Living in Orlando

[KatrinaJ91]

I wanted to post a thread about the best places to live in the Orlando area. We are considering moving there in the next year and wondered about where we should look into! Where should I post a thread like this?

[KylesMom]

This question would most likely be answered best in The Water Cooler. I'm sure someone will be here soon to whisk you on over!

[Hayden's Dad]

We recently moved to the Clermont area. It's about 30mins to an hour from Orlando. We really like it here.

[KatrinaJ91]

Thanks....haven't heard of Clermont! I will look into it

[WDW crazy]

We live in Apopka, FL. We moved there from CA about 2 1/2 years ago. It is about 30 minutes from WDW and about 20-30 minutes from Orlando. Clermont is a good too, it is really growing with lots of stores and shopping. Also there is Winter Garden and Ocoee, Winter Park, Altamonte Springs. They are all close to Orlando. Just get online and check out all the areas you are interested in. We are very happy with our move to Florida!

[dnickels]

As for areas to look at, it all depends on what you're looking for. There are a million (I think literally) subdivisions down here where you'll need to drive everywhere. Are you looking for newer construction (probably subdivisions), truly walkable neighborhoods (i.e. walk or bike to the grocery store / restaurants), nearby bike trails, is being really close to Disney a priority?

I can give three areas I'm really familiar with.

The Subdivision of Independence is just about 2-3 miles north of the rear entrance to Disney (it's not officially a public entrance but there's no gate and it's pretty frequently used). Most of the homes are newer and the area has some short biking trails. In the time I've lived there it feels like a very safe neighborhood, community pool, playground, exercise rooms. The downsides to it: HOA, builder-grade construction, lots of speculative buying during the boom, and it's a long way from downtown Orlando if that's where you end up working. There's a grocery store / small shopping plaza a mile and a half away and a bigger one about 4 miles away, but you really can't bike or walk to anything from here. The good: You can be on the parking lot tram at the TTC in under 15 minutes from leaving your driveway.

Old Winter Garden (the area near Plant Street and north to Lake Apopka -Google Maps it): The good - has a wonderful remodeled historic downtown area and many community type events (Friday concerts, monthly car shows, other festivals), bike trail running right through town, walkable neighborhoods, dining, shopping. The bad: still a good distance from downtown Orlando, typically older construction (but I'll take 20 year old brick over new pine and stucco you find in most subdivisions any day), neighborhood to the south gets worse in just a few blocks (not scary worse, just sorta worse).

Oakland (about two miles further west of Winter Garden): The good - charming little town, huge live oaks with moss hanging from them, little used park right in the middle of town that you could have as your own personal playground, bike trail through the middle of it. The bad - no real services (shopping) in the area, still a good distance from downtown Orlando.

Both the last two options would probably take about 25 minutes door to tram.

[harlowandthemermaid]

If you are looking in Orlando itself, Thornton Park, College Park, and Baldwin Park are pretty popular areas depending on what you are looking for. Thornton park is walkeable to downtown Orlando and Lake Eola. Baldwin Park is more of a planned community with a bike trail, it's own shopping center, community pools etc. College Park is sort of in between Orlando and Winter Park. Winter Park has nice parts but I know there has been an increase in crime, particularly in the area of Full Sail, where students are being targetted for their ipods, laptops, etc.
If you want to live closer to Disney, Dr Phillips is a nice area for the most part. Windermere also gets high marks, but the more affordable areas in Windermere are not as centrally located.

[Patricia]

I just spent 2 weeks in January looking at areas for a future home. So far our favorites (in the Orlando area) are Winter Park, Winter Garden and Gotha. That said, we can pick anywhere Florida and haven't eliminated the idea of a coastal home. We have already checked out the Atlantic side and now need to back for a look on the other side.

[mouseneer]

I'll be moving there myself really soon. I have my neighborhoods narrowed down to Indian Ridge, and Clermont. I'm staying out of Pine Hills.