Downtown Orlando divide grows as city moves to further regulate nightlife

ORLANDO, Fla. — Editor’s note: This story is available as a result of a content partnership between WFTV and the Orlando Business Journal.

James Cole Jr. — whose stage name is City the Host — thinks Orlando’s leadership and police department are using the nightclub scene as a scapegoat while it attempts to “clear out of downtown what they feel is bad.”

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City Commissioner Jim Gray — who said he is not a patron of downtown’s clubs — is straightforward about his view. “The problem is the kind of customers coming to those bars are not what we want,” he told Orlando Business Journal, referring to downtown’s high crime rate. “If there were 50 bars and we had very minimal amounts of crime and issues, we’d be having a different discussion.”

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He went on to say he would prefer fewer bars and more fine dining. “It’s about attracting higher and better employers. Employers that pay higher wages help draw some people out of the lower echelons of the economic scale — then you get a higher salary. You can afford different things.”

Click here to read the full story on the Orlando Business Journal’s website.

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