What do you suggest doing/seeing before choosing where to move?

[Arcenal813]

Originally Posted by uberwulu

Rent a cheap place for a 6-12 months. That's the best way to learn about a city and what parts of it are likable. Taking everyone else's feedback will only give you a view of the city through their lens of politics, religion, racism, socioeconomic standing, etc. The first answer for example said Lake Eola (downtown) is "fantastic." It is, if you enjoy frequent traffic jams, roads constantly blocked off for various events, streets filled with trash after those events, hookers, bar whores, clubbers, potheads, drug dealers, and drunk kids harassing you. With no people, Lake Eola is beautiful. But it's downtown - there are people, and the worst kinds of people in high concentration. You can take my word or theirs depending on whose align with your views, but the better way is to just experience it yourself.

In broad daylight? This doesn't really happen on, say, Saturday afternoons, as I routinely go out there with my kids to feed the swans, get ice cream, and have them play in the playground. Not once have I seen hookers, drunk people, potheads or drug dealers at those times. Mostly just folks going for walks, couples having picnics, and kids running around playing.

[brinkofsunshine]

Originally Posted by Arcenal352

In broad daylight? This doesn't really happen on, say, Saturday afternoons, as I routinely go out there with my kids to feed the swans, get ice cream, and have them play in the playground. Not once have I seen hookers, drunk people, potheads or drug dealers at those times. Mostly just folks going for walks, couples having picnics, and kids running around playing.

This has been my experience as well. I love the Sunday farmer's market and the various events throughout the year. There are definitely homeless people around but I have yet to be bothered by any.

[Abirdinahand]

Originally Posted by Arcenal352

20s as in 21 or 29? Or in between? It makes a huge difference, especially if you're like me, married with kids since early 20s. I feel more like a grown man than a man in my 20s due to that...

That said, we still have fun going out every now and then.
If you're into nightlife, downtown is pretty active on most nights, especially on weekends. Can't go wrong with Wall St., or Orange Ave, Magnolia and Pine.
There are also a few spots on I-Drive and City Walk at Universal, but those tend to have quite a large amount of tourists.

There are also always events at the Amway Center, the CFE Arena, the Dr. Philips Performing Arts Center, or you can catch a soccer game at the Citrus Bowl (I REFUSE to call it by its ridiculous new name.)

Other than that, if you're into foolishness, I recently took my wife to a strip club (LOL) and needless to say, it was... interesting...

I'm more laid back, so I prefer nature, lakes, boats, jeskiis, that kind of stuff. What do you like to do?

I'll be 21 when I graduate and move. But I like all things, like I enjoy nature very much and being quiet with my dogs And I also love being around people and being active with nightlife! The soccer games sound fun too.

Thanks for your reply as usual to my posts.

[Abirdinahand]

Originally Posted by Crane's Rooster

Just to add onto Arcenal's response, alot of young single life here revolves around the water. Cocos at Cocao Beach, Wekiva Landing on the Wekiva River, Butler Chain of Lakes, Conway Chain of Lake, Lake Formosa, Lake Brantley, and there's a growing inland beach area at downtown Tavares.

Just checked, Cocoa beach is only a little over an hour away!

[uberwulu]

Originally Posted by Arcenal352

In broad daylight? This doesn't really happen on, say, Saturday afternoons, as I routinely go out there with my kids to feed the swans, get ice cream, and have them play in the playground. Not once have I seen hookers, drunk people, potheads or drug dealers at those times. Mostly just folks going for walks, couples having picnics, and kids running around playing.

Yes, in broad daylight too. Going there sometimes isn't the same as living there all times, where you are forced to experience everything that's going on, every day, all day. The daytime events are usually less drunk than others (in the beginning at least), such as the charity runs with thousands of corporate employees in attendance, but it still blocks off roads, creates noise disturbances for the nearby businesses and residents who work from home, and devolves into a sloppy drunk afterparty toward the end and trash all over the streets until the city cleans it up the next day. The occasional "nice walks" are quickly drowned out by the constant barrage of noisy messy inconvenient events when you actually have to stay there instead of just visit. Kind of like how going to Applebees regularly can be nice, but imagine living in one...

[LuvOrlando]

oops

[LuvOrlando]

I spent a lot - and I mean A LOT - of time in my car, driving driving different areas, through neighborhoods and strip malls. All I knew before I moved was that I didn't want to live close to the touristy areas. So it was a lot of driving.

Then I settled on a few places and began looking at houses. In the end, I wound up in a place I hadn't planned on, but had cheap houses and was very calm. The houses are less cheap and they keep building more of them, as well as other things. But I'm happy here.

So my advice is to do some driving. When you settle on a couple places, drive around during rush hour, see how bad that is, visit stores there at times you'd normally visit them. When you think you've settled on a house, drive the neighborhood when kids are getting out of school. You can learn loads about your neighborhood by the way the kids behave.

Ask the cops about the neighborhood before you put in an offer. Are they there a lot? Is it problematic?

Be honest with your realtor about what you want and don't want. The more specific you are, the easier it will be for them to find you what you want.