Retiring Soon? Consider Moving to Orlando!

For the majority of people that have made the right decisions, saved money, and carefully planned for their future they will eventually get to a point where they stop going to their “day job” and begin to really start enjoying life and what it has to Orlando Florida Retirement Communitiesoffer.  Retirement is a really good opportunity to start the stuff you have been putting off because you didn’t have enough time.  At this point it is important to plan out your retirement years much like your working years.  A big part of this planning may include downsizing OR even relocating, the following are reasons why living in or relocating to Orlando, Florida would be a really great place to consider for your retirement.

First and foremost Orlando is known for its tropical weather, considering all the northerners have spent many winters shoveling snow, scraping windshields, layering clothing and salting driveways.  All of these things are activities that waste time and energy that would be much better spent playing tennis, golfing, riding bikes, going to movies or anything else you choose to do during retirement.  Of course you don’t have issues with this everywhere in the country but Orlando has other great reasons to be your retirement destination.

Orlando may be known for its weather, but what about our communities designated for 55 years and older?  There are many communities even entire towns that are designed for people that are 55 years and older, these are places designed to have centralized grocery stores, shopping centers, restaurants and other conveniences that enable you to not have to drive around all day wasting time and gas doing your day to day activities.  These communities give you opportunities to be around people with the similar ages that are trying to enjoy life without the hustle and bustle of folks still in their working years.  Many of these communities enable you to even commute in golf carts! Whether you are driving to the grocery store or the ninth green, some of these places you will find it more unusual to see a full size car on the street than a golf cart with a shiatsu riding shotgun.   This leads me to the next point, hobbies.

Even during your working years you probably had hobbies just not enough time to enjoy them as much as you wanted.  One big part of retirement are things like golf, fishing or pleasure boating; this is very convenient considering Orlando is known for its golf courses and waterways.  Orlando has more than 50 golf courses in the greater Orlando area with communities built around them.  The neat thing that most don’t know about the golf course community is that with the course comes the club house, with the club house they typically have tennis courts, restaurants and a pool.  Other options like boating or fishing come to mind with many docks that dump you in fantastic chains of lakes with plenty of site seeing and fishing. With the closeness of communities, weather to support hobbies and outdoor activities, and plenty of parks and recreation you will have no complaints about Orlando being a top spot for your second wind!

If you enjoyed reading this post you will find the main Mover’s Atlas site even more Interesting! There you can discover important information about what surrounds your current or future Florida home, give it a look: Mover’s Atlas.

10 Reasons You Should move to Orlando, Florida

Some people visit exotic places and big cities while on vacation but they would never want to live in these places for reasons like employment, harsh weather, terribly crowded cities or even the cost of living.  Orlando, Florida is not one of those places! Once you visit Orlando you will want to come back and stay.  There are many reasons people love living in Orlando but here are the top 10 reasons Orlando is not only a good place to visit but a great place to live.

1. Weather Reasons to move to Orlando Florida

The weather in Orlando has an average temperature in the 80’s, mild rain and thunderstorms in the summer and cool evenings in the winter with the occasional frost.  The nice thing about this weather is that the most preparation you would need would be an umbrella in your car and or office and a jacket just a few days out of the year.  No need for salt or a snow shovel, no ski jacket or boots, no layering of clothing and finally no emergency car kit for when the weather gets so bad you end up being stranded on the interstate.  Sure we have times when it rains all day, but if you haven’t experienced lying down for a nap while you hear the pitter patter of the rain outside your window you don’t know what you are missing.

2. Housing

The real estate market in Orlando suffered in 2004 much like it did across the rest of the country, but the recovery here has been much faster than other places.  The housing here ranges much like other areas but the average family home here is still very reasonable at $150K.  Even better than that, the way things have been trending with the rental market and vacation market the value seems much more resilient than other places in the country.

3. Cost of living

What good is it to be in a place where you have no choice but to make boat loads of money just to live a reasonable middle class life?  California anyone?  There are 9 states with no state income tax, Florida happens to be one of them and the cost of living is much less than other cities throughout the united states.

4. Recreation

Here in Orlando we don’t have to plan sports around the seasons, convertibles and motorcycles can be enjoyed year around and that tan you worked so hard building over the summer gets to stick around almost 10 months out of the year.  Recreation activities such as fishing, Barbequing, golfing, boating or bike riding is something that can be enjoyed any time in Orlando.

5. Employment

People love to visit the mountains for some rest and relaxation or Las Vegas for well…we can leave that one up to the imagination BUT there is little to no diverse industry and employment in these places.  Orlando is known for its excellent industry for both large business and small business whether its technology based like Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Siemens or the diverse service based industries.  This maybe what helps push Florida into the 7.1% unemployment rate.

6. Restaurants

Dinning out in Orlando is about as diverse as you can get, with the support of over 5,000 restaurants and diners, you could be entertained with knights-in-shining armor at a medieval times dinner show or treated like royalty at Cinderella’s Royal table.  Even famous cooks like Emeril Lagasse have locations in Orlando.

7. Retirement

Retirement is a time in your life where you quit your career work and begin to do things you really always wanted to do like golf, play tennis or finally restore that ’57 Chevy your dad once drove.  Orlando is perfect for that, especially with communities specifically oriented to 55 and up age groups.  These places showcase this highly sought after lifestyle with all the careful planning so you have anything you need in close vicinity. There are even some places where the primary mode of transportation is a tricked out golf cart!

8. Commute

The amount of traffic can’t really compare to that of Sioux Falls South Dakota BUT for the size of the city and amount of visitors Orlando receives every year from tourism the traffic is really not too bad; in fact with the recent addition of the SunRail and other mass commuter trains it is only going to get better!

9. Schools

Looking at primarily the higher education programs Orlando offers great public and private colleges from one of the largest public Colleges, The University of Central Florida to one of the most prestigious private liberal arts schools, Rollins College and not to mention the college known for having alumni that have received both Oscar and Grammy awards, Full Sail University.

10. Year around celebration

I do not know if it’s the weather or just the industry here but it seems like almost every weekend there is some kind of event going on whether is an annual wine and food festival, sidewalk art shows, flower festival, beer and wine festival, BBQ and bands, Chili cook-off, film festivals and even ones that are friendly to the “four legged” ones Pints n’ Paws.

No matter what you are in to Orlando, Florida most likely has it and this is one of the main reasons Orlando is not just a great place to visit on vacation but also an awesome city to live in!

Share your thoughts about Orlando in the comments below. Or if you have another city you think tops the list of great cities to live in feel free to share that as well!

If you enjoyed reading this post you will find the main Mover’s Atlas site even more Interesting! There you can discover important information about what surrounds your current or future Florida home, give it a look: Mover’s Atlas.

8 Reasons Locals Love Living in Orlando, Florida

There are many places across America that have great reasons on why they are awesome places to live, but no matter what the reasons are Orlando has them all beat.  Here are eight reasons why locals love living in Orlando.

1. Theme Parks

Top of the list has to be theme parks.  Orlando has a long list of theme parks like SeaWorld, Disney World, Universal Studios, Islands of Adventures, Lego Land, Gator land, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Wet-‘n-Wild, Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Move to OrlandoLagoon and Aquatica just to name a few.  These places have all kinds of options whether you are looking to walk around and see one of their many shows, grab lunch or feed some alligators.  Sure some folks see these and think of young kids running around and screaming but that’s not necessarily the case. For instance Epcot has a food and wine festival that consist of walking around while drinking and eating all the different countries finest cuisine.  And Universal Studios Mardis Gras is nothing but exceptional concerts and celebrations, not to mention these places are well known for their fantastic places to eat and enjoy your favorite movie themed rides! Just to top it all off, residents always get an excellent discounted rate for admission and being local makes it easy to come and go as you please.

2. The Great Outdoors

The second reason locals love it here would be the outdoors, trails, and state parks.  If you want to stay local, you will find it really easy to find a paved trail for both riding bikes or running but if you are looking for something more “off the beaten path” there is state parks like Wekiwa Springs or Blue Springs that are open year around and always very enjoyable for the day or an overnight camping trip.   The greatest thing is that so many locals love outdoor activities which makes it really easy to find a group of friends that ride mountain bikes or run for the sport of it.  Of course not having to worry about shoveling snow or freezing temperatures this stuff can be done almost anytime.

3. The Year Round Beautiful Weather

Just like Joe Nichols sings it, “Sunny and 75”, which brings me to my next point, Orlando’s beautiful weather.  With all of these great things to enjoy outside it always helps to have weather that supports it.  There aren’t too many places that you can wear flip flops and keep up your sun kissed skin almost year around.

4. Near By BeachesBeaches near orlando florida

With the great weather we are accustomed to, the beach is another reason why locals love Orlando.  With about a 45 minute drive Cocoa Beach, New Smyrna or Daytona beach are all highly recommended.  If you are looking for a day in the sun, people watching or a nice three day weekend these destinations are excellent candidates for relaxation and getaways.

5. Boating

Due to the popularity of Mickey Mouse many people don’t know about the number of boating destinations Orlando has.  The local fresh water is home of great fishing, relaxation and beautiful real estate.  Some of the larger lakes are the Butler chain of lakes, Lake Dora, Lake Brantley, Bear Lake, Lake Conway, Lake Ivanhoe and Lake Underhill.  The nice thing is that areas such as the Butler chain can offer an entire of day of cruising, tubing and skiing with small rivers and other bodies of water all interconnected.

6. World Class Golfing

Another unknown hidden gem of Orlando doesn’t require a boat or board shorts but is just as fun and relaxing and it only takes 18 holes if you are up for it.  Orlando has 50+ golf courses in the vicinity that range in all different prices and level of difficulty.  If you are a golfer and follow the PGA tour the course you would be interested in would be Bay Hill, one of the top rated public courses in the entire state.  No matter what your skill level is or how much you are looking to spend there is a course for you.

7. Sporting Events

Most states across America have multiple big sports teams but Orlando does it better.  I know what you are thinking and I know Orlando Does not have an NFL team but we still have 3 NFL teams just outside of Orlando (Miami Dolphins, Sports teams in Orlando FloridaJacksonville Jaguars, Tampa Bay Bucks), 4 large colleges with football and basketball teams to support (UCF, Florida State University, University of Florida, University of Miami).  Not to mention the ECHL hockey team, The Solar Bears, the NBA team, Orlando Magic, the close by MLB team Tampa Bay Rays and the latest addition Orlando City Soccer.  If you have a sport you enjoy watching or just love to see it in person we have got you covered.

8. Live Concerts

Due to the size and popularity of Orlando, we have many great venues that attract very popular artist.  This brings me to my last point, live concerts.  No matter who is on tour there is a 99% chance they will be coming to Orlando. Whether you are looking to see Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, Rolling Stones, Brittany Spears, Lady Gaga, Jay-Z or any other genre of music the Amway Center or another great venue in Orlando will be hosting them at some point.

It’s kind of like I told you initially, whatever you think your town has to offer Orlando has it beat. If you want to learn more about what Orlando has to offer or if you are considering moving to Orlando then you should check out MoversAtlas.com!

If you enjoyed reading this post you will find the main Mover’s Atlas site even more Interesting! There you can discover important information about what surrounds your current or future Florida home, give it a look: Mover’s Atlas.