Windermere, Florida

Windermere is a town located in Orange County, Florida. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 1,897. Windermere was established in 1889, and works hard to retain a small town feel.

Transportation

Windermere is located in a narrow place between several lakes in the Butler Chain of Lakes. As such, it is on the shortest road route between the east and west sides of the chain. In fact, the next crossing to the south is 7.5 miles (12 km) south at Lake Buena Vista, where County Road 535 (CR 535) and Apopka-Vineland Road meet. The next crossing to the north is at Gotha, the north end of the chain of lakes, 2.25 miles (3.5 km) to the north. 2003 Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT), much of which is commuters passing through, is 17,197 vehicles per day for Sixth Avenue (the east entrance), 18,362 on Main Street north of Sixth Avenue, and 9,484 on Main Street south of Sixth Avenue.

As a small town, prideful of its character, Windermere tries to calm traffic and encourage traffic to use alternate routes. All roads in the downtown area (laid out in a grid) are dirt roads except for a few through roads:

• Main Street from the northern boundary (as Maguire Road, which heads north to Ocoee) south to 12th Street; the pavement turns west at 12th Street onto Chase Road, which connects to CR 535
• Sixth Avenue east from Main Street to the town line, where it becomes Conroy-Windermere Road
• Second Avenue west from Main Street (serves a peninsula)
• "Dirt Main Street", just west of Main Street (opposite where the railroad used to run), from Third Avenue to Seventh Avenue
• Several other paved roads exist in the outskirts, in areas that have been annexed since the original town was formed.

Until the 1980s, Main Street north of Sixth Avenue and Sixth Avenue east of Main Street were maintained by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) as part of State Road 439 (SR 439). This was given to Orange County as CR 439, and Orange County eventually removed all signs and gave the part inside Windermere to the town. Signs put up by FDOT still mark the north end of CR 439 at SR 50, but no other signs exist, in part because Orange County has a general policy of not signing county roads.

Three four-way stops are in the downtown area, all on Main Street - at Fifth Avenue, Sixth Avenue and 12th Avenue. The large amount of traffic during rush hours causes a great deal of congestion, especially as more housing developments are built west of Windermere (particularly the planned Horizon West New Urban community).

Some drivers try to avoid the jams by taking alternate routes via the dirt roads, but Windermere made that illegal on July 13, 2004 for all but local traffic by passing Ordinance 2004-07 (http://www.town.windermere.fl.us/Ordinances/2004-07.htm). The meaning of "local traffic" was clarified by Ordinance 2005-02 (http://www.town.windermere.fl.us/public_notices.htm), passed March 8, 2005, by defining it as traffic originating or terminating within the town limits. All side roads east of Main Street have signs at Main Street and Sixth Avenue allowing "local traffic only" from 07:00 to 09:00 and 15:00 to 18:00, with a penalty of $200 for violating the law. A grace period was provided during which violators were given a warning. The law or signs do not specify that it is only in effect weekdays, though the purpose of the law was to keep commuters on the main roads during rush hours.

On April 23, 2005, Windermere closed Main Street to all traffic between Second Avenue and Eighth Avenue, with traffic detoured along the adjacent (mostly dirt) roads, some of which were made one-way. This was done to allow the next phase of a $2.5 million project to proceed, including bricking Main Street and building and two roundabouts at Fifth and Sixth Avenues for traffic calming purposes. The project is supposed to last until at least October. While some residents think the project will help traffic when it is done, others, especially those living along the streets being used as detours, don't look so highly on the closure.

The Florida Midland Railroad, part of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, used to run just west of Main Street; there is now a large grassy area between Main Street and the dirt road (often called Dirt Main Street) that ran just west of the railroad. Windermere had a station on the railroad.

No Lynx bus routes serve Windermere.

Geography

Windermere is located at 28°29'48" North, 81°32'2" West (28.496581, -81.533781)Template:GR.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 2.9 km² (1.1 mi²). 2.9 km² (1.1 mi²) of it is land and none of it is covered by water.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there are 1,897 people, 704 households, and 561 families residing in the town. The population density is 654.0/km² (1,688.2/mi²). There are 723 housing units at an average density of 249.2/km² (643.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the town is 95.68% White, 1.27% African American, 0.05% Native American, 2.00% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 0.32% from other races, and 0.69% from two or more races. 3.53% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 704 households out of which 36.9% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 70.3% are married couples living together, 6.5% have a female householder with no husband present, and 20.2% are non-families. 17.3% of all households are made up of individuals and 6.7% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.69 and the average family size is 3.05.

In the town the population is spread out with 27.5% under the age of 18, 5.1% from 18 to 24, 25.8% from 25 to 44, 30.5% from 45 to 64, and 11.1% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 41 years. For every 100 females there are 104.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 96.3 males.

The median income for a household in the town is $88,809, and the median income for a family is $105,737. Males have a median income of $80,693 versus $37,321 for females. The per capita income for the town is $51,370. 3.1% of the population and 2.4% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 3.0% of those under the age of 18 and 9.1% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

External links

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• Town of Windermere (http://www.town.windermere.fl.us/) official site
• Comprehensive Information on Windermere (http://www.windermere-luxury-homes.com/)
• Main Street Improvement (http://www.town.windermere.fl.us/construction.htm)
• Movement of Traffic Plan (http://www.town.windermere.fl.us/Misc/traffic.htm) (during Main Street closure)

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References

• Detours will reroute Windermere drivers (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/orl-locwindermere23042305apr23,1,7851726.story?coll=orl-news-headlines&ctrack=2&cset=true), Orlando Sentinel April 23, 2005