[solake]

Hey y'all, my wife and I are looking to move. We currently live in South Lake county, and have a 6 month old baby. We have lived here our whole lives, and watched the area go from a rural town dominated by orange groves, to a bustling town with rapid growth and even more planned.

We are looking for a smaller size town (hopefully something in a 20,000-30,000 population range) with not much expected growth. We like to have some shopping options, and a few good restaurants. We also like the "southern feel" that south lake used to have. Job opportunities are not too important, since I am self employed, and can do my job anywhere. We are also church going conservatives, and would prefer to be around like minded people. Finally, are wanting to stay in Florida, since we like the state, and have family here.

I know it seems like there are a lot of things to check off, and we understand that we might have to compromise on a few things, but any direction here?

Thanks for you help!

[kyle19125]

I would recommend the Ocala area which has more or less maintained it's original identity and isn't showing any sign of booming like the area you're now and is large enough to provide pretty much everything you would want/need.

[RedneckRebel]

I agree, Ocala is probably a good city for you. They are pretty conservative up there. And about the same size of Clermont (assuming thats where your at) maybe a little bit bigger. I do business up there occasionally, and havent noticed too much many signs of rapid growth like south lake is seeing.

[solake]

bump

[kyle19125]

Since you're still looking and maybe didn't like Ocala, you might look at a town like Arcadia.

Arcadia, Florida,

[Sunshine Rules]

You might check out Mount Dora area.

[floridadragon]

I disagree with the two above. I have lived in Ocala for the last 10 years. Has grown bigtime since I have been here. Although it is not like Orlando, it is growing.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by floridadragon

I disagree with the two above. I have lived in Ocala for the last 10 years. Has grown bigtime since I have been here. Although it is not like Orlando, it is growing.

Ocala's population has gone from 43K to 56K since 2000. That's hardly out of control growth...

[BNBR]

What about the Dade City area?

[Aaverso]

Due to the way the population is currently moving from north to south and tremendous growth across much of Florida, there aren't many cities that "wont grow." The link below shows the population by city, there is also a graph of Florida's historical population. As you can see by the graph, the overall population is growing exponentially and that does not include seasonal residents.

https://www.city-data.com/city/Florida.html