Is Lake Nona good place to live? (Orlando, Winter Park: homes, buyers)

[cmj_fla]

Yes, Vista Lakes and the Lee Vista Area just north of the Airport. Odyssey Middle School is the school where they found a lot of them from the old Army bombing range.


Lake Nona is a beautiful area and even a little further south on Narcoosee where it is a bit cheaper is very nice as well.

[Dreamer2]

Originally Posted by AONE

Probably the worse thing that can be said is about the schools as they are not yet the quality of the ones found in Oviedo or Winter Park. All in time.

What do you mean by worse thing? Northlake Park Elementary in Lake Nona has been rated an A+ school since 2001 and awarded the No Child Left Behind Award and the 5 Star School Award. With that don't you think that would be a quality school??

[Otownmain]

No, not even close. Odyssey Middle School and Discovery Middle School, miles away.

Originally Posted by DailyJournalist

Is Lake Nona where they found all the bombs under the schools and peoples houses?

[AONE]

Originally Posted by Dreamer2

What do you mean by worse thing? Northlake Park Elementary in Lake Nona has been rated an A+ school since 2001 and awarded the No Child Left Behind Award and the 5 Star School Award. With that don't you think that would be a quality school??

True a school has a good rating... now look at the middle school and hich school... When I think of a school district I think of all three levels and expect them all to be A rated for me to say the district is good. hence my reservations about Lake Mary.... as CD bristles.... in fact the high school there does not carry an A rating. There are presently 4 areas with the best schools in our area. #1 Oviedo, #2 Winter Park, #3 Dr Phillips, #4 East Windermere.... Olympia side, not West Orange High.

If you look at all the elementary rating in the metro area you will find most carry an A rating which makes me think it is pretty hard to accurately measure the young.

For now I go off of the rating system which is mostly based on standardized tests which I think is part of the problem of the educational systems. I think we have too many teachers that have too low of expectations of the students and largely produce inadequately prepared children. there is my 2 cents on schools and areas. Again Lake Nona while it is a pretty area apparently is still the area to leave after grade school if educational excellence is the goal or opt for private schools.

For a run down oft he high rent districts.... East Windermere / around Lake Butler and Down, Isleworth,Bella Collina, Dr. Phillips,Parts of Winter Park, Alaqua, parts of Heathrow, parts of Celebration and yes parts of Lake Nona. There are some beautiful homes to be found all over the metro area and some pretty impressive homes.

Here are your fun tidbits. The Most expensive home on the market today is In Isleworth at $12.5M it is a 9/8/2 with 10,405 sq ft followed by one in Dr. Phillips at 12M, which is a 6/10/3 with 14,477 sq ft. The 2 highest priced for homes went to 2 homes in Isleworth at $10m both were 14,000 sq ft.
The highest priced home in Lake Nona goes to an 11,000 ft wonder at almost $7.5M
The most expensive home I've shown(or been in)... $20M with 28,000 sq ft. owned by a Basket ball player near Tampa. Stunning is the one word discriptor.

[jbphillips]

I have lived in the area for 3 years, and it has always been a wonderful place to live. I think it is even getting better, with more shops & places to eat opening every day. They are also building new exits in the area to access the 417, are widening Narcoossee in anticipation of future traffic increases, and placed lights at all major neighborhoods - overall the entire Lake Nona area was extremely well planned.

Also, with the last comment about the schools... I don't have kids myself, but I attend the YMCA inside Northlake Park Elementary, and know that parents LOVE that school. Plus, having the brand new H.S. right down the street will be wonderful for older kids. Based on the type of families this area seems to be attracting (highly educated, wealthy, etc.) I am sure that this H.S. will be a top performer in no time.

[Jan in Orlando]

I have lived in Orlando for decades and think so highly of Lake Nona I have just about decided to sell my in-town home and get a townhouse in Northlake Park while the prices remain amazing. I'm ready to ditch the yardwork forever in favor of the YMCA, bicycle and walking trails and have decided the extra commute will be worth it. I would caution newcomers to Orlando to be extremely careful if you do decide to buy on the west side. Many neighborhoods will look beautiful to the uninitiated, but unless you enjoy the excitement of constant criminal activity you will need to go out a substantial distance to avoid the very unfortunate Crime Hills creep. This is a very sad but true fact about our area. Here's an easy place to check it out and the numbers don't lie: Orlando Crime Map - Showing Crime in Orlando, US - Crime Statistics - Crime Alerts - Crime Stops Here.

I think Lake Nona is poised for great things and I'm really excited about the possibility of moving there. I need to get out and look at some places soon.

[Otownmain]

Originally Posted by Dreamer2

What do you mean by worse thing? Northlake Park Elementary in Lake Nona has been rated an A+ school since 2001 and awarded the No Child Left Behind Award and the 5 Star School Award. With that don't you think that would be a quality school??

It's important to understand how the ratings system (for both state and federal measurement) works. The performance of the students on the standardized tests is only one factor. In addition, the IMPROVEMENT in performance is a large part of the measure. In this way, a D school which shows incremental improvement year-over-year can quickly rise to be an A school with only small possible improvement in the program or, more likely, with improved coaching on the tests. As long as there is some improvement the rating continues to be high, even if the improvement is from very poor academic performance to just slightly better. At the high school level, a better standardized measure would be to look at SAT, ACT and AP scores as these are objective measures of academic experience and ability. The state legislature just announced (New Grading System For High Schools Next Year - cbs4.com (http://cbs4.com/local/florida.high.school.2.1082395.html - broken link)) that this will happen in the coming school year, and that SATs, ACTs and APs and graduation rates will become a part of the school ranking system. As this takes effect, we may have a better picture of the strength of a particular school. Right now Florida ranks 48th on the ACT scores, so there's plenty of room for improvement!

[markhunt]

Originally Posted by Otownmain

It's important to understand how the ratings system (for both state and federal measurement) works. The performance of the students on the standardized tests is only one factor. In addition, the IMPROVEMENT in performance is a large part of the measure. In this way, a D school which shows incremental improvement year-over-year can quickly rise to be an A school with only small possible improvement in the program or, more likely, with improved coaching on the tests. As long as there is some improvement the rating continues to be high, even if the improvement is from very poor academic performance to just slightly better. At the high school level, a better standardized measure would be to look at SAT, ACT and AP scores as these are objective measures of academic experience and ability. The state legislature just announced (New Grading System For High Schools Next Year - cbs4.com (http://cbs4.com/local/florida.high.school.2.1082395.html - broken link)) that this will happen in the coming school year, and that SATs, ACTs and APs and graduation rates will become a part of the school ranking system. As this takes effect, we may have a better picture of the strength of a particular school. Right now Florida ranks 48th on the ACT scores, so there's plenty of room for improvement!

100% true. Those letter grades can be misleading.

Also keep in mind the possible "distraction factor", in the classroom from the high percentages of poor and or minority students in the schools.

Memorization is more highly valued and taught over critical thinking in the schools here.

[OmarC]

I live in Lake nona and my family and I love it, so far it looks safe and everything you need is around you.

[GLS2010]

Originally Posted by Otownmain

No, not even close. Odyssey Middle School and Discovery Middle School, miles away.

Discovery middle is not in lake nona..