ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights some of the patterns found when analyzing interview data related to Orlando’s neighborhood identities. It includes sense of community, feelings of safety, and new urbanism. The chapter explains how two well-known Orlando neighborhoods – Lake Nona and Baldwin Park – created a sense of identity through planned design elements. It details the more pragmatic reasons people choose a neighborhood and how those contribute to an overall identity. A sense of community includes membership in the community, influence within the community, need fulfillment, and a shared emotional connection. A neighborhood sense of community has two critical elements: the physical place and relational elements. Residents in the two neighborhoods felt able to not only be part of the community but also help create it. The chapter concludes with a story from a longtime Orlando resident who moved as a child in the 1970s after his father was transferred to the city for work.
