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Orlando-Kissimmee, Florida, Metropolitan Statistical Area
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Greater Orlando, alternatively known as the Orlando Area or Metro Orlando, is the third most populated metropolitan region in the state of Florida, and contains the 27th-largest metro area in the United States within the 16th largest Combined Statistical Area. It is defined by the Office of Management and Budget for census purposes as the Orlando-Kissimmee, Florida, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The MSA consists of Lake, Osceola, Orange and Seminole Counties. Greater Orlando has a population of 2,032,496 according to the U.S.
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Encyclopedia
Greater Orlando, alternatively known as the Orlando Area or Metro Orlando, is the third most populated metropolitan region in the state of Florida, and contains the 27th-largest metro area in the United States within the 16th largest Combined Statistical Area. It is defined by the Office of Management and Budget for census purposes as the Orlando-Kissimmee, Florida, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The MSA consists of Lake, Osceola, Orange and Seminole Counties. Greater Orlando has a population of 2,032,496 according to the U.S. Census Bureau 2007 population estimates. The size of the city of Orlando is very unusual for a metropolitan area of its size since most of the inhabitants of the area live in the suburbs and surrounding areas in Orange and Seminole counties, whereas the total population of the city proper is only 220,186 people (2006 estimate).
The Orlando-Kissimmee MSA is also combined with the metropolitan areas of Deltona (Volusia County) and Palm Coast (Flagler County), plus the micropolitan area of The Villages (Sumter County), to create the Orlando-Deltona-Daytona Beach, Florida, Combined Statistical Area (shaded pink in map to right), with a total population (as of 2007) of 2,693,552.
Many consider Brevard County a part of Greater Orlando as well, with smaller numbers also include Indian River County. Some consider there to be a rivalry between Greater Orlando and the Tampa Bay Area over which region Polk County is part of. Polk is served by media outlets from both regions, but for now is its own metropolitan area.
Cities
Primary Cities
Suburbs with more than 10,000 inhabitants
Suburbs with less than 10,000 inhabitants
Commerce
Greater Orlando is best known for its tourism industry, which attracts millions of visitors each year. Some consider Orlando (with many referring to Walt Disney World Resort in particular) to be the "vacation capital of the world".
The citrus industry has declined over the past 100 years as farmers moved orange groves further south to more frostproof areas. Some consider the Christmas 1989 freeze to be the death knell of commercial citrus farming within Greater Orlando. Only one major orange juice plant remains in the area, in Apopka. Originally the first juicing plant of Minute Maid, it is now owned by the Florida's Natural Growers orange cooperative.
Other agricultural pursuits, particularly cattle farming, remain important parts of the Central Florida economy.
Central Florida has served as a major military defense and aerospace center since the Cold War. Most prominent is Lockheed Martin, which operates both a laboratory and a manufacturing facility in Orlando. Military presence has been important since World War II, with McCoy Air Force Base, originally Pinecastle Army Air Field and now the location of Orlando International Airport, and Naval Training Center Orlando downtown during the Cold War. McCoy AFB was a major hub of B-52 Stratofortress operations. McCoy AFB was split between the city (for the new Airport) and NTC Orlando in 1974, and NTC Orlando closed in the mid-1990s. Orlando Sanford International Airport was originally Naval Air Station Sanford.
Central Florida is a growing technology center. University of Central Florida is regarded as one of the best computer and engineering public universities in the United States, and is about to receive a Medical School. It also hosts offices for Oracle Corporation and Electronic Arts, and was formerly a manufacturing point for Lucent Technologies.
Transportation
Roads
Limited-access highways in Greater Orlando include:
- Florida's Turnpike, which heads southeast to the Treasure Coast and South Florida, as well as northwest to connect to Interstate 75 south of Ocala
- Interstate 4, which meets Florida's Turnpike near the Walt Disney World Resort, heads north through the Orlando area to Daytona Beach and southwest to Lakeland and Tampa
- The Beachline (Formerly Bee Line Expressway; SR 528), which meets I-4 near SeaWorld and connects to the Orlando International Airport, Space Coast, Cape Canaveral, and the John F. Kennedy Space Center
- The Central Florida GreeneWay (SR 417), which passes around the edge of the eastern half of the area as a beltway, and connects to both Orlando International Airport and Orlando Sanford International Airport
- The East-West Expressway (SR 408), which crosses the area from west (where it connects to Florida's Turnpike) to east (where it connects to Colonial Drive, south of UCF), passing through downtown Orlando, where it connects to Interstate 4
- The Western Expressway (SR 429), which is under construction, and will eventually serve as a beltway in the western half of the area, connecting to Interstate 4 on both ends from Sanford in the north, through Apopka and Ocoee, and around the west side of Walt Disney World to connect southwest of Kissimmee
The Beachline, Central Florida GreeneWay, East-West Expressway and Western Expressway are all run by the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority.
Major surface highways include US 17, US 92 and US 441 (which multiplex through Orlando as Orange Blossom Trail), US 1, US 27 (Claude Pepper Highway), US 192 (Irlo Bronson Highway), SR 50 (Colonial Drive, formerly Cheney Highway), John Young Parkway, International Drive and Apopka-Vineland Road.
Mass transit
Bus transportation in Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties is provided by LYNX. LYNX is also doing studies into mass transit in the form of light rail, which has received varying degrees of support over the past decade.
LYNX also has express routes to Clermont in Lake County and Deltona in Volusia County. Volusia County is primarily served locally by Votran.
The SunRail system will open for operation in 2010. When completed by 2013, it will eventually connect from DeLand to Poinciana through Downtown Orlando.
Orlando is usually named as the initial focus of plans for a Florida High Speed Rail system.
Rail
Church Street Station is a celebrated Atlantic Coast Line Railroad station that, abandoned by the railways, is now a Downtown Orlando tourism district.
Amtrak serves stations in the area in Kissimmee, Orlando, Winter Park, Sanford and DeLand. The Sanford station is the southern terminus for the Auto Train, which transports people and their vehicles directly to Washington, D.C., via Lorton, Virginia.
The other stations are served by the Silver Meteor and Silver Star, which both travel to New York City. The difference between the two lines is their paths through the states of South Carolina and North Carolina: Silver Meteor takes a coastal route through Charleston, South Carolina, and Fayetteville, North Carolina, while Silver Star moves inland through Columbia, South Carolina, and Raleigh, North Carolina.
Orlando is also the nominal eastern terminus of the Sunset Limited. However, damage to train bridges caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 has halted service to Los Angeles. As of 2007, the Sunset Limited only runs between Los Angeles and New Orleans. The Amtrak website still lists Orlando as the end of the route, suggesting that service will resume in the future.
Airlines
The primary major airports of the area are Orlando International Airport, at SR 528 Exit 11, and Orlando Sanford International Airport, at SR 417 Exit 49.
Orlando International (MCO) serves as a secondary hub to AirTran Airways, and is a focus city of JetBlue Airways and Southwest Airlines. AirTran Airways is headquartered in Orlando, but its main hub is in Atlanta. Orlando was a focus city but was re-classified as a "mini-hub", providing more nonstop destinations than any other AirTran location outside Atlanta, and connections to every AirTran U.S. destination outside Florida. JetBlue Airways also has a training facility known as, JetBlue University, and is the main training center for JetBlue’s pilots, inflight crew, plus support training for its technical operations, customer service crew and provide general aircraft maintenance and LiveTV installation and maintenance.
Orlando Sanford International (SFB) is generally served by charter flights from Europe, though it is also a hub for national small-city carrier Allegiant Air and home to Delta Connection Academy, a pilot training school.
In the Combined Statistical Area, Daytona Beach International Airport also serves the area, and is used by many tourists seeking to directly connect to Daytona Beach's many local offerings, such as Daytona Beach Bike Week, Speedweeks and Spring Break. It is located so its runways cradle Daytona International Speedway, making it convenient for some fans to arrive in Daytona, watch the Daytona 500 or Coke Zero 400, and then return home the same day. Daytona Beach International also serves as the main airport for pilot training at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Municipal airports in the region include Orlando Executive Airport, Kissimmee Gateway Airport, Ormond Beach Municipal Airport and DeLand Municipal Airport.
Media
Print media
The primary newspaper of the area is the daily Orlando Sentinel, owned by Tribune Company. It was created as the "Orlando Sentinel-Star" in 1973 when the Orlando Morning Sentinel and the Orlando Evening Star were merged. It dropped "Star" from the name in 1982. It is also served by various minor weekly and semi-weekly papers, including Orlando Weekly, The West Orange Times, and East Orlando Sun.
The extended area is also covered by The Daytona Beach News-Journal and Florida Today.
Broadcast media
Greater Orlando makes up a large portion of the "Orlando-Ocala-Daytona Beach, FL" DMA, which ranks #19 in size with 1,466,420 households in 2007-08 according to Nielsen Media Research.
All six major broadcast networks are represented in Orlando with their own channels. WESH brought NBC to Orlando when it moved its main operations from Daytona Beach to Eatonville in 1991.
- ABC: WFTV (Analog 9, Digital 39)
- CBS: WKMG (Analog 6, Digital 58)
- NBC: WESH (Analog 2, Digital 11)
- FOX: WOFL (Analog 35, Digital 22)
- The CW: WKCF (Analog 18, Digital 17)
- MNTV: WRBW (Analog 65, Digital 41)
Flagler County, within the CSA, is considered part of the Jacksonville DMA by Nielsen Media Research.
See also
External links
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