Is it me or....

[Skylinecar1982]

do most of the people on this site(from orlando) complain about things that are normal or even quite mild to everyone else in the USA or even the world?
I know Us Americans like to think we have it the worst but come on.

I looking at the apartments in orlando area and 1 bedrooms are $600-$900 I pay $1200 in Mass.

No where have I found that traffic is even considered bad in Orlando.

Crime rates however have mixed reviews sometimes I find normal results and sometimes I find pretty bad results however right outside of Orlando while still in Orlando Area crime rates pretty much lower.

 

[maelstrom]

I looking at the apartments in orlando area and 1 bedrooms are $600-$900 I pay $1200 in Mass.

Yeah you can't really even get an apartment around here (Orange County, NY) for less than $800, and that's a crappy 1bed/1bath place in a basement somewhere.

 

[mkt]

I paid $1080 in Orlando

 

[ImaYoyo]

I paid $1080 in Orlando

My brother-in-law just moved here and found one for the same price he was paying in Chi-town. About 1050 for a 1-1.5.

 

[LoriMistress]

It depends on where you live. If you live around the capital, housing is going to be higher.

 

[Rabflmom]

It depends on where you live. If you live around the capital, housing is going to be higher.

It is true that places everywhere can be more expensive than this area, but usually if you have a $1000+ rent, your salary will reflect the cost of living there. Try paying $1000 a month and the rest of the bills a person has on minimum wage($6.75?) or pay less than $12 an hour which is considered being paid well for most jobs in Florida that are not professional fields. OH, yeahin many fields-if you want health insurance you have to get it independently because jobs down here do not give you many benefits.


I guess one other thing residents of Florida think about and have to deal with. You don't go a day without hearing a tourist complain about the price of everything here and how we take and take and take their money while they are here. Those prices are the same for us 365 days a year, so we deal with them everyday not just during a 2 week vacation. We get to pay the tourist tax every time we go out to eat, rent a car, etc.

And as for the traffic. For Florida I-4 and surrounding area is bad. When a 20 minute drive takes an hour to 2 hours to get to work sometimes it is no different than other drive time drives in larger cities. Most of our backups are caused by accidents-involving deaths. Difference is Orlando is not a city of 3- 5 million(maybe 300,000 in the whole are?) but our drive times can be long because of lack of mass transit and so many out of state cars on the road.

But hey, I am not complaining. We live with it, love it and would never move. Been here over 30 years and realize the sun and sand are part of our pay. You don't get cabin fever during the winter cause there are a million things to do outside and you never have to shovel snow around. <g> We just need to make sure we keep some trees in the state and have drinking water 10 years down the road.

And hey----- WTG Gators ! <VBG>

 

[Skylinecar1982]

My brother-in-law just moved here and found one for the same price he was paying in Chi-town. About 1050 for a 1-1.5.

Not saying hes not paying that but with just me using rent.com craigslist.org and others. I find plenty of Apartments 1 bedroom with more then 700 sq ft for less then $900. I honestly been looking now for a while and seen maybe only two One bed aparts for more then $1000.

The majority of my searching is for Altamonte Spings. That doesn't mean I am not searching the whole area.

I think people just don't do there research.

 

[Rabflmom]

I find plenty of Apartments 1 bedroom with more then 700 sq ft for less then $900. I honestly been looking now for a while and seen maybe only two One bed aparts for more then $1000.>>>>>


Sure you can find apartments even homes with cheaper rent, but you have to look at the area they are located in and the condition of the place. Many apartments advertised in the For Rent mags also show up on the news for either shootings, drug labs, or other crimes on a pretty regular basis. Others are there showing the poor conditions because of no maitenance etc. with the renters scrambling to find places to live since they have been condemned. Revently they were showing some apartments that looked fine from the outside-still had moldy wall and falling in ceilings from the hurricanes from 2004.
My son has lived in a few where the beer parties on weekends spill out into the yards and parking lots and the places were pretty run down-apartment they showed looked clean and new compared to the building his apartment actually was in. His apatment now is close to campus and he pays aboiut $500 for his room, has 3 other roommates paying that much too. It includes electricity and water. It is a gated community but you still have to be careful in the parking lot- getting into apartments- because the gates don't really do a lot of keeping people out. Even there there has been shootings and muggings in the parking lot.

 

[Skylinecar1982]

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I find plenty of Apartments 1 bedroom with more then 700 sq ft for less then $900. I honestly been looking now for a while and seen maybe only two One bed aparts for more then $1000.&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;</P>
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<P>Sure you can find apartments even homes with cheaper rent, but you have to look at the area they are located in and the condition of the place. Many apartments advertised in the For Rent mags also show up on the news for either shootings, drug labs, or other crimes on a pretty regular basis. Others are there showing the poor conditions because of no maitenance etc. with the renters scrambling to find places to live since they have been condemned. Revently they were showing some apartments that looked fine from the outside-still had moldy wall and falling in ceilings from the hurricanes from 2004. </P>
<P>My son has lived in a few where the beer parties on weekends spill out into the yards and parking lots and the places were pretty run down-apartment they showed looked clean and new compared to the building his apartment actually was in. His apatment now is close to campus and he pays aboiut $500 for his room, has 3 other roommates paying that much too. It includes electricity and water. It is a gated community but you still have to be careful in the parking lot- getting into apartments- because the gates don't really do a lot of keeping people out. Even there there has been shootings and muggings in the parking lot.

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<P>Ok fair enough but then what areas are good? My aunt lives in Altmonte Springs and that seems like a nice area? Also what areas are bad and should stay out of?</P>

 

[drdoom1001]

And as for the traffic. For Florida I-4 and surrounding area is bad. When a 20 minute drive takes an hour to 2 hours to get to work sometimes it is no different than other drive time drives in larger cities. Most of our backups are caused by accidents-involving deaths. Difference is Orlando is not a city of 3- 5 million(maybe 300,000 in the whole are?) but our drive times can be long because of lack of mass transit and so many out of state cars on the road.

But hey, I am not complaining. We live with it, love it and would never move. Been here over 30 years and realize the sun and sand are part of our pay. You don't get cabin fever during the winter cause there are a million things to do outside and you never have to shovel snow around. <g> We just need to make sure we keep some trees in the state and have drinking water 10 years down the road.

And hey----- WTG Gators ! <VBG>

Actually Metropolitan Orlando's population in 2005 was right about 2 million people!!! The central city population was just over 200,000.It's the same thing like in Miami where the central city population is 380,000,you might think that's not that big,but the metropolitan area's pop.is almost 6 million!!

 

[Rabflmom]

Actually Metropolitan Orlando's population in 2005 was right about 2 million people!!! The central city population was just over 200,000.It's the same thing like in Miami where the central city population is 380,000,you might think that's not that big,but the metropolitan area's pop.is almost 6 million!!

Exactly my point. We don't have any really large cities like NY, LA , Chicago in Florida. Population in those metro areas are also much larger including the suburbs. The difference between Orlando and say Chicago area where I grew up and used to teach is that we had the EL and the train system to get people where they were going. Here almost everyone relies on cars. Only mass transit is the Lynx bus system basically.

With population increasing so rapidly throughout Florida in the last 20 years, the state has not been able to keep up with it. So we don't handle the traffic as well as it should be done. We are in a continual catch up state. ..........and at times we sit in traffic and wait. <g>

 

[beachclubbasics]

It's probably a lot like NJ...taxes and living costs are going up and wages are not keeping up with the inflation. Also, I've read that, because of Florida's Save Our Homes property tax scheme, many businesses are leaving the state.

There have never been as many professional jobs available in Florida to begin with as in, say the NE.. That leaves mainly tourist industry type jobs that traditionanally don't pay well or offer good benefits. Unfortunately, WDW seems ot fall into this categoryl. I was really surprised to read that a majority of workers at WDW are not full-time and make minimum wage. Does WDW give raises?

Housing is more and more expensive everywhere, and Orlando has had quite the boom with places like Celebration popping up. Add in auto insurance and , if you need it, hurricane insurance (sometimes to the tune of 4K per year) and there's no way you can live on most jobs in the Orlando area.

I also know that , even as a teacher with a Master's degree and some marketing/sales eperience, I'd have to start inthe parks as a minimum wage hourly worker. (per Casting)..they just don't hire many professionals from the outside. That's why I'm planning to work at WDW when I reite for some fun, a little extra cash, and park privileges.

 

[drdoom1001]

It's probably a lot like NJ...taxes and living costs are going up and wages are not keeping up with the inflation. Also, I've read that, because of Florida's Save Our Homes property tax scheme, many businesses are leaving the state.

There have never been as many professional jobs available in Florida to begin with as in, say the NE.. That leaves mainly tourist industry type jobs that traditionanally don't pay well or offer good benefits. Unfortunately, WDW seems ot fall into this categoryl. I was really surprised to read that a majority of workers at WDW are not full-time and make minimum wage. Does WDW give raises?

Housing is more and more expensive everywhere, and Orlando has had quite the boom with places like Celebration popping up. Add in auto insurance and , if you need it, hurricane insurance (sometimes to the tune of 4K per year) and there's no way you can live on most jobs in the Orlando area.

I also know that , even as a teacher with a Master's degree and some marketing/sales eperience, I'd have to start inthe parks as a minimum wage hourly worker. (per Casting)..they just don't hire many professionals from the outside. That's why I'm planning to work at WDW when I reite for some fun, a little extra cash, and park privileges.

Visiting the parks often you see who's working in all the areas of the park.Many retired people work at Disney for the insurance,at least that's what many of them have told us.You'll also see young people who are not local but on the College program.You have to wonder if Disney will ever be able to open a new park since there's only so many locals who are willing to work a minimum wage job at the parks dealing with all the people and working crazy hours and holidays.

 

[Joepic]

On Long Island you'd be lucky to find a 1 BR appartment for at least $800

 

[Rabflmom]

There have never been as many professional jobs available in Florida to begin with as in, say the NE.. That leaves mainly tourist industry type jobs that traditionanally don't pay well or offer good benefits. Unfortunately, WDW seems ot fall into this categoryl. I was really surprised to read that a majority of workers at WDW are not full-time and make minimum wage. Does WDW give raises? >>>>>>

A good share of the people working there are seasonal or part time. The skills required for your job there has a factor in what you make. My son works in one of the waterparks.I don't remember his starting pay, but it was a little higher than minimum. He worked part time and seasonal for a couple years. He has had training and schooling to do his job so he actually is not making horrible pay at Disney.

I think it would be fun to work there for my 4th career. It will pay more than my 2nd career and maye equal to my 3rd career( teacher/mom/department manager/Disney Greeter? <VBG>

 

[beachclubbasics]

I think it would be a great place to work as a retiree..I've been there almost every year since the park opened so I can be one of those crotchety old ladies that tells the whippersnappers what I remember about good old 1971 in the park.. yep, there was only one at that time..lol.

Thinking back, I don't know how we filled a week up there in 1971...half of the attractions on MK didn't open till a year or two later. I don't even remember MK without SM or POTC.