Our Town

Those adolescent years, starting with Walt Disney's epic 1965 land grab and the growth pains that followed, put us through a bona fide identity crisis. What did Orlando want to be when it finally grew up? The Gateway to Theme Park World? Or Atlanta Lite?

Happily, it's neither. And while there's no ignoring those 500-pound gorillas hunkered down on the outskirts of town-Universal Studios, Sea World and Walt Disney World-tourists typically keep their distance from downtown Orlando. That leaves locals and savvy out-of-towners to enjoy plenty of grown-up diversions while the fanny-pack and tank-top crowds wait in line to ride Space Mountain or to get soaked by Shamu.

With boutique hotels and historic inns, brick streets and oak-shrouded neighborhoods, an evolving array of homegrown restaurants and a vibrant music, theater and festival scene, Orlando has matured into a destination with a character all its own, not just a series of I-4 exits leading to the Land of Daily Admission Prices.

The key to savoring Orlando beyond the theme parks is simple: look for the lakes. While Florida's largest landlocked city might fall short when it comes to gorgeous beaches (but hey, it's only an hour's drive to the Atlantic) it's long on freshwater attractions.

Between them, Orlando and neighboring Winter Park claim more than 100 lakes within their city limits, many of them connected by natural tributaries or narrow canals cut by 19th century loggers. While most lakes are rimmed with homes and towering cypress trees, others are dedicated to public recreation-waterskiing and wakeboarding, kayaking and competitive rowing-and many offer surprisingly good fishing.

NAMED BY THE BARD?

At the heart of Orlando sits Lake Eola Park, a 20-acre urban escape that, along with the neighborhoods around it, symbolizes what has come to be known as "The City Beautiful."

At one end of the lake is a monument honoring one Orlando Reeves, a soldier said to have been killed by Seminole Indians while guarding nearby Fort Gatlin during the Second Seminole War. During the city's centennial celebration in 1975, however, researchers scoured War Department records and found no record of Reeves.

Others have speculated that Judge James Gamble Speer, an early pioneer, was responsible for the city's moniker. Speer, an aficionado of Shakespeare, may have borrowed the name "Orlando" from a character in As You Like It.

We're pulling for Speer, since the Shakespeare connection dovetails nicely with one of the city's stellar events, the Orlando-University of Central Florida Shakespeare Festival which, for six weeks each spring, takes to the stage in the park's 950-seat amphitheater.

Then, no sooner has the curtain dropped on the Bard than the giddy Orlando International Fringe Festival launches its annual 10-day run. Modeled after a similar alternative theater-fest in Edinburgh, Scotland, the Fringe presents the sublime, the ridiculous and everything in-between using both well-established venues and makeshift stages in storefronts and taverns.

More up-tempo pursuits lie within easy walking distance. The one-mile footpath around Lake Eola skirts past Thornton Park, a newly gentrified neighborhood boasting some of the city's best restaurants.

Downtown's main drag, Orange Avenue, runs just two blocks west of Lake Eola and, after the bankers and attorneys check out for the day, it's home to a kinetic nightclub scene.

While it's inescapably true that some of these clubs have served as Petri dishes for a number of homogenized pop acts-'N-Sync and the Backstreet Boys are among the groups that were launched in Orlando-a typical night serves up surprisingly diverse entertainment options.

And that's just Orlando proper. The Orlando MSA actually encompasses 1.7 million people in Orange, Seminole, Osceola and Lake counties. And, like Orlando, the dozens of municipalities encompassing the metro area boast charms all their own.

You'll find picture-postcard villages where tree-shaded streets are lined with antique shops and Victorian homes, farm towns where citrus packing plants still crate and ship delicious oranges, and modern mixed-use developments built around resort-style amenities.

The region is urban and rural, wealthy and middle-class, bustling and laid-back, traditional and edgy, conservative and liberal, sophisticated and naïve. But for all its contradictions, it's unmistakably family-friendly and unabashedly welcoming to newcomers.

THE BOOM CONTINUES

Given all that, it's no surprise that the four-county area is growing so rapidly. In fact, growth is now pushing outward, toward areas once considered to be on the periphery.

For example, to the northeast, Volusia County, home to world-famous Daytona Beach, is a growth hotspot. And to the southwest, once-sleepy Polk County is rapidly sprouting subdivisions where orange groves once thrived.

How hot is the region's housing market? Last year the four-county area notched a record 25,798 housing starts, and that record is projected to fall in 2004, according to projections from economist Hank Fishkind, whose company tracks local economic trends. "We anticipate no slowdown despite higher interest rates," says Fishkind.

Mortgage bankers are expecting the average rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate loan to reach at least 6.5 percent this year from an average of 5.8 percent last year, still modest by historical standards. Indeed, most industry experts say rates would have to surpass 7 percent to put a noticeable damper on buyers' attitudes.

Existing home sales in the metro area also broke records last year, topping $4 billion for the first time. And officials from the Orlando Regional Realtor Association say that 2004 will surely mark the 12th straight record year for resales. In fact, this year's sales volume had already reached $3.9 billion by the end of August, the most recent month for which statistics are available.

The biggest problem with resales is lack of inventory. In 1997, there were typically as many as 9,000 Orlando-area homes listed for sale at any given time. This year, the number has slipped as low as 4,100.

Supply is also becoming a problem for new homes. The sustained building boom has created shortages of materials and labor, and buildable land is becoming more scarce and expensive.

Clearly, the laws of supply and demand dictate higher home prices on the horizon, which is as compelling an argument as any to buy now. But with so much activity going on in so many places, where should a newcomer look?

We can get you started. Following is a county-by-county primer, in which you'll find everything from new master-planned developments to funky historic districts. The county profiles are divided by municipality and, in some cases, by distinct unincorporated areas.

Undoubtedly, there's a neighborhood, and a home, perfect for you and you your family.

ORANGE COUNTY

Land Area: 907 square miles

Persons Per Square Mile: 1,054

Population: 955,865

Population Increase (1990-2003): 71%

2005 Projected Population: 1,003,800

Mean Travel Time to Work: 26.6 minutes

Median Household Income: $38,918

Factoid: Orlando" target="_blank">Orange County was originally called Mosquito County. The name was changed in 1845, when Florida became a state. Today, more than 43 million people annually visit Orlando" target="_blank">Orange County, which boasts more than 100,000 hotel rooms and roughly 4,000 places to eat.

APOPKA

Apopka's roots, literally and figuratively, are in agriculture. However, this booming city of 45,000, located in the northwest corner of Orlando" target="_blank">Orange County, now encompasses some of the region's most exclusive addresses.

Apopka was settled in the 1840s and named after the Timucuan Indian word meaning "big potato" or "potato eating place." Ironically, the farms that still surround the city grow just about everything but potatoes.

Noted as the "indoor foliage capital of the world," Apopka's foliage industry is a multimillion-dollar business. Consequently, downtown boasts a stainless steel sculpture of a Boston fern instead of the expected war hero or early pioneer. Cut flowers, blooming plants, roses and bulbs are also grown in abundance.

But agriculture is rapidly vanishing as dozens of muck farms, created when Lake Apopka was diked during World War II, are purchased by the state and shut down in an effort to restore the polluted body of water to a pristine state.

Just west of Apopka is the agricultural town of Zellwood, home of the annual Zellwood Corn Festival. The event, held each May for more than 30 years, draws thousands to hear country music and nosh on what is widely regarded as the sweetest sweet corn grown anywhere.

Perhaps a corn-heavy diet is the secret behind the success of the Apopka Little League, winners of the Little League World Series in 1999 and perennial contenders, and the longevity of Apopka's octogenarian mayor, John Land, who has held office for more than 50 years.

A Masonic Lodge, organized in 1857, was the center of activity during the early years. The original building at Alabama Avenue and U.S. Hwy. 441 is still in use and has been designated a state historical site.

COLLEGE PARK

Retirees so dominated Orlando's College Park in the early 1970s that there was talk of closing Princeton Elementary, a well-regarded school that had stood since the neighborhood was platted in the 1920s.

Longtime resident Bill Jennings remembers being unable to buy baby aspirin for his infant son at the local drugstore because the manager wouldn't stock a product for which there was so little demand.

But that was then. This is now. "My wife and I were watching the Easter egg hunt the other day, and we both commented on how the younger folks are moving back," Jennings says.

Although the demographics may be changing, much about this most beloved of Orlando neighborhoods has remained the same. The commercial district along Edgewater Drive has always been home to an array of delightful mom-and-pop shops and eclectic eateries. The streets have always been quiet and the homes well kept and charming.

"It's not unusual at all when the street's too narrow, and a guy in a car pulls over to let you by, he'll give you a friendly wave," says Kevin Gabriel, owner of a landmark sub shop started 45 years ago by his father.

College Park residents still enjoy a Grower's Market, held in Albert Park every weekend from October through May. And throughout the years, many of Orlando best-known personalities have called the neighborhood home. Today's roster ranges from the likes of Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer to rock 'n' roll legend Roger McGuin of The Byrds.

So protective are College Park residents of their neighborhood that they banded together in anger to protest the removal of a circa-1950s sign adorning the local Publix supermarket. The grocery chain quickly dropped its plans and instead restored the old sign to its original Eisenhower-age splendor.

So it's no surprise that much talk in College Park these days concerns a $45 million, 107-unit condominium and retail project called The Wellesley. Developer Jim Kersey, himself a longtime College Park resident, will raze an office building on Edgewater Drive to accommodate the seven-story structure, where units will be priced from the $200s to more than $1 million.

Perhaps a project like Kersey's wouldn't be particularly noteworthy in downtown Orlando, which is awash in new multifamily construction. But it's big news in College Park, where there are currently no condominiums and no buildings taller than three stories.

Yet, despite the neighborhood's reflexive aversion to change, the buzz about The Wellesley is generally favorable.

"College Park businesspeople have always struggled some because there aren't enough people here during the day," says Vicki Vargo, a city commissioner whose district includes the College Park area. "I think this project will help the stores and the restaurants."

Kersey, who lives within a few blocks of where The Wellesley will be built and is vice president of the College Park Merchants Association, says he spent two years pondering what kind of project would make financial sense while not impacting the neighborhood's cherished ambience.

"My goal is to polish the apple," Kersey says. "College Park is already a great place to live, but if we can have even more dining choices, more retail choices and more housing choices, then it will improve even more."

The Wellesley's first phase will include 20,000 square feet of retail space on the first floor. SunTrust, which occupies the building The Wellesley will replace, isn't going anywhere; the bank will be one of Kersey's first tenants.

All Wellesley units will have balconies, and residents will have use of the sixth-floor Wellesley Club, with a multipurpose social room and fitness center. There will also be indoor parking at the lower levels. Prices will range from $240,000 to $800,000.

But most residential real estate activity still involves resales. Heather Dean of Sutton and Sutton Realty says College Park homes can still be found for around $200,000. But for that price don't expect anything beyond a circa-1940s fixer-upper with two bedrooms and one bathroom.

"Buyers want grandma's home with wood floors, a fireplace and crown mounding," says Dean. "But they also want granite kitchens and updated bathrooms. That's why it's becoming more common to tear down older homes and build new ones."

EATONVILLE

Eatonville, notable as America's oldest African-American municipality, was incorporated in 1883. But it has been difficult for the historic city to remain viable under the burden of a declining tax base and routine accusations of financial mismanagement among elected officials.

Still, Eatonville has plenty to be proud of. Its most famous former resident is the Harlem Renaissance author and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston. She spent her early years in Eatonville, and wrote fondly about her childhood in books such as Their Eyes Were Watching God and Dust Tracks on a Road.

Today the town's literary heritage is promoted with the Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities, which more than 100,000 people attend every year on the last weekend in January. The Zora Neale Hurston Museum of Fine Arts is the organizer.

And the future is hopeful. The city's fortuitous location between Maitland and Winter Park and its attractive land prices finally have begun to attract commercial and industrial investment.

Developer Charles Clayton, a major Central Florida landowner and builder of several well-established subdivisions, has taken a particular interest in Eatonville's well being, offering to donate money for a new fire station and to help the city put its financial house in order.

GOTHA

If you're not a horticulturist, perhaps you've never heard of Gotha, a tiny rural enclave tucked inconspicuously north of upscale Winderemere.

But if plants are you passion, you may know Gotha as the onetime caladium capitol of the world and home of Henry Nehrling, a turn-of-the-century horticulturist who specialized in growing tropical and subtropical plants.

Nehrling, who moved to Gotha in 1884, established one of the most renowned botanical gardens in the world as well as an experimental agriculture station for the study of exotic strains of bamboo, amaryllis, bromeliad, orchid, ficus and, of course, the caladium, which Nehrling was the first in Florida to grow and sell.

Today his ramshackle house still stands, although its ultimate fate is uncertain as boosters struggle to raise funds for its restoration. But the unincorporated community surrounding it, which Nehrling once described as "a dreamland, with almost untouched evergreen woodlands and hundreds of lakes glittering like mirrors," is starting to grow.

At least five upscale neighborhoods are either under construction or in the planning stages. Still, the county's rural-settlement designation generally prohibits density greater than one home per acre, meaning that new developments will likely be exclusive and expensive.

Nehrling's "dreamland" is still charming. The tree-shaded, one-block commercial district features the wood vernacular, circa-1920 New Life at Zion Lutheran Church. Across the street is funky Yellow Dog Eats, an eclectic restaurant that occupies a circa-1879 structure that had previously been a private home and a general store. The post office still has a community chalkboard out front where notices are posted about civic meetings and pot-luck suppers.

Gotha's first major new development, Weatherstone, was an instant success despite, or perhaps because of its rural surroundings. Worthington Park followed while Gotha Estates and Gotha Reserve are slated to begin construction this year. Rick Dye of Bel-Aire Homes has several residential lots just outside the quaint downtown area.

MAITLAND

Since the 1960s, Maitland has been a quintessential bedroom community. Some of the area's first suburbs were built there to attract young families looking for large lawns and good schools.

In the late 1970s, a sprawling office park called Maitland Center was built near the I-4 interchange, giving the city a distinctive business identity as well. The 190-acre development contains a hotel, 45 office buildings and 400 businesses. More than 12,000 people work there.

Still, Maitland has never had a recognizable and cohesive downtown. Thus, the city council is pushing a $74 million plan to redevelop the commercial area around U.S. Hwy. 17-92 and Horatio Avenue as an 18-acre town center with shops, apartments and government buildings surrounding a 1.5-acre village green. A Publix shopping center has already opened just east of the intersection.

The town center concept got a huge boost in July, when voters overwhelmingly approved a property tax increase to fund a new city hall and public safety facility. Those buildings will anchor the revitalization, which will be a joint effort between the city and a private developer.

Although Maitland can only be described as a thoroughly modern suburb, it has actually been in existence longer than most Central Florida communities.

It was established in 1838 as Fort Maitland, named in honor of Capt. William S. Maitland, a hero of the Second Seminole War. In 1880, the railroad from Sanford arrived, sparking a tourism boom that lasted until freezes in the 1890s scuttled the visitor trade.

In 1937 sculptor André Smith founded the Mayan-themed Maitland Arts Center, which was originally intended to be a compound where artists could live and work. The center, now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, features an open-air chapel that has become a popular spot for weddings.

To help preserve vestiges of its past, city officials have established a historic corridor in the Lake Lily-Lake Catherine area. Along the corridor are roughly a half-dozen homes built in the 1880s through the turn of the century. There are also a handful of historic commercial buildings along Maitland Avenue.

Today Maitland is home to the Enzian Theater, the region's only art-house cinema and setting for the annual Florida Film Festival. The theater was built in 1985 by philanthropist John Teidke and is run by Tiedke's daughter-in-law, Siegrid.

Two large art festivals are in Maitland: one in October sponsored by the Maitland Rotary Club and one in April sponsored by the Maitland/South Seminole Chamber of Commerce. The Florida Audubon Society was founded in Maitland, and its headquarters, including a bird hospital, remain on Lake Sybellia.

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