Ukbigm

Hello all, I am a British ex-pat living and working in New Jersey.
Live in a great town (sorry, city) with New York not far away. The kids are enjoying school and friends.
However, I work from home and it has become apparent that being here is not crucial to my employment.
The taxes and price of houses is making me think about heading south to Florida. One of the reasons for choosing New York was to be in a place that would encourage family and friends to visit. Orlando ticks that box and includes warmer winters...
I am looking for advice on good neighborhoods that are safe, an hour from the airport and attractions at the most ( a sensible hour, i know about traffic from getting in to manhattan). Good schools and a decent ex pat contingent to get through the transition and have common interests.
houses around $450k for 4 beds as we don't have a lot for deposits if we buy or up to $3000 rent to start off.
Thanks

jibsymalone

Have you thought about other places besides mousetown?

Sure there are the parks and other things there, but visiting a place and living there day in and day out is a completely different matter. Not to mention the brutal summer heat/humidity which makes you want to rarely have to venture out of the air conditioning for 4-5 months of the year?

Just a little food for thought........

Derrygal

You couldn't pay me to live in Orlando........................

Hotscot

And please avoid Sporty Chico...

RICH

The climate is what it is here, but Orlando is not representative of mid Florida. Folks from UK visit me in Tampa Bay, whilst on a Disney holiday.
If you already made up your mind, see this recent thread:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=824431

Flabound oneday

personally I would recommend the west coast of Fla. but then I am biased


Big City feel...Tampa/St petes
smaller , bit more ecletic, Sarasota
cheaper less to do , Venice- Punta Gorda
Tacky seaside town Fort Myers
Expensive -nice beach -NAples

if you have to be close to the attractions then St Pete stands out......straight down I4 to mousetown, lovely beaches TPA airport handy, good shopping, restaurants.

bad side, busier more built up...but hey you have lived in NY

schools, really do research them as from county to county they can vary drastically

city-data has some useful local forums

Steve_

The further south you get the warmer it gets but also it gets more and more humid. Plus a lot of areas are really overrun with retirees which may or may not be something you like.

Also speaking from personal experience don't live right on the coast, live at least a mile inland, hurricanes are not fun. This is why Walt Disney put Disney World in Orlando, climate and hurricane risk.

Personally I think Tallahassee and some of the small towns on the coast around there are the nicest places to live in Florida. Everywhere else now is overrun with tourists, immigrants and retirees. Bloody immigrants.

Strip malls and condos everywhere, blah.

Awesome Welles

Diff'rent strokes….
I have lived in a very picturesque chain of lakes neighborhood in the Orlando metro area for the last 12 years and I love it here.
My work requires me to travel extensively and MCO gets me just about anywhere in North America via a direct flight - and that applies to a good number of my international travel requirements too.
I don't frequent the theme parks or socialize on I-Drive, so my exposure to white-legged, sun-burned British tourists is minimal.
When people ask me how I "cope" with the summer climate, I tell them I go to the beach (Atlantic or Gulf being broadly equidistant). Additionally when all these folks who 'wouldn't live in central FL if they were paid to' are trying to dig themselves out of snow-drifts, guess what? We go to the beach, or swim in our back-yard pools.
Frankly (and this is only my personal view) it IS like being on vacation all the time - sunny, warm, colorful and lush. We live under huge oaks and are surrounded by beautiful, clean, spring-fed lakes full of wildlife.
When you draw back the drapes in the morning, nothing sets you up for the day better than beautiful blue skies and warm sunshine.
Where I live is safe, spotlessly clean, diverse culturally, well policed (so minimal crime) and very friendly.
Property taxes are high and extreme weather (in the forms of storms, lightning and the occasional hurricane) bumps insurance costs.
Your property budget will go far in Orlando, due to the ongoing economic slump, which is only slowly turning. Still won't get you lakefront, but will but a LOT of house.
I didn't have the issue of school age kids, so can't comment on the education situation from personal experience - but the impression I have is that state schools are as piss-poor here as everywhere else. If you pay to play, they are pretty much as good as everywhere else, from what I can determine.
Sorry if my view is contrary to the usual "Orlando is shit" diatribe on here, but that's how I see the place, having the benefit of real-world experience.

Sportychico

lol

Sportychico

Also Don't forget the beautiful Sanibel & Captiva barrier islands near fort myers / bonita springs.....

osmosis

Thank you for the positive post. I am due to move to Orlando with my job some time in the next 6 weeks and some plus points are much needed!

I don't suppose you can give me a little heads up regarding areas to live? I will be moving somewhere on my own. Currently looking at Winter Park, Eola Heights and Windemere. Want somewhere safe but not too quiet . Some bars/shops would be great.

Ruth16

If I had to move to Orlando I would want to live in Celebration Town, we stopped in once on our way to Disney we didnt want to leave.

Awesome Welles

In terms of square miles 'footprint', Orlando is a big, big place. A big influencer is going to be where you need to be work-wise, because rush-hour traffic here is pretty horrendous.

Granted it was 12 years ago, but when I moved here, I had some quite specific must-have's in mind. I needed to be close to the airport, in a residential community that wasn't zoned for short-term (vacation) rental, established, rather than new 'cookie-cutter' developments that look like they're on the surface of the moon, not ethnically un-balanced (because Orlando is a very ethnically polarized city) and safe, based on publicly available crime stats.

Those requirements ruled out a lot of places for me. I didn't want to live downtown - and very close to downtown is quite skanky - verging on downright dangerous - but lots of younger singles find city living to be more appropriate (if you can afford it).

It may be more appropriate to suggest places you might want to avoid:
Eatonville
Pine Hills
Parramore
Sky Lake
Oak Ridge
Alafaya
Anywhere on or near SR 50
Metro West
Ocoee
Apopka

A little more knowledge of your circumstances may help….

Awesome Welles

Although I can appreciate the charm and fascination of visiting a contrived fantasy world, I could never imagine living in one.

Ruth16

A lot of Brits own homes there, it's a quaint town.