XP: Silver Springs / Ocala Relocation

lseemiller

Visiting from the Pittsburgh Board, has anyone been to the Silver Springs Nature Theme Park in Ocala? What were your thoughts if you have been there? We are considering a move to Ocala for my husbands job (he would be working at Silver Springs Park) and wanted to see if anyone had any opinions on the park or area they could give us.

 Also, this would be a relocation for us (obviously) so any idea of the best areas to live? We do not have children yet, but plan to in the future so school districts would be important.

 

TIA

Britt1406

I'm not too familiar with Ocala. My friend has mentioned a couple times that Silver Springs is sort of like the "real Florida" (I think she means nature wise) and is nice to take out of town guests to.

babygator15

I went to UF, which in Gainesville and about half an hour north of Ocala, and I think it is an amazing place to raise a family.  Ocala is a bit too country for me though.

DH&LS06

I know this is way after the fact, but I live in Ocala so I thought I'd chime in.

The best school districts are in the SE part of Ocala (34471 zip code for the most part). There are a number of good elementary schools (Ward Highlands, South Ocala, Maplewood). Middle schools I'd probably try to move to a place that's zoned for Osceola and high schools I'd shoot for a Forest High School zone. Most of the SE area of town would be zoned for those schools. Avoid looking in Silver Springs Shores or Silver Springs. I know the other poster said that Ocala is a little too "country" but I'd disagree. I moved away for 9 years and just moved back and it's grown a lot. Decent shopping and restaurants. If there's something that we need that isn't offered in Ocala, Orlando is a quick drive away. Overall, it's a great city and would be a wonderful place to raise a family. That's why we moved back!

bparkhur

Ocala is extremely rural; it's a nice quiet place that isn't too far from Gainesville and the University of Florida. I adjunct at CF a couple days a week, so I am pretty familar with the area. It's a very "slow" town, if that makes sense? Lots of horses and people driving pick up trucks and wearing camo.  I feel like Silver Springs park has really fallen into disrepair. The last time we were there was last summer, and there were hardly any people there and the air conditioning was not working in the restaurant (I believe there is only one main food eatery in the park).