Orlando schools, places to live: suggestions appreciated (Apopka, Winter Park: real estate, condos)

[buddingdoc]

Hello!


I am considering moving to Orlando and looking for a few suggestions. I will be working at ORMC, so would prefer not to go as far as Lake Mary. I am also looking for areas with more Indians and access to Indian groceries etc. With regards to schools, I am open to private as well as public schools (elementary) but would like to enroll my kid in the best schools in the area. Niche only has a few A grade public schools and they seem to be further north. I understand Windermere and Doctor Phillips have a large Indian population.


1. How is the College Park/Highland/Baldwin Park area in terms of diversity? Considering enrolling him in Lake Highland and it would be closer to the hospital. The homes in these areas seem to not have much land. Are there places for kids to play such as parks etc?

2. There is another private school: First Academy. Any idea about it? If I were to live in Doctor Phillips, this would be en route to the hospital and would allow me to drop him to school.
3. Windermere Prep seems a good school too but does not have openings
4. Are there specific areas which should be absolutely avoided?


Thank you in advance for taking time to read and respond.

[Arcenal813]

Originally Posted by buddingdoc

Hello!


I am considering moving to Orlando and looking for a few suggestions. I will be working at ORMC, so would prefer not to go as far as Lake Mary. I am also looking for areas with more Indians and access to Indian groceries etc. With regards to schools, I am open to private as well as public schools (elementary) but would like to enroll my kid in the best schools in the area. Niche only has a few A grade public schools and they seem to be further north. I understand Windermere and Doctor Phillips have a large Indian population.


1. How is the College Park/Highland/Baldwin Park area in terms of diversity? Considering enrolling him in Lake Highland and it would be closer to the hospital. The homes in these areas seem to not have much land. Are there places for kids to play such as parks etc?

2. There is another private school: First Academy. Any idea about it? If I were to live in Doctor Phillips, this would be en route to the hospital and would allow me to drop him to school.
3. Windermere Prep seems a good school too but does not have openings
4. Are there specific areas which should be absolutely avoided?


Thank you in advance for taking time to read and respond.

1. I currently live in Baldwin Park. It's VERY diverse. True, there isn't much in terms of yard space, but the place is FULL of parks. Tons of green space like this: https://www.google.com/maps/@28.5601...7i16384!8i8192
We carry our portable soccer goals, a few balls, and play around. Often, other kids will join.
I go rollerblading practically every day, and ALWAYS see kids and adults out and about in the many parks.
Lake Highland is a terrific school.
That being said, to my knowledge, the bigger concentration of Indian stores is on South OBT by Florida Mall. Patel Bros is a decent grocery store. That area is absolutely not a recommended place to move to, but it's worth the drive if looking for specific Indian items.

[WinterParkLocal]

I have three children at Lake Highland. We have been here for nine years. I absolutely love the school. There are tons of physicians children that go here as well, from both ORMC and advent health. And even Nemours. Most of my physician friends live between college park, Winter Park and the rose isle area. I would say the majority of Lake Highland families live in College Park, Winter Park, Baldwin Park, and some neighborhoods downtown.

Most homes are under .3 acres in those neighborhoods unless you have a really large budget. Winter park and some parts of rose I’ll feed into the Winter Park high school zone which is good for resale.

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by buddingdoc

Hello!


I am considering moving to Orlando and looking for a few suggestions. I will be working at ORMC, so would prefer not to go as far as Lake Mary. I am also looking for areas with more Indians and access to Indian groceries etc. With regards to schools, I am open to private as well as public schools (elementary) but would like to enroll my kid in the best schools in the area. Niche only has a few A grade public schools and they seem to be further north. I understand Windermere and Doctor Phillips have a large Indian population.


1. How is the College Park/Highland/Baldwin Park area in terms of diversity? Considering enrolling him in Lake Highland and it would be closer to the hospital. The homes in these areas seem to not have much land. Are there places for kids to play such as parks etc?

2. There is another private school: First Academy. Any idea about it? If I were to live in Doctor Phillips, this would be en route to the hospital and would allow me to drop him to school.
3. Windermere Prep seems a good school too but does not have openings
4. Are there specific areas which should be absolutely avoided?


Thank you in advance for taking time to read and respond.

Dr. Phillips has a huge Indian population, especially the communities on Apopka Vineland Road (South of Sand Lake Road). They are very nice communities too. The elementary schools there are great and they just built/building a new high school and middle school as well. You can also use Mayas Transportation if you want your kids to attend Lake Highland Prep.


1. That area is diverse, but I don't know whether that includes Indians. The houses are almost zero lot lines, unless you go way up in price, but there are parks everywhere and very family friendly.


2. I don't know anyone who has children attending First Academy and because of that I would probably say pass on that school.


3. I've heard good things about Windermere Prep, there just isn't much diversity there.


4. There are lots of areas to avoid, so it's easier just to recommend good areas. If having an Indian community is important to you, I'd really focus in Dr. Phillips, communities along Apopka Vineland Road, South of Sand Lake Road such as Phillips Landing, Phillips Grove, Parkside, Turtle Creek, etc. Patel Brothers is a good Indian grocery store and is the closest one to Dr. Phillips.

[brinkofsunshine]

Park Lake Highland was rated the number 1 neighborhood in Orlando recently by Niche, followed by a bunch of other downtown neighborhoods. I live in Lake Eola Heights and I absolutely love my neighborhood. The houses are pretty close together, but most lots are fairly deep and have relatively large back yards.

[buddingdoc]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

Dr. Phillips has a huge Indian population, especially the communities on Apopka Vineland Road (South of Sand Lake Road). They are very nice communities too. The elementary schools there are great and they just built/building a new high school and middle school as well. You can also use Mayas Transportation if you want your kids to attend Lake Highland Prep.


1. That area is diverse, but I don't know whether that includes Indians. The houses are almost zero lot lines, unless you go way up in price, but there are parks everywhere and very family friendly.


2. I don't know anyone who has children attending First Academy and because of that I would probably say pass on that school.


3. I've heard good things about Windermere Prep, there just isn't much diversity there.


4. There are lots of areas to avoid, so it's easier just to recommend good areas. If having an Indian community is important to you, I'd really focus in Dr. Phillips, communities along Apopka Vineland Road, South of Sand Lake Road such as Phillips Landing, Phillips Grove, Parkside, Turtle Creek, etc. Patel Brothers is a good Indian grocery store and is the closest one to Dr. Phillips.

Thank you, I wasn't aware of a transportation service being available for these private schools. That would certainly make it easier. Do you think it will take more than 30 minutes from those communities in Doctor Phillips to reach ORMC if I leave at about 7-7.30 am?

[buddingdoc]

Originally Posted by WinterParkLocal

I have three children at Lake Highland. We have been here for nine years. I absolutely love the school. There are tons of physicians children that go here as well, from both ORMC and advent health. And even Nemours. Most of my physician friends live between college park, Winter Park and the rose isle area. I would say the majority of Lake Highland families live in College Park, Winter Park, Baldwin Park, and some neighborhoods downtown.

Most homes are under .3 acres in those neighborhoods unless you have a really large budget. Winter park and some parts of rose I’ll feed into the Winter Park high school zone which is good for resale.

Thank you for your reply. If I am right, I guess Baldwin park, College Park have varying types of homes near each other as opposed to what you might get in subdivisions in Windermere. You could have a home costing over a million right beside a much smaller home. How does that affect the resale potential of the million dollar home?

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by buddingdoc

Thank you, I wasn't aware of a transportation service being available for these private schools. That would certainly make it easier. Do you think it will take more than 30 minutes from those communities in Doctor Phillips to reach ORMC if I leave at about 7-7.30 am?

You're welcome!


Here is the information regarding private school shuttles: Mayas Carpool Transportation


If you leave at 7AM, it should take less than 30 minutes. Right now at 11:00AM, it's roughly 20 minutes to ORMC. Google Maps with live traffic is very accurate in Orlando, so you can set your alarm to 7AM and enter say Phillips Landing to ORMC to see how it is each day.

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by buddingdoc

Thank you for your reply. If I am right, I guess Baldwin park, College Park have varying types of homes near each other as opposed to what you might get in subdivisions in Windermere. You could have a home costing over a million right beside a much smaller home. How does that affect the resale potential of the million dollar home?

Baldwin Park is uniform. They have a mixture of houses, townhomes, condos, but they are all the same architecture style for the most part. The surrounding areas is where you will have a tiny low ceiling house next to a modern mansion. As far as resale value, it depends the exact location. However, if that million dollar home was surrounded by similar homes, it would be a lot more expensive, so it evens out imo.

[WinterParkLocal]

Originally Posted by buddingdoc

Thank you for your reply. If I am right, I guess Baldwin park, College Park have varying types of homes near each other as opposed to what you might get in subdivisions in Windermere. You could have a home costing over a million right beside a much smaller home. How does that affect the resale potential of the million dollar home?

That is exactly how you would describe my street in the 32789 ZIP Code. There is not uniformity in Winter Park but that does not affect property values. If you just take a look at the growth in values since 2011 it’s pretty clear that it’s a strong resale location even when you back out the anomaly of this year.

32789 and 34786 have the most continuously sought after real estate in Orlando. Which helps insulate your investment. Unfortunately they both have low inventory right now.