Live by the beach & work in WinterPark/N. Orlando? (Miami: apartment, crime)

[BaysideJR]

I am curious if there are any recommended beach towns to live in that are still close to the Winter Park/N. Orlando area? I have been living in the Lake Mary area and while I like it, it would be nice to be closer to the beach. Are there any nice towns for families with good schools that are still a reasonable commute to Winter Park? My current commute from LM to my office via I4 is about 45 minutes which is an easy drive for me. Anyone here live by the beach and commute to the WP/N Orlando area?

Curious on all your thoughts.

Thanks.

[Rabflmom]

I would imagine Cocoa Beach would be about 11/2 hour drive depending on traffic and where you live in Cocoa Beach. New Smyrna Beach a little over an hour, too. You have to figure the time driving through town on the mainland to get out to the toll road or interstate.

Your closest bet might be Titusville, but there isn't a public beach community because of the Space Center. You would have to live on the mainland, buy an annual pass for the National Seashore and drive out the long road to the beach whenever you wanted to head to the beach.

[chopchop0]

Cocoa Beach or Titusville. I think CCB would be better as I think the 528/expressway to 408/417 would be faster. I could be wrong though.

Originally Posted by Rabflmom

I would imagine Cocoa Beach would be about 11/2 hour drive depending on traffic and where you live in Cocoa Beach.

I think the OP could do the commute in under an hour if he/she is close to the expressway.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by BaysideJR

I am curious if there are any recommended beach towns to live in that are still close to the Winter Park/N. Orlando area? I have been living in the Lake Mary area and while I like it, it would be nice to be closer to the beach. Are there any nice towns for families with good schools that are still a reasonable commute to Winter Park? My current commute from LM to my office via I4 is about 45 minutes which is an easy drive for me. Anyone here live by the beach and commute to the WP/N Orlando area?

Curious on all your thoughts.

Thanks.

The easiest commute to/from an area with good schools CLOSE to the beach would be Port Orange. If you can deal with not being right on the beach but perhaps 10 minutes away it would work well for you as it's about 20-30 minutes further than your current commute, and you won't hit traffic slowdowns in the mornings until you reach Lake Mary. Check out the Spruce Creek school district.

[Rabflmom]

Originally Posted by chopchop0

Cocoa Beach or Titusville. I think CCB would be better as I think the 528/expressway to 408/417 would be faster. I could be wrong though.



I think the OP could do the commute in under an hour if he/she is close to the expressway.

Maybe... but center of Cocoa Beach or closer to ocean for ibeach atmosphere adds drive time as will how far the job is away from interstate in Winter Park. To get to our lawyer in WP we plan 2 hours from South Brevard.

[chopchop0]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

The easiest commute to/from an area with good schools CLOSE to the beach would be Port Orange. If you can deal with not being right on the beach but perhaps 10 minutes away it would work well for you as it's about 20-30 minutes further than your current commute, and you won't hit traffic slowdowns in the mornings until you reach Lake Mary. Check out the Spruce Creek school district.

Cocoa Beach schools are on par with that, and IMO is a much easier commute with the less-congested 528 to deal with rather than I-4.

[BaysideJR]

Thanks for the replies. Living close to the beach is something I have always been interested in but I know some of you have actual experience with this. I am curious what are your opinions about living on the beach vs inland a bit(think cocoa beach vs cocoa not talking about economy or crime more about weather, storms,flooding etc...)? What's the realities of living on the outer coast such as cocoa beach vs inland and having a 15 minute drive to the beach?
I get the impression that beach towns don't generally have the best school districts and are more transient. I'd be interested in hearing everyone's general opinion to live by the beach vs not.

My office is just off the I4 around S. Orlando Ave around where the 4rivers bbq, chipotle, publix is. When all is said and done I am probably going to end up staying in Lake Mary or going to a town like Oviedo. Whenever i search for info on living in the beach towns there always seems to be so many negative things said.

[FL2MT]

Personally it'd be a heck of a long commute for my tastes but I'm sure there are some who do it.

On the difference between living in the beach communities vs. a 15 minute drive away:
I lived on Cocoa Beach (little apartment on the west side of A1A about 100 yards to the ocean) and down in Miami (about 15-20 minutes drive to the beach) and the difference is night and day, I'd choose being on the beach in a heartbeat. Granted this isn't a Cocoa to Cocoa Beach or Miami to Miami Beach comparison but I think the general concepts are the same.

You don't have to find parking or pay for it since you can simply walk or bike to the beach. This makes it much more likely that you'll pop over to the beach for a quick walk or swim on a random weekday than it would if you have to get in the car, drive there and drive back. Your morning walks or runs can be on the beach, you can walk over with your morning coffee and see the sunrise, the 'vibe' among the people living there is more relaxed, the ocean breezes are more pronounced so you smell that salt water. I'm a fan of having something 'right there' so that you can go out and enjoy it any night of the week without committing 30+ minutes of driving to get to it and back home. Whether we are or not, we all feel like we're strapped for time, and so after you finish dinner and you're contemplating what to do, a quick trip to the beach is a lot easier to convince yourself to do if you can walk there in 5 minutes, than it is if you have to drive there.

(At least that's my experience in the matter anyway)