Orlando County Mayor Richard Crotty recently gave his 7th annual State Of The County Address, marking several goals that he intends to pursue during the coming year. But which are fluff, and which are realistic?
Last year, I attended a downtown mixer at City Hall, where Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer spoke of bold plans to renovate of the Citrus Bowl, create a new cultural and performing arts center, and build a new sports and concert arena. As Buddy bloviated, it sounded magnificent. I was glad I moved to Orlando to get in on the ground floor of this envisioned boom.
The hottest question in Central Florida on everyone’s lips, at least up until now, has been “where in the world is Lou Pearlman?”
As often seen, actions at the state level can have a profound effect on the activities at a local level. While state lawmakers look ahead to the next election cycle, tax cuts are the name of the game. That’s causing a dark cloud to form over Orange County’s budget. Individual property owners would argue that this dark cloud has a silver lining.
When an in-law that you just can’t stand comes for a visit once a year, the experience can be dreaded and stressful. A similar experience is upon us again. Hurricane season is back.
Despite the downturn in property values all across the Southeast and much of the United States, there is a growing concern that affordable housing units are also on a sharp decline, especially in Orange County. While downtown housing and towers skyrocket, and urban homeowners continue under the delusion that they can still get high prices for their properties, residents are moving further and further outside of the area in order to take advantage of any price breaks and maintain a decent standard of living.