Oakleaf Plantation (Keystone, St. Augustine, Fernandina Beach: job, housing, subdivision)

[sweet_scruples]

It cut off some of my stuff......

We considered Oakleaf, but we wanted away from the craziness. We moved to Lake Asbury. It's on the opposite side of Brannon Field Rd. and 10 min. after you reach C.R. 220. It takes us about 20 min. to get into Oakleaf.

[sidmore]

I adore Oakleaf. I did wonder why people were moving so often but that seems to be the way things are now. The amenities are great and they are widening roads left and right to alleviate traffic snarls. The schools are great and they are planning to build a high school. It will be ready in about another two years (it's very close). The really great thing about it is it is a very familly oriented neighborhood with lots of things for the kids to do. We go to the pools/water slide, tennis courts, soccer fields, and basketball courts- all without leaving our little neighborhood. They set up large jumpers and other inflatables on holidays to entertain the kids. They have kids nights where the parent can have time off. They even have sleepovers directed by the staff where they can stay up all night and eat pizza. We have swim meets and tennis tournaments. We have movie night and lots of community clubs. I wouldn't live anywhere else. This is where you get the most for your money. Nearly every weekend we go look at other communities in Jacksonville and the surrounding areas and they very rarely compare to what has been created over here in Orange Park. We feel like we live in a resort and that was the whole idea! The drawback is now the kids beg to go to all of the activities in the neighborhood so be prepared. Finally, check out your builder because I am a very picky buyer (I expect quality work) and there is a builder in this area that I felt built crappy homes. It's not Lennar, Engle, Centex, Morrison, Vintage, Stylecraft, Providence, J. A. Long, Poimboeuf, Rosewood, David Weekly, Cornerstone, or Sid Higginbotham.

[Sailorbutch]

sidmore, how much are you paying for all the amenities you mentioned? We're also relocating back to Jax area and Oakleaf is one of our prospects. Thanks.

[titaniummd]

Originally Posted by Sailorbutch

sidmore, how much are you paying for all the amenities you mentioned? We're also relocating back to Jax area and Oakleaf is one of our prospects. Thanks.

I didn't look into Oakleaf, proper, but I did look at Eagle Landing and the CDD fees were around $1500-$1600 / year.

[Christine3377]

Hi there. I've lived in Japan the last 4 years and grew up in Orange Park and Middleburg and just returned from our house hunting trip. While the amenities at Oakleaf are pretty nice, I didn't like the congested neighborhoods and saw a lot of corner cutting on some of the construction of the homes. Sloppy work is a major turn off for me. Of course, I've never been a big fan of the Argyle area anyway and after taking a look at some of the fees and homes in the Plantation, opted to stay out of there. I was really shocked at the number of resale homes. Added to my concerns. A few of my friends live in Oakleaf and the consensus is split - some of them absolutely love it and others can't wait to get the heck out of there. Sadly, Orange Park seems to be going downhill rather quickly. I'd rather pay out the nose for my kids to go any place but Orange Park High School. We ventured out to Lake Asbury where the "trailer population" is dense vs. Middleburg and some really nice neighborhoods are being built, planned, and are really happy with the new construction home we purchased. There is quite a bit of inventory and those builders (Richmond American, Engle, Adams, Macy) out there are pretty desperate to get to the negotiation tables. There is also a new subdivision in the works called Rolling Hills. A smaller Eagle Harbor so to speak. A neighborhood called Royal Pointe where we almost purchased a home and behind that subdivision, they've got 60 acres on the corner of 739 and 218 yet to be developed. Lake Asbury has "A" rated schools and a High School planned to be built to alleviate the trip to Clay High. Rumored completion in 2009. Not too late for your 13 year old. I guess I'm a bit biased anyway. I like a little more elbow room and that "semi-small town" feel. Best of luck for your home search. I can't wait to close and move into ours.

[dlws92]

and I think we may be one of the "some"

We've relocated here from the Chicago suburbs. I don't *want* to live with elbow room. I want the grocery 1 mile from my house That's part of the appeal for me.

I agree with some of the corner cutting I saw there. One house, that is a good deal sq. ft. wise, had so many corners cut (all vinyl flooring with some carpet) that I wondered what was going on with the sellers! The resellers in Oakleaf are competing with the builders who are now offering fully loaded homes pretty cheap. We saw one in the Oaks that was like something out of a beautiful homes magazine and it was only 20K more than a resale with half the upgrades.

Debby

[mawipafl]

When we were househunting in April, we looked everywhere west of the river because my husband's workplace is off I-295. We seriously looked at Oakleaf and Eagle Landing, but since there's still so much still to be built (residential and commercial), we opted for Eagle Harbor because it's essentially complete - we knew what we were getting traffic-wise. We didn't enjoy Branan Field or Argyle Forest or Chaffee or Blanding congestion at all at any time of day.

We also looked at some older communities such as Habersham Harbor (next to Eagle Harbor on 220) as well as some of the gated communities (Pace Island and Magnolia Point).

Habersham has some nice, older homes (not cookiecutter) with bigger yards than some of the newer communities, but it doesn't have all the ammenities (which may or may not be important). Pace, Harbor Island, Magnolia, Margarets Walk were mostly out of our price range (which was up to $400,000). There are a couple of new developments by KB Homes in the Doctors Inlet area, but we weren't impressed.

By the way, we didn't look at houses in "regular" neighborhoods - just homes in planned communities. That's not to say they don't exist.

Driving around now after we've moved here, I've seen upper San Jose and some parts of San Marco which look beautiful, and I've meandered around Julington Creek and the Fruit Cove area - both seem very nice - but I wasn't there during commuting hours, so I can't comment on congestion. I haven't investigated Mandarin (yet). Lower San Jose near 295 is a nightmare during the commuting times in the evening. In that area - where 95 and 295 come together, it's a mess for commuters heading home (at that junction: 95 south, 295 north, San Jose south are all stop n go. 9A south isn't too bad until you reach 295). Once over the Buckman Bridge, the off ramps to 17 and Blanding are pretty full, but 17 moves much quicker than Blanding. We honestly don't mind 17 at all -- the congestion is completely gone by the time you pass Kingsley which is only a few traffic lights away.

We came from northeast PA where there's tons of elbow room, and I wondered how I'd acclimate to being able to pass a cup of sugar from my kitchen window through to my neighbor's. I can't say I like it, but we do have a private (yet small) backyard that backs up to trees and not to another's yard, and that's enjoyable. For elbow room, there are tons of places to walk or bike on blazed trails or golf cart paths. Even walking the sidewalks is enjoyable - kind of feels like Leave It To Beaver or Father Knows Best (but not Stepford!) Lots of people are out and about. The upside to close-quarters means you can't help but meet your neighbors, and ours are suberb ... which is not a fluke - I'm finding that Floridians in general are incredibly friendly.

We also chose Eagle Harbor because it's not gated (false sense of security in my mind anyway), and it's quite near the retail area on 220 (Publix, Target, etc) making it a very short drive (one can even get there by bike).

There's still retail construction going on along 220 between 17 and College Drive - no doubt as the years progress the traffic will increase, but 220 is already a divided roadway, so at least it's ready to handle a lot more traffic than it has now. Can't say the same for Branan Field or Argyle Forest (they're working on it.)

If you can afford the time when househunting to just drive around at different times of day in all the various areas, that's how one can find the ah-this-feels-like-home. I know time is short, especially for long-distancers like we were with just a few days to househunt with a realtor. But for me, our solo roadtrip was the best 10 hours we spent. The night before, we took all the listings we had and planned out a route to traverse Clay County -- just the two of us with our three-ring notebook of listings and a Clay County map. It was the perfect way to eliminate some areas immediately, put some on a short list, and put others on a ummmm maybe list. After our roadtrip, we called our realtor and gave him the list of houses we wanted to see, and he made the appointments for the following day. Yeah, two very long days, but in the end we found our house and made an offer. And here we are. No regrets.

[AceHigh]

Oakleaf is a great area. I've been living there since March 2006.
You will love the area and all the new stuff that is going around it.

[riveree]

Originally Posted by mawipafl

Driving around now after we've moved here, I've seen upper San Jose and some parts of San Marco which look beautiful, and I've meandered around Julington Creek and the Fruit Cove area - both seem very nice - but I wasn't there during commuting hours, so I can't comment on congestion. I haven't investigated Mandarin (yet). Lower San Jose near 295 is a nightmare during the commuting times in the evening. In that area - where 95 and 295 come together, it's a mess for commuters heading home (at that junction: 95 south, 295 north, San Jose south are all stop n go. 9A south isn't too bad until you reach 295). Once over the Buckman Bridge, the off ramps to 17 and Blanding are pretty full, but 17 moves much quicker than Blanding. We honestly don't mind 17 at all -- the congestion is completely gone by the time you pass Kingsley which is only a few traffic lights away.

We came from northeast PA where there's tons of elbow room, made an offer.

That section of I95 & 9A in Mandarin does get some traffic issues, Mandarin overall has some pretty heavy traffic. San Jose to the north is much better, especially north of Bolles (private school).

Mawipafl, if you're still looking around at other possibilities and you like elbow room, take a look at Fort Caroline too. It has a similar look to San Jose and some very big lots. It's also a good commute to downtown (if that's where your husband works) and the beach is just down the road. It's a nice, quiet, established area .

[dlws92]

Our temp housing is right next door to Eagle Harbor! I agree this area is great with lots of shopping close by. Eagle Harbor also looks like its a great neighborhood as well.

Problem for us is that my husband works out in Baldwin and the commute just isn't that fun. Otherwise, I would prefer Eagle Harbor to Oakleaf.