Looking for "crunchy", family-friendly and safe neighborhood (Orlando: foreclosures, rentals)

[Herb of Grace]

I've been getting some great information from all the threads on this Orlando forum, but still have some unanswered questions. Hope some of you helpful people out there have the answers!

My dh and I are moving with our soon-to-be-three children to the Orlando area. Dh's job is in Winter Park. We are looking for a family-friendly and safe area within biking distance (less than ten miles) of his job and would love to find a community of like-minded people.

Is there a particular neighborhood near Winter Park that stands out as the "Hippy" place to live? We are into organic gardening, home birth, babywearing, home schooling, alternative medicine, eco-friendly practices.

We've been looking at Casselberry, Winter Park proper, Oviedo, Maitland, Altamonte Springs, so far. Hoping for a larger lot and willing to look at something needing a little TLC.

Thanks for all the help in advance!

[Wilshire81182]

I think the areas that match your description the most are College Park and the Colonialtown areas. There is an area around TG Lee that has a lot of hipster places and vegan places that appeal mainly to the "crunchy" crowd as you put it. These are mainly the 32804, 32803, 32801 and 32806 zip codes. The schools are good, Boone HS and bordering Winter Park and downtown. Winter Park will be a slightly older but still a good fit due to many students in the area though it is more of a European and Trust fund baby vibe around Rollins. There is the whole Ivanhoe Row area that many lump in with College Park but I like to distinguish it since it is on the other side of the freeway.
Casselberry is kind of dumpy and less crunchy IMO. It is more inner ring suburb overall. Maitland is kind of like a slightly newer Winter Park but less students and not so crunchy, with the exception of the indie movie house, the Enzian.
Oviedo and Altamonte are straight up suburban and other than some students it is not what you are describing. Hope that helps. I have a friend who visited from Portland Oregon in January and she was surprised how crunchy Orlando is. Here is a short list of some of the crunchy places in town:

Dandelion Communitea Cafe, Stardust Coffee and Video, Pom Pom Sanwicheria and Tea House, Drunken Monkey, Ethos Vegan Kitchen, Dexter's (to a lesser degree), etc.

[Granny Sue]

Yup...Whilshire beat me to it. College Park and Colonialtown.

[Pete C]

Wilshire was 100% spot on that info. Funny, as soon as I read crunchy College Park and Colonialtown came to mind. Add Thornton Park to that as well, but less so due to the modern condos. The neighborhood has charm though. However, in College Park and Thornton Park, probably not going to get a large lot unless you have some dough. These areas have mostly historic bungalows. Of the areas you mentioned, I agree that only Winter Park has places that fit your needs...maybe Maitland since it is close by. Forget about Casselberry, Altamonte, and Oviedo...far too suburban.

[Herb of Grace]

Thanks for all the info so far! Wondering about the safety of the College Park area, since I've heard that it's best to stay east of I4? Can any one speak to that?

Thanks for the list, Wilshire! I'm going to check those places out!

[annerk]

Originally Posted by Herb of Grace

Thanks for all the info so far! Wondering about the safety of the College Park area, since I've heard that it's best to stay east of I4? Can any one speak to that?

Thanks for the list, Wilshire! I'm going to check those places out!

College Park is fine. Great, friendly, safe neighborhoods.

[blueoktober]

Agreed on College Park. My co-worker just bought a pretty $$$ house and she has chickens in her back yard as well as a rain catcher. She has her own organic garden and is as hippie as they come.

She loves it there, and I think it's a great small town in the middle of urban sprawl.

[wigs1]

ain't a whole lot of crunchy anywhere in Florida. But I agree too, college park and colonialtown. As for safety, I imagine colonialtown would be a bit safer, since it's more insulated from the higher crime area to the west of college park.

[KissimmeeCrunchyMom]

Whatever you do avoid Kissimmee, it is a wasteland void of anything natural or crunchy! I live out here and as much as I like my house I hate how mainstream it is out here. I am actually on here to post up a question about skirting around my HOA's rules to do some things.

[cparker73]

Come to College Park. You'll be right at home here. My wife and I bought a bungalow in College Park four years ago and love it. The neighborhood was Orlando's first suburb (just 1 mile from downtown), so there's every type of house style, and it's not cookie cutter by any imagination. A 1940's-era three bedroom can be had starting in the low 200's. The neighborhood is very stable with long-term homeowners, so there aren't a lot of foreclosures. Prices have been going up lately. There are no HOAs to tell you you can't plant a vegetable garden in the front yard of your $1mil+ lakefront home. Seriously, there's a house right across from Lake Ivanhoe on Poinsettia Avenue that has rows of beans, collards and tomatoes tastefully planted and staked next to their vintage Porsches.

There's a farmers' market on Edgewater Drive every Sunday where you'll be surrounded by other moms wearing their babies in a Moby wrap. You'll also have the other extreme of yuppies pushing a Bugaboo $troller, too. Princeton Elementary is one of the best schools in the city, and Edgewater High is finishing up a massive renovation and expansion of its campus. The Ivanhoe Row antique district on the western part of College Park near Florida Hospital is home to Ethos Vegan Restaurant, vintage boutiques and office/work space for media professionals and artists. Next to Ivanhoe is the Loch Haven Park cultural district, which may be high priority if you're homeschooling. The science museum/planetarium, Shakespeare Theatre, and Orlando Museum of Art are all located in Loch Haven.

If you like places with a sense of history, College Park has that, too. It's the only neighborhood I know that holds an historic home tour every year. Most of the streets are brick and lined with mossy live oak trees. This is the type of neighborhood new urbanists try to replicate in the burbs. The diverse housing stock from $1 million homes to $900/mo. rentals ensures every type of person who wants to, can afford to live here.

Crime is limited to some property crime that subsided when the police arrested several teenagers last summer. The mayor and other movers and shakers live in College Park, so you know the police will clamp down on any shadiness.

Commuting to anywhere in Orlando is a breeze with easy access to I-4 and the 408. Winter Park is a 10-minute drive at worst on city streets. If you need to go to Whole Foods, add another five minutes to get to the far east side of Winter Park.

Before moving to College Park, we rented a condo in Thornton Park. It's another great neighborhood with plenty of places to actually walk to. If you'd like a choice between high-rise living or a Craftsman bungalow, this is the place to look.

A little beyond Thornton Park is Colonialtown, which is home to the Unitarian Church, the downtown YMCA, Dandelion Communitea, and a holistic healing center. The major retail corridor is Colonial Drive, which has a high concentration of Vietnamese businesses centered around the intersection of Mills Ave. and Colonial Drive. The area, along with Thornton Park, is also considered Orlando's gayborhood. Orlando's only gay councilwoman lives here.

And next to Colonialtown is Audubon Park, which is home to hipster hangout, Stardust Coffee and Video. The housing stock is mainly mid-century moderns from the 50s and 60s, and the neighborhood feels a bit more removed from the downtown scene. Audubon Park is nestled up next to more affluent and mainstream Baldwin Park and south Winter Park, and you have easy access to biking on Cady Way Trail.

I hope that overview helps you navigate the "crunchy" side to Orlando. The downtown neighborhoods don't always get the love on this board that the burbs do. I don't understand the appeal of living in Waterford Lakes, Altamonte or any burb I have to get in my car to do a little light shopping. Also, I'd much rather see the occasional homeless person than watch all my neighbors get foreclosed while I'm stuck with the HOA bill and decreased property value.