info on ocala florida

[LaL 418]

Population of Ocala is 46K while Orlando is 186K

[Der Bücherwurm 1]

Population of Ocala is 46K while Orlando is 186K

I never realized Orlando was so small. Of course, the only time I ever went there was as a child so of course everything seemed bigger then.

Anyway, good luck on your move, Donna!

[LaL 418]

I never realized Orlando was so small. Of course, the only time I ever went there was as a child so of course everything seemed bigger then.

Anyway, good luck on your move, Donna!

Depends what report one is looking at some say as high as 250K, however the metro area is over 2 million, so it is pretty large. (whereas Ocala metro is 325K)

Edited December 20, 2009 by LaL

[Staashi 371]

Ocala is pretty cool if you like horses. It has grown tremendously in the past decade - it used to be a stop on the interstate to refuel before heading into Tampa or Orlando from our home in Tallahassee. Donna, my thoughts to you all is to sign a 6-month lease. That way you can decide where you all want to live later on.

[Jay & Beverly 0]

I can attest to something not positive about Ocala. I was stationed in Orlando for 2 years in the early 90's; there used to be a Naval Training Center there. We had always been warned about staying away from Ocala. On one of my last weekends in Orlando a group of us went camping in Ocala National Forest. On the way there we pulled off the highway on a fishing access road and were well off the pavement and on the grass to look at the map so as not to block access for anyone coming to or leaving their local fishing hole. I mistakenly shut off the engine and had just opened my truck door to walk over to the other vehicle when the door was shoved back against me. I was pinned between the door and the inside frame of the door; one leg still in the truck, on leg on the ground. A rather rough around the edges man was holding the door closed against me and he had reached in his pocket and was holding a straight razor to my throat. He told everyone in the other vehicles to stay where they were or he was going to "cut him and gut him" -- referring to me. I was 20 years old, in really good shape, and nearly lost my bladder control.

It felt like hours but the encounter was probably only 3-4 minutes long. He had noticed my out of state license and proceeded to lecture me about how all of the out of state people weren't welcome in Ocala. I don't remember much else because I was too shocked by his kids hollering in the back of the truck. There were 5 or 6 of them and ranged in age from 3 to 10 years. The older two were throwing beer empty beer cans in the back of their dad's truck at him and begging and pleading for him to let me go. I can still hear the voice of one of the daughters saying, "Pay no attention to him, mister, he's drunk. He doesn't know what he's doing." On one hand, I'm scared for my life... and on the other hand... I thought how tragic this must be for the kids to watch their dad do this to a stranger and it sounded as if this wasn't the first time they had seen him do this either.

He didn't rob me and other than a lump on my head, a bruise on my thigh from having the door kicked against me, and a small trickle of blood from where they razor had been held, I wasn't hurt. This was well before cell phones were affordable to own so if something had gone down I t would have been a bad deal for me.

Crime can happen anywhere and anytime to anyone. This wasn't gang related violence it was more stranger-on-stranger violence. I still keep in touch with many of my friends who still live in Orlando and in the Tampa / St. Pete's area and they tell me Ocala isn't any better now than it was back then. It is one thing for a city to grow and flourish with new business and new homes, but it takes generations to breed out the hate and discontent felt by people who have lived in one area all their lives. Although I recognize that event was nothing other than a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, this many years later I promise you this, I wouldn't recommend to people I don't like living there in Ocala or anywhere in central Florida other than than Orlando metro.

[zqt3344 21]

ummmm, I wonder what you did to provoke that local from Ocala. Interesting how he could just appear out of no where without you not noticing or hearing another truck pull up beside your car or not see it. Makes me wonder what was really going on out there.

I can attest to something not positive about Ocala. I was stationed in Orlando for 2 years in the early 90's; there used to be a Naval Training Center there. We had always been warned about staying away from Ocala. On one of my last weekends in Orlando a group of us went camping in Ocala National Forest. On the way there we pulled off the highway on a fishing access road and were well off the pavement and on the grass to look at the map so as not to block access for anyone coming to or leaving their local fishing hole. I mistakenly shut off the engine and had just opened my truck door to walk over to the other vehicle when the door was shoved back against me. I was pinned between the door and the inside frame of the door; one leg still in the truck, on leg on the ground. A rather rough around the edges man was holding the door closed against me and he had reached in his pocket and was holding a straight razor to my throat. He told everyone in the other vehicles to stay where they were or he was going to "cut him and gut him" -- referring to me. I was 20 years old, in really good shape, and nearly lost my bladder control.

It felt like hours but the encounter was probably only 3-4 minutes long. He had noticed my out of state license and proceeded to lecture me about how all of the out of state people weren't welcome in Ocala. I don't remember much else because I was too shocked by his kids hollering in the back of the truck. There were 5 or 6 of them and ranged in age from 3 to 10 years. The older two were throwing beer empty beer cans in the back of their dad's truck at him and begging and pleading for him to let me go. I can still hear the voice of one of the daughters saying, "Pay no attention to him, mister, he's drunk. He doesn't know what he's doing." On one hand, I'm scared for my life... and on the other hand... I thought how tragic this must be for the kids to watch their dad do this to a stranger and it sounded as if this wasn't the first time they had seen him do this either.

He didn't rob me and other than a lump on my head, a bruise on my thigh from having the door kicked against me, and a small trickle of blood from where they razor had been held, I wasn't hurt. This was well before cell phones were affordable to own so if something had gone down I t would have been a bad deal for me.

Crime can happen anywhere and anytime to anyone. This wasn't gang related violence it was more stranger-on-stranger violence. I still keep in touch with many of my friends who still live in Orlando and in the Tampa / St. Pete's area and they tell me Ocala isn't any better now than it was back then. It is one thing for a city to grow and flourish with new business and new homes, but it takes generations to breed out the hate and discontent felt by people who have lived in one area all their lives. Although I recognize that event was nothing other than a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, this many years later I promise you this, I wouldn't recommend to people I don't like living there in Ocala or anywhere in central Florida other than than Orlando metro.

[Jay & Beverly 0]

ummmm, I wonder what you did to provoke that local from Ocala. Interesting how he could just appear out of no where without you not noticing or hearing another truck pull up beside your car or not see it. Makes me wonder what was really going on out there.

He had just pulled his boat out of the water and onto his trailer. We pulled off the road on to the grass to give him plenty of room to when he was going to be coming up to our end of the access road. And by plenty... I mean he had every inch of pavement and shoulder. What I meant by he came out of nowhere was that there was time period of time in minutes from when we pulled off the road before he even drove up the boat ramp. Enough time had passed that I had reached in my cooler to get a bottle of Mountain Dew, have a drink, unfold the map, locate where we were and were we needed to be before exciting me vehicle. I hadn't seen him drive the 200+ feet up towards us, but did hear the truck as I was looking in the map. He didn't shut his door when he exited his vehicle to approach mine.

So to answer your question... to me... he came out of nowhere in terms of approaching on foot. Hope that rests your mind from wondering what was really going on out there.

[Jay & Beverly 0]

He had just pulled his boat out of the water and onto his trailer. We pulled off the road on to the grass to give him plenty of room to when he was going to be coming up to our end of the access road. And by plenty... I mean he had every inch of pavement and shoulder. What I meant by he came out of nowhere was that there was time period of time in minutes from when we pulled off the road before he even drove up the boat ramp. Enough time had passed that I had reached in my cooler to get a bottle of Mountain Dew, have a drink, unfold the map, locate where we were and were we needed to be before exciting me vehicle. I hadn't seen him drive the 200+ feet up towards us, but did hear the truck as I was looking in the map. He didn't shut his door when he exited his vehicle to approach mine.

So to answer your question... to me... he came out of nowhere in terms of approaching on foot. Hope that rests your mind from wondering what was really going on out there.

BTW... I really should have proof-read that. Hopefully you have an idiot-to-English dictionary to help translate.

[chri'stina 190]

If the contract is signed and that means they are living in or very near Ocala, maybe we need to find some more positive stories! I am personally used to living near the coast and near a lot of transplants from others states to FL, mostly northern states. I personally would not want to live in Orlando because it's very congested and filled with tourists all year long. And I wouldn't want to live in Ocala, but you if you get a nice job offer then why not try it out.

[PlatyPius 5]

ummmm, I wonder what you did to provoke that local from Ocala. Interesting how he could just appear out of no where without you not noticing or hearing another truck pull up beside your car or not see it. Makes me wonder what was really going on out there.

Shut the f##k up, you ignorant trolling piece of sh!t...