moving to orlando -- concerns, apartments, etc. advice? (Winter Park: apartment complexes, crime)

[kastika]

hello!

my husband and i are moving to orlando in the beginning of october. we're from an urban new york, so we are used to nasty winters, watching out for crime, and traffic a-go-go.

he will be working downtown, and i will probably be going to grad school at UCF starting next fall. i have the following questions:

1) is there a swing-dancing club / school / place in orlando?
2) any good jazz clubs?
3) is winter park a good place to live? if so, what apartment complexes do you recommend? what other areas are good for a short commute downtown?
4) lots of bugs? how hot does it get in the summer?
5) how do married twentysomethings meet other married twentysomethings in orlando if they don't do the bar scene?
6) which are the awesome liberal-type catholic churches with young adult groups?

it is of utmost importance to me that i live in a safe neighborhood, and my husband doesn't want to drive more than fifteen-twenty minutes to and from his work downtown. i have been mugged at gunpoint and do not wish to repeat the experience, and hear quite a bit about the crime problem in orlando. but, being from NY, i am rather realistic about the existence of crime and already live a few streets away from what many would consider to be a "ghetto" area... i'd like to change that if possible, mostly because i'm tired of feeling under siege when walking from my car to my current apartment.

i also would like to know a bit more about living in orlando 'culture,' because florida is radically different from where we are from in a number of ways, and i am kind of frightened about hating it desperately. are people nice? is it completely disneyfied? are there any other dyed-in-the-wool northeasterners who have done well or badly in orlando, and why/how?

thanks for your time.

[Minet]

1) is there a swing-dancing club / school / place in orlando?
The only one I know about is CityJazz in Universal, but its not my type of music.
2) any good jazz clubs?
See Above
3) is winter park a good place to live? if so, what apartment complexes do you recommend? what other areas are good for a short commute downtown?
Winter Park is one of the most expensive places to live in the area. I wouldn't say its a short commute... when I go downtown for luncheons it still takes me 15-20 minutes and I work right in downtown WP.
4) lots of bugs? how hot does it get in the summer?
Two words: Love Bugs... The mosquitos get bad during the summer but I grew up in NJ/NYC and I think the bugs were a lot worse up there. Oh a big plus, no cicadas down here!
5) how do married twentysomethings meet other married twentysomethings in orlando if they don't do the bar scene?
Hmm... that's tough. I went to school down here so thats how I met a lot of my friends. Then when I graduated I met people through work-- which is probably the best chance. We have networking events and I always meet someone new.
6) which are the awesome liberal-type catholic churches with young adult groups?
I'm not sure what you mean by liberal-type. I go to Sts Peter and Paul in Winter Park: Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic Church

I hope that helps a little!