Need help finding a city to move to!! PLEASE (Orlando: rent, low crime)

[lmonti89]

I am in the process of building a house and I have been trying to figure out what city to relocate to for months. I currently live in Deltona and have watched it go downhill very quickly.. If anyone can help give me information on what area's to look into I would appreciate it so much! Thank you.

WHAT I NEED:

1. I have 2 little boys, and prefer to put them into a Montessori School. A really good Montessori school within 20 minutes of our home is a must.

2. Country living, but close to nice city. I want my peace & quiet, with a nice area to drive into often for dinner, shopping, etc.

3. Within Central FL area. If possible not more that 1 & 1/2 hours away from Deltona, FL.

4. Low crime rate

WHAT I DON"T WANT

-Not near Orlando, I hate traffic!

-Not too close to the beach, but outskirts are Ok..Not a beachy person either!

EXTRAS

-I work from home, hubby owns landscaping company so no worries there!

If you have anything in mind, I would very much appreciate it! We're getting into the design process so the pressure is on to pick a location!!

[brinkofsunshine]

I would look at the backside of Windermere and Winter Garden, out by 545. It gets very country out there, but still close enough to have a major shopping center about 15-20 minutes away (Winter Garden Village). According to Google Maps, there's a few Montessori schools in Winter Garden.

[kyle19125]

I would worry about the near future of the Clermont/Winter Garden with the growth boom in lower cost housing in that area. You might look into the Mount Dora/Eustis area which offers nice rural living that hasn't shown signs of suburban sprawl and for the lack of a better description "ghetto-ification" (similar to what has happened in Deltona). Both towns (Mount Dora and Eustis) have well kept up downtown areas with nice restaurants/shops, etc. and a small town environment unique for Central Florida. I was personally shocked at what downtown Eustis has become since last there many years ago, as it's progressed quite a bit. Mount Dora has a very good nationally-certified Montessori school, Montessori at Roseborough.

Montessori at Roseborough education as a preparation for life ?

[FL2MT]

Some of your earlier posts indicate that you've lived in Florida all your life so I'd look back at some of the places you've actually visited since your view of an area is going to be better than any small number of anecdotal examples we can provide. Where have you visited friends or family and thought "Now I could definitely live around here"?

Your post makes it sound like you're really in a rush to get this done, but with the economy the way it is, home and land prices aren't going to go up quickly (if at all) in the near term so take your time, maybe even rent somewhere for 6 months or a year in an area before committing to buying land and building a new house on it.

Keep in mind also that country living just on the outskirts in an expanding area is unlikely to be country living 5 or 10 years from now.

[GoTech19]

Ow

Originally Posted by kyle19125

I would worry about the near future of the Clermont/Winter Garden with the growth boom in lower cost housing in that area. You might look into the Mount Dora/Eustis area which offers nice rural living that hasn't shown signs of suburban sprawl and for the lack of a better description "ghetto-ification" (similar to what has happened in Deltona). Both towns (Mount Dora and Eustis) have well kept up downtown areas with nice restaurants/shops, etc. and a small town environment unique for Central Florida. I was personally shocked at what downtown Eustis has become since last there many years ago, as it's progressed quite a bit. Mount Dora has a very good nationally-certified Montessori school, Montessori at Roseborough.

Montessori at Roseborough education as a preparation for life ?

Please tellme more about the Clermont area. Been contemplating a move to that area. What kind of growth boom are you speaking of? Crime, businesses, population. Any and all info would be very helpful..

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by GoTech19

Ow

Please tellme more about the Clermont area. Been contemplating a move to that area. What kind of growth boom are you speaking of? Crime, businesses, population. Any and all info would be very helpful..

Clermont used to be basically a farming town (citrus industry) until around 10-15 years ago. Many citrus producers ceased operations after a series of devastating freezes and sold off massive pieces of acreage, some of which were snapped up by home builders who built inexpensively priced new housing
communities. Currently for example in a town with a population of around 30,000 there's around 200 3 bedroom/2 bath homes built between 2000-2010 on the market in the Clermont area in the 50K-150K price bracket alone, not to mention another 200 in the 150K-200K bracket.... which I think should be worrisome to those purchasing in that bracket (or thinking about it). Overall a disproportionately high inventory of low-priced housing does not bode well for property values and sustained future growth, or crime rate if one thinks about the socio-economics of those moving there as it continues to devalue.