[cmn610]

[SIZE=3]Hello! I have the opportunity to transfer from my home state of MI to Florida for work. My wife and I have two young daughters, so we we’re looking for a safe, family friendly area (parks, festivals, soccer leagues, movie theaters, etc) – My office will either be in Alamonte Springs or Lakeland (it’s looking like I’m going to have my choice) – but we don’t know anyone in either area, so we’re looking for some input! If anyone is familiar with these areas and can give us some insight as to which would best fit our needs, we would greatly appreciate your help![/SIZE]

[ferret111]

Altamonte Springs is a suburb of Orlando. They have a mall and pretty much everything else you'd find in a suburb. I don't know how their schools are, but I think it's on the better end of Orlando's suburbs.

Lakeland is a self-contained city just shy of being halfway between Tampa and Orlando; driving to either is easy. It will feel more "Southern" than Altamonte and Polk County as a whole is pretty rural. Like every city, it has its good and bad areas.

These are two pretty different cities, but there are far worse places to end up. There should be a bunch of threads on these places, so you might want to use the Search feature at the top of the screen.

[90sman]

Yes, Lakeland would probably be a better bet. It's kind of like a small city but a large city at the same time, and it's more older people, but it's still nice there.

[annerk]

I'd go for the Altamonte Springs office but live a couple towns over for the best schools. The schools around Lakeland... overall not so good.

[Broker Dave]

Check the homes in Oviedo & Wekiva Springs to get started as both are a quick drive to Altamonte Springs and both have good schools.

Hope this helps,

[cmn610]

Thanks everyone! Someone suggested living in Willow Oak and commuting to Lakeland... any thoughts?

[psonio7]

If you pick Altamonte, check out Lake Mary (personally one of the best areas of metro Orlando) and Longwood areas too.