ABSTRACT
This chapter explains interviews with city officials and local Main Street business district leaders to highlight the city’s neighborhood philosophy. It provides a brief history of development in the Orlando area to show how the city has evolved as a trading post and stop along a railway to a bustling city center. City officials are the first to admit that things are not perfect; several neighborhoods in Orlando’s vast geographic expanse could be improved upon. On June 23, 1875, residents of the Village of Orlando met during a public meeting, whereby 29 qualified electors showed to vote on creating the City of Orlando pursuant to state rules. One of the city’s earliest neighborhoods formed around the Conway chain of lakes near the downtown core. With neighborhoods growing and the city continuing to attract new residents and visitors, the neighborhood philosophy also has shifted.
