Is living in Florida (orlando area) fun?

I grew up in northern Illinois, so when I moved down here, I knew about hot summers, too. However, in Illinois there are always times in the summer when it cools down for a few days. There are breaks to the heat. In Florida, once it gets hot (around mid to late May) it just doesn't stop. The lows never drop below 70 for about four - five months. It's brutal. Now, don't get me wrong. I would never move back. Your body will acclimate, though and eventually you'll find Florida summers miserable. Just like you'll think we are all crazy for wearing gloves when it's 50 the first few years, but you'll find yourself thinking temperatures you found positively warm in Chicago being very chilly in Florida.

You don't really say what work you are going to be looking for, but my best advice to you is to find somewhere to live that you like, but is near where you are going to be working. Traffic is simply a nightmare if you have to commute to far. Property insurance is high, as is auto insurance (mine doubled). People complain about property taxes, but I don't think they are that bad.

I like the southeast area of Orlando, Waterford Lakes and south. It's close to dining, shopping and the University. There really isn't a lot of snowbird traffic or tourists. It's about 45 minutes from the theme parks and an hour from the beach.

Good luck!

First you should know that in recent years, Orlando has become a BIG city. The Orlando area covers five counties and has well over 2 million inhabitants.Orlando is close to one hour drive from the nearest beach. It is possible to life frugally, but it does take work and diligence. One of the major problems is that unless you have a well running car, transportation can be a problem. There is a municipal bus service (GOLYNX.COM). You may want to look at a good map of the area. You will find that there are more than twenty cities you may want to see. All have good parts and other areas you might want to avoid. We have found for food costs, we use ALDI. There have opened many stores in this area and we find we are saving about 50% on our groceries. What you suggest won't be easy, but can be done. You mention that your daughter lives in Puerto Rico. She very possibly has friends in the Orlando area. They could be of great help..

Orlando is great. There is always something to do. Of course there are the theme parks (EPCOT is my favorite), and downtown is cool, Magic and Predators games, and the beach and casino boats are only 45 mins away. Where to live depends on where you will be working (can be lots of traffic) and how much you can spend. If you like urban areas, Downtown has a lot of new condos, Thornton Park is nice and it is right next to downtown. Winter Park is good near Park Ave. Celebration is very nice, but it is far from everything except Disney. Other than those areas it is going to be like most suburbs.

If your looking for an apartment the Disney area is nice zip codes 32821 also known as Lake Buena Vista. If you go over to Universal Studio area zip code 32811 known as Metro West. It's alright but since they put in the Walmart over there its got a little bad. Orlando is great. The weather down here is SO MUCH different from the weather up north. I lived in Michigan my whole life and the hot here is HOT!!!! Its a tropical hot VERY HUMID. Remember to always have coins on hand in your car. The 1st time I got long I ended up on a toll road without and money wasn't very fun.

Since nobody's mentioned that it's number 11 on the FBI list of dangerous cities, I figure I will. Yes, there's a lot of crime, and everyone would like you to believe that it's in very isolated areas, but that's only partially true.

We get a fair number of guys from Chicago. I guess the reasons are obvious. I guess it just has to be better than Chicago. Of course, you'll be rather far from your family.

personally I love living in Oralndo. Lake Buena Vista area, MetroWest, Winter Park, and Down Town are areas that I would personally reccomend.

I live in celebration. I would reccomend here or winter park. both VERY NICE towns. and your not going to find any "urban" towns in orlando. its all suburb, ghetto, or farm

If you like high humidity and sky high insurance rates and taxes, why not?