May move there…
What do I need to know?
What do I need to be warned about?
How are the beaches now?
Would like to hear opinions and details that slimeball real estate agents always “Forget” to mention.
Thanks
You asking about Jacksonville, FL? As it happens, I’ve lived here all but 3 years since 1983. Feel free to e-mail me with any and all questions…
What you need to know depends upon so many things - but I can say without reservations that if you have kids who’ll be going to school here, do NOT live in Duval county if you value their education.
I’m not a beach person, so I can’t really address that, but I’ll share my wisdom and insight on other stuff.
Of course, it’s probably only fair to mention that I intend to be a former Floridian in 3 years…
You asking about Jacksonville, FL? As it happens, I’ve lived here all but 3 years since 1983. Feel free to e-mail me with any and all questions…
What you need to know depends upon so many things - but I can say without reservations that if you have kids who’ll be going to school here, do NOT live in Duval county if you value their education.
I’m not a beach person, so I can’t really address that, but I’ll share my wisdom and insight on other stuff.
Of course, it’s probably only fair to mention that I intend to be a former Floridian in 3 years…
I lived there when I was very young. I don’t remember much but what I do remember is that we could see the space shuttles going into outerspace down there. I was very young at the time so those memories could be entirely false…
I spent 3 [sup]1[/sup]/[sub]2[/sub] years in J-ville, leaving about 2 years ago. I was a Naval Recruiter, and as such, went into pretty much every part of the city and county, including some overlap into Clay County and Orange Park.
Surface traffic in the city is bad (unless the construction projects underway when I left have really worked), and it takes a long time to get almost anywhere, so pick your location carefully, after surveying traffic at all times of day, and all days of the week.
The cost of living is quite reasonable. Two years ago I was paying $570/month for 1290sq.ft. of appartment (upstairs/downstairs, Washer&dryer), and was living quite comfortably on E-6 pay (about $38,000/year, once all benefits were counted) in the Southside / Baymeadows area. Other areas will differ, but Southside/Baymeadows is pretty close to median, IMO. The portions of the city north of downtown were pretty rough, and rather rundown. Westside (west of the St. Johns river), especially past NAS Jacskonville, are also fairly low-rent, but less rough. Orange Park and Green Cove Springs (Both in Clay County) are nice, but traffic into J-ville is murder, so you may as well stay in Clay county, if you live down there. I personally think Southside is best, but it is (or was) going upscale, so will likely be getting pricey. Beaches are a whole 'nother category, and one I’m rather less familar with, except for Mayport, which is a Navy town, and has horrible traffic in the morning (early!) and mid-afternoon, when everyone is going to, or from, the base.
The weather is quite nice for Florida, being rather less humid than other areas, and cooler (somewhat), to boot. J-ville hasn’t had a hurricane in something like 30 years, and seems deally place to get missed by the big ones. It does, however, frequently rain like no-ones business, and the town has a height above sealevel of about 12 feet. In the winter it can actually get pretty chill, sometimes going below freezing, so don’t lose your cold-weather stuff right away. Few sights are more odd than icicles on palm trees.
To echo what FCM said about Ducal County schools: As a Naval Recruiter, I had one hell of a time getting kids to pass the entrance aptitude test, the four key portions of which were Math Knowledge, Arithmetic Reasoning, Word Knowledge, and Reading Comprehension. The test isn’t hard, you only need to score in the top 66% to qualify at some level for the Nav, and I was getting about a 60% failure rate (60% of my subjects were scoring in the bottom 33% of national scores). Not real good. Mind you, this wasn’t a scientific survey, and I did get some kids with really superior scores (mostly from Nathan B. Forrest HS in Westside. Go figure), but far more were having a rough time. Oh, and the dropout rate was frighteningly high.
Things may’ve turned around since I left, but that’s how it was two years ago.
Work is pretty much available, but much of it is in the service industries, blue collar (warehousing, UPS), or lower-tier hightech indstries (AOL, AT&T call centers). The town has a strong alternative music scene, as well as a good club scene, and a good handful of smaller (club-to-concert) bands come through every month. Occasionally, big name acts come to town, but they usually give J-ville a pass. The Jags are a religion, and the 'Noles vs. Gators is an ongoing religious war.
Anyway, there’s my quick thumbnail.
Thanks, that is the kind of info I was looking for.
Yes, schools will be a top priority.
I also heard metal detectors are in a lot of the schools.
Thats scary…
Is the traffic in Jville as bad as Atlanta?
What about the tax structure?
Good Lord, I’m beginning to think I should just stay in Atlanta.
I’ve never driven in Atlanta, but traffic can be a pain here. One thing that makes it worse is having to cross the river - if your bridge of choice is blocked by an accident, your detour can be quite long. My husband and I both work on the west side of the city, so we live in Orange Park - Clay County - better schools. The disadvantage is that there are, for all intents and purposes, only 2 roads from Clay to Jax - and both can become parking lots with little encouragement.
Tax structure? Not sure what you’re looking for here, but sales tax is 7%. Auto registration is a bit on the high side, I think. I don’t know how property taxes compare with other areas. Gasoline taxes are higher than Ga. - to get them tourist $$$. We don’t have a state income tax, but in the grand scheme of things, we pay for it in other taxes.
I don’t want to make it sound terrible - it’s not a bad area and lots of people love it here. We’re not among them, and we intend to move back to the Chesapeake Bay area when our daughter graduates in '04. The politics are too conservative to suit me, and I’m sick to death of people who are still fighting the Civil War…
But the beaches are nice, and there are always things to do, especially if you like water-related activities. It’s a short drive to St. Augustine and Fernandina and Daytona. There are flea markets and frequent festivals, and the Clay County Fair is a lot of fun.
Oh, yeah - Slim Whitman lives a few miles south of Jax - how’s that for a center of celebrity?!?
OK, I’ve been thinking about this now, so here’s a bit more:
Traffic at certain locations is the worst I’ve ever seen (and I’m a California boy!). Example: It could take 7:30am traffic 35 minutes to go from Old Baymeadows Rd to I-95 (distance: 1.1 Mile). At almost any point in the day, to get from Westside to the beach takes at least 45 minutes, (or much longer during high trafic times) a distance of ~20 miles. On the other hand, to get from Baymeadows/I-95 to the airport (~35 miles) only takes about 40 minutes, except for peak rush hour conditions. It really depends on where you’re trying to go, and where you started.
J-ville’s crime rate, when I left, was pretty low, and the Sheriff was really damn good. I hope he’s still there (FCM, Is he?). The town is pretty ‘Bubba’, with startling bits of culture thrown in. It has more hospital beds than any city of it’s size should have, and even has a branch of the Mayo Clinic near Fernadina Beach.
The schools in Duval (HA! Spelled it right that time!) county lost their national accreditiation a couple of decades ago, and came D*mn close to losing it again, recently. There’s been a long-standing legal battle against the Duval County School Board by the NAACP over equal rights / desegregation / equal oportunity, and the “Gang of 50” keeps meddling in the affairs of the Board. (The “gang of 50” or the “Nifty 50”, depending whether you approve or disapprove, are the business ‘leaders’ for whose benefit J-ville is run) Ed White HS had uniformed security in it’s halls during class breaks, while N. B. Forrest HS had teachers with radios. Ed White was newer, but had poorer academics. Another high school, the name of which escapes me at the momment (not a regular part of my territory), despite being very old and in a tougher neighborhood, had no visible security at all, and was an acadamic standout (one of only a few high-performing schools). So, it’s hard to figure which neighborhood to live for your children’s benfit.
The city is run to benefit business, and has a lot of boondoggle things, like a mass transit light rail downtown that cost 100 times more than planned, and has less than 1/10th the ridership projected. It was totally unnecessary, but happened anyway. That being said, it’ll be nice to have some basic infrastructure in place, come 10 years from now, when it actually might make sense (assuming it’s still in working condition by then!).
Now, despite all I’ve said, I like Jacksonville. It’s friendly, warm, and Limp Bizkit and Seven Nations call it home. I just don’t want to have my kids in it’s school system. Unless you have to work at the Beaches, go to Clay county.