Walkable Area w/ Single Family Homes Under $400k (Orlando, Winter Park: townhouse, neighborhoods)

[atonsoli]

My fiancé and I are potentially moving to Orlando. We want to be in an area where we can walk to restaurants, bars, retail, and even a big box gym. We would be open to a short commute (under five minutes) to these amenities. We are planning on visiting soon. We have looked at Baldwin Park before, but it was too expensive and we liked the plans for Lake Nona. We prefer new construction. Please let me know if anyone has any suggestions.

[Arcenal813]

What kind of home are you looking for? The most walkable areas are Winter Park and the downtown neighborhoods. Lake Nona is not walkable.

[atonsoli]

Single family house or potentially a townhouse. We liked the developer’s plans for the Lake Nona town center.

[brinkofsunshine]

Walkable areas are few and far between here, especially if you want new constriction. Celebration is similar to Baldwin Park but bigger, but directly outside is a very heavy tourist area. Downtown Winter Garden is very walkable with larger box stores nearby. Downtown Orlando has the most amenities, nightlife, restaurants, bars etc. in walking distance but new constriction is harder to come by, but you can definitely find houses for $400k.

[atonsoli]

Thanks for the responses! We have not been to the Winter Garden area. Is there anything a little farther away from the theme parks?

[brinkofsunshine]

Originally Posted by atonsoli

Thanks for the responses! We have not been to the Winter Garden area. Is there anything a little farther away from the theme parks?

How far do you want to be? I’ll say that downtown Winter Garden is far enough away to not be affected by tourists. You could look at Mt. Dora as it has a cute walkable downtown (although no nightlife that I’m aware of) as it’s about an hour from Disney.

[Arcenal813]

Originally Posted by brinkofsunshine

How far do you want to be? I’ll say that downtown Winter Garden is far enough away to not be affected by tourists. You could look at Mt. Dora as it has a cute walkable downtown (although no nightlife that I’m aware of) as it’s about an hour from Disney.

Mount Dora has zero nightlife outside of a few very sketchy bars. I’m assuming they’re young. They will be bored to death there.

I agree with Winter Garden being a solid choice.

[WinterParkLocal]

I would check out the Lake Ivanhoe area, near downtown. You may not find new construction but that area is booming and would be a great investment for your future right now. If kids are in the future too some of the streets would also be zoned for the new Audubon Park K-8 school. There is a lot of development money being poured into Lake Ivanhoe, Mills 50 area and plenty to do that is walkable.

[firmbizzle]

Baldwin Park? You probably won't find much for that price point in Winter Park and downtown doesn't have many single family homes. There aren't many walkable areas. Avalon Park is an option, walkable in the neighborhood but you'll still have to do a lot of driving.

[atonsoli]

Originally Posted by brinkofsunshine

How far do you want to be? I’ll say that downtown Winter Garden is far enough away to not be affected by tourists. You could look at Mt. Dora as it has a cute walkable downtown (although no nightlife that I’m aware of) as it’s about an hour from Disney.

I want to be far enough away that we aren’t battling tourists for dinner reservations and I would like to live where locals are and not the tourist crowds, does that make sense?