Moving to Orlando, FL

We all know Orlando.  It’s the place of our childhood dreams, the city where Mickey Mouse lives, Jaws retired, and roller coasters are a form of public transportation.

Wait, it’s a real city, too?

Orlando is a booming American metropolis.  Its tourism industry provides a substantial boost to its economy, but it is also home to a number of technology producers, including Lockheed-Martin, Hewlett-Packard and Boeing, numerous military facilities, and a massive university (Central Florida).

Orlando’s Layout

Orlando is located in the middle of Florida, about an hour’s drive from either the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico.  The region is characterized by swamps and dense vegetation.  There are hundreds of lakes in the metro area, Lake Apopka, near downtown, being the largest.

Orlando is the head of a larger metropolitan area known as Greater Orlando.  It includes the large cities of Kissimmee and Sanford and is home to over 2.1 million people.

Positives of Moving to Orlando

Entertainment – Orlando is the location of, well, let’s just list them all:

• Walt Disney World
• Universal Studios
• Wet ‘n’ Wild
• Seaworld
• Islands of Adventure

It’s the amusement park capital of the world. 

Tourism – When you’re the amusement park capital of the world, you tend to draw crowds – 51-million-strong crowds.  Orlando’s local economy benefits twofold.  First, many of its residents are employed by these behemoth parks.  Second, visitors dump millions of dollars into the local economy each year.

Military – The US military has a number of bases and research centers in and around Orlando, which provide work for many residents and help invigorate the local economy.

Weather – Does Orlando get hot?  Yes, very hot and humid in the summers.  However, it also rains a lot then, too, cooling it off a bit.  Then, in the winters, it’s near perfection: dry, 70’s/80’s, and sunny.

Negatives of Moving to Orlando

Hurricanes – Like the rest of Florida, Orlando is at risk of receiving devastating hurricanes each hurricane season.  Because it is inland, the storms are usually weakened by the time they reach Orlando; however, they can still cause major damage.

Traffic – Besides buses, Orlando does not have any viable public transit system, making its roadways a crawling mess.

Overkill – Once the novelty of the amusement parks wears away, residents tend not to frequent them.  While it’s still nice that the parks exist for a number of reasons, they and their constant stream of tourists can get tiring.

Location – As mentioned, Orlando is only an hour’s drive away from the beach.  However, unlike most of its Florida brethren (Miami, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale), it’s not on the beach, and that matters in the summer.  When some cool surf could help calm the heat, Orlandoans are stuck with stagnant swamps.

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