Windermere vs. Dr Phillips. (Orlando, Winter Garden: estate, luxury, condos)

[bballchick123]

Im moving down to Orlando next month and I've pretty much narrowed my search down to windermere and Dr pHillips. I really love Windermere but Dr. Phillips is closer to my work. Can anyone fill me in on the positives and negatives of these two places and the main differences. Thanks a bunch!

[Jfunk]

I sell properties in both areas and really could not say anything bad about either of them. The two areas are located next to one another. Both areas are surrounded by the Butler Chain of lakes which are beautiful preserved sand bottom lakes. The city of Windermere is actually only 689 acres but homes surrounding the area get to use the Windermere address. They are both great areas and you could not go wrong with either of them. Both areas are very prestigious with many high profile residents and both have great schools. As you said Dr. Phillips is definitely more accessible to shopping and restaurants. There are many different housing options in both areas including luxury condos, single family homes to multi million dollar lakefront estates. I personally would rather live in Dr. Phillips just for the proximity to everything: shopping, Interstate 4 and restaurant row. However, if I found the right home in Windermere I would not exclude it. - Jeff

[HammockDreamer]

We were all set to move to Windermere, but then we decided to test out the driving times during morning and evening rush---Windermere roads really, REALLY get bogged down. Depending on exactly where you are in WIndermere--your commute may be considerably longer than expected.

That really opened our eyes---we're moving to Dr. Phillips next week!

[CG&D93]

I lived in the Dr. Phillips area for about 17 years. Would have given my eye teeth to live in the heart of Windermere though.

I would only want to live in the heart of Windermere. The areas out toward Winter Garden and then south of there aren't nearly as desireable. The spawl of Windermere is just that...people wanting to have the address but not really living there. Know what I mean. If I couldn't live in the true old part of Windermere, I would choose the Dr. Phillips area.

Gotha is really nice too. And there again I mean the older original part of Gotha.

[Scuba9090]

Might want to check the offender register. I was considering moving to both cities until looking at the the Florida Law Enforcement web site. We have a 4 year old & are not convinced those burbs are safe to raise a family.

[taysee]

Scuba,

In your opinion , what are the best burbs in Orlando? I have a 6 and 7 year old and was looking at both of those areas as well. How about Avalon Park?

[Scuba9090]

We don't currently live in the area. I just did some research looking at the Florida Law Enforcement web site. We are trying to figure out safe areas to raise the kids. I'm hopefull folks that live there will respond to help newcomers.

Unfortunally, we found there are offenders everywhere can't ever let your guard down.

[Jfunk]

Windermere had recently been voted #1 town for families in Florida by Neighborhood scout. I would not have a problem raising my children in the Windermere or Dr Phillips areas. Actually these areas would probably be my top 2 choices to raise my children. They are excellent areas with good schools and lots of nearby activities. I don't think that Tiger Woods and the many other high profile residents in the area would be raising their families in the Windermere - Dr. Phillips area if they weren't 2 of the top choices around.

[riptoman]

i've lived in DP for 18 years. i would suggest it over windermere. windermere's roads are pretty crappy, and there are cops everywhere that will pull you over for going a mile over the speed limit.

[ktownbound]

Thats not entirely true.. I've noticed that cops are more lenient if you have a nice car in a nice neighborhood. Plus theyre not allowed to ticket you if youre less than 5 miles over.