Mt Dora pros / cons for single 31 year old male (Jacksonville: rental, condos)

[FL2MT]

Okay, here's my situation.

31 years old, single male who works from home. I've been spending my winters in Florida and summers in Montana (renting) for the last three years and with interest rates being so low I'm considering buying somewhere here in FL. I'm looking at everything from condos near the ocean to small towns inland and wanted to get some thoughts on Mt Dora. Looking at some of the realtor.com type listings it looks like 3/2 block homes of about 1,200 square feet can be had for under 75k within short biking distance to downtown. That'd be great, the low cost would make it easy to go out west during summers without it stretching my dollars too far.

I love the prices but I worry that I'd get bored and/or have trouble dating in such a small place. The place I go in Montana is only about 10,000 people but it attracts a lot of young people and there are tons of outdoor activities to do. I guess I'll give my pros/cons thoughts and maybe anyone can provide some feedback if possible?

Pros
-low cost, would make my snowbird type travels financially easy
-small town, would be easier to get to know my neighbors
-a pub town, not a club town as far as getting a cold beverage goes

Cons
-small town, tougher to find a single woman my age to date and eventually marry
-about as far as you can get from the beaches

Thoughts? Am I over-estimating or under-estimating any of those aspects?

[Rabflmom]

As a mom of sons in your age category I can't imagine my sons choosing Mt Dora as the place to live unless they were married and had kids and then not even sure that would be the place for them. When I think Mt Dora I think antiques and an older crowd. I think married couples going to the Inn on the beautiful lake and enjoying a quiet weekend. I may be totally wrong, but that is the impression I get of the town.

You should be able to find affordable places closer to the beach or in Orlando,Tampa, Jacksonville areas at this time too. Thinking you are into outdoor sporting things, so closer to the beach might be the way to go-thinking surfing/wind surfing etc. In the cities or nearer the beach you probably will find more friends your age.

[cfIfan]

Mount Dora is an extremely nice area. Very beautiful. My wife and I are 32 and we go up there every so often just because it is so pretty and we want to look for antiques etc. It entirely depends on what you are looking for. In all honesty, for someone our age I wouldnt live there. If you are looking for an area which is for a younger person (and I dont mean in terms of clubbing) then Mt Dora isnt really it. There are many other great places which are going to be more conducive to a person wanting to meet and date. That being said it is a beautiful area.

[LakeLRP]

Agree with the above posts. And your cons are very accurate. Orlando has the advantage of some city life, closer to beach and airport and a dating scene, which is nonexistent in Mt. Dora

[Alyzza]

We are in our 50's and 60's and we wouldn't live in Mt. Dora either. It's just too far away from everything, and we just aren't ready for the antiques and shuffleboard scene yet. We like more of a suburban place, close to our favorites like Borders and Barnes and Noble, lots of good places to eat, and there is plenty of stuff to do. For every reason, it's more stimulating and fun being within a 10 mile radius of a large city, like Orlando.

[FL2MT]

Thanks for the responses, that's about what I figured.

I've lived in a few different places in the area, Independence in Winter Garden (love being close to Disney and love the old historic part of WG to the north along with the west orange bike trail up there), over in Cocoa Beach right on A1A for awhile, down in Key West for 6 months and a few years in Miami.

I think the most important thing to me is being able to continue the 4-5 months in Montana during the summers and 7-8 months back here in Florida for the rest of the year. That's why the lower prices looked appealing. If I were in FL all year round I think I could do the beach comfortably, but I don't think I want the carrying costs of a beach condo plus my Montana rental for 4-5 months.

Guess I'll keep looking for something that suits me, thanks again!