Searching for safe area rentals near Lake Buena Vista (Orlando: apartments, countertops)

[runswithartoo]

Hello,

Near the end of the year my SO and I will be relocating to the Lake Buena Vista area. I'm trying to get a beat on some good areas to search for a place to live (North of LBV seems to be popular). I keep seeing the names Winter Gardens, Winter Springs, Doctor Phillips, Windermere, and Ocoee pop up, but often, when I do a search for places to rent in those towns, a lot of them just list "Orlando" as the address. My SO will be out there before me, so he can scope places in advance, but it would be so wonderful to have the advice of local residents to help focus the search. Here is our personal important criteria:

-We are NOT INTERESTED in buying a home, like people in a lot of other relocating threads are. We don't need a huge-budget place. However, we are not inherently opposed to renting a house.

-That said, we'd like something affordable (and I know everyone's idea of what's "affordable" is different), but something up to $1000-ish range. I keep seeing people talk about the ridiculous prices of living in Florida, but we currently live in California and you're lucky if you can get a tiny studio in a slightly-less-shady neighborhood for under that!

-We have no kids, so schools are not a factor for us. I know good schools are an indicator of the overall success of an area, but we don't care about it at all.

-Something clean, newish, safe, and well-maintained. We're not fancy people. We're in our early 30's and we're really laid-back people. We don't need "luxurious, Tuscan-villa" type living or "Live in the lap of luxury" type places, which a lot of apartments and condos I've looked at seem to promote. We don't need marble countertops or chandeliers or a fancy clubhouse with a state-of-the-art conference center. Just a modest place to call home.

-One priority: I am a runner, and I prefer running outside. I am ALWAYS safety-conscious but I need a place where I won't be looking over my shoulder every 30 seconds.

-We have a small dog, so a dog-friendly(ish) community would be a plus.gain, safe for us to take him for a walk.

Thanks so much for helping another out-of-state n00b find a good place to call our new home!

Cheers,
AJ

[Fancy-Schmancy]

There's quite a few nice houses for rent on the *other* side of Reams Road...Independence, Summerport, etc. Loads of walking trails for you and the dog. They pride themselves on that, plus on keeping green spaces clear for beauty and activities. Try looking by Zip Code...34787, for instance.