've discovered some buried unexploded ordinance.
The City of Orlando is in Orange County. The Metropolitan area includes Seminole County, Osceola County, Lake County, and dozens of small towns. Don't limit your search to just Orlando....although I love Orlando.
We have two seasons here; Hurricane Season and Not Hurricane Season; or the Rainy Season and the Dry Season. From late May until the end of October it stays very humid, high temps are always in the upper 80s to mid 90s, lows in the upper 70s; and we get afternoon thunderstorms several times each week....sometimes everyday. The dry season runs from early November until the end of May, and the weather is very changeable. It can go from warm, in the low 80s, to cold in the 30s or 40s in 24 hours. We don't get the daily storms, but when a cold front comes through we get strong thunderstorms and sometimes tornados. Most of the time, the dry season is wonderful. Be careful about buying a house near heavily wooded areas, we do get wildfires late in the dry season sometimes.
This area is very spread out, traffic can be very heavy. There is little public transportation. However, it's often possible to find a great home near where you work.
There are tons of activities available for people of all ages. I do love living here.
Good luck to you. Check out the links I've posted below for more information. |
