Lol sure what a shanty town...with absurdly expensive housing and insane economy...those are the small areas/skid row and such. Maybe you were downtown? Idk, it definitely depends on area and that county is HUGE. It is very much a suburban hell, much like Atlanta. But the areas toward the ocean outside of downtown are fantastic.
I've been throughout plenty of areas, granted mostly west or north. Beautiful weather...stucco architecture...and your waitress is always an 11. Granted, always staying with my sister. Nice parts of town, but have been to quite a few areas...Venice, the south bay whatever beaches...hollister, etc...lovely places. The cliffs, west holllywood is meh and overrated, but not bad...grungy I'd say...la brea is pretty nice...got a 2nd cousin in studio city, way out but nice too...sister was in Century City a few years, also pretty. Overall beautiful area, houses, top notch food culture...other culture kinda sucks tho jmo lots of clout chasers and wannabes...but the average person is really nice and low crime out there (compared to southeast ofc...we have terrible crime rates unfortunately).
Can't speak much for east/south...just havent been there, but drove out east past the county. The drive out past palm springs was pretty. Lots of beautiful nature in the area for sure.
Orlando is a small/medium town. You just aren't going to go see a lineup of 5 professional comedians, followed by a surprise showing of Dane Cook (ok, ugh) and Judd Apatow and Tom Arnold on a Tuesday night. Or catch an S-tier band at the greek or bowl on any day of the week. The entertainment possibilities are just on another scale. Same as NYC. Those 2 are next level for vacations if you want entertainment.