Relocating to Orlando - best areas for schools, commuting downtown (Winter Springs: to rent, buying a house)

[tandcmom]

My husband has accepted a government job in downtown Orlando (near intersection of North Orange Ave and East Robinson St - exit 83 off of I4). We are relocating this summer from a suburb of Washington DC and are looking for a shorter commute than he currently has (35 miles that can take anywhere from 1-2 hours).

He is planning a trip next weekend to drive around and get a feel for some of the areas we've been researching. We'd like to get some feedback on the best areas with the following criteria in mind:

1. We want to be in a safe area with good schools (2 elementary aged kids and 1 on the way), and we'd rather settle somewhere with a good high school so we hopefully don't have to move when they get older to get to a better school.
2. We'd like a commute with traffic included of 30 minutes or less, don't want to live downtown but rather in a community with other young families and amenities like parks, pools, kids sports clubs, etc.
3. We plan on buying a house early this summer, don't want to rent first and have to move schools after a year. We can probably spend ~550k.

Any feedback on areas for us to look around would be appreciated!

[ko1212]

Tandcmom, I might suggest Lake Mary (north Orlando-35 minute drive) to downtown but they offer the best public schools (Seminole county is known for their 'A' rated schools). Another thought is the Conway area (south Orlando-15-20 minute drive) located in Orange county but many 'A' rated schools. Of course, Winter Park is always a favorite (15 minutes from downtown with 'A' rates schools). Best of luck to you.

[kinglouix]

Maitland is your only option!!!

[Alphaman]

You could look at Winter park.

[Crane's Rooster]

Winter Park, Longwood/Wekiwa/Altamonte, Lake Mary and I heard Winter Springs schools are good to. These are all nice areas where you could get something nice for your price range. commute would be longest out of Lake Mary and Winter Springs but not any worse than your DC commute right now, although Lake Mary can be very bad if there's an accident on I-4.