An interesting article on Orlando appeared in the National Geographic recently (hat tip to Celly). It reads somewhat scathingly, pointing out all the negatives of Orlando. Most of it reflects areas of town outside of Orlando proper -- St. Cloud, Kissimmee and the growing Orlampa areas (that stretch of land between Tampa and Orlando). While tooling on the overly franchised, fake culture, stamped out McMansion life style, the author then goes on to praise the area for our diversity.

He ends the article by stating that by leaving Disney, he was able to find "America's real Epcot." The thing is, I'm not sure he ever left what most of us still refer to as Disney. It's not about being on property or off, it's about being in South-South Orlando. I find myself recognizing what he describes, but seeing something close to the exact opposite.

Most folks who live here love it. Some of us are even passionate about it. But If I had to come up with a list of words to describe Central Florida, diversity wouldn't be on it. That lack of diversity might be one of my biggest complaints, yet it is what the article praises us for.

I guess I might define diversity not as the presence of different cultures, but the melting between them. To give you an idea, there's still a street named "Division Avenue" just west of downtown, and it is, as you might suspect, fairly divisive. The author describes a few high schools of highly intermixed populations -- hopefully that represents a large shift coming in Orlandos demographics. We're a young city, and with time we can hope that mix brings about something culturally unique to the area.

I look out the window of my apartment downtown though, and while its not very diverse, I can't see any franchises or mcmansions. I see an amplitheater that does Shakespeare every year, a park that has some sort of festival once a month and an amazing neighborhood known for its night life. Down the road is an antiques district. Not to far away is a collection of museums ranging from folk art to a science center. There's a top notch history center right in the midst of downtown as well. We have an NBA team, the 7th largest university in the country, and regularly play host to a number of college bowl games. Orlando itself is a thriving region with great food and fun things to do. There is much life outside of Disney and Orlampa just as there is much life outside of the Strip in Vegas.

The article does point out the loss of anything remotely "old florida." It's a travesty in and of itself that its not unique to Orlando. Much of the state's charm is disappearing to areas to exactly what the author describes. There's a decent amount of that world left, but the fear is that it's only a matter of time.

If your interested in that sort of thing, I highly recommend reading A Land Remembered.