Our Towns

Yes, the elaborate tourist attractions garner the international attention. But all present-day visitors to Orlando need to do is look out the airplane window to see what originally drew settlers to Central Florida-all those lakes.

Indeed, the Orlando area's lakes-as well as its rivers and streams-

have played an integral part in the development of the region dating back to the 1800s, when early settlers arrived here via steamboat after traversed the northern-flowing St. Johns River from Jacksonville.

Today, those shimmering bodies of water-some huge, some tiny and many interconnected by man-made canals or natural tributaries-provide some of the choicest real estate in all of Florida. Whether it's the Butler-Tibet Chain of Lakes in south Orlando, home to pro athletes and golfing legends, or aptly named Lake County, with more than 1,900 named bodies of water, Central Florida is a water-worshipper's mecca.

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.

Certainly, 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.

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 state-of-the-art venues in Loch Haven Park, a cultural focal point that also houses the Orlando Museum of Art and the Orlando Science Center.

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? While triple-whammy hurricanes put the brakes on building during much of August and September, the four-county area was still expected to notch almost 26,000 housing starts in 2004, slightly exceeding 2003's record pace, according to Orlando-based Fishkind & Associates, a research firm that tracks Florida's economic trends. And interest rates, while rising, remain relatively low. Although mortgage bankers had predicted the average rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate loan would reach at least 6.5 percent by the end of 2004, the rate was still hovering at slightly less than 6 percent at press time. Most industry experts say rates would have to surpass 7 percent to put a noticeable damper on buyers' attitudes.

Demand clearly isn't a problem, but supply is. For builders, many of whom are now faced with backlogs, such basics as concrete and shingles are in short supply while the labor is increasingly tight. For realtors, the number of existing homes on the market at any given time has fallen to as few as 4,100, about half the number typically available during the late 1990s.

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. 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 your family.

ORANGE COUNTY

APOPKA

Apopka's roots, literally and figuratively, are in agriculture. However, this booming city of 45,000, located in the northwest corner of Orange County, now encompasses some of the region's most exclusive addresses. Since 1990, Apopka has more than doubled its area by annexing some 11,000 acres, much of it previously rural land. This land grab has often put the city at odds with Orange County, especially when it comes to protecting the fragile Wekiva River basin.

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 beloved Orlando neighborhood 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 McGuinn 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.

Much of the talk in College Park these days is over The Wellesley, a $48 million, 147-unit condominium and retail project that broke ground in November after developer Jim Kersey razed an office building on Edgewater Drive. A one-bedroom Wellesley unit goes for $300,000 while larger units are in the $1 million-plus range. By December, the project was 84 percent sold out, according to its sales office.

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 few 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 The Wellesley 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.

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 molding," 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.