More news as it breaks.
For those who don’t know the Orlando Sentinel has been posting a weekly series on “Laborland”, the working poor who support the parks. Topics include pay, poor public transit, and the terrible state of housing in Orlando.
No thank you. Outside of CP housing there isn’t any Disney owned housing.So maybe Universal is going to build on some of the outparcels. Company towns ala WDW?
Orlando is a service-based economy and, only until recently, the majority of jobs made less than $9 an hour. It isn’t, so much, “terrible state of housing” in Orlando (though the housing market is insanely overpriced), it’s the terrible state of affordable housing.Well I'm not as familiar with the topic but as someone who's looking into potentially moving to Orlando the "terrible state of housing" certainly isn't encouraging!
WDW is only open to College Program members, and is closer to dorms than housing. Once you’re no longer CP, even if you stay with the company, you’re out.So maybe Universal is going to build on some of the outparcels. Company towns ala WDW?
Right, basically rents have doubled in Orlando in the last 10 years, but the largest employers in the area (Theme parks and service industry) haven't really increased pay much. Causing employees to have to share houses with 3 or 4 roommates in order to afford to live in the area. These aren't temporary workers either, these are people who have made careers at the parks but the companies pay them next to nothing and increasingly ask them to do more. It's good to see Universal trying to help fix this problem while Disney keeps building gated communities for millionaires on their property.Well I'm not as familiar with the topic but as someone who's looking into potentially moving to Orlando the "terrible state of housing" certainly isn't encouraging!
I believe Universal has promises to up their pay to $15 an hour once EU opens? Wish it was a tad higher but I'm glad they're making this move as well.Right, basically rents have doubled in Orlando in the last 10 years, but the largest employers in the area (Theme parks and service industry) haven't really increased pay much. Causing employees to have to share houses with 3 or 4 roommates in order to afford to live in the area. These aren't temporary workers either, these are people who have made careers at the parks but the companies pay them next to nothing and increasingly ask them to do more. It's good to see Universal trying to help fix this problem while Disney keeps building gated communities for millionaires on their property.
It should be going higher than that, but that's just my take.I believe Universal has promises to up their pay to $15 an hour once EU opens? Wish it was a tad higher but I'm glad they're making this move as well.
All the parks are, but it’s specifically because the Disney unions held firm during the previous CBA negotiations. Disney agreed to $15 an hour for union workers, which necessitated the other parks to match it or risk losing their workforce.I believe Universal has promises to up their pay to $15 an hour once EU opens? Wish it was a tad higher but I'm glad they're making this move as well.
Ah I see, got it.All the parks are, but it’s specifically because the Disney unions held firm during the previous CBA negotiations. Disney agreed to $15 an hour for union workers, which necessitated the other parks to match it or risk losing their workforce.
Affordable housing is typically apartment style, not houses on plots of land.So it will be able to house like 200 people, if that. Ugh.
A much more fair assessment on this, thanks for the info. I think the key will be how high they can make these buildings exactly, as that will be able to suit more people obviously. If it can hold 15-20K more people, thats just a little above the number of new people they said will be employing once Epic opens. A step in the right direction for sure.Affordable housing is typically apartment style, not houses on plots of land.
Twenty acres can actually a huge amount. There's some affordable housing near UCF that I use to live across from. It's on about three acres and has about 1,400 apartments on it (1-3 bedrooms). Based on that, I think we could underestimate about 400 apartments ("homes") per acre. At that, 20 acres can give you 8,000 apartments between 1-3 bedrooms. That can support between 15,000-20,000 people without breaking a sweat.
That's bananas, and definitely a step in the right direction. The mass transit hub will make it even more attractive.