To kick off our new ‘Getting To Know’ series on the places you can look at moving to in Florida, today we have information from Greg Pabst.  Greg and his family moved to Clermont in 2012 and I am glad to have his extra take on Clermont to add to what Jen and I can provide.

I thought I would share reasons why we picked Clermont since you already know everything else about the Clermont area. Orlando is very spread out and not compacted. It was important for us to find an area that would be as centrally located to potential work locations as well as Disney. Also our proximity to shopping, dining and area conveniences was important too. We don’t like living in the sticks, but we don’t like to be in the city either. Clermont offered this to us. Initially we were looking at Winter Garden, since it was closer to Disney but the housing cost more there and yards were very small with you practically looking into your neighbor’s window out your own. For the same price as Winter Garden we got a much larger house with nice extras like granite counter tops and large tile floors. Clermont did push my comfort factor regarding how far we were from Downtown etc, as a lot of tech and office jobs are in that vicinity or north of there (Maitland and Altamonte Springs etc). But, in the end it was worth the extra drive for the deal we got in Clermont. Since we are in southern Clermont (proper), near Hammock Ridge and 27, Disney is about 30 mins drive for us. We also heard of the growth that Clermont has recently undergone. We like areas that are growing and new. I was impressed by the road infrastructure improvements. I can’t wait to see new things popping up (ie. Like the new Hobby Lobby). Schools and crime rates were important to us as well. Clermont is much safer than other areas in Orlando. We were a little scared of the schools in Clermont as they aren’t as good as Winter Garden, but we have been happy so far with Pine Ridge Elementary. If you have any specific questions for me, I’d be happy to help out more.

You can reach out to Greg via Facebook: www.facebook.com/gregpabst.  Greg also runs a great website for all of us Disney addicts to help us find each other; www.DISaddicts.com.

For more information on Clermont, please visit the links below.
http://clermont.govoffice.com/

http://www.clermontflorida.com/

http://www.city-data.com/city/Clermont-Florida.html

http://www.clermontdowntownpartnership.com/

http://www.southlakechamber-fl.com/home/

http://www.lakecountyfl.com/

Clermont Area School Info

http://lake.k12.fl.us/lakeschools/site/default.asp (Lake County School District)

http://lake.k12.fl.us/Page/1542 (School Directory)

http://lake.k12.fl.us/site/Default.aspx?PageID=272 (School Zone Address Look-up)

2012 School Grades

School Types: 1 = elementary; 2 = middle; 3 = high; 4 = combination

School Name	2012 Points	Scale	Grade 2012	School Type
CLERMONT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL	495	800	B	01
SAWGRASS BAY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL	525	800	A	01
EAST RIDGE MIDDLE SCHOOL	635	900	A	02
MINNEOLA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL	512	800	B	01
LOST LAKE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL	576	800	A	01
CLERMONT MIDDLE SCHOOL	600	900	A	02
WINDY HILL MIDDLE SCHOOL	573	900	B	02
PINE RIDGE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL	533	800	A	01
CYPRESS RIDGE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL	634	800	A	01
SOUTH LAKE HIGH SCHOOL	998	1600	B	03
EAST RIDGE HIGH SCHOOL	1075	1600	A	03
LAKE MINNEOLA HIGH SCHOOL	552	800	A	03
IMAGINE SCHOOLS AT SOUTH LAKE	606	900	A	04