Anyone who lives in Orlando, I need your help, please.

[palmtreegirl]

I need your help. DH just accepted a transfer to Orlando so we'll be moving down to the area. We've decided to rent a house instead of an apartment but we're not sure where.

We're looking for a great family neighborhood with lots of kids, if you live somewhere like this could you PM me or post the town here. Since we just moved here in June, we want to make sure we pick a place we can plant some roots down and I love to hear opinions from people who actually live down there.

So far we looked in Hunters Creek, which we really liked but we want to make sure we check out every option. DH will be working near the Florida mall and he'd like to keept his commute to no more then 20 minutes or so.

Also if you happen to know a great realtor that could help us search for a place I'd really appreciate a referral.

Thank you.

 

[ducklite]

I'm not really familiar with that side of town, but wanted to say congrats and I hope you love it here as much as I do!

Anne

 

[ChristmasElf]

Hunters Creek is one of Orange counties best school districts by far. His commute will be right at 15-20 minutes depending on what roads he takes and the time of day.
East Orlando will be a longer commute unless he comes up 417 or 528 but the schools are hit and miss.
Dr Philips and Metro West are also areas you might want to look at, but Sand Lake Rd to the Florida Mall area will be a major pain in the mornings and afternoons with tourist traffic. The prices in Dr Philips will be slightly to moderately higher than Hunters Creek as well. Schools in DP some are good, some are iffy.

 

[palmtreegirl]

I'm not really familiar with that side of town, but wanted to say congrats and I hope you love it here as much as I do!

Anne

Thanks!

Hunters Creek is one of Orange counties best school districts by far. His commute will be right at 15-20 minutes depending on what roads he takes and the time of day.
East Orlando will be a longer commute unless he comes up 417 or 528 but the schools are hit and miss.
Dr Philips and Metro West are also areas you might want to look at, but Sand Lake Rd to the Florida Mall area will be a major pain in the mornings and afternoons with tourist traffic. The prices in Dr Philips will be slightly to moderately higher than Hunters Creek as well. Schools in DP some are good, some are iffy.

Thank you. He'll be working off hours, so hopefully the traffic won't be too bad for him.

 

[kerrynic78]

We live in Avalon Park in SE Orlando and LOVE it!!!! It is filled with lots of families and is modeled after Celebration but without all the tourists
We have a town center with tons of stores and medical facilities as well as schools right in the town. There is an elementary and high school and they are building a middle school right now. We have no kids but I know the elementary school received an "A" rating.

I know there is a web site for Avalon Park and you can get a lot more info there! Good Luck!!

 

[palmtreegirl]

We live in Avalon Park in SE Orlando and LOVE it!!!!

We actually went over there to check it and Oviedo out last weekend. Can you tell me what that big factory/plant was in the distance by Avalon park?

 

[palmtreegirl]

 

[campingcorgi]

We actually went over there to check it and Oviedo out last weekend. Can you tell me what that big factory/plant was in the distance by Avalon park?

I believe that it is the Curtis Stanton coal-fired power plant.

I live in Avalon Park for now (we are renting and hope to find a home in the spring) so I can give you some pluses and minuses about the area. Avalon Park is very pretty. There are lots of families here but you rarely see any kids playing outside. The local elementary is 'A' rated and huge--largest elementary school in Orange county and about 1500 kids. They are building two more elementary schools in the area and a middle school. The high school has about 3000 students--that makes traffic a mess in the mornings!! The traffic on Alafaya (the road to take to get anywhere) is heavy and the road is only two lanes. Hopefully they will expand it to 4 or 6 lanes but now it is bumper to bumper in the mornings and very slow. I think the commute to the Florida Mall area would be 45 or more minutes.

Hope this helps!

Now, anyone want to tell me about the Lakeland area? We've been checking that out and that seems like it has more to offer than the 'big box small lot' that everything around here seems to be.

 

[Virgo10]

Now, anyone want to tell me about the Lakeland area? We've been checking that out and that seems like it has more to offer than the 'big box small lot' that everything around here seems to be.

I live about 10 miles from Lakeland. It is very nice around here. Lakeland is the big city to Auburndale's more county feel. Not that we don't have stores here because we do. If you need more than what's in town, you just go down the road to Winter Haven. Need more than what's located there, you go to Lakeland.

Having said that, if I could move, I would. I want to be closer to Disney and the 30 to 50 minute drive precludes quick trips to the parks. Someday I hope to live in Davenport where I can just go without dreading the drive.

I like Polk county because of the country feel to it. It's also (at least right now) a sort of no man's land that the tourist don't seem to gravitate to.

Here's the Auburndale website for more information:
Auburndale, FL

And Lakeland's site:
Lakeland, FL

 

[palmtreegirl]

campingcorgi- Thank you!!!

 

[noseybuddy]

We live in Avalon Park in SE Orlando and LOVE it!!!! It is filled with lots of families and is modeled after Celebration but without all the tourists
We have a town center with tons of stores and medical facilities as well as schools right in the town. There is an elementary and high school and they are building a middle school right now. We have no kids but I know the elementary school received an "A" rating.

I know there is a web site for Avalon Park and you can get a lot more info there! Good Luck!!

I just looked at he website. It looks very nice there. Are they still building homes there? They didn't have any prices listed for the homes. Was wondering what the price range was for a home there.

 

[kerrynic78]

Sorry for getting back so late Palmtreegirl! The big towers are cooling towers, nothing nuclear going on over there....we asked before we even thought of building!!

Noseybuddy: Yes they are still building, there are a bunch of different builders and the prices seem to range from about $250,000 to $7-800,000 for a house depending on the builder. There are also townhomes, not too sure of that price range. I know there are a couple of new developments that they are going to start in on, my DH's cousin is building in the new Avalon Plantations with Ryland builders. If you have any other questions, just PM me!

 

[palmtreegirl]

Sorry for getting back so late Palmtreegirl! The big towers are cooling towers, nothing nuclear going on over there....we asked before we even thought of building!!

Ohhhh OK. When we saw it we did think it was nuclear. lol! We're going to drive back over this weekend and look at some rental homes. Thanks for the help!

 

[kerrynic78]

Good Luck Palmtreegirl

We are renting a house right now as well, as we build in Avalon.