Moving to/living in Orlando

[Feralpeg]

OP, if you get a chance to visit the area, I'd be happy to show you around. I've been on the DIS forever. People can vouch that I'm not terribly crazy. lol. I know what it's like moving to an area when you really only know the theme parks. Very intimidating.

 

[Haley R]

I also came from the Midwest. I live in a small town in northern Iowa until I was 13 and we moved to Kansas City. I lived there until 2004 when we moved to Windermere. I don't miss those Midwest winters at all! lol. What part of the Midwest do you call home?

Wow that’s crazy so similar to us. I’ll pm you

 

[Haley R]

He shouldn't have to take the highways. It is actually very easy to get to the area where the sea life museum (I-Drive) from this area.

I don't know the exact teacher/student ratio. It used to be 1:20, but I've heard it is much higher in some schools. The good news is that they are building new schools as fast as they can. A new middle school will open just down the street from my home next year and they are starting a new elementary school about a half mile away very soon.

When we first moved here, my daughter was in an English class that had 53 students. They did hire another teacher fairly quickly, but it was really insane for awhile.

That’s really good to hear about Dh not having to take highways to work. Sounds like it might be a very good area to live!

It’s good to know they are trying to build more schools. My max as a teacher is about 25 kids. More than that and it gets just too hard to build relationships with the kids, especially at such a young age. Right now I currently sub so it can be hard to go in a room that has 25+ kids and you don’t know any of their names. Luckily I sub at a small country school and the biggest class size is 24. 53 is a ton of kids in a class!!

 

[Haley R]

OP, if you get a chance to visit the area, I'd be happy to show you around. I've been on the DIS forever. People can vouch that I'm not terribly crazy. lol. I know what it's like moving to an area when you really only know the theme parks. Very intimidating.

I’ll let you know if Dh does get the job

 

[_19disnA]

Maybe your husband can talk with co-workers and see what areas they suggest and ideas about best routes to take to work. Other important factors would be proximity to the airport if the job involves a lot of travel, how long you think you might live there (i.e. future promotions and/or transfers to other cities) and obviously your budget.

 

[Haley R]

Maybe your husband can talk with co-workers and see what areas they suggest and ideas about best routes to take to work. Other important factors would be proximity to the airport if the job involves a lot of travel, how long you think you might live there (i.e. future promotions and/or transfers to other cities) and obviously your budget.

Yes those are definitely things we’ve thought about. Dh doesn’t want a job that requires him to travel a lot and he wants a job he will keep as his career for awhile. We said we would write some questions down

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

TIL Orlando has a sea life museum!

 

[Haley R]

TIL Orlando has a sea life museum!

What?

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

What?

I didn’t know until I read it in this thread that there was an aquarium here. I stay away from I-drive (I really only ever go as far as Millenia) generally but had no idea this place existed.

TIL-is Internet forum for Today I learned

 

[Haley R]

I didn’t know until I read it in this thread that there was an aquarium here. I stay away from I-drive (I really only ever go as far as Millenia) generally but had no idea this place existed.

TIL-is Internet forum for Today I learned

Ooo okay. I had no idea what TIL meant

 

[PollyannaMom]

Ooo okay. I had no idea what TIL meant

Me neither, but I like it!

 

[ChristmasElf]

Not much we could do about it though since that’s where he would work. We wouldn’t mind being so close to Disney but he probably would need to live pretty close to work so he doesn’t have to deal with as much traffic. I read Windermere is nice. I haven’t looked how far that is

WHERE on Sand Lake? Close to John Young Prkwy? Or on the other side of Orange Blossom Trail area? (OBT)
Windermere is very nice-a mix of new homes combined in with very old tear down houses. Depends on what part of Windermere you choose. Dr Philips is mostly older homes now that most likely would need updating as its a fairly established area. (But close to Sand Lake Rd) There are some brand new neighborhoods off of Winter Garden-Vineland Rd (SR535) that have a Windermere address that are about a 15 minute drive from Sand Lake.
Lake Nona would be a 30 minute drive-longer at rush hours.

 

[Haley R]

WHERE on Sand Lake? Close to John Young Prkwy? Or on the other side of Orange Blossom Trail area? (OBT)
Windermere is very nice-a mix of new homes combined in with very old tear down houses. Depends on what part of Windermere you choose. Dr Philips is mostly older homes now that most likely would need updating as its a fairly established area. (But close to Sand Lake Rd) There are some brand new neighborhoods off of Winter Garden-Vineland Rd (SR535) that have a Windermere address that are about a 15 minute drive from Sand Lake.
Lake Nona would be a 30 minute drive-longer at rush hours.

It’s really sand lake rd not the actual lake. Dh would work close to the sea life museum. We found some homes we liked in the doctor Phillips area and I like that their elementary has a good rating. We don’t want to live in a neighborhood where the houses are smooshed together so that’s one challenge we’re having but we’ve found some so far that look good. We wouldn’t mind an older home if it means we can save some money and update down the road.

I think winter garden is gonna be too far for us. Dh wouldn’t want to have to take a toll road every day to work. Doctor Phillips looks to be the closest to where his work would be. Windermere looks nice but we didn’t find a lot of houses there in our price range

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

It’s really sand lake rd not the actual lake. Dh would work close to the sea life museum. We found some homes we liked in the doctor Phillips area and I like that their elementary has a good rating. We don’t want to live in a neighborhood where the houses are smooshed together so that’s one challenge we’re having but we’ve found some so far that look good. We wouldn’t mind an older home if it means we can save some money and update down the road.

I think winter garden is gonna be too far for us. Dh wouldn’t want to have to take a toll road every day to work. Doctor Phillips looks to be the closest to where his work would be. Windermere looks nice but we didn’t find a lot of houses there in our price range

How many minutes is he willing to drive? You can get to his work in about 20-25 minutes from parts of Winter Garden. Also check out Ocoee south of Colonial Dr. and Gotha. All of these are an easy commute to his work without ever getting on a highway or toll road.

 

[Haley R]

How many minutes is he willing to drive? You can get to his work in about 20-25 minutes from parts of Winter Garden. Also check out Ocoee south of Colonial Dr. and Gotha. All of these are an easy commute to his work without ever getting on a highway or toll road.

I looked at both Gotha and ocoee. We found some houses there that weren’t too bad. I think those areas were a little cheaper too.

I just did winter garden right now on my phone and it’s saying a 38 minute drive on a route with no tolls. That might be from traffic and could be in the middle of the town because I just put winter garden but that seems long to me. Dh would ideally like just a 20 minute drive but said he would go up to 30.

I’ll try looking at the southern part of winter garden

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

I looked at both Gotha and ocoee. We found some houses there that weren’t too bad. I think those areas were a little cheaper too.

I just did winter garden right now on my phone and it’s saying a 38 minute drive on a route with no tolls. That might be from traffic and could be in the middle of the town because I just put winter garden but that seems long to me. Dh would ideally like just a 20 minute drive but said he would go up to 30.

I’ll try looking at the southern part of winter garden

It could be that the Saturday night traffic around I-Drive and Sand Lake Rd. is making it a little higher.

 

[Haley R]

It could be that the Saturday night traffic around I-Drive and Sand Lake Rd. is making it a little higher.

Yeah that could be it.

 

[Feralpeg]

I looked at both Gotha and ocoee. We found some houses there that weren’t too bad. I think those areas were a little cheaper too.

I just did winter garden right now on my phone and it’s saying a 38 minute drive on a route with no tolls. That might be from traffic and could be in the middle of the town because I just put winter garden but that seems long to me. Dh would ideally like just a 20 minute drive but said he would go up to 30.

I’ll try looking at the southern part of winter garden

Unfortunately, you are going to be in for some adjustments moving from a small town to a city like Orlando. You can expect a 20 to 30 minute commute no matter where you're going. There is a lot of traffic and you must manuerver around all the lakes in the area.

When we first moved to Windermere, I drove 20 minutes to the grocery store or the mall and 15 minutes to get gas. Since then, a lot of new shopping areas have gone in, but driving distances is just a part of life here. If I want to go to Winter Garden Village shopping area from my home (which really isn't that far), it takes me at least 15 minutes. During rush hour, it can take longer. Just driving through downtown Windermere, during rush hour, can take 20 minutes. Lots of traffic and only a couple of ways to get where you want to go. You can chalk that up to all the lakes. Can't build roads over them, so you have to funnel around them.

He definitely would not need to take toll roads to get to work from Winter Garden. Once you live in the area, you discover all the back road shortcuts.

Your biggest challenge will be to find a house with more land. To do so, you will need to look at older homes. The new homes have very small yards. Land is at a premium here. Builders try to cram as many homes as possible into their developments.

If land is really important, you will need to go further out.

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

Feralpeg is very right regarding driving. I don’t bat an eye at driving for a while to get where I need to be. I choose to shop at Trader Joe’s, which is 20 minutes from my home. It doesn’t feel far at all.

Also regarding Windermere, the speed limit in/around downtown is a strict 30 mph and the police don’t mess around. I live in the Gotha/Windermere/Ocoee area so I bypass all of that via Apopka-Vineland.

The awesome side of this area is that I can be downtown in 20 minutes, Universal in 20 minutes, and at Disney Springs in 20 minutes (and Universal and Disney don’t require any highways).

 

[Haley R]

Unfortunately, you are going to be in for some adjustments moving from a small town to a city like Orlando. You can expect a 20 to 30 minute commute no matter where you're going. There is a lot of traffic and you must manuerver around all the lakes in the area.

When we first moved to Windermere, I drove 20 minutes to the grocery store or the mall and 15 minutes to get gas. Since then, a lot of new shopping areas have gone in, but driving distances is just a part of life here. If I want to go to Winter Garden Village shopping area from my home (which really isn't that far), it takes me at least 15 minutes. During rush hour, it can take longer. Just driving through downtown Windermere, during rush hour, can take 20 minutes. Lots of traffic and only a couple of ways to get where you want to go. You can chalk that up to all the lakes. Can't build roads over them, so you have to funnel around them.

He definitely would not need to take toll roads to get to work from Winter Garden. Once you live in the area, you discover all the back road shortcuts.

Your biggest challenge will be to find a house with more land. To do so, you will need to look at older homes. The new homes have very small yards. Land is at a premium here. Builders try to cram as many homes as possible into their developments.

If land is really important, you will need to go further out.

Yeah I’ll have to get used to the traffic. Right now Dh already drives 25-30 minutes to work but that’s because of traffic and stop lights. We have a main road with tons of stop lights. I currently drive 20-25 minutes to work and I take an interstate or back country highways. I sub in a small rural elementary school.

During his interview or after he plans on asking where most of his coworkers live. That should help give us some idea.

We definitely will not be in a newer neighborhood with a house 5 feet from the one next door. Those types of neighborhoods are being built around our town too. I understand the reasoning behind it but it’s not what we’re looking for. If we have to drive a little further to get that then that’s what we’ll do. Right now we have about 15-20 houses saved.