Looking for family friendly, active communities for relocation (Orlando, Boca Raton: schools, area)

[tommy boston]

Hi Julie/Paul...

Hey, maybe we can hang out, LOL..since we won't know anybody either....one thing I have read is that property will continue to fall for another year..and so, if you can rent for a year it may be of help...We can't, since we have big dog and kids need to be in same school...many places don't have apartmetns...

[Crane's Rooster]

Look in Wekiwa, Sweetwater, Lake Mary, Heathrow, Lake Nona and Dr. Phillips areas. These should fit the bill.

[flguy123]

Originally Posted by nativefla

Exaggeration? Judge for yourself:

Woman raped in week's 5th armed home invasion - Orlando Sentinel- Moderator cut: February 21, 2009

Neighbors Complain Of Unruly Kids In Avalon Park - Orlando News Story - WESH Orlando (http://www.wesh.com/news/14550024/detail.html - broken link) Moderator cut: November 9, 2007


brinkofsunshine says these kinds of things happen anywhere? Maybe in NYC, where you're from, but not here.

I can speak directly to these two stories:

The first sounds pretty bad, I know, but I spoke directly with one of the officers involved and he said these were all college kids who knew each other, and the woman who was "raped" dropped all charges even after they knew who did it...they were renters and were all immediately kicked out of the house days after this happened. Avalon Park has a ZERO tolerance policy for this kind of thing, I can assure you.

The "family" in the second article was also immediately kicked out after residents started complaining and the article was published. It was taken care of faster than you can imagine. The HOA has the right and the power to evict anyone in a rental home if they cause problems, and did so in this case. It's definitely not common, and there has been nothing like this happen again since.

Avalon Park has over 3500 residences, most of which are single family. It's a massive neighborhood, so just keep in mind the proportion of "bad things" happening may seem high, but as a percentage it's extremely low. I get the neighborhood watch alerts and over the past year the alerts have dropped WAY off. People have gotten the message.

[Parrotrosie]

Well speak to those two stories if you want, can you speak to the list of crimes here?

Crime Information

Just click on 'go' , 10A is the correct zone for Avalon park and you can all see for yourselves what crimes have occured or not in the area. Facts.

I like all the ones Crane's Rooster recommended as well as where I live over here on the "east" side in Oviedo. Lake Mary is also nice. Lots of stuff for the kids in both.

You can also go to www.crimereports.com although not all neighborhoods report to this third party service. Oviedo does, Lake Mary, last I checked, does not. Avalon Park area does not. We looked at Avalon Park and Stoneybrook, and decided against those neighborhoods , even though our money would have purchased more square footage homes. We love it here in Oviedo...the schools are more than decent, and our daughter is in Girl Scouts, Church activities and Basketball at the local Rec center which is quite nice too!

Oviedo is not crime free...no place is I am certain....but it is relatively low and we feel very safe here.

[matthew741]

Hi Julie and Paul,

It made me smile when I read your post because my brother moved from Fort Collins to Stoneybrook West. I live in the town of Ocoee, just a couple of miles to the east. The homes here are easily in your price range but without all the fees of living in Stoneybrook. Something to remember if you decide to live on a golf course, broken windows! Oh yes, it happens more often than you'd think. My brother can attest to that.

Moderator cut: Removing infor - See my note to you. Click on MY SETTINGS and look to the right under comments. We have 2 kids and can tell you that the schools are EXCELLENT! Westbrooke Elementary is brand new and West Orange HS has been completely rebuilt with all state-of-the-art facilities.

Crime is well-below the county average and our area is even below the city average. There's a major hospital less than 2 miles away, the Police Headquarter is even closer and there's a fire substation less than a mile away. You can't get much safer than that.

You probably noticed the Winter Garden Village shopping mega-center when you were out here looking. It's got nearly everything you could want and anything else isn't far. The West Oaks mall is just a couple of miles to the east along Hwy 50. Just down the street from our community is the Plantation Groves shopping center with a Publix supermarket and the usual strip mall ammenities so you don't have to the WGV if you don't want to.

Also, and perhaps most importantly, this community is near the 429 (the shortcut to Tampa), the 408 (which takes you directly into downtown Orlando), and the Turnpike (which runs from Ocala to Miami). Also 535 is right here which takes you directly to the back entrance of Walt Disney World (meaning, you don't have to deal with all the tourist traffic).

This really is a fantastic area. If it weren't for a job relocation, we'd definitely be staying.

[flguy123]

Originally Posted by Parrotrosie

Well speak to those two stories if you want, can you speak to the list of crimes here?

Crime Information

Just click on 'go' , 10A is the correct zone for Avalon park and you can all see for yourselves what crimes have occured or not in the area. Facts.

First of all, Avalon Park/Stoneybrook/Waterford are all in Zone 22, Sector 2. Where did you get 10A from? That's not even close, 10A is on the other side of Orlando.

Second, we have many officers who come to our HOA meetings, and they said the crime stats for Avalon Park can be really skewed because police have to report the crime where the REPORTING takes place, not where the crime actually happened. So for example, if someone's car gets broken into at the shopping plaza up the road, and the person waits until they get home in Avalon Park (or wherever) to file a report, then the crime gets mapped to Avalon, not the shopping center. Just fyi. Take everything with a grain of salt. Stats alone never tell the full story.

[Parrotrosie]

Originally Posted by flguy123

First of all, Avalon Park/Stoneybrook/Waterford are all in Zone 22, Sector 2. Where did you get 10A from? That's not even close, 10A is on the other side of Orlando.

Second, we have many officers who come to our HOA meetings, and they said the crime stats for Avalon Park can be really skewed because police have to report the crime where the REPORTING takes place, not where the crime actually happened. So for example, if someone's car gets broken into at the shopping plaza up the road, and the person waits until they get home in Avalon Park (or wherever) to file a report, then the crime gets mapped to Avalon, not the shopping center. Just fyi. Take everything with a grain of salt. Stats alone never tell the full story.

Well, I plugged in an Avalon park address and ran it...so,...that is where I got that from Sorry if that was incorrect info.

What you are saying seems to be a strange way to 'report' crimes, but I suppose it gets logged with the reporting officer. Things like strong armed robberies though and burglaries, I would thing get reported on sight, and for the most part..be more accurate....thanks so much for the correction, and hopefully, this is a corrected link then.

Crime Information

OK..the link defaults to 10A...there is my issue...to use the drop down and go to 22B that should be the correct info (hopefully?)

[flguy123]

That link still defaults to 10A, but it's no big deal. Now people know the correct sector to look at. However, I will still warn folks that that sector encompasses a huge area that for the most part isn't even close to Avalon Park.

For example, Zone 22 is the North Central Area - bounded on the north by Seminole County line, on the south by Rt 528, on the east by Chuluota Rd and on the west by Dean Rd. Avalon is a small area somewhere in the middle of those boundaries.

So do not assume whatever crimes you see as being in "Avalon Park". If you know the street names in Avalon then you can pinpoint more accurately, but still I adivse people not to get carried away by stats. Best to talk to local officers or the HOA if you want real info.

[mills121506]

any info on crime in avalon park around timber pointe?

[GLS2010]

It's generally safe. There is some petty crime due to the college crowed. But the area is definitely one of the nicer, safer areas of the metro.