What is Ocala Like

[old soul]

Looking at possible relocating to ocala and wanting to ge a good feel for the place. Please be honest in responses....
Thank you

[Wake Up]

Well if you like rednecks.

[MseanK]

It depends on what part of Ocala you want to move to. To be honest, if I were you, I would look at cities outside of Ocala like Belleview or Summerfield.

[Rick]

old soul wrote:

Looking at possible relocating to ocala and wanting to ge a good feel for the place. Please be honest in responses....
Thank you

Actually, Ocala has a lot going for it. A refurbished in-door mall and a brand new out door mall, lots of arts, beautiful country side, great people and close to Daytona Beach, Gainesville, Orlando and much more. There are negatives...some areas are not so nice. All in all, not a bad place to live. Housing is plentiful and inexpensive, especially at this time. Come for a visit and decide for yourself.

[chillin10]

i might be moving to ocala to

[longtimer]

Been here 40+ years. The only time that I might not choose to live here is as a young, single, adult. But then again, I did find my true love here. Schools are good, nice choce in churches, plenty of arts and civic organization. Hot in the summer...keep the ac running. You can leave the heavy coat behind.
If you appricate those of us who are natives and don't treat us as dumb southern hicks then we'd love to have you.

[Mik]

Been here 6 years. Ocala is boring. They might as well roll up the sidewalks after 9pm. Crime is high compared to most other towns. Takes the police and fire departments ages to respond. Available jobs are mainly in the service and medical fields. If you don't work in one of those fields, learn to take pride in the trailer lifestyle.
The positive points are; it's a fairly clean town, and most folks are decent and easy to get to know.

[The BUSH effect]

I you love to make other people rich,and can afford to live on $7.00 to $9.00 (if you can get it) an hour,it's a great place. Most younger people move here,and can never make enough money to leave,AND NO ONE CARES! Do your homewrk before you move into this shit hole.

[Rev EZ DamnUall]

Ocala is all about Cox Communications and
the R E D N E C K S !

Wake Up wrote:

Well if you like rednecks.

[Christine]

Yikes! Some of these comments are really rough. I've lived here for 11 years, moved from Long Island NY. I know a lot of people complain about salaries, but we make a decent living here. We're in the SW section of Ocala and while I have to say that there are quite a few empty houses here and the schools aren't terrific, we've managed to carve out quite a nice life.

[Agree]

The BUSH effect wrote:

I you love to make other people rich,and can afford to live on $7.00 to $9.00 (if you can get it) an hour,it's a great place. Most younger people move here,and can never make enough money to leave,AND NO ONE CARES! Do your homewrk before you move into this shit hole.

That's the way it is,rich and poor - no middle class allowed in Slowcala.

[LOIS]

I came here in '98 (11 years ago. I think it is a nice place to live. I am, however, glad that I am a retiree as jobs can be hard to find and the salaries are low compared to "up North". We have a great community college, a super community theater, a very nice museum and a large variety of opportunities to shop. Resturants are OK, but there are too many Tex-Mex, Asian, and other minority type restaurants. Come and check us out!
We have great scenery, including horses.

[LOIS]

I just posted a comment that claims I live in Winter Park. NO WAY -- I live in Ocala!

[Good Grief]

longtimer wrote:

Been here 40+ years. The only time that I might not choose to live here is as a young, single, adult. But then again, I did find my true love here. Schools are good, nice choce in churches, plenty of arts and civic organization. Hot in the summer...keep the ac running. You can leave the heavy coat behind.
If you appricate those of us who are natives and don't treat us as dumb southern hicks then we'd love to have you.

I went to Ocala once upon a time and found it quite pleasant. Silver Springs is also a nice treat.

[Ocalagirl68]

I have lived in Ocala for 21 years and originally from FL, so I know Florida. In my opinion, Ocala is a great place to live IF you like being in a slow town and not having many things to do as in activities, unless your an outdoors type person, then you have bike trails, parks, hiking trails...that sort of stuff. As for jobs, I don't that it's good anywhere right now. There definitely ain't much fun things to do in Ocala, but you can always drive to Gainsville, Orlando or Tampa to have fun, not that far. And to go to the beach, that's only about an 1 hour... not bad. All in All... Ocala is an ok place to live and yes there are rednecks here, but I don't see that they bother me any. If you like a downhome type of town with lots of country, then Ocala is your place... :-)

[Truth about Slowcala]

The above name say's it all,and the saying is very commonplace around here. The jobs/pay have always been bad,and always will be bad. The ultra rich horse farm owners will not allow high paying jobs to move in,and they mainly employ Mexican labor. Lot's of non-working black folks on Hwy 27 over to Hwy 40 always hanging out on the streets,and poor/drugged out forks living in shady motels all over town. Also,lot's of hookers walking around on 301 South by those seedy motels,trying to make money for drugs. The non-English speaking types from South Florida are moving in here along with,the blacks moving in to the West Hwy 200 areas. The crime rate has increased badly out on West 200 (robberies,shoplifting,fights) and housing values are starting to drop. The Sheriff helicopter is flying around town every single night,due to all the high crime in this area. Sorry,but I sugar coat nothing and tell it like it really is.

[Transplant to Ocala]

Depends on what age you are if you'll like Ocala and what you like to do.....
If you're into horses or golfing you can be happy here. If you're into fishing, you can be happy here.
If you have a job lined up and you're happy with the salary, you might be happy here. If you plan to move here and LOOK for a job - forget it.
I strongly recommend that you RENT first. My husband and I stupidly bought in 2006. We're STUCK here!!!!!
If you're retired, you'd probably be happy moving to a retirement community - they usually offer lots here.
I'm 37 and married. If my husband fell off the face of the earth, I'd be out of here so quickly people's heads would spin. It's not where I'd want to have to try to meet a college educated professional - nor does it sound like there's much of a single social scene.
But, like I said, for golf it's really good and cheap too!!!!

[Boner]

FK Slocala,the cops suck,the bars suck,the pay sucks,replublicans suck,traffic sucks. The ladies in Ocala suck too (that's a plus) and swallow. I've never seen soooo many so called right wingers milking on disability in my life,too damn funny..butt very true.

[Juzz Raw]

i've lived in ocala for most of my life. when u come here, be prepared to be disappointed, unless ur in retirement.

[Juzz Raw]

old soul wrote:

Looking at possible relocating to ocala and wanting to ge a good feel for the place. Please be honest in responses....
Thank you

if ur a typical citizen then ocala is for you.