Congratulations Lake Mary on Top 100 Places to Live (Orlando, Winter Springs: appointed, 2009)

[thecoles]

Congratulations to Lake Mary for returning to CNNMoney.com's Top 100 Places to live for 2009 (the highest rated city in the state of Florida). My family & I have lived here since 1996. The schools are awesome. The weather is great. Lake Mary is centrally located with both Disney World and New Smyrna Beach just a short drive away. There are many safe neighborhoods including gated communities if that is what you're looking for. I have enjoyed living here, while teaching science and coaching basketball at one of the local high schools. It was nice to see both Lake Mary & Oviedo return to the Top 100 list. There is a lot of anti Florida sentiment in these blogs. If you are considering Florida as a place to live, you should visit Lake Mary & decide for yourself. I am very involved in the community here. It is my opinion that the negativism on most of the threads in this site are a very vocal minority & not any where near what the majority of people think around here.

[JustinsMama]

Thanks! It's good to hear some positive reviews of Florida living. Would you know how Lake Mary and Oviedo compare to Winter Springs (an area I'm possibley interested in) as far as schools and quality of living?

Thanks again for your input!

[thecoles]

I used to teach & coach at Winter Springs High School. I would be happy to answer your questions in a direct message. Winter Springs is an an awesome place to live. It's actually 18 - 22 minutes from my house depending on traffic. Winter Springs was actually ranked very highly in CNNMoney.com's 2007 pole (top 40).

[Cigarboo]

Coming on to CD and reading so many negative Florida/Orlando posts made us so nervous about moving here. Now that we've been here for a little while, I'm finding myself loving it more each day and wondering why we didn't move sooner.

We originally looked at Lake Mary as our #1 choice, but with just the way things turned out, ended up in Winter Springs. We're in the middle of summer and the weather is not nearly as bad/hot/humid as I prepared myself for.

I've found the people to be friendly and helpful. I haven't run into rude people yet. If I did, it must not have bothered me much. Maybe I've been lucky enough to only be at the right places, but I did spend some time at the Driver's license place and the Seminole County public health clinic which had a mix bag of people.

The roads are fantastic. I'm even OK with I-4. I was driving up and down to go to Disney/tourist area everyday for a few weeks and I didn't find the traffic to be worst than other areas I've been. The landscaping is beautiful and clean. The roads are wide and the signs are well marked.

I love Winter Springs and I'm sure I would have loved Lake Mary as well. The schools are suppose to be good. I've talked to a few neighbors and some of their children go to private school and others go to the public schools and are happy there.

So congratulations to Lake Mary. We've found the Orlando area to be a terrific place to live. That is, if you have a decent job and live in an area like Lake Mary or some of the other areas that aren't bogged down with crime and such.

[thecoles]

Very nice to hear. Winter Springs did very well in the 2007 Edition of CNNMoney.com's 100 Best Places to Live. In addition, I loved teaching and coaching at the high school. It was a great school & community.

[doublemom]

We read the reviews of Lake Mary and were very excited about relocating here. Then we made the move and were so very disappointed. Multple businesses closed, houses abandoned, and the opportunities for children were almost non-existent. The community feels more like a condemned strip mall then anything else. We tried to purchase a home, but the property didn't appraise. Then, the great job that was the cause for the relocation ended. The only good thing that has happened out of this move was that we didn't buty. We are leaving and before school starts.

[idr591]

Originally Posted by doublemom

We read the reviews of Lake Mary and were very excited about relocating here. Then we made the move and were so very disappointed. Multple businesses closed, houses abandoned, and the opportunities for children were almost non-existent. The community feels more like a condemned strip mall then anything else. We tried to purchase a home, but the property didn't appraise. Then, the great job that was the cause for the relocation ended. The only good thing that has happened out of this move was that we didn't buty. We are leaving and before school starts.

Where did you move from?

[doublemom]

Charlottesville, Va

[Parrotrosie]

Our experience has also been very positive! We moved from Pennsylvania to Oviedo and have been here about 6 weeks/2 months now. Love it! Our community is great, the weather is great, lots for my kiddo to do (just gotta get out there and get to it!) Found a great Church in short order! Everyone we have met has been very friendly! There are some places of shopping where there are closed stores, but most places are plenty full and busy but not overly crowded.

School starts soon and my daughter is very excited! The neighbors have told us they have been quite happy with the public schools around here, so I am not too concerned!

[Practice]

Congrats, Lake Mary! Woohoo!