SHARE:
Community Portrait
Orlando & Orange County
More than just gathering data, we're trying to capture elements that make each community distinctive.
» Strengths
![]() Orlando International Airport |
» Communities: Orlando has some of the most charming, genuine communities in Florida, a well-kept secret from the millions of tourists who flock to the theme parks. Among the best is Winter Park, a tree-shaded, 1880s hamlet anchored by Rollins College on one side and the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art on the other, with sidewalk cafes and shops in between. Other established communities in Orlando include College Park, Thornton Park, Delaney Park and downtown, a vibrant, young place to live with good restaurants and bars, art shows and a weekend farmers market.
» Orlando was named one of top 15 best cities for singles and top 50 for families by Worldwide ERC and Primacy Relocation.
» Weaknesses
» Lack of Fortune 500 companies: Only two Orlando companies are on the Fortune 500, and one of them, International Assets Holding Corp. (Nasdaq-IAAC), an Altamonte Springs-based brokerage company with revenue of more than $18.3 billion, employs only 195. Darden Restaurants (NYSE-DRI), the restaurant operator with annual revenue of more than $6.7 billion, employs 179,000, many in low-wage jobs at its restaurants around the nation. The lack of major headquarters makes Orlando a rung rather than a long-term destination for many executives on their way up the corporate ladder.
![]() Plans for SunRail have stalled in the Legislature. |
» Between 2007-08, both the number of auto crashes and the county’s crash rate fell. The traffic fatality rate fell by 7.3% during that period.