Some more extended thoughts on Orlando (Lakeside, Oviedo: short sale, affordable house, buyers)

[theurbanfiles]

If I was going to move to the NC area/anywhere else in the southeast, I would absolutely, positively move directly to the mountains. Main reason being that it's clear in those cities like Asheville that it's at least 7 degrees cooler (even without mountain air), during the day and maybe even moreso in the mornings/evenings. That'd be nice and worth moving for.

The cities I'd think about as Top 5 would be Asheville, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Morgantown and Charlottesville. There are others I'd consider, but the only one I'd consider immediately outside of the mountain area would be Atlanta, thanks to the wide array of things to do and higher education opportunities it would present to me. The ideal: working at Kennesaw State or Emory, and being a <10 minute drive to Kennesaw or Stone Mountain.

I'm not saying that Charlotte or Raleigh are bad cities, but I don't think they offer THAT to me.

[StreetSmarts]

I have good friends that live in the Atl area, but they live in Alpharetta. They're actually visiting us right now. They like the beach and entertainment but in their words, its not someplace they'd want to live in. What surprises them is the ghetto mentality, the in-your-face-I'm from-NY types, and all the stucco mud huts with little retention ponds everywhere. I think FL attracts ppl that arent the greatest, I'll leave it at that, not that its that black and white, but I tend to agree with heir observations. And my friend is down here a lot for work and just sees a big difference in the way ppl act, talk to eachother, treat eachother, etc.

[Boarderline77]

StreetSmarts, where do you live in orlando? That's exactly what I am trying to avoid. Are there any neighborhoods/towns that aren't full of people like that? That have friendly, family-centered people with a nice community type feel? We are currently looking in the Winter Garden, Windermere, and Lake Nona areas.

[StreetSmarts]

Sure there are. there are some good pockets in the area for sure. its just a little more hit or miss than other places, in my opinion.

[Boarderline77]

Any tips on good pockets?? My husband and I are heading down this weekend to house hunt. I'm mostly interested in getting a better idea of what each area feels like, how friendly the people are, etc. over anything else.

[StreetSmarts]

i like areas like Lake Mary, Winter Springs and Oviedo.

i would advise though to rent for sure, before buying anything.

what's your budget?

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by Boarderline77

Any tips on good pockets?? My husband and I are heading down this weekend to house hunt. I'm mostly interested in getting a better idea of what each area feels like, how friendly the people are, etc. over anything else.

My favorite areas are Winter Park and Dr Phillips. I lived in many cities across the United States plus overseas. I have traveled the world and I can tell you that Orlando is a nice city with nice people. Generally speaking, if you live in poverty, the people around you will suck no matter where you live. If you expect everyone to go out of their way to make you feel welcome, you're going to complain about the locals no matter where you live.

[EditorJul]

There's a lot of family-centric life in Windermere and the Winter Garden part of Horizon West because that's what it is designed for. We've been here over a year now, and have found the people here to be exceptionally friendly and welcoming, with lots of activities for kids, families, and adults.

[theurbanfiles]

Winter Garden has a very pleasant historic downtown with old houses, mom and pop restaurants, an artisan food and craft market , and a Main Street square with old houses running throughout.

Those other ones have the safety, good schools, bike routes that Winter Garden has, and are nice communities. The only problem with them (WS, LM, Oviedo etc.) is that because they were mostly developed in the last 10-30 years, and so they lack a true community gathering space/uniqueness or "Main Street" thing and are very heavily chain oriented. Other than that they are nice also.

Out of those three, I'd say Oviedo boasts an advantage because it has the most park access, is developing a new urbanist downtown, and has close access to UCF, and the sports, cultural and educational outreach it provides to the community (if they choose to seek it out).

Incidentally I had the opportunity to visit Windermere area the other day. It had more charm than I would've thought, with a decent number of hiking trails close by, lakes surrounding for potential water sports, and even a SMALL little downtown, with an ice cream shop a couple restaurants and some antique stores. The quirk in the actual downtown is that all the roads jutting off are dirt, it was fascinating to see how long the community has been around and how "faraway" it felt. I only saw a few restaurants over there but one of them was Yellow Dog Eats, which is to this point the only BBQ I've had in the area that surpasses 4Rivers. It's in another class.

However, Windermere may be very expensive/you may pay more for less over there, so be judicious in your search!

[StreetSmarts]

in many parts of Windermere (the new area that is exploding with growth) is actually cheaper (per sq foot) than Oviedo is.