A comprehensive passenger rail bill has been signed into law by Gov. Charlie Crist. The bill clears the way for the SunRail commuter rail system in central Florida, puts state money into the South Florida TriRail system, and creates a rail authority.

ORRA is in support of SunRail because studies find that the commuter rail project’s construction and operation will generate:

* An infusion of more than $1 billion dollars over the next 30 years into Florida’s economy.

* The creation of more than 13,000 construction and operations jobs, most of them created almost immediately, generating more than $350 million in household earnings.

* More than 113,000 construction jobs within one-half mile of station stops.

* $4.6 billion dollars in earnings for the construction sector over the next 20 years.

* An increase of almost nine times their current value for property values within one-half mile of station stops.

* Secondary economic impacts of more than $2.5 billion dollars from workers living and spending within the area.

via Orlando Regional Realtor Association.

Behind the Numbers Click Title to view entire Yahoo Article

“To figure out which housing markets have yet to reach bottom, we looked at the 50 largest metropolitan statistical areas in the U.S., as defined by the Office of Management and Budget and, using calculations from Moody’s, analyzed each area’s spending power, unemployment, housing and credit availability going back 27 years.

Over that time, each area’s home prices have fluctuated differently according to these factors. Moody’s calculations determine how much each area’s home prices would have to change to bring that particular housing market back to a state of balance. The further from equilibrium, the further the market has to go. Projections were made on the basis of the current rate of price decline, absorption rate, employment and salary deterioration, and how long it would take each metro to wash out to a historical point of balance.

All of this adds up to bad news in one of the states hardest hit by the real estate bust, Florida–particularly Miami, Orlando and Jacksonville. Home prices are down 32%, 27% and 9%, respectively, in year-over-year terms, and are expected to decline a further 53%, 48% and 39% in each area, according to our calculations. Each has decade highs in unemployment, not to mention still out-of-balance price-to-home-price ratios.”

Wonder if this study considered any effects of the phasing out of the Shuttle Program.

Working late again entering a new rental listing for downtown area of Orlando and was just about to enter the information regarding the school districts, and came across an interesting poll.

Orange County Public Schools – OCPS Polls.

here are a few of the questions that were answered..

Q: Of Orange County’s 126 high-performing A and B schools, what percentage have high minority student populations (more than 50%)?

Q: How many days of the school year do you think Florida Lottery proceeds pay for in the operation of Orange County public schools?

Q: What percentage of OCPS operating revenue do you think is budgeted directly to schools?

Again, these are just a few of them, be sure to check the link above to see the answers as well as additional questions.

Brady Pevehouse