Upscale burbs of Orlando (Coral Springs, Coral Gables: condos, rental, work)

[laurenlolasmom32]

Hi everyone.....my husband and I live in Ponte Vedra Beach and are thinking about moving to the Orlando area and I'm wondering what the upscale, nicer communities are and/or what counties to look in.......I've lived in Naples and Palm Beach, which I love and would very much like to find something similar. Any and all suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

[cfIfan]

I would say to take a look at Windermere, some parts of Winter Park further west, some parts of Winter Garden and of course Celebration. These are the nicer areas

[rholborn]

Also in Seminole county Lake Mary was voted #4 best places to live by money magazine in 2007. We have a lot of upscale communities, and excellent schools too. I've lived here for 13 years, and my family and I love it! We are in the middle, if you look on a map. 40 min to the west is disney, and 40 min. east is the beach!

[GregTraub]

Dr. Phillips I've found is most like South Florida, I grew up in SFL myself. Also Windermere, Bay Hill, Lake Mary, Heathrow, Winter Park, College Park, Thornton Park, Oviedo, Waterford Lakes, Avalon Park, Lake Nona, Belle Isle, Celebration...... All nice "upscale" area's

May need a little more criteria to help narrow things down with you.

[laurenlolasmom32]

thanks again for all of your help.....we will probably go into a rental for 6 months so we can get familiar with the area. Our main concern is safety and school districts, as we have 2 small children. We also want to be in an area that we can shop, eat and have plenty of activities as well........would prefer a condo rental if we can find one......

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by GregTraub

Dr. Phillips I've found is most like South Florida, I grew up in SFL myself.

Dr. Phillips reminds me of the Coral Springs area a LOT. Maybe it's the restaurant row and the way the trees are laid out, lol. There is a little Palm Beach Gardens resemblance too. I say if you want that "nice South Florida" feel than it would be advisable to look into that general part of Orlando, including Bay Hill and Windermere. That area and Winter Park (a little Coral Gables like) are the only areas I would live in Orange County. The rest of it IMO is lackluster.

[Jennie60]

New to Orlando and so confused about SAFE and UPSCALE neighborhoods. We just leased a condo on Kirkman...and think we probably made a bad choice. Who can tell me where the great neighborhoods are?????

[Wilshire81182]

Kirkman is not the nicest area in town. Most of the safest areas are in Seminole county or really further west or east in Orange county. There are several nice neighborhoods in the central areas of Orlando and Winter Park but because they are more urban I would not say they are 100% safe. Kirkman is in Metrowest and it is known for having higher crime, mainly due to the neighboring parts of town like Pine Hills and Ivey Lane/Parramore.

[InternDoc]

hi,
My girlfriend will be moving to Orlando from Chicago. She will be working near Millenia mall. We are planning to rent a condo/townhome near there. Would someone please recommend area and condos ? Thank you

[InternDoc]

I have also just check out a condo at kirkman/conroy. Is that a safe area ? How about area around Valencia college?