Anyone in Orlando, FL or east on the coast?

[pixelstix]

We are moving to Florida soon. We're looking to live on Merritt Island so that DH's commute up to Kennedy won't be too bad.

Anyone around there?

[jessica31876]

I live just a little west of Titusville

[pixelstix]

Oh yay! Do you like where you live/ the area? Anywhere you would recommend (looking for a short commute to Kennedy)?

[jessica31876]

Titusville has some really beautiful areas. It depends on what you are looking for...condo/house/apartment? Do you want acreage? Living in the country or a more developed area? A small town? If I had to choose one place that would be perfect for a commute to both Orlando & to Kennedy I would recommend looking into houses in Wedgefield. It is just off 520 and is a really good community. It isn't in the middle of a large city but is right on the Beachline/528 which is perfect for going west to Orlando or east to Kennedy. Titusville is a small town and has all the basics but the town is slowing economically because of the layoffs at kennedy. It was one of the main draws for people to come there. My daughter lives in Titusville and works in Port St. John. There are some really nice places in Port St. John as well and that is even closer to Kennedy. So really it just depends on what you are looking for when moving here.

[pixelstix]

Thanks so much for the info! We've been told a little about Titusville being hit hard by the economy, and that it has affected the school system, so we haven't really been looking for anything there. I don't know about Port St. John, DH has been crossing a lot of towns off his list, lol.

We're actually just looking for short term. Maybe a year to rent a house (we have four kids so we need a little room!) and then if we decide to stay in Florida, he will likely look in Orlando or Tampa and move closer to wherever that new job is. What do you think of Merritt Island? He really likes it because it seems like the shortest commute and close to the beach. I'm not completely sold on it. He knows one of the guys he'll be working with and he lives there and has recommended it.

I like Wedgefield, that's one area that looked good to me! Shorter commute than most of the Space Coast towns, and closer to get to Orlando. He doesn't like it because he thinks it's in the middle of nowhere and it's a whole six or so miles from there to the Elementary school. LOL. Do you know anyone who lives there? What do you/they think of it- is it far from the basics- school, groceries, etc?

[jessica31876]

The schools for Wedgefield would be East Lake Elementary or Columbia Elementary/Corner lake Middle/East River High. My kids went to all of these schools and I had very few negative experiences with them. Wedgefield is right on the Beachline which runs to Orlando west (lets off just blocks from Sea World) and east to Cocoa. So you can be to either places within usually 25 minutes from there. It was actually called Rocket City I believe at one time and was designed to be attractive to those people who worked on the space coast. I could take pictures to send you of wedfgefield if you wanted to see what it looks like. It is really beautiful and a fairly large community (there are housing developments and then there are places which are not part of the housing developments on acreage). There are some really gorgeous homes out there though. I wish I could offer more on the Merritt island area but I just do not go there often enough to say much about it. I think any town you look at though will have pluses and minuses so try not to cross anything off the list right away because you might fall in love with one of them after actually seeing it. My daughter lives in Titusville and we spent a lot of time there with our kids when they were growing up. She works in Port St. John and she seems to like it for the most part. She just misses being closer to us. I can really only tell you about the stuff we do when we visit these places which we go shopping in Titusville more often then we do Orlando (because I really and truly hate going west to Orlando LOL). We go to the parks there alot. We like nature parks/hiking/fishing type activities. If you like/prefer living closer to city life though Merritt Island would definitely be better for you I think. Keep in mind Merritt Island is a barrier island so anytime there is a tropical storm/hurricane threat they evacuate all of the barrier islands. That for me would be enough to want to live further inland then there. That may or may not effect your decision as that does not happen every single year.

[jessica31876]

Also I think Wedgefield is actually considered still to be part of Orlando as the town I live in is and so is Bonneville, Avalon Park, Waterford Lakes, Azalea Park. The addresses would all be Orlando, Fl for the most part. They are kind of little towns all on the outskirts of one HUGE city.

[jessica31876]

Oh and about the schools all of Florida is being effected on that. We depend on property taxes for funding for schools (at least partially anyhow) and because of a combination of foreclosures, declining property values & job layoffs school budgets are all effected. Even in more affluent neighborhoods parents are having to do more and more and the teachers ask for more and more. Hopefully that trend will start to go the other way with property values going back up and jobs returning but I do not see that happening anytime soon so just wanted to let you know to expect to hear a lot about budget cuts from schools

[lovely1m]

I don't live there and can't add anything other than I wish I could work at Kennedy.

[webseitler]

I used to live in Orlando (I went to UCF--Go Knights!). UCF is on the East side of Orlando and the little towns out there are nice, quiet and suburban. If you don't mind a 45 minute commute and toll roads, it is pretty awesome to live so close to Disney!

And at the time I was in Orlando, my dad lived in Cocoa. They had a very cute downtown area and I thought the city had a bit of a small community feel. Cocoa Beach was much busier and nosier. But Cocoa was pretty cute! Hope that's helpful! Probably more helpful than saying "Hey--you all really should move here to the West Coast of Florida." LOL! It's gorgeous over here in sunny Sarasota.

[jessica31876]

Nicole I want soo soo much to move to Clermont which is a lot closer to Sarasota. I also would not mind living near Deleon Springs. Probably my very favorite area outside of beach towns! Oh and FYI Christmas on the river in Titusville is GORGEOUS! The houses there are amazing and almost all of them are older ones with so much history like what you think of when you think of large southern styled homes.

[pixelstix]

Thank you so much for all the information Jessica! I wish we were a little closer so that I could go down there beforehand and see it before having to make any kinds of decisions about where to live. We're planning on DH looking for a place for us because he's going ahead, but he's getting all worried that we won't find ANYTHING (he's such a stresser) so he's about ready to rent a place we found online, sight unseen...

Thanks Nicole! Sarasota looks nice. DH doesn't plan to stay with this job forever. He's coming on with the company to do a specific integration project and beyond that he wants to get back into commercial work. Within the next year or two (depending on what he decides) we will look elsewhere. If we love it in Florida, he will probably look in Tampa and Orlando, so we might be on the West Coast later!

[Penny Springmann]

I used to live in East Orlando until we moved 2 years ago. I lived in the area Nicole mentioned - out by UCF almost by Jessica.
10 years ago Wedgefield would have been out in the middle of nowhere, but now there's a lot more. I think there is even a Publix there? Right, Jessica? While it is further from Merritt Island, it's still a pretty easy drive over to the coast. However, we had friends who lived in Wedgefield who ended up moving because they felt it was too far out. (But they worked in Orlando, not the coast.) I do think the schools in the Orlando district are better than the ones on the coast, though.
I don't know anything about Merritt Island. Sorry!

[jessica31876]

Oh yes there is a Publix out here now LOL. A few other stores and some fast food places. Not a whole lot in the town I live in really. It is kinda just the sort of place you drive through to go somewhere else and do not even really know it is there. But there are a lot of stores in Titusville now too. Target, Staples, Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes and lots of restaurants too. It really is a quick trip to get to Titusville from Wedgefield. Even though it is less distance for us to go to the area Penny is talking about it takes us less time to go to Titusville because of the housing developments in that area have added so much traffic (primarily a place called Avalon Park and the related areas) If I could move from where I am now I would love to live in Wedgefield. I learned online Wedgefield is divided now into four parts. The city (which is the front with the housing developments), the estates (which is the places with acreage and more custom homes so they are not like cookie cutter replicas LOL This is where I would LOVE to live!!), the reserve (which is private gated community) and then there is the condos. Not sure what they are called and I am really not sure where they are either because I have never seen them.

[ariesfl326]

I'm in New Smyrna Beach (short drive south of Daytona Beach).

[webseitler]

Ooo! A Publix? LOL! Publix alone is a good reason for anyone to move to Florida. I don't know how I survived 10 years without it when I lived up north with my hubby!

[jessica31876]

LOL yea I love Publix but I defenitely spend more there when I shop then Winn Dixie or Walmart but umm their subs are seriously amazing. I also love the customer service there. So much better then nearly any other store you can shop at. Only one that compares is Winn Dixie but we know most everyone who works at Winn Dixie.

Originally Posted by webseitler

Ooo! A Publix? LOL! Publix alone is a good reason for anyone to move to Florida. I don't know how I survived 10 years without it when I lived up north with my hubby!

[pixelstix]

Yes, I'm glad to continue living in the land of Publix! I've been here in the South for almost 8 years now, and we have one across the street. I see there is one on Merritt Island too