Relocating to the Orlando Area

If you choose Lake Mary, you will never regret it. We love where we live and it's a very close knit community. Most residents are young families and there are a lot of community activities. In fact, it was voted as the 4th best city to live in the USA according to Money Magazine. Good luck. Let me know if you need any help once you get here neighbor!

We just moved to Lake Nona, but it's in Orange County. It has great schools and a lot of up and coming things (Nemours, VA Hospital, UCF medical school). I've heard great things about Lake Mary, but I've heard it's a bit more pricey to live there so I guess it just depends on your budget.

Check out the Deer Run community in Casselberry or neighborhoods along Red Bug Lake Rd. Its a great area with a range of home types. The elem. school is Sterling Park Elem. on Eagle Circle. It's a neighborhood school so many kids walk or ride their bikes. It is currently undergoing rennovation so by the time your kids get there it will be almost brand new! They do have a voluntary Pre-K classroom for 4 year olds at the school also. This area is close to SR 436 and to the intersection of Red Bug and Tuskawilla; The Oviedo Marketplace mall is just up the road. I hope that helps. Good luck in your move.

There are many good areas in Seminole County (and others for that matter), but if you pick a neighborhood for its school, be very careful. Schools systems are county-wide around here, and school boards frequently redistrict, changing who goes to which school. It is not at all as it is in many places, where you can move to a town and pretty much count on knowing what your schools will be.

There are also several magnet schools, open to anyone in the county, though it could be a long bus ride.

I don't know where you are moving from, but one shock to us was that very few schools have orchestra programs, although band programs are big here. If that's important to you, you might consider Winter Park in Orange County, which was the best for a long time, although it's been quite a while since I was involved and I think there are other good ones now.

Then again, don't stress about it too much. Your children are so young things will no doubt change many times before they are out of school, and you can't predict how nor where.

Tuskawilla in Winter Springs is a great community along with Oak Forest which is also in Winter Springs. The schools in this area are al A Rated and are all close to each other, rezoning shouldn't be an issue. The schools nearest to Oak Forest go to Keeth Elem., Indian Trails Middle and Winter Springs High School. Another Elementary school in Tuskawilla is Rainbow Elem, and for middle school and High School are the ones listed above.

My family just moved here 3 months ago from Washington State due to a move with my husbands job. We had the choice of anywhere in Florida to live & with all the research my husband did, made us move to Winter Springs. You are correct on the schools. Seminole schools are the best in FLorida & that is why we moved to this area. All the places you listed are fine. There is also Altamonte Springs & Casselberry. My children are both in Elementary schools. The teaching is great, but very diffarant from schools at home. If you don't have anything to compare it to yet since your kids are so young, it probably will not faze you. But, all in all, the schools are great in Seminole County. Good luck!

Hello, My name is M. and I have a 22 year old son with Down's Syndrome. We moved here from Chicago 6 years ago and I love the weather down here and where we live. We live in Lake Mary and it is probably the best and safest city to live in, in Central Florida. The schools are excellent and the people are pretty nice too. I lived in Sanford for the 1st year I was down here and then moved to Lake Mary. You couldn't ask for a better place to live. I think you and your family would be truly happy in Lake Mary.

You need to be careful once you start looking on the North end of Markham Woods Road as you are wandering into Seminole High School territory and although it's Seminole County it's a less than desirable school. Most of the people that live in the Heathrow area send their children to private school. Depending on income If I were moving I'd look a the Winter Springs High school area. There are a lot of nice new homes in Oviedo, Tuscawilla.

Sandee

Where ever you move to, be sure to check out the FDLE (Florida Dept of Law Enforcement) website to search for sex offenders in the area. Yea- you never know if one will move in right next door after you move into a neighborhood, but the is one large area listed here below by another poster that is FILLED with sex offenders!

As far as the differents locations in Orlando go, alot is a matter of opinion. I can however warn you to avoid the Pine Hills area. It is well known for crime. I have lived there myself for several years and it is unusually to have a day w/o police activity.

Hi S.,

I am a Florida native & have lived everywhere from Panama City to Miami. I have as an adult settled for good (I think) in Orlando as I love the large city availability. I live in the community named Wedgefield. It is a little off the beaten path, but still within close proximity to everything you need. We have great schools - we have a brand new elementary school (Columbia, it is an old school that got a brand new location & brand new facilities) (great teachers also) - we have a good Middle school (Corner Lakes) and we get a brand new high school for next year (Not yet named). My kids love their schools & I am very hands on - I volunteer a lot in the schools & I think they are very good. Both the existing schools are A schools.

We are located off Hwy 520 & STRD 50 in Orange county.

Within 15 miles we have a huge shopping area named Waterford -

We have the Beeline expr. entrance ramp at the back of the neighbothood (I know that sounds bad - but Wedgefield is huge & it's in the very back - no one thinks it is a problem) **** This road takes you everywhere & never backs up ****

I have lived in Winter Springs, Casselberry & Sanford - I hated their traffic. Oviedo which is not tooo far from me, once use to be the last haven, but it has grown so much that the traffic there is getting bad as well. I would live there if I had to. They have had a huge boom in their building, so lots to choose from. Wedgefield has tons to choose from as well. So look into us, we have lots of community things that we do, and there are lots of mom groups out here.

Good hunting, and I hope you enjoy your move.