Byline: Jeannette Rivera-Lyles
Jun. 14--Giusseppe LaRosa and Dorin Arroyo grew weary of New York's tight spaces and congestion, so eight years ago they packed their bags and moved to a quiet cul-de-sac in suburban east Orange County. It was almost idyllic -- until the very things they had escaped up North caught up with them here. "I saw all the construction and said to my wife, 'Baby, pretty soon this is going to be like New York,' " LaRosa said. So they started to pack again, looking for a home in an area that wasn't so crowded -- and at a price that fit their working-class budget. They found it less than 15 miles east of their Rouse Road home, in Bithlo. As open space and affordable housing become harder to find in Orange County, the rural community of Bithlo quietly has emerged as one of the last bastions of low-cost, low-density living. This has brought an influx of new residents who are diversifying what traditionally was known as an enclave of predominantly white native Floridian families. Alongside Bithlo's pastures and narrow country roads, buyers can still find a mobile home on an acre of land for $75,000. A manufactured home with a pool on 2.3 acres just went for $190,000, a recent price-check in the area showed. "That is the largest area [in east Orange County] where you can still get an affordable home," said Dean Gonzalez with Watson Real Estate in Orlando. Bithlo has a land area of 10.7 square miles and nearly 5,000 residents. Gonzalez and other real estate professionals estimated Bithlo's median home price at $125,000. Most are mobile homes or manufactured homes on single-acre lots. Meanwhile, April's median home price for the Orlando area was $248,000, according to Internet database wikibroker.com. Bithlo's affordability, open spaces and longtime reputation for independence have drawn new residents searching for a simpler way of life than that found in Central Florida's busy cities and suburbs. Sue Ryan knew it was time to go when subdivisions began to sprout all around her Chickasaw Trail home back in 2000. "We just weren't used to being stacked like pancakes," she said. Ryan is from Vermont, and she missed the openness of her home state. So she and her husband started looking for a home on a nice lot within their budget. Even six years ago, this proved harder than they had anticipated. The couple searched for six months without success until they discovered Bithlo. "We found two acres, with green grass and tons of nice trees. We didn't care that it was a mobile home. It was the privacy and openness that we valued most," Ryan said. Although jokes about Bithlo's rednecks and junkyards have circulated for years, some say the newcomers are changing the face of the area and erasing the stereotypes. Neighborhood cars may sport the Confederate battle flag, but Puerto Rican, Cuban and Mexican emblems can be spotted as well. "People think that we are all rednecks, that we are gun-toting, and that we don't get along with anybody," longtime resident Brenda Rogers said. "Well, we have proven otherwise. We have accepted change." The 2000 census showed minorities made up about 13 percent of Bithlo's population and 9.3 percent were of Hispanic origin. These numbers could be on the rise, judging from Bithlo's public school student data. At Columbia Elementary, nearly 25 percent of the students are minorities. Most are Hispanic. At Corner Lake Middle School, the numbers are even higher. Almost one third of the students are Hispanic. Overall, nearly 44 percent are minorities. The U.S. Census does not have updated statistics for the area. There is a limit, however, to how much change the community is willing to accept, Rogers cautioned. "We will keep our community rural. Development, massive changes would destroy what we have out here," she said. "That won't happen as long as there's breath in me." Newcomers Arroyo and LaRosa are part of the change in Bithlo. She is Puerto Rican; he is Italian-American. Arroyo's car window boasts a sticker of the Puerto Rican flag. When she told friends where she was moving, their jaws dropped. "Why are you going over there with all of those rednecks?" she remembered being asked. LaRosa heard the remarks too. "I didn't care, because I'd fallen in love with the property," he said of his three-bedroom manufactured home on a little more than 3 acres. Their neighbors, they say, could not have been more accepting. "We haven't had one single problem," LaRosa said. "It's been the opposite. When we had to call an ambulance for my mother-in-law, the neighbors came by to see what had happened, and some even brought us dinner." And if Bithlo's new wave of residents raised concerns of a potential clash of cultures -- it hasn't occurred. The Orange County Sheriff's Office has heard of no hate crimes reported in the area. Rogers is not surprised. Bithlo has gained popularity, she said, because its people are friendly and not bothered by new or different things. "We don't complain if someone paints their house bright pink with a green trim," she said. "We look at it, go our way, and then use it as a landmark."
Jeannette Rivera-Lyles can be reached at jrivera@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5471.
Copyright (c) 2006, The Orlando Sentinel, Fla.
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