I currently live in the Indianapolis area and have been looking for a new job because I’ve grown tired of my current company’s crap. After three months of looking, I haven’t had much luck. I’m a software engineer and obviously picked the wrong time to begin a job search.
The wife and I have been kickin’ around the idea of moving if I’m not successful in my job search by the end of August. We’ve got our sights set on the central part of Florida near the Atlantic coast. The wife loves the beach and due to a medical condition, she can’t live in high elevations. So, given this, my best odds of finding a job will be in the Orlando area.
So you’re looking at two Hoosiers, with no kids, lived in Indiana all of our lives (I’m 29, she’s 26). I know the summers will be hotter, but I’m not going to miss the Indiana winters at all.
What can we expect if we move there? What kind of culture shock if any?
First Impression of Orlando-- " I will be living in the woods!"
It’s not all true as time passes. Well, Orlando is a big tourist town. Surely you will find lots of fun here for both kids and adults. First of all, all the big parks: Disney World (includes four major parks and the new wather park.} sea World, Universal, Island of Adventure, Wet n’Wild…
But I know you are not planning to travel here but settling down. For a young couple like you, personally I do not think you would find too much excitement in Orlando, but if the big city excitement is not what you are looking for, the life down here it’s “comfortable.” That’s why I would recommend my grandparents to move here if they know English better or Spanish. The living cost is fairly low because it’s not easy to find high paid jobs even you have skills, like " software engineer…" but hey, you never know just have to look for it plus some luck.
During the summer there are thunder storms almost every afternoon. It’s not that hot basiclly you will stay indoors most of the day.
As I said you will find comfort here. It’s about an hour drive to the nearest beach. Lots of attractions near tourist eara. The living cost is low and easy to start owning your own properties, like buying houses.
So much changes are happening in Orlando every single day. There are lots of job opportunities, especially in hotel, hospitality eara.
Whether if it’s easy to make a living here depends on what your expections of life are. Wish you good luck on finding new jobs.
screech-owl offered a good summary of the Orlando area, just before I moved here, in this thread.
So far, I like it, with reservations. (I used to live in Denver, which is truly a world class city, but it came at a hefty price tag. I miss some of Denver’s amenities, though … especially brewpubs.) There’s no shortage of things to do here, both touristy and otherwise. Downtown Orlando is vibrant and active at night, mo so than what I’ve seen of Indianapolis. The cost of housing is low, but increasing rapidly, and older areas near downtown seem quite expensive.
Culture shock – well, coming from Indianapolis, you’re probably aware that the city straddles the dividing line between what culturally seems like the North and South. The southernmost such boundary runs through Orlando – it’s where redneck culture peters out, and the Northeast picks up again. Most transplants seem to settle down in the northern 'burbs (Altamonte Springs, Winter Park, Longwood and thereabouts), or the affluent southeast neighborhoods collectively known as “Doctor Phillips.” Winter Garden and Apopka have far more than their fair share of 'necks, and you’ll see plenty of Dale Earnhardt shrines on cars and trucks in those towns. Ocoee (where I just bought a house), Oakland and Clermont are booming.
Advice people seem to be giving to new transplants is “try to buy a house in a place where your commute doesn’t involve I-4” It’s a parking lot for much of the day, no exaggeration. All the other limited access highways are toll roads, but for the small tariff you’ll enjoy relatively congestion-free driving.
IMHO, Orlando is the last place on earth anybody who doesn’t work for the Mouse would want to live. My dad’s half of the family is from Orlando (since long before there was any “there” there), so I know it pretty well. Everything about the city sucks, from the hideously crowded tollways that don’t even take you where you want to be, to the endless miles of generic strip malls, to the horrible crime rate, to the utter lack of anything resembling a soul.
On the other hand, if your idea of the perfect evening is dinner at Bennigan’s or Applebee’s and a music scene that ranges from crappy death metal to shitty countrified disco, Orlando may well be the place for you.
I grew up in a nearby town (Sanford), and now live and work in another nearby town (Mount Dora). I would suggest looking in the “nearby towns” for employment, rather than commuting to Orlando every day. Deland (north) is a fine college town, and Winter Park is a quaint, pretty place. Longwood, Altamonte Springs and Lake Mary are also good places.