Questions About Jacksonville Florida

[KimandBrian]

We're considering relocating to Jacksonville, FL and we do not know much about the area. It seems to have a lot of job opportunities and a better climate than Kansas City.

We are looking for feedback from anyone who has spent time in Jacksonville or from anyone who lives there.

Is the housing affordable? What are the bad parts of town? Good parts of town? Good entertainment and restaurants?

Thanks in advance!!!!

 

[cynsaun]

We were looking at relocating to Jacksonville a few years back due to my job.

From my research, it seemed that St. John's county was the best for schools (not sure if this is still true!)

We stayed in Jacksonville last August on our way down to WDW, and absolutely LOVED it! We drove through Ponte Vedra, this is where I would live if we moved there! My neighbors just moved from this area, and she told me that she loved it as well.

It seemed to have newer shopping areas, and it had a lot of nice subdivisions.

I hope this helps you a bit. In the least, it is bumped up, and maybe someone will see it that lives there!

Good luck!

 

[doxdogy]

Jacksonville is a big city. We live in Mandarin and the housing prices vary on my side of town. Houses in my neighborhood range from the low to high 100's. The quality of the schools vary. There are some that are excellent and there are some that are not so good. I don't have any children in school, so I really don't keep up with the schools. There is the Westside, Northside and Southside of town. Usually the homes are less expensive on the Westside and Northside of town. The cost of living doesn't seem to be expensive compared to other parts of Florida. We don't have any state, county or city income taxes. There is also St. John's, Clay and Nassau County nearby. These county's still have some rural areas, where you can basically live out in the country away from the congestion of the city. However, there is the price of a commute to pay for living out in these areas. Property is getting expensive out in the St. John's county area. In Nassau and Clay, the cost of land is still relatively inexpensive. Below is a link for the city of Jacksonville and for the Duval County (Jacksonville) school board.

http://www.coj.net
http://www.educationcentral.org

 

[tinatark]

We lived in Jacksonville until Jan '99.

Like dox said, you have a huge range of housing options, from city living, planned subdivisions to large properties in the outlying areas.

Ponte Vedra is a (mostly) exclusive area. Easily one of the most expensive areas to live in, as most of the areas across the Intracoastal Waterway are (they'r considered "Beaches", kinda Jacksonville but not, if that makes any sense). The areas west of the Intracoastal Bridge are quickly growing and very popular. The Northside used to be the "stepchild" of the city, but now accessibility is much improved and housing is changing out there. When I grew up in the rural northside area, we didn't have a paved road or grocery store until my teenage years ! And I am only 36 now! Needless to say, Jacksonville has experienced a lot of growth recently!

Jacksonville and Duval County are consolidated. I never really paid much attention to that until I moved here, we have county and city governing agencies. I much prefer the consolidated government. This makes a difference as there are no city vs county services, police, fire, garbage, etc.

Florida schools are very progressive, vouchers are offered in some areas, and scholarships for the amount of a public school education are offered to any special ed-diagnosed student. The areas west of the Intracoastal have probably the best schools in the city. Sabal Palm comes to mind as a great school. If we were to move back today, it would probably be in the Intracoastal West area.

Jobs plentiful in Jacksonville would include banking, hospitals, insurance companies. CSX railroad also has a large presence there.

The local newspaper is jacksonville.com.

If you look at homes on realtor.com, some zip codes you want to check are 32225, 32211, 32216,32224.

Good Luck !

 

[soccerchick]

My sister lives in JAX and, for the most part, likes it. She lives off the Baymeadows exit from Rt. 95. She is about 20 min. from Ponte Vedre (sp?). She also likes to go to St. Augustine (30 min.)I have spent a lot of time in the area and it is very nice. She lives in fairly new community where homes are selling from about 225,000 to close to 300,000. These are one and two story homes, most w/four bedrooms. I'd say most are 2000 to 3000 sq. feet. Hers is right around 2k and she paid 210,000 two years ago.

She laughs at how people freak out about traffic . She moved there from No. Va and used to travel the beltway for work! Their rush hour is about 20 minutes as opposed to 3 hours here. She likes being close to the beach, (20 min.) but it does get oppressively hot in the summer. Too hot for her to put her convertible top down or take the baby out for a walk until after dinner.

 

[KimandBrian]

Thanks for all the wonderful information everyone. This feedback certainly helps us a lot.

 

[KimandBrian]

Bump....anyone else?

 

[JimB.]

I live in St. Augustine, about 1/2 hour south.

Jacksonville is a rapidly growing city, with a lot of the "normal" issues associated with that. A LOT of infrastructure construction is going on, mostly in an attempt to put on a modern face for the Super Bowl, upcoming this next year.

The downtown area is mostly daytime business, with not a significant amount of entertainment after hours, compared with other "big cities". Until the last 2-3 years, downtown living was almost non-existent. New, VERY expensive condo projects are now underway, which should (hopefully) breath life into the city center.

Minor league hockey & baseball, NFL Football (sort of ). College football is BIG in NE Florida (university of Florida, Florida State & UGA founds abound).

The school system is superior in St John's County. To a significant degree, the north end of my county is a "bedroom" community because of our school system. Live here, go to school here, work in Jacksonville.

Housing is cheaper in Jax out in the 'burbs, but housing prices are on a steady surge. They might or might not be cheap compared to where you are now, but to us it is getting ex-pen-sive. My house has appreciated in value approx 18%/year for the last 5 years.

Ponte Vedra is in St. Johns County, not Jacksonville. Veeeeeeeery
expensive housing. The "old" money is there. The "new" money is farther south in St Augustine area & the World Golf Village.

Climate? I think we had 8 nights last winter with freezing temperatures. Be warned, in the summer the weather is Hot & HUMID. If you are not used to sweating, it will take some getting used to.

The military is a big presence in Jacksonville, with NAS JAcksonville & Naval Station Mayport both being in town What used to be Cecil Field Naval Air Station (which closed 5-6 years ago ) is now Cecil Industrial Park, with a fair amount of aviation & High-tech industries there.

Good luck in your decision.

 

[KimandBrian]

Okay, you've convinced us. We're definitely moving to Jacksonville July 1st. Now my husband just has to fly down and get us a place to live. (minor detail) LOL

The job market looks great so we won't worry about not having jobs lined up. I figure we have enough in savings for our move, new place and two months of bills.

Thanks everyone!

 

[tinatark]

Oh! I forgot... it's very funny, now that I live in a cold(er) climate (TN, Smoky Mountains)...

In Jacksonville, about 4-5 times per winter, you get "hard freeze" warnings. Never heard those here! Oh, it's commonplace!

In the 30+ years I lived there, we had snow when I was, i think 10 or so (25 years ago)... we also had some ice 11 years ago, over Christmas. Shut the town down!

 

[doxdogy]

As they say here in Jacksonville, if you don't like the weather during the winter wait a day for it is sure to change. Not uncommon for it to be in the 50's at the beginning of the week and almost 70 at the end of the week.

 

[Cruise04]

You also are not THAT far from Hilton Head (there's a DVC resort there and it's nice and relaxing - hehehehe!!!!)

We stopped there on our way home from our cruise last year and met some friends at Steak and Ale. I think it's on the south side of town and the food was wonderful!!!!

http://www.steakandale.com/

That's, unfortunately, about all I know about Jacksonville. Oh, and it's a navy town.

 

[Trinity721]

DH, DD and I are about to move there! We may be neighbors! I guess it depends on what you're used to. We are moving there from Chicago, and I'm used to the bustle of the city and suburban life here. But DH has been there for almost 2 yrs now (stationed in Mayport) and enjoys it, so we can't wait to go. One thing's for sure.... Jacksonville in the winter has got to be at least 10x better than Chicago in the winter!!!

Good luck with everything, perhaps we will run into each other one day!

 

[Micca]

How is the drive from Jacksonville to WDW?

 

[Trinity721]

Did that drive last year for Mother's day. It took us 3 hrs w/ DD b/c we had to stop a few times. Most say it's about 2.5 hrs, not bad at all!!!

 

[KimandBrian]

Originally posted by Trinity721
DH, DD and I are about to move there! We may be neighbors! I guess it depends on what you're used to. We are moving there from Chicago, and I'm used to the bustle of the city and suburban life here. But DH has been there for almost 2 yrs now (stationed in Mayport) and enjoys it, so we can't wait to go. One thing's for sure.... Jacksonville in the winter has got to be at least 10x better than Chicago in the winter!!!

Good luck with everything, perhaps we will run into each other one day!

My friend and his wife lived in Mayport and they absolutely loved it. (He was also in the Navy) I have heard such wonderful things about the area that I cant wait to get there!!!

Good luck with your move.