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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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The community's remarkable educational achievement having garnered national attention, a powerful high-technology corridor now spans the length of the area, running from the University of Central Florida in the north to the newly-developed International Corporate Park in the south. The community's 265,000 residents and 80,000 employees move easily from place to place using a well-designed multi-modal transportation network, accessing the areas key activity-centers at will. East Orlando's residents enjoy state-of-the-art healthcare facilities integrated within the very communities in which they live and work. The area boasts numerous recreational facilities, tied together through an extensive network of trails and greenways, many of which showcase the natural beauty of the Econlockhatchee River . The area now offers a wide range of cultural events throughout the year, thanks to the ever-popular University of Central Florida Performing Arts Center . Housing is plentiful and architecturally stimulating. Roadways are well-landscaped. The areas carefully coordinated plazas and signage emit a true sense of place. Having rallied behind a unifying vision, East Orlando now stands as a model community to the rest of the nation.
The realization of the above scenario serves as the primary motivation behind this visioning study. As has been previously documented through numerous sources, the community of East Orlando has witnessed rapid growth within its geographic boundaries over the past decade. However, the intensity of this growth has resulted in an overwhelming number of questions regarding the physical and demographic characteristics of the community. In particular, key questions have steadily arisen regarding effective management of a list of quality of life issues, specifically in regards to education, employment, healthcare, housing and architecture, recreation, and transportation.
Additionally, non-growth related questions have surfaced regarding the general populations overall attitude towards the community. Because the area has seen significant growth throughout the past decade and because it is part of unincorporated Orange County and therefore not an identifiable municipality, growth management issues have been handled on a broad scale without significant input from residents within the community, except for those few who take an active role in getting involved at the County level. In fact, until recently, the area has not been considered an identifiable community by outsiders or residents but rather a cluster of individual micro-communities identified through their neighborhood subdivisions or areas of housing. Compounding this lack of identify is the fact that the area is represented at the County level by three elected County Commissioners, each of whose districts also encompass areas outside of East Orlando.
In an effort to better understand the changes taking place within the community and to answer some key questions relating to the effective management of future growth, the East Orlando Chamber of Commerce commissioned this project, entitled the East Orlando Visioning Study; from Great to Greatness. The project consisted of multiple components, each working toward the goal of identifying an overall community vision and how to propel the community from Great to Greatness.
Over the course of the ten month project, six different community meetings were hosted by the Chamber, bringing together over 200 different community leaders and local residents. Each meeting was formatted to garner maximum input from community members in formulating not only an overall vision for the community but also an independent vision as it relates to the key quality of life issues. Throughout the six different community sessions, many questions arose that were not easily answered by either the Chamber, community leaders, or the local residents in attendance. To address these questions, the Chamber commissioned a survey of the community called the Ask East Orlando Survey. Results of the overall project including the survey have been compiled and are presented in the East Orlando Visioning Study Report.
The study covers a specific geographic area of 107 square miles, stretching west-to-east from Goldenrod Road to the Econlockhatchee River and north-to-south from the Seminole County Line to the BeeLine Expressway (State Highway 528), and referred to as the Primary Study Area for purposes of this report. The eastern boundary of this area closely approximates the current location of the limits of the Orange County Urban Service Area, meaning that this entire study area will contain similar characteristics of urban density growth. Recognizing that it is impossible to simply view this area in a vacuum, the study also spends some time speaking to locations in the surrounding area, which is identified as the Secondary Study Area for purposes of this report. The Secondary Study Area reaches east to the Brevard County Line from the Econlockhatchee River, and west to Semoran Boulevard from Goldenrod Road.
A brief discussion of the Primary Study Areas population yields a clear picture of the areas residents.
The Primary Study Area currently houses approximately 164,600 residents within its boundaries, the majority of which reside in single-family, owner-occupied homes. With an average household size of 2.9 persons per household, East Orlando ranks as one of the most family-friendly areas in the Orlando metropolitan region. With the presence of the University of Central Florida coupled with relatively new housing stock, residents are generally younger than those in the Orlando region as a whole, as evidenced by a median age of 30 years old for the community. The average household income for the areas 57,600 households is approximately $55,000, just above the average for the Orlando metropolitan region. Although the area lacks the racial diversity found in some parts of the Orlando region, East Orlando is ethnically diverse in nature with over 44,000 Hispanics living in the area, representing over 26% of the areas total population. In addition, residents in the area are highly-educated. Of the approximately 97,000 East Orlando residents age 25 and higher, approximately 32,400 residents, or 33.5%, hold a Bachelor or Graduate degree.
Results from the study indicate that East Orlando's over 164,000 residents live in one of the country's fastest-growing and most dynamic suburban areas, with a steady supply of quality housing. Revolving around its key industries of education and technology, the community has blossomed into a desirable location for residential and commercial growth. Utilizing a key network of regional highways, East Orlando enjoys convenient access to Downtown Orlando, Orlando International Airport, Port Canaveral and the Space Coast, and the Walt Disney World attractions area. The area is home to the University of Central Florida, an outstanding network of public schools, and over 30,000 jobs, including over 9,000 jobs associated with the Central Florida Research Park. In addition, East Orlando offers a variety of recreational opportunities, including a significant amount of parks and public lands. Residents report feeling a strong sense of community, and the area has emphasized the development of connections between the educational and business communities. Overall, the citizens of East Orlando enjoy an excellent quality of life.
East Orlando's extraordinary growth has not been without its challenges, however. Transportation infrastructure has struggled to keep up with growth, and many of the areas roads are congested during peak hours. The areas healthcare facilities have been taxed by heavy demand, and its recreational facilities are often filled to capacity. In short, East Orlando faces many of the same growing pains seen by fast-growing communities across the nation.
In response to these concerns, this East Orlando Visioning Study has put forth a number of recommendations. These recommendations are not to be seen as an all-inclusive list, but rather as a starting point for the further discussion of these complex issues. Obviously, addressing these issues in the future will be a burdensome task, and greatness is rarely achieved by a single organization or individual. Rather, it is the collective and cooperative will of many organizations and many people that can effectively address the complex issues discussed by this study in the pursuit of greatness.
Therefore, this study recommends the formation of an East Orlando Visioning Council. This Council will be tasked with managing the process by which the recommendations in this report, as developed by the East Orlando community over the past ten months, will be implemented. It is further noted that time is of the essence in the formation of this Council, as East Orlando grows with new residents, and new challenges, every day. In the interest of time, it is recommended that the East Orlando Chamber of Commerce coordinate the formation of the Council, using its considerable organizational skills to rally all facets of the community behind this cause. By doing so, we will certainly take East Orlando From Great to Greatness.
For information about the East Orlando Visioning Study, contact:
Jim Spaeth, Past Chair, EOCC at
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or (407) 513-6340.
Jennifer Thompson, Past Chair, EOCC at
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or (321) 228-9686.
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