[watsont3]

As my wife and I decided to rent an apartment for at least a year when we move to Fla., I have been looking at apartment complexes on the internet. I have found a couple of complexes that look very nice in Eustis, Orange City and Deland.
We may be expanding our search area out from Ocala and are wondering what the pros and cons of these areas are. We still want to stay in central Florida, preferably north of I-4 and west of I-95.

[Prichard]

I like the Deland area. It has retained a "quaint" old Florida town feel to it. There is a good bit of new development in and around Deland, but it has slowed down some. Deland has some nice rolling hills, lakes, and a nice downtown area. One of Florida's oldest private Universities is in the heart of Deland, Stetson University. Yet, even though there is a significant college in Deland, the college is fairly conservative, and Deland is by no means a "college town".

Houses in the Deland are are less expensive than in Orlando. There are some moderately upscale areas in Deland, but you won't find any of the "mansion" districts that you've got in Orlando. Personally, I think this is a good thing. Deland does have some areas to the west of the city that are not all that great.

Eustis is ok. I don't like it as much as I like Mt. Dora or Howey-In-The-Hills, but it is a decent affordable area to live. You should know that there there are a couple of highways in the planning stage that will impact Eustis. The "missing link" of the Orlando Beltway is planned to connect Lake Mary/Sanford to south-east of Mt. Dora. A spur is planned to go out to Eustis connecting Eustis to the beltway. This will open up that area to become part of "Greater Orlando". Some people will like this; some will hate it.

[watsont3]

Originally Posted by Prichard

I like the Deland area. It has retained a "quaint" old Florida town feel to it. There is a good bit of new development in and around Deland, but it has slowed down some. Deland has some nice rolling hills, lakes, and a nice downtown area. One of Florida's oldest private Universities is in the heart of Deland, Stetson University. Yet, even though there is a significant college in Deland, the college is fairly conservative, and Deland is by no means a "college town".

Houses in the Deland are are less expensive than in Orlando. There are some moderately upscale areas in Deland, but you won't find any of the "mansion" districts that you've got in Orlando. Personally, I think this is a good thing. Deland does have some areas to the west of the city that are not all that great.

Eustis is ok. I don't like it as much as I like Mt. Dora or Howey-In-The-Hills, but it is a decent affordable area to live. You should know that there there are a couple of highways in the planning stage that will impact Eustis. The "missing link" of the Orlando Beltway is planned to connect Lake Mary/Sanford to south-east of Mt. Dora. A spur is planned to go out to Eustis connecting Eustis to the beltway. This will open up that area to become part of "Greater Orlando". Some people will like this; some will hate it.

Thanks for the info. Your take on Deland is the same as the impression that I got from the little research that I have done.
Also thanks for the heads up on the proposed highways.