Avalon Park ? Windermere? Winter Garden? (Orlando, Winter Park: appointed, foreclosures, renting)

[DanaA]

I have been researching windermere and winter garten for possible relocation...I have come across Avalon Park and it seems to be a great self contained neighborhood? I would love to hear from anyone who can tell me about the neighborhood. Is it comparable to wi dermere or winter garden? I would love to hear responses to help. It seems like it is close to shopping restaurants etc...but not sure if it is nice in community but not by suurounding areas? Thanks

[totsuka]

I busy a lot of stuff on CL from people in Avalon Park. They don't like it. Do some further checking if you decided to buy a home there.

[Guyanese]

There's no place like Windermere, this is coming from a 4 year resident. +1 for windermere

[StreetSmarts]

Windermere or Avalon Pk.

[totsuka]

The last seller told me there were they were disappointed by the quality of construction, distance/traffic to Orlando and alot of foreclosed homes. I looked AP when we bought up here 4 years ago and did not like the travel time.

[Broker Dave]

Windermere / Winter Garden is a great choice a mix of older and currently being built new communities, chain of lakes for boating, shopping close by and more on the way as area continues to grow.

Hope this helps,

[sillyleo]

We had looked at the AP area but wanted to have easy access to the parks since I may try to work there and we planned to go (and have succeeded in going!) to the Disney parks frequently. AP will have you either using toll roads to get most places or going through lots of traffic lights.

We ended up on the SW edge of Windermere and love it for access to Disney and Winter Garden shopping. However, getting to Dr. Phillips or other areas off I-4 is not very convenient since you have to go north to get on toll roads or go through downtown Windermere (which is GORGEOUS but slow going since the 30 MPH limit is strictly enforced - and necessary considering house/road placement).

You kind of need to figure out what you will be doing, where you will be going, etc. to decide on where to live. For example, we use the Dr. Phillips YMCA for our gym and the kids' swim lessons and most of the doctors we've found and use are in Dr. Phillips. So, we do a lot of 25-30 min trips for day-to-day activities. We are renting and love the area but not sure we will buy in the same area; except that I don't want to have to change my son's school again...so, may have to suck up the driving inconvenience.

[flguy123]

Yeah, a lot depends on where you think you'll be driving. For us, Avalon Park is a perfect location as far as work and family and easy beach/airport access go. We are not big on the theme parks so don't worry about going to the West side very much. Avalon is a mix bag in terms of housing and people. There are some really nice pockets with excellent custom homes, then there are the builder tracts where everything looks the same. On the plus side, the schools are all A rated, the community has its own doctor, dentist, supermarkets, restaurants, gas station, CVS, even a Starbucks up the road. So there is A LOT here. Plenty of parks, too. Price are good, yes there are still a lot of foreclosures and vacancies, but that is not because Avalon is a bad place, it just got built at the wrong time (during the boom). Worth a look if you do not need to drive to the West side constantly. Btw, Windemere and Winter Garden seem kind of old to me, like where retired people would go. You'll find Avalon has much younger people, I suspect (if that matters to you).

[AYS]

Traffic from Avalon Park to downtown Orlando or anywhere else south is a nightmare. I have also talked to many people who are very sorry they moved to Avalon Park. I would suggest Windermere, Winter Park, Dr. Phillips, or MetroWest.

[loveithere]

i have lived in avalon park for 6 years, i have children in the high school,middle and elementary school, as well as the pre k that are all self contained in this community, we consider ourselves lucky to live in such a neighborhood in this day and age..our kids are getting to experience life as we knew it as kids, and by we i don't mean just my husband and i , i mean my neighbors who are also friends. The drive to the west side would be a huge downfall to living in avalon park, but i don't see much else as being a problem, my home was built in 2005 and i have had no real issues with it..its not built better or worse then the home i had in lake nona or Dr phillips. Our school is an A rated school and if you do research we are often first place in a lot of competitions with other schools in the NATION..not just orange county..its also a blue ribbon school, its like having private education. yes its that good..i really get upset when i hear people who don't live here say bad things about my community, i feel blessed to be here.