For example, apartments in Winter Park are a great off-campus housing option for many students. Students that attend Rollins College also often live in this neighborhood. It is close to the UCF campus, which is ideal for a student that attends classes on campus multiple times a week. Winter Park is also very trendy, has lots of shopping, and is pedestrian friendly. However, it is an expensive neighborhood to live in.

Oviedo is another neighborhood you can try for UCF off-campus housing. It is still close to campus, but perhaps not quite as close as Winter Park. It is a very family friendly neighborhood and is not quite as trendy, so not as many students choose to live in apartments there.

Avalon Park might be a good compromise. It is trendier than Oviedo, but not as expensive as Winter Park. It has many amenities like grocery stores and other important shopping destinations. However, this area is focused on families and homeowners and has very strict Homeowners Association regulations that often limit the ability (or desire) of students to live there with their UCF roommates.

Explore your options and see which area feels most like home!

Dining

Orlando has a lot of delicious restaurants, but most students are focused on affordable options and those closest to campus.

The first restaurant that most students recommend is Wawa’s. Wawa’s might seem like just a gas station, but inside it has a restaurant that is cheap, fast and affordable. You can get a variety of different cuisines, which makes it a great option for any picky eaters or big groups who cannot decide on a place to go. It is also one of the few restaurants near campus that is open 24 hours.

Vespr is a local coffee shop near campus that is a hit with students. The shop itself is very photogenic, makes a nice environment to work in and their products are good for the environment: the coffee cups are made from plants and are compostable, so you can feel good about lessening your impact on the earth when you take your coffee to go.

If you like some sophistication (or enjoy an alcoholic beverage or two), then you might enjoy Bar Louie. Close to campus, it is where many students go to ring in their 21st birthday and have their first (official) drink. They also have great text promotions that can get you free food, so be sure to sign up!

Transportation

As you can imagine, a school with so many students can be hard to navigate and even harder to park at. However, the school offers many different ways for students to make their way to, from, and across campus.

The Pegasus Express is an on-campus shuttle service that provides on campus transportation from 7 am to 7 pm and is free for students. Downtown Campus Shuttles also exist to help students travel between the Main campus and the downtown campus. Rosen campus and Lake Nona campus also have their own shuttle services to help students travel between them. Off campus shuttles exist as well to help students who live off campus avoid driving to campus each day.

LYNX is a public bus service that also services the UCF campus and all students, employees, and faculty of the school may use this service free of charge. The LYMMO line is another free service that can take students to campus and around downtown Orlando free of charge.

If you need groceries, there is a grocery shuttle that runs every Tuesday and takes students from campus to the Publix Super Market located at the University Palms Shopping Center on Alafaya Trail.

Parking

Parking can often be a challenge when you are competing with 60,000+ students, not to mention all the faculty and staff fighting to park there too. Here is what you need to know: Parking permits are required and there are many different kinds with many different rules surrounding them.

Main campus residents can only park in the lots assigned to their housing community during business days and hours. Downtown campus residents with vehicles have no choice but to lease a space from the UnionWest garage since it is the only overnight-parking option on campus. Students that commute must be sure to purchase a green D parking permit and park in designated D lots and garages.

However, in the evenings and on weekends, students are able to park in any student, staff or faculty space.

Safety

Considering the amount of students in one school and the fact that Orlando is such a big metropolitan city, UCF is surprisingly safe. There is a 0.75% crime rate at UCF. The majority of crimes that occur in the area actually occur on the UCF campus directly rather than the neighborhoods surrounding the school. Just keep an eye out when you walk across campus at night because it is better to be safe than sorry.

Shopping

There are lots of shopping plazas adjacent to UCF for students to visit. University Shoppes is an underrated spot. It looks small, but has several stores and restaurants as well as parking, something hard to find around UCF. Waterford Lakes Town Center is another pleasant local shopping plaza with a modern aesthetic and lots of options to shop or dine at. International Plaza is also a popular spot. Its shops may not be the most exciting, but it has a well-rounded selection that can please any student.

UCF may be a difficult school to navigate at first, but once you get settled, you will be sure to find your way.