Area Neighborhoods - a Snapshot Of Orlando’s History and Vitality

From historic districts to ethnic enclaves, Orlando’s neighborhoods give visitors an intimate glimpse of the city’s past, present and future.

Downtown Orlando
New residential condos, trendy restaurants and eclectic shops are reshaping Downtown Orlando, the heart of the city’s commercial core.  With an appealing mix of high rises and Victorian architecture, downtown also anchors the “Cultural Corridor” that stretches for blocks with theaters, galleries and performing arts venues. The centerpiece of downtown is Lake Eola Park, a 43-acre (17.2-hectare) park with generous sidewalks for strolling and jogging on the .9-mile (1.4 kilometer) loop around the water. The park is also home to the Sunday Eola Market, a farmers market open each Sunday, except during the summer.  There’s also a playground, a small outdoor café, swan paddle boats for rent and the Walt Disney Amphitheatre for special events. Downtown’s Heritage Square is home to the Orange County Regional History Center.  The city also offers a self-guided walking tour of the eight-square-block Downtown Orlando Historic District with buildings dating back to the 1880. After dark, downtown transforms into a trendy nightlife destination with nightclubs, restaurants, live theater and galleries.

Thornton Park
One of the charming old neighborhoods ringing downtown, Thornton Park is Orlando’s center of new urbanism, with residential lofts, renovated cottages and historic homes—all within walking distance of a burgeoning collection of shops and restaurants where patrons can sip coffee or nibble on sushi at outdoor cafés, browse in an independent bookstore or shop for the latest fashions. Historic architecture ranges from Craftsman-style bungalows to Neoclassical and Tudor Revival homes.  Green space also abounds, with nearby Lake Eola Park and historic Dickson Azalea Park, where cattle ranchers led their herds to drink along shady Fern Creek in the late 1800s.

College Park  
Just northwest of downtown Orlando is delightful College Park, with streets named for famous colleges like Harvard, Yale and Dartmouth.  Most of College Park consists of a mix of bungalows and turn-of-the-20th century manses and centers along Edgewater Drive and environs, where newcomers mix with longtime residents in inviting shops and restaurants. Perhaps one of College Park’s most famous residents was writer Jack Kerouac, who shared a back-porch apartment with his mother at the time his famous On the Road was published. The Kerouac Project, headed by local businesses, raised funds to buy and restore the house, now hosting a “writer in residence” program.

Baldwin Park and Celebration
Those nostalgic for the quintessential small town America experience will enjoy a visit to Baldwin Park, located just minutes from downtown Orlando, and Celebration, located in Osceola County near the Walt Disney World Resort. Both areas were designed to foster a sense of community, featuring narrow streets and wide sidewalks, miles of walking trails, distinct architecture, vibrant town centers and a mix of amenities that allow residents to live, work and play in their own neighborhood.  Rather than creating a private enclave, both communities host several festivals and events each year to showcase their special way of life. During the holiday season, it has been known to snow in Celebration to help set the mood.

Eatonville
Incorporated in 1883 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998, Eatonville is the oldest African-American municipality in the United States.  Its most famous former resident is Harlem Renaissance author and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston, who spent her early years in Eatonville and writes about those years in “Their Eyes Were Watching God” and “Dust Tracks on a Road.”  Her accomplishments are showcased in an annual festival each January and in the Zora Neale Hurston Museum of Fine Arts. Though many of the neighborhood’s original buildings are gone, a walking tour highlights significant structures.