Orlando Bound! A Native’s Guide to moving to Orlando
Planning a move to The City Beautiful? Wondering how your family fits in here? Have no fear! As an Orlando native I, The Orlando Diva Realtor know firsthand the joys of living in OTown, and I don’t mind sharing the love with you!
Read on for a few pointers on loving life in the center of the Sunshine State.
Relocating for work? Maybe you’re just moving to be closer to family. Either way you want to pick an area that’s right for your lifestyle and convenient to the places you’ll be most. Narrowing your neighborhood choices down is the first thing that should be on your moving to do list. A great site I use is www.walkscore.com Walkscore helps you determine the walkability of the areas you are looking at in proximity to stores, restaurants and local parks. Perfect if you want to find an urban oasis like South Eola or Thorton Park.
Another important part of choosing your neighborhood is evaluating things like safety and, if you have little ones finding a school they can thrive in. Look up local schools on www.greatschools.org for ratings, program info, and feedback from other parents.
When you finally do decide on a home, make sure to make a to do list and set reminders to turn on basic necessities such as utilities and cable/internet services. Nothing worse than braving the Orlando heat with no A/C!
Now that you’ve narrowed down your community choices and have an idea of which part of Orlando you’ll be putting down roots in, time to have some fun! Orlando has plenty to offer by way of entertainment, especially with our gorgeous new Amway Center Arena. The obvious choices are Disney, Universal and SeaWorld, all of which are a world class good time. Some of the newer editions to the Orlando entertainment mecca are the Orlando Improv (www.TheOrlandoImprov.com) and Dave and Busters (www.DaveAndBusters.com), both of which are located on International drive.
Looking to sink your teeth into some juicy sports, and maybe delicious nachos while you’re at it?
Visit www.nba.com/magic/index_main.html to buy tickets to see the Magic. After the 4th quarter, stop by the gorgeous new 180 Grey Goose lounge perched high atop the Arena and take in panoramic views of downtown. Hockey buff? Cool off watching the pucks fly at the Orlando Solar Bears games. The East Coast Hockey League action starts this October and you can get ticket information at www.OrlandoSolarBearsHockey.com We even have our own Arena football league, The Orlando Predators, ticket info at www.OrlandoPredators.com
Now that you’re clued in to the best ways to research Orlando neighborhoods for schools, convenience and family fun, you’re half way there! Now all you gotta do is *cues Jaws theme*…PACK!
