Orlando, FL

[ARJS]

Hi!

 

I am a prospective international PhD student who is planning to attend UCF in Fall 2015. I shall be moving to Orlando with my wife and a newborn daughter. Can you please guide me about estimated cost of living (family accommodation, utility bills, required health insurance for me and dependents, food, transportation, mobile phone and internet services etc)? Is it necessary to have a car for family or one can access any place using public transportation?

 

(Pl note that we are not looking for a luxurious life. I need estimates of minimum total monthly amount I should have to sustain me and my family while attending UCF)

 

Thanks a lot.

 

[RCtheSS]

As a Florida native and infrequent visitor to Orlando, I definitely recommend a car for the family. Orlando (and most of the state) is a suburban sprawl and the public transportation isn't as frequent as major cities. 

[ARJS]

Thanks for your input I really appreciate your time.

[RCtheSS]

Not a problem!

 

I wish I could give a detailed answer to your cost of living question; I had so many friends and family live in the Orlando area over the years but I usually only visit the area for the theme parks.

But relatively to some other metro areas in the state, it is not hard to manage living expenses, especially around the college area. Central FL is cheaper than South FL, where I was raised.

 

Maybe these sites will be of better use for you:

http://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/orlando

http://www.city-data.com/city/Orlando-Florida.html

[awash_]

Hi!

 

I am a prospective international PhD student who is planning to attend UCF in Fall 2015. I shall be moving to Orlando with my wife and a newborn daughter. Can you please guide me about estimated cost of living (family accommodation, utility bills, required health insurance for me and dependents, food, transportation, mobile phone and internet services etc)? Is it necessary to have a car for family or one can access any place using public transportation?

 

(Pl note that we are not looking for a luxurious life. I need estimates of minimum total monthly amount I should have to sustain me and my family while attending UCF)

 

Thanks a lot.

 

Hey ARJS! UCF undergrad alumni here. Florida native (from good ol' Jacksonville) and Orlando resident for about 5 or 6 years.

 

Accomodations:

Oviedo: 2-3 bedrooms ~$1200-1500. Close to UCF, quiet. A little ways away from actual civilization, and you still get enclaves of student party houses.

Avalon Park: 2-3 bedrooms ~$1500-2000. Close to UCF and adorable small-town feel. A little too close to Bithlo (think middle-of-nowhere) for comfort, and traffic can get downright nasty at any time of the day.

Dean Rd.: 2-3 bedrooms ~$1300. Close to UCF and amazing Jay Blanchard Park. Also close to student housing and really bad drivers.

 

I mentioned the above three because of their proximity to primary schools and UCF. I don't know what any of these schools are rated, but Zillow does a good job of that! Let me know if you're willing to commute and I can offer some other options too.

 

Utilities & Cable Providers (note: these are neighborhood-dependent):

OUC is my favorite utilities provider hands-down. Cheap and honest.

Duke Energy is another, but I've never had their services.

Progress is also another, but I hated their services in undergrad.

Brighthouse Networks is the cheapest for cable TV and internet, with no contract.

AT&T Uverse is the best option, but barely available anywhere.

All other cable/internet providers are a huge waste of money, would not recommend.

 

Phone Services:

A lot of my friends use MetroPCS (decent coverage, cheap price), Cricket (same), or Virgin Mobile (spotty coverage, cheap price). You can get unlimited text/talk/data for anywhere from 45-55/mo. for an individual phone.

 

You're definitely gonna need a car. Sucks, but the Lynx bus system is trash. As far as food costs go, luckily there are a lot of Aldi grocery stores and little mom-and-pop shops (Fancy Fruit, the Indian Grocer, etc.) that operate in addition to big-name brands like Publix and Wal-Mart; lots of cheap options. I absolutely cannot tell you anything about health insurance since I'm still mooching off of my parents', but I'd try calling UCF's health services (https://hs.sdes.ucf.edu/).

 

Let me know if I can help you further!

[ARJS]

Dear Awash

 

Thank you very much for your detailed response. Your response really helped me deciding my financials. I sure will contact you should I have further questions. Thank you once again.

[awash_]

No problem, good luck in Orlando!

[ClinicalHopeful92]

Hi all, 

 

I've been accepted to UCF and after combing through this thread, I'd like to see if any tips/advice have changed since these posts (cities are always developing!) Any and all information is appreciated. Thank you. 

[SLP11111]

Any graduate students looking for roommates for Fall 2015 or even sooner? 

[MJF]

I have decided to accept an offer from the University of Central Florida to their MA in Anthropology. I currently live in Tampa and have been in Florida for most of my life. However, I am not very familiar with the Orlando area. I'm looking for any advice on the best places to live, apartment recommendations, etc. Being close to campus would be convenient, but I also don't want to be surrounded by partying undergraduates. Are there areas near campus that have more graduate students/families? If I were to move farther from campus, such as closer to downtown or Winter Park, what is the drive/traffic like? 

[CgnNrs]

On 3/1/2018 at 9:10 AM, MJF said:

I have decided to accept an offer from the University of Central Florida to their MA in Anthropology. I currently live in Tampa and have been in Florida for most of my life. However, I am not very familiar with the Orlando area. I'm looking for any advice on the best places to live, apartment recommendations, etc. Being close to campus would be convenient, but I also don't want to be surrounded by partying undergraduates. Are there areas near campus that have more graduate students/families? If I were to move farther from campus, such as closer to downtown or Winter Park, what is the drive/traffic like? 

I did four years of undergrad there and potentially will be doing graduate school their too. You have a lot of options around campus. If you want to avoid the noisy undergraduates, just stay away from the student apartments (Lofts, knights circle, the edge, etc. any of those that come with furniture and pre-select your roommates). There are several quiet options around UCF, but it depends on your price point. Tivoli was pretty decent (I spent one year there), I also have friends who really like Traditions at Alafaya.  If you look around waterford lakes town center (which is ~10 minutes south of campus down alafaya), their is also a lot of apartments with families, and waterford is a nice little town center with some good coffee houses that you can work from (Vesper, starbucks, barnes & noble, boston coffee house). In the other direction, Oviedo is getting more apartment options, and it would definitely be quiet.

There are sketchy options near campus that are very cheap and not student affiliated, and I would avoid them for safety concerns honestly. 

Living in winter park(near rollins/trader joes), around Lake Eola (downtown), or Lake Baldwin (especially if you have a dog) would be  very nice quality of life. A lot of food options, activities, less students. You could expect a 20-30 minute drive though depending on traffic and location. The drive isn't bad, I used to make a drive to lake baldwin in between classes, and without traffic it's pretty quick to get around (as long as you're not way out in the far part of winter park). 

 

PM if you have more questions. I really love Orlando, you're going to have so much fun! I've lived in Florida my entire life and it's been my favorite city by far. 

[MJF]

@CgnNrsThis is super helpful. Thank you! I'm planning to visit Orlando next week and I will make sure to check those areas out. I'm really interested in Winter Park and Lake Baldwin, but I also want to check out Waterford Lakes since it's closer to campus.

Edited March 6, 2018 by MJF

[CgnNrs]

1 hour ago, MJF said:

@CgnNrsThis is super helpful. Thank you! I'm planning to visit Orlando next week and I will make sure to check those areas out. I'm really interested in Winter Park and Lake Baldwin, but I also want to check out Waterford Lakes since it's closer to campus.

No problem! I'm glad I can help. Another place that I know is pretty popular with grad students is the Avalon Park area. It's mostly houses, but it's pretty easy to find roommates in the area. As a side note, since you are concerned about traffic, you will have horrible horrible traffic if you live of colonial. Goodluck! 

[mohavay_dizzert]

I am potentially looking to go to grad school at UCF this fall, are there any decent 1 bedroom / studio places for around $1000? I don't mind driving up to ~30 minutes to get to campus. Are there any area's I should look at?

Edited March 22, 2021 by mohavay_dizzert