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Davidlalf, what a classic post. I had to laugh at how naive you come off for being such an esteemed member of society. You worked at GSachs and decided to move to Avalon Park? LOL!
Facts : There is a lot of crime in and around Avalon Park and it is a bad investment. I would not buy a home there. Of course I have lived here over 20 years and I know a few things about the area. I love how another NYC person comes down here and thinks they have it all figured out because they worked at Goldman Sachs or wherever they claim.
Actually, I say let all the transplants move out there and yuck it up about yokels and how they have it made. They can use the 408 exclusively and give us I4 and the rest of the city back. I will gladly take that trade.
Davidlalf, what a classic post. I had to laugh at how naive you come off for being such an esteemed member of society. You worked at GSachs and decided to move to Avalon Park? LOL!
Facts : There is a lot of crime in and around Avalon Park and it is a bad investment. I would not buy a home there. Of course I have lived here over 20 years and I know a few things about the area. I love how another NYC person comes down here and thinks they have it all figured out because they worked at Goldman Sachs or wherever they claim.
Actually, I say let all the transplants move out there and yuck it up about yokels and how they have it made. They can use the 408 exclusively and give us I4 and the rest of the city back. I will gladly take that trade.
Orlando is a growing city, yes a lot of transplants moved here recently to the newer areas east and west of the city along the 408 to the newer suburbs, which arent really civilized communities yet so your gonna see some issues. You will never get the "old" Orlando back, its only going to keep growing and expanding, which means more transplants. You can either do your part to help make it a better, safer place, or you can turn your back on YOUR city and pretend that a big portion of the city doesn't exist, and just pretend orlando is still a mid sized town along a stretch of interstate 4.
Cities grow and change, and when it happens to fast you can get some issues with lack of good development planning. You should support the city as a whole and help solve issues to make it a better place in the areas that need it. This city has already overcame a lot of issues and i am confident to say that within the next few decades this city is going to emerge into a safer, larger, well respected, US city.
Sorry, I don't care much for Avalon Park after living there, and knowing how it was developed (like crap), It was a money grab created by people who didn't even let the housing foundations set on time before building because they cared about the bottom line more then anything else. So if you want to support that, go ahead. But I prefer to support developments that were done right and I will tell new people to avoid the allure of Avalon Park. It was NOT well built, it is in a crappy area for commuting, and it is not even that nice of a place.
If you like suppporting developers that pay off Surveryors and inspectors so their deadlines can be met, go ahead and put your weight behind Avalon Park. When the place goes to crap in 20 years you can answer to the people who bought there. I'd rather keep it real and do people a service then BS about how great Orlando is everywhere. I don't drink the Koolaid.
Sorry, I don't care much for Avalon Park after living there, and knowing how it was developed (like crap), It was a money grab created by people who didn't even let the housing foundations set on time before building because they cared about the bottom line more then anything else. So if you want to support that, go ahead. But I prefer to support developments that were done right and I will tell new people to avoid the allure of Avalon Park. It was NOT well built, it is in a crappy area for commuting, and it is not even that nice of a place.
If you like suppporting developers that pay off Surveryors and inspectors so their deadlines can be met, go ahead and put your weight behind Avalon Park. When the place goes to crap in 20 years you can answer to the people who bought there. I'd rather keep it real and do people a service then BS about how great Orlando is everywhere. I don't drink the Koolaid.
I never said orlando was great everywhere and i never said to support the developers. I said you should support Orlando as a whole. If you dont have anything nice to say dont say it. Some people actually like avalon park.
Sorry, I don't care much for Avalon Park after living there, and knowing how it was developed (like crap), It was a money grab created by people who didn't even let the housing foundations set on time before building because they cared about the bottom line more then anything else. So if you want to support that, go ahead. But I prefer to support developments that were done right and I will tell new people to avoid the allure of Avalon Park. It was NOT well built, it is in a crappy area for commuting, and it is not even that nice of a place.
If you like suppporting developers that pay off Surveryors and inspectors so their deadlines can be met, go ahead and put your weight behind Avalon Park. When the place goes to crap in 20 years you can answer to the people who bought there. I'd rather keep it real and do people a service then BS about how great Orlando is everywhere. I don't drink the Koolaid.
I like Avalon Park as well, but anyone who is looking into buying there should be aware of the problems it has. Viewing it in a realistic light, Avalon Park has a few problems.
It is hard to get in and out of as there is a lot of traffic on northbound Alafaya Trail and westbound Colonial in the mornings and probably the opposite in the afternoons.
It was developed and resembles a cheaper version of Baldwin Park or Celebration, but in the same area I think that Avalon is a lot more attractive than Waterford, Andover, or Union Park. A lot of people are not too fond of the Simpsons-esque power plan towers and the plumes of smoke they emit either.
If you look for news stories that have taken place in the Avalon Park area, it does have a lot of weird crime and things happening that should not happen in a nice area like that. They had a head lice outbreak at one of the elementary schools last year, they had a violent home break in, among others.
Other than that, I do like the convenience of once you are in the Avalon Park area everything is there at your fingertips. I like the town square design around where the Publix is. I like the open spaces reminiscent of parks sandwiched between the homes. It is definitely not my first or even third choice of a place to live in Orlando, but I do not mind it. I think that you have to be careful about how much you pay to buy in to Avalon Park because I do not see its future fairing as well as Oviedo or Lake Nona in the same general east side areas.
Avalon is a nice community to live in, It has nice homes, nice people, a convenient downtown, plenty of recreational activities and so on. It has been unfortunate that there has been a few crime problems, but its NOTHING like pine hills, paramore, the attractions area, kissimmee, central east orlando, winter garden etc. And yea there is traffic because there are so many people in who live in the avalon area, and there is only a few streets to get out, but in a way i like that because avalon is iscolated form the rest of metro orlando, its not crammed in the middle of developments like most neighborhoods are, its peaceful and away from the busy city commotion. You cant blame the traffic on avalon, Orange county should have widened 434 all the way down to avalon a long time ago.
Im not saying that avalon park is the best place to live in orlando, but its definitely not a bad part of orlando to live in. Its in the top 10 places to live in orlando in my opinion.
For those of you who dont know much about it besides all the negative things you hear on this forum, check out the website. Avalon Park > Home
Avalon Park is both a neighborhood and small city, with lots of commerical and retail. Remember there are over 3,600 residential units alone (single family and townhouses), so statistically you are going to hear about more crime or foreclosures or whatever, but as a percentage of the resident population these issues are tiny with respect to other neighborhoods.
The developer, Beat Kahli, is responsible for both the residential AND commerical. It was not a money grab I can tell you for sure...he is still here and involved in both. In fact, he GIVES AWAY land and former model houses to the community church, schools and civic groups. Plus he owns all the commericial buildings in downtown Avalon, and is therefore invested in the rest of the neighborhood. Avalon Park was built on purpose to be affordable, Baldwin Park was not (and Baldwin is a fraction of the size), so please don't compare the two. Compare to Celebration or Tradition if you want.
That said, yes the situation with the roads sucks. The county has been promising forever the 528 connector for Innovation Way, but it is actually now slated to begin this September. The biggest problem is Alafaya trail, which is single lane ALL the way down. That has also been delayed for years, but it is now slated to begin next year. So if you work on the west side, of course Avalon will not appeal to you. But I know people who do the commute and it is not as bad as you might think. And once you get here everything is within (gas station, supermarket, restaurants, schools, church, etc), so you don't have to go back out much. And, yes, the coal power station's steam stacks are ugly, but there is currently a plan in place to mask their view from the road once the Innovation Way intersection is complete.
In Avalon Park prices have come down, like everywhere else. Probably about $100-$130/sq.ft. now. Out of 3,600+ homes, only 90 are currently on the MLS, which is not bad. All of KB and Ryland are sold out. All the foreclosures get purchased immediately once they hit the market. If Avalon was not a nice place to live, this would not be the case.
Again, regarding crime, Avalon has an extremely strong Neighborhood Watch, which has won several awards for. Avalon is a pilot neighborhood for "Cell Phone Cops", too. There are a ton of paid, off-duty police in addition. The big problem is UCF renters. They are the worst, and are the ones primarily responsible for bringing in the crime element to the area. That is true of any college town. UCF is like the 7th largest university in the U.S. so go figure.
The last two posts produce some great pros and points. I guess my post was a little more negatively focused, but I must also mention that I know 3-4 families that live in the area and they all love it too. Like almost every other area of Orlando and the suburbs there are some pros and cons.
If you dont have anything nice to say dont say it. Some people actually like avalon park.
Are you serious? So people who are moving to Orlando and have never been here should only hear your glowing reviews? That's a giant crock of garbage. I think I would want to know if a house I was buying could potentially have a cracked foundation due to rushed developing, but I guess you wouldn't.
I like Avalon Park as well, but anyone who is looking into buying there should be aware of the problems it has. Viewing it in a realistic light, Avalon Park has a few problems.
It is hard to get in and out of as there is a lot of traffic on northbound Alafaya Trail and westbound Colonial in the mornings and probably the opposite in the afternoons.
It was developed and resembles a cheaper version of Baldwin Park or Celebration, but in the same area I think that Avalon is a lot more attractive than Waterford, Andover, or Union Park. A lot of people are not too fond of the Simpsons-esque power plan towers and the plumes of smoke they emit either.
If you look for news stories that have taken place in the Avalon Park area, it does have a lot of weird crime and things happening that should not happen in a nice area like that. They had a head lice outbreak at one of the elementary schools last year, they had a violent home break in, among others.
Other than that, I do like the convenience of once you are in the Avalon Park area everything is there at your fingertips. I like the town square design around where the Publix is. I like the open spaces reminiscent of parks sandwiched between the homes. It is definitely not my first or even third choice of a place to live in Orlando, but I do not mind it. I think that you have to be careful about how much you pay to buy in to Avalon Park because I do not see its future fairing as well as Oviedo or Lake Nona in the same general east side areas.
This is a blanced and good post. Reps.
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