My s.o. and I are planning to move to northern Florida or southern Georgia within the year. We have friends in Jacksonville, so we’re looking for something within an hour or two drive of Jax. Our main problem is that we want to have two horses, and we don’t know what the zoning laws (if any) permit. We drove though Yulee on our last trip there and saw a couple of places with horses. We’re interested in an older, established town, with a close-knit community, and shopping within a half hour’s drive. We saw a couple of realtors in northern Florida and southern Georgia, and they weren’t knowledgeable about the horsey aspect. From driving through Georgia and Florida, my impression is that there ISN’T any zoning – you see very nice houses, along with mobile homes, and seedy, junky areas in the same area. In Nassau County, one realtor told us that the standard was one acre per horse. We can afford more than two acres. Also of importance: open space and trails for riding.
Funny you should ask…
We were in Jax this weekend checking out the area since we will be moving South this year too and are also torn between N. Fl and S.Ga.
We were concentrating on the Orange Park, Middleburg areas.
While in the outlying areas of Orange Park, we saw many many areas with horses.
Orange Park seems to be the hotspot with very affordable housing.
The realtor also told us to stay far far away from O. Parks’ hospital and to head downtown instead.
However after experiencing their 5:00 traffic, we will reconsider the area.
Middleburg was very nice and had a great rural feel to it, while maintaining a reasonable drive to Jax for shopping,restaurants etc. It seemed like every other house had horses in the yard…
The beach which I desperately need to be close to, was an easy drive.
Downtown Jax is beautiful! There were lots of restaurants and shopping right on the river and the views were wonderful.
Don’t know if we had a funky realtor or what but she could only manage to come up with 6 houses to look at all weekend. We were NOT happy about that…
… 5 were awful and the other one was way too nice for the neighborhood.
Also, Jax has a Naval Air station or two, which concerned us… traffic,noise etc.
I’m from South Ga and dont really want to go into too much detail and rave about it for fear everybody and his brother may move there… LOL
I would consider Albany, a very nice, very pretty, good sized town, but it is in the middle of nothing. Insiders Note: MOST people are moving out of Albany into the neighboring town of Leesburg to avoid the rising property taxes…
Valdosta has a University and is ok… plus it is right off I-75 EASY off EASY on… 
Both GA cities still have that rural flavor, and of the other S. Ga cities would be WAY too small to suit me…
We will be making a decision by March/ April
Good luck in your search! 
If you are willing to be a little further south than Jax, and want interaction with horse minded people check out Ocala, FL. This city prides itself on their horses and the economy is mainly driven by the horse trade. It is relatively inexpensive and horses are even welcome at the Hilton down there (really).
My parents live in Fernandina Beach, so I drive through Yulee often. It’s a pit. You don’t want to live there.
On the good hand, though, it does get all the good/bad things the Fernandina people want nearby but not on their island, my dear. So now Yulee has a Wal-Mart Supercenter (whether this is a personal plus is up to you) and a Lowes. And Jacksonville is near, as is Fernandina with the resortier areas and the pretty beaches.
The zoning thing is a problem, as you mentioned, and I believe it’s why a lot of the nicer houses seem to be in those gated communities off of A1A - otherwise you can’t be sure a mobile home park isn’t going to move in next door. However, if it’s land you want, you can certainly have quite the cozy place with horses there. I’d hesitate to call Yulee a “close-knit community”, however - I see it more as a bedroom town for elsewhere.
However, I strongly suggest living near the border if you’re going to be driving back and forth from elsewhere - you hate to hit the Florida line and realize you still have hours to go! Have you looked at St. Mary’s, on the Georgia side of the line? Or down near St. Augustine, past Jacksonville?
Are you one of the Glengarry leads?
I, too, was diappointed with the realtors we talked to – they didn’t seem to know very much about their territory. We did talk to a realtor in St. Mary’s County. She has my e-mail address and supposedly will look for something for us and let us know.
I won’t hold my breath.
One realtor in the Jax area seemed to be pushing mobile homes which we do NOT want. She did find a “modular” house with enough acreage for two horses; she couldn’t take us to see it at that time, but we had the address and searched but couldn’t find it. It appeared to be in the middle of nowhere, with a lot of road construction going on.
zsofia: we are familiar with Fernandina – we’re civil war reenactors and attend events at Fort Clinch, which is in Fernandina. We like St. Augustine, but last time I tried to find something there online I had no luck. I was aware of Ocala, but I’m trying to stay further north, mainly because of the weather. I don’t want to live in air conditioning all the time and wanted an area where it gets cool occasionally. Southern Georgia is definitely a possibility, but the key element is remaining with an hour or two drive of Jax.
JJimm: Huh?
The movie Glengarry Glen Ross is about shady salesmen trying to sell land in Florida.
All the leads they have to work on are out of date, but there’s a new batch called the Glengarry leads - that they’re not allowed to touch - that comprises people who are actually interested in Florida. Just like you.
You were in the neighborhood and you didn’t call?? :eek:
I live in Orange Park, off Blanding, the road to and from hell during rush hour… I would not recommend OP or points south just because of Blanding.
Try Baker County - just west of Duval (which is Jax) It’s still pretty rural but I know a number of people commute into the city - I-10 is a straight shot downtown.
Middleburg, south of OP, still has some wide open areas, but there’s the whole Blanding Blvd issue, although a bit to the west, there’s 301, which heads north and crosses I-10.
Sycorax, I’ve lived in this area all but 3 years since '83. Feel free to email me if you have any questions.
I work in marketing for a low voltage home and commercial products company(security, intercoms, computer networking, etc). I have several contacts with both homebuilders and realtors here in NE Fl and SE Ga. By FAR the largest realtor is Watson…I would contact them if you have having trouble finding a knowledgeable company.
Middleburg has several areas that are full of horse farms, including a couple where there are still undeveloped lots for sale. BUT…unless you work in Orange Park, you are going to fight traffic for at least an hour or two every day getting in and out of the area.
A better choice(and a better investment) would be down off of HGWY 210(210 is the dividing line between Duval(Jax) county and St Johns county). By taking 95 south of Jax about 5 miles, and turning west on 210, you can go about 8-10 miles and there are several new developments all zoned residential but allowing horses. This area is exploding and real estate is going up in value so quickly its not funny. Other perks- you are 10-15minutes from the SS/Avenues shopping district, which is Jacksonvilles best shopping area. You are also only 10-15minutes from St. Augustine. Also, St Johns county schools are generally better than Duval county schools. Our company works with several builders who do work down in that area, if you want numbers/names, let me know and i’ll get them(I don’t handle those accounts, but I know the person who does)
jimm: No, we’re not a Glengarry lead. JaxBB - one of the realtors we visited talked about a new development that allowed horses, but my s.o. couldn’t figure out how that worked – I mean, did they have barns, sheds, etc. for the horses or what. We didn’t check it out, but then I’m not interested in a new development – I want an older, established town/city with a rural feel. Schools are not an issue (no kids). Fairychatmom: you’ve touched on a real issue for me – we now live in the D. C. metro area and the traffic and congestion makes me crazy! That’s one thing I want to get away from. Thanks for the offer of help – I just may contact you when we come up with leads. Thanks everyone.
well, both sets of parents are retired in Ocala, and my mother (went nuts and recently) bought herself a young Quarterhorse filly that she boards elsewhere in the area.
surprisingly, the temperature has a pretty wide range in Ocala. nights in wintertime can get down to or even below 32. (Mom even blankets the little witch some times at night! :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: ) and the area isn’t all flat, either. topographically, it almost feels a bit like Virginia (until you look at the vegetation). it’s certainly much more temperate than, say, Port Charlotte (which is about another hour’s drive south).
what seems to be a bit disconcerting though, based on my mother’s experiences there, is the difficulty in getting/keeping a good farrier or vet. (particularly given that the Ocala area is practically COVERED by horse farms of all sizes and degrees, from show jumpers to racing. think there’s even a small commercial airport not far from where they live that routinely handles horse flights.) and the price of hay is nothing short of highway robbery! think she said once that they’ve paid around $8.00/bale. (another big string of :eek: s.)
visiting the tack shops in the area is one of the big “to do” things for my husband and i, whenever we go down there for a visit. but shopping for people is a bit on the sucky side. my mom has been known to come up and visit us so she can hit the malls in our area.
Heck, if you’re in the DC area, your reaction to traffic here will be “pffft - what’s the big deal??” Until you’ve been around a while, at which point, you’ll bitch like a native! 
Please do feel free to contact me - what little wisdom I have is yours.
The development allows for horses in that it is zoned for horses, and the lots are of sufficient size to support them. Not EVERYONE in the development has horses, it would be up to the individual homeowner to prepare the property (fencing, barns, etc) for horses.
If you are looking for a smaller, more established town…you might stay away from the immediate metro Jacksonville area. The cities to the north (Fernandina, Yulee, Callahan, Hilliard), south (St. Augustine) and west (Macclenny) are gradually being assimilated into a huge metro area. You may want to look closer to the Lake City/Gainesville/Ocala area.