The Best of Both Worlds

Rolling along I-4 through Seminole County, you'll see new glass-and-steel office towers rising. You'll spot signs for the latest upscale developments, and you can track the department stores and chain restaurants that seem to sprout almost daily.

But also in Seminole County, you can exit off Central Florida's main artery and find small rural hubs amid acres of lush wetlands and dense wilderness areas.

And if you really want to see where the city and the country converge, you can stop in at the Jolly Gator Fish Camp in Geneva, on the county's east side.

This unpretentious outpost is as "Old Florida" as it gets-a modest building where mounted alligators are posed with Budweiser cans. The banner out front reads, "Good yummy stuff."

On this spot, overlooking the St. John's River, you can go for an airboat tour, fish for bass and speckled perch or settle in at outdoor picnic tables to devour fried catfish and hushpuppies.

Alongside the beat-up pickups in the parking lot, you'll also see flashy sports cars. And inside, you'll see buttoned-down, Dockers-wearing, white-collar types sitting next to weather-beaten guys fresh off the river.

"We're trying to do a balancing act here," says Martha Miller, vice president of business development for the Seminole County Regional Chamber of Commerce. "We're strong in Seminole County on the environment. We're not tree huggers, but we want to maintain the natural environment as well as allowing development. I think as a county we've done an excellent job."

The foresight that county leaders showed early in the game was "extremely visionary," says Frank Martz, director of the community redevelopment agency and planning services for Altamonte Springs.

Miller agrees.

"We're the third-smallest county in the state of Florida [in square miles]," Miller says. "But we decided to go after top-quality businesses. We decided to go after better neighborhoods, schools and quality of life."

Sure enough, today Seminole enjoys a reputation for top-rated schools, white-collar employment, upscale communities and unspoiled parks and wilderness areas.

In rankings of Florida schools, Seminole consistently appears at the top, which is a big draw for homebuyers. But good schools are also an incentive for businesses.

"I think when companies look to relocate, they look at the quality of the schools," Miller says.

Indeed, Seminole County boasts a large concentration of corporate headquarters and high-tech firms, including Siemens Stromberg-Carlson, the American Automobile Association, Dixon Ticonderoga, Sprint/United Telephone of Florida and Cincinnati Bell Information Systems.

In addition to good schools, companies in Seminole also appreciate the convenience of the Orlando Sanford International Airport in Sanford, says Suzan Bunn, executive director of the Seminole County Convention and Visitor's Bureau.

About 80 percent of the airport's passengers fly in for business reasons, but in recent months the airport has added flights that also appeal to the leisure traveler, Bunn says.

Allegiant Air has added more domestic flights, while Icelandair now flies to several European cities, such as London, Berlin and Paris, via Reykjavik.

Although an official announcement has yet to be made, the airport also is expected to be the location of one of two new hotels planned for the county. The other will be in Lake Mary.

The gradual influx of new businesses has transformed some of Seminole's once-sleepy bedroom communities into vital urban centers. But it didn't happen overnight.

For years, economic growth and residential development have been centered in Orlando, fueled in the 1970s by Walt Disney World's arrival. Over time, development pressed outward into surrounding counties, including Seminole, which boasts seven municipalities and a number of unincorporated communities within its 298 square miles.

I-4 had set the growth patterns for the region, spurring development in Altamonte Springs, Longwood and Lake Mary. The construction of the Altamonte Mall in the 1970s made southern Seminole County a focal point of retail sales in Central Florida.

"It was the first large regional mall in Central Florida," Martz notes. "It's been redone and it still thrives. That says something."

Gated, master-planned residential developments such as Lake Mary's Heathrow began to take root, and along with residential growth came more shopping venues, such as Seminole Towne Center in Sanford and Colonial Towne Center in Lake Mary.

"We do have the malls, but we have the antique stores and boutiques too," Bunn says. "And one of largest flea markets in the world."

That would be Flea World in Sanford, which boasts 1,700 booths and "over 2.5 million customers per year!" on its Web site.

Today, cities such as Altamonte Springs represent "the best of urban living wrapped into the best of suburban living," Martz says.

A staggering number of chain restaurants surrounds the Altamonte Mall, but locally owned hot spots do a brisk business as well, thanks in part to the rejuvenation of historic downtown areas such as those in Sanford and Longwood.

"The Colonial Room on First Street in Sanford still has all-you-can-eat fried chicken, and a breakfast for $5," Bunn says. "It's always packed."

In recent years, homebuyers have been snapping up and restoring inexpensive bungalows and old Victorians in Sanford, adding to the charm of a city that has brick streets and more than 450 buildings listed on the National Register of Historical Places.

"Sanford is becoming a popular place to go," Miller says. "It's beautiful what they've done down on the waterfront."

In 2004, Sanford unveiled the first phase of its 1.2-mile RiverWalk, one sign of the city's ambitious plans to remake the downtown area into a more attractive gathering spot. Longwood, too, recently spruced up its downtown district.

Meanwhile, urban town centers such as Lake Mary and Altamonte Springs are being revitalized with a mix of new retail, office and residential space.

For example, Altamonte Springs is in the midst of a project known as Uptown Altamonte, which will feature more than 1 million square feet of mixed-use development, including 255,000 square feet of retail shops and restaurants, 324 luxury multifamily units (for lease) and 236 luxury condominiums priced from $350,000 to more than $1 million.

Although its schools, industry and town centers rank high on the list of county assets, one of Seminole's biggest perks is its natural surroundings.

Everywhere you turn, you'll encounter spring-fed rivers and clear blue lakes, including the scenic St. Johns River.

"We have bike trails where you can absolutely cover this county," Miller says. "We have great public parks. Some are developed while others are on the river, and we wanted to leave them undeveloped."

Perhaps the most revered spot is Wekiwa Springs State Park, a dense semitropical forest located at the headwaters of the Wekiva River, one of Florida's two federally designated "Wild and Scenic Rivers."

"We do a lot to preserve [the parks and wilderness areas]," Miller says. "That rounds out our quality of life. If you don't take care of that, you've lost something."

So far, the county's rural outposts of Geneva and Chuluota are holding fast to their Old Florida flavor even as development pushes their way. But how long can that last?

"We really try to protect those areas," Miller says. "We try to maintain those as a rural area."

Still, the downside to living in Seminole, some say, is that development is gobbling up what was once rural land, forcing residents to deal with an ever-increasing population and traffic issues.

"Most of the growth has been good and is being managed properly," says Eddie Bauer, a commercial investment specialist with Exit Real Estate Results in Winter Springs. "But traffic can be an issue depending on where you are."

Bauer says S.R. 417, also known as the Central Florida GreeneWay, has helped to ease traffic woes for county residents.

"You can get on it and get anywhere you want quicker," Bauer says. "It's worth paying the nickels and dimes to do it."

But the toll road, which skirts the Econlockhatchee marshes that cover most of eastern Orange, northern Osceola and western Brevard counties, is poised to become a huge development corridor. Already development has accelerated in rural areas along the road, which means more choices for homebuyers in the future, Bauer says.

Not that Seminole County doesn't have an array of choices already.

Sure, you can find a $1 million house in a gated community in Seminole County. But you can still buy five acres with a 700-square-foot mobile home for about $150,000. "And," notes Bauer, "you can get everything in between."

FLORIDA'S NATURAL CHOICE

When you're in Seminole County, you're never far from spectacular scenery and outdoor recreational opportunities. The region's extensive park system, with miles of trails and acres of wilderness, welcomes visitors to a world of sparkling lakes and rivers, abundant wildlife and picturesque canopies of towering signature trees dripping with Spanish moss.

In fact, there are more than 2,000 freshwater lakes and clear-running rivers in the county, with five public wilderness areas-Geneva, Chuluota, Lake Proctor, Econlockhatchee River and Lake Jesup-and one preserve, Spring Hammock.

In addition, numerous state, county and city parks are scattered across the county. No wonder Seminole bills itself "Florida's Natural Choice."

The 180-acre Geneva Wilderness Area and the 625-acre Chuluota Wilderness Area have a variety of natural systems, such as hardwood swamp, mesic hammock, pond-pine flatwoods and rare habitats such as sand-pine scrub, making them excellent destinations for bird watching and wildlife viewing.

The gopher tortoise, white-tailed deer, wild turkey and grey fox are just a few of the critters you may spot.

Or you can watch for the golden mouse and great horned owl when you meander through the three miles of trails along the Econlockhatchee River in Oviedo's 24-acre Econ River Wilderness Area.

Also near Oviedo, the 490-acre Lake Jesup Wilderness Area offers three miles of trails with lakeside benches that provide a viewing platform to spot bald eagles and alligators. Lake Jesup, which flows directly into the St. Johns River, is home to eagles and ospreys, and it has the highest population of alligators of any lake in Florida.

On the western border of Lake Jesup is the 1,500-acre Spring Hammock Preserve. Recreational opportunities here include birding, jogging, mountain biking and fishing in Lake Jesup and Soldier's Creek. Also, the Florida Trail Association maintains a hiking trail through the hammock.

The Lake Proctor Wilderness Area, located near Geneva, has more than six miles of hiking, biking and equestrian trails to explore. The 475-acre site is also home to the Florida worm lizard and red fox.

If you want to enjoy the natural surroundings of Wekiwa Springs State Park, you'll have to get there early. During summer especially, the park is so popular that rangers sometimes close it as early as 10 a.m. to prevent overcrowding.

If you do get in, you'll have access to 13 miles of trails for hiking, bicycling and horseback riding. The 7,800-acre park is also popular among paddlers. A well-known canoe trail, the Wekiva River and Rock Springs Run, begins near Apopka in Orlando" target="_blank">Orange County and travels for several miles through the park.

Swimmers and snorkelers come to the park for its crystal-clear springs, which each day pump out 42 million gallons of water-always at a refreshing 72 degrees.

At the Lower Wekiva River Preserve State Park, a system of blackwater springs and wetlands serves as habitat for river otters, wood storks, sandhill cranes, black bears and, of course, alligators. Hikers, cyclists and equestrians can access 18 miles of multi-use trails at the northern entrance of the preserve off S.R. 44.

Little Big Econ State Forest consists of 5,048 acres of naturally scenic land about three miles east of Oviedo. Flowing through the property is the narrow, winding Econlockhatchee River, which was designated as an "Outstanding Florida Waterway." Common wildlife sightings there include hawks, sandhill cranes, ospreys, roseate spoonbills and bald eagles.

Big Tree Park, located north of Longwood, boasts a well-known landmark-a 3,500-year-old Bald Cypress called the Senator.

Finally, campers and wildlife lovers can get an up-close look at a mixed hardwood swamp at Lake Mills Park, while fishing enthusiasts often head for the 151-acre Mullet Lake Park and the 60-acre Red Bug Lake Park.