Economy
Tourism is a large contributor to Central Florida's economy. However, the area has economically diversified in the past decade. As a high-tech industrial hub, Metro Orlando has the seventh largest research park in the U.S., Central Florida Research Park, the engineering and business school of the University of Central Florida. It has defense companies such as Lockheed Martin and Siemens.
Medical research is conducted in Orlando's Lake Nona area with the University of Central Florida medical school, the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute biomedical research facility and a new Veterans Administration hospital. These facilities, along with several research support companies, have led this research cluster to be referred to as Medical City.
Kennedy Space Center is a NASA facility. Patrick Air Force Base and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station are military installations located on the Atlantic coast.
Major malls and open-air centers in the area include:
- Altamonte Mall
- Downtown Disney
- The Florida Mall
- The Mall at Millenia
- Orlando Fashion Square
- Oviedo Marketplace
- Seminole Towne Center
- Universal CityWalk
- Volusia Mall
- Waterford Lakes Town Center
- West Oaks Mall
- Winter Garden Village at Fowler Groves
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Famous quotes containing the word economy:
“Wise men read very sharply all your private history in your look and gait and behavior. The whole economy of nature is bent on expression. The tell-tale body is all tongues. Men are like Geneva watches with crystal faces which expose the whole movement.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)