Good Grief...

[AONE]

Orlando is a beautiful city and not all of us think it is so horrible. Based on the crime stats looks like you will be in a much safer area than OH. We have some fantastic neighborhoods and some that have basically no crime as well. It is so easy to find people what they want from a home perspective.
Here are some things I look at when searching for areas that my clients will like.
1) what type of community they like
2) leisure activities
3) price goals
4) importance of schools
5) I assume safety is always on the list
6) type of dwelling - home, condo, age of homes, features - land, pool, gated....
7) vicinity of work

Once a person has an idea of those things it is easy to find a place they can call home. There are so many great areas here to chose from. We have one for you too.... and no snow shoveling in the winter :-)

[Chuck11]

Isn't Lake Mary, FL ranked number 4 on the CNN Money's best places to live? I visited, and couldn't find anything wrong with it, but I'm sure there's some story on here about giant flying roaches and fire ants invading gated communities.


However, the hurricane threat in the Orlando area is real. As we're seeing with Fay, inland Florida isn't doing much to weaken them

[Dee2e]

Hurricane threats are real everywhere in Florida. I'm in Longwood, just down the road from Lake Mary. We've had more rain in the last few days than in the last year. I live on a lake, it's up quite a bid but we have no flooding. Every area of the country has weather issues. At least with hurricanes, we get plenty of notice that one may come and have more than ample time to prepare.

Lake Mary is a lovely community with lots of housing, shopping, doctors, dentists, eateries, and it's a pretty convenient location.

I really enjoy living in Seminole County!

[smb5575]

Originally Posted by pianogal

Flanders, being born and raised in South Carolina, I can relate. In fact, in my old Winter Park neighborhood - most everyone looked like me - except they were ALOT older! LOL Really we had many retired people, it was hard when our son was small because he had few neighborhood friends to play with. Last week, I drove by our old house and those same nosy old men were still sitting out in their driveway, watching everybody come and go, just like they did the 18 years we lived there!

Now, my neighborhood is really diverse! White like me is not really the norm, neither is african american, spanish, etc. It is truly a melting pot of all ages and vocations.....for instance my closest neighbors are: 40 something African American Lawyer, Retired New York Jewish Realtor, Retired Hispanic NYPD Detective who is still quite young, 30 something Muslim Pharmacist, 40 something White IRS Agent, 50 somthing Black Computer Information Specialist, 30 Something White Engineers, 30 Something Oriental Engineer at Lockheed, 40 something Hispanic Chef etc.....

It is the way of the future and we may as well accept it. Certainly there are pockets of the country that look the same as they did 40 years ago, but they too will change over time. I had no problem adjusting to our current community because I expected it...however when my parents visited from South Carolina - they were not sure how to react.

However, my muslim neighbors, who are the sweetest people you could ever meet, came over and brought us dessert while my parents were here. They stayed and visited and we had a great time together. After that, my parents relaxed and I never heard another word about it.

Sounds like you live in a really nice neighborhood. Is it in Orlando or nearby??

[smb5575]

Originally Posted by pianogal

dlc1346 - There are still some of us who enjoy living here. If you can take a few hours and read the posts by clicking on the name of the poster and read all posts by this poster. That will give you a perspective on what you're reading. Some people are truly love Florida but are concerned about crime and high cost of living - both of which have risen drastically in SOME parts of Florida recently. However, some are just chronic naysayers. Reading the posts based on the poster will give you some insight into their POV.

Also, I would feel differently if I lived in Parramore or Pine Hills instead of East Orlando (Lake Nona - Waterford Lakes). See, there's even two different East Orlandos! One that is closer into town - take a ruler and mark off a sqaure around the 436 and 408 intersections - and the Lake Nona, Vista Lakes, Waterford Lakes, Avalon Park, Stoneybrook, etc. area that is further out.

I wouldn't want to live in the 1st east Orlando area - but according to many - the 2nd East Orlando is the up and coming area to live in because of Nemours and the High Tech Corridor.

By the way there are many great communities in East Orlando besides the ones mentioned - they are just among the largest.

If you choose a good area, I think you too will love living in Orlando. Of course there will be tradeoffs - no place is perfect. What is a deal breaker for someone else may not be such a big deal for me.

My in-laws and other family actually live on the so-called 1st east orlando side right off of Oleander (near Colonial High School) they love it because they are close to all highways, stores and fashion square mall. Everybody in the neighborhood (mostly hispanic) know eachother and are very friendly...tons of kids too. They have never been bothered with any crime and love where they live.

[ngrome]

I may be labelled one of those negativist. In actuality there's some nice areas around Orlando, but with the sprawl you'll have to deal with traffic and idiot drivers. Ya, ya, ya, there's that everywhere, but I'm just saying you have to come down and find out for yourself. The only thing I felt compelled to do is balance the discussion a little because there are others who say everything is great about Florida and Orlando, but it's not. It may be for the area they live in, but that's because they either stay away from the problem areas or don't have to go through them to get to and from work, while the rest of us minions have to. BTW, I don't consider all these towns or villages really suburbs around Orlando, it just doesn't have that suburban feel. Maybe some areas in Seminole County, but Orange County can be lumped into metro Orlando as far as I'm concerned. That's my opinion, come down and find out for yourself, spend some time down here rather than rely on message board opinions.

[beckycat]

Honestly, it's not that bad! There is good and bad wherever you go. I can name several places up north that are way worse than here. I live in Lake Mary and never feel unsafe. I shop in Sanford and never feel unsafe there. There are plenty of safe and nice places here. There are some nice areas of Orlando as there are in the surrounding areas. Check it out for yourself!