Good family neighborhoods + schools near Maitland (Orlando, Winter Park: for rent, crime, houses)

[ClaireMc]

Hi,

My family is moving to Orlando in the New Year from the UK and we are looking to find a safe, family oriented neighborhood with excellent schools close to where my husband will be working (Maitland). Ideally we are looking for no more than a 25-30 minute peak time commute.

The problem we are having is we need to pick this neighborhood before we arrive and it needs to be in the catchment area of a good elementary and middle school. We are looking to pay up to $1800 a month for rent and ideally want to get this right first time so as not to unsettle the children further.

We would like to be in close proximity to shops, restaurants etc. We are looking for a modern house (newer than 10 years old) in a safe neighborhood with lots of children in the catchment area of great schools.

If anyone can offer some advice then it would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,

Claire

[Wilshire81182]

For the most part, the rule to Maitland is stay east of the freeway (I-4). Areas along Horatio and Temple are very nice and is stays nice east of there too out to 436. The West side by Forest City gets closer to Lockhart and some rougher areas as well as close to Eatonville.

[GregTraub]

Check out Winter Park and the Wekiva area of longwood. Both should put you well within a 25 minute commute to Maitland and have highly rated schools and good crime stats.

[ClaireMc]

Thanks for the info - do you have recommendations for specific schools and neighborhoods with modern houses within these areas? How big are these areas and are there good shops, restaurants etc close by?

Also is Maitland itself a good area to live that fits what i am looking for?

Finally, apologies for the question barrage - when folks talk about a catchment area for schools, how big is this typically - are we talking within 'x' miles of a school or some other criteria?

Many thanks for the answers so far.