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Parks, parks, parks. Come on now, I know you're trying to be fair and balanced and I appreciate that, but let me just reply to this:
Quote:
Originally Posted by parks71
1. So are the wages, it all turns out in the wash. High property taxes and housing insurance here in Jax as well.
Still lower COL than other cities in FL with a higher per capita income. Also higher per capita income than Atlanta or Charlotte, though there are definitely far more wealthy people in Atlanta and S FL.
2. Weather is anything but mild, it is extreme, extreme heat that is. Mild is somewhere in between.
So don't move to FL or the South or interior CA, the SW, or most of the U.S. for that matter. At least we don't have earthquakes or frequent major tornadoes or blizzards/any kind of snowstorm.
3. We do have beaches if this is your thing.
4. Very nice river IMO
See this is where I think Jax has a long way to improve. Limited access and relatively dirty with algal blooms and now "Guinness Beer" foam.
5. Who cares about the port?
Top 3 biggest asset and economic driver for our city. Most people who know anything about the port care and a large percentage of jobs in NE FL have some relation to port activity.
6. Dont all major cities have this?
No, not even close. Ever been to Charlotte, Raleigh, Orlando, and many more cities? We have "nice" historic neighborhoods, too, not shotgun house neighborhoods that serve only as hoods. Many cities would kill for an Avondale, San Marco, Ortega, Riverside, or even Springfield. We have some beautiful old houses that simply don't exist in the other cities. We have houses on par with old Palm Beach and Newport, RI level of sophistication and history with the same architects as their creators.
7. You dont move to Jax for the sky line thats for sure.
I grew up with the following skyline view:
Also check these:
8. We dont pay state taxes although we are still in the middle for total taxed as far as all states go, they just get you in other places. I am actually for a small <4% state tax that ALL goes to education to try to clean up this place.
Agreed, I am also for higher local property taxes to get more projects done. Many cities have a higher tax levied on their property just for the school system. Ours is only around 7 mils with another 8 or so mils for strict property taxes. Atlanta's city taxes come out to a whopping 42 mils, but it doesn't help their school system at all.
9. Traffic can be very bad because of the long commutes for most of us. It takes me 30 mins to get to work with out traffic and with traffic it can take over an hour. I would not say the worst traffic, but its not great and I was born and raised in San Diego.
Never been, but I bet San Diego traffic is much worse.
10. We dont get hit by hurricanes? We have, and we will again, just a matter of time.
We can take it . No we rarely do receive direct hits from our coast. You can live here now 46 years and counting and not receive hurricane force winds to your house.
jimbo and parks ALWAYS have somethign negative o say about jacksonville in fact its probably 90% of thier posts!!!
i kno ive seen other threads about his same topic but i agree that jacksonville is a nice place to live bc its a good "in between" a big city ant a small town i think
wah, wah, wah... try getting a sense of humor, cheanie.
Just to throw a new opinion into the mix--my husband & I moved here early this year and - with a few notable exceptions - feel like we landed in Paradise. I know you long-term Jax residents are already rolling around on the floor laughing, but a. no place is 100% perfect, and b. it's all relative to what you know and what you came from.
We moved here from Chicago. The city, NOT the suburbs. So yeah, we've had some adjusting to the suburban feel and sprawl of Jax. I haven't driven a car so much in the last 12 years as I have in the past 6 months. We aren't used to stores closing (most grocery and drug stores are 24 hours up there). We miss the sports scene (nothing better than a summer afternoon at Wrigley Field), good pizza, and decent public transportation.
BUT...we sure don't miss the ridiculous cost of living or the high sales and property taxes (10.25% sales tax, our last property tax bill was around $8K on a 2Ksqft house valued at $380K). We bought a 3Ksqft house on the water for less than we paid for that house 8 years ago. I like not having state income tax, although I actually agree with someone else's comment that a small tax to benefit the education system here would be beneficial.
We think the weather has been incredible-we left Chicago to get away from the cold after all. The endless heat and sunshine has been wonderful. I don't mind the humidity and we welcome the rain as long as it stays in liquid form all year round! Thinking about never having to deal with driving in ice-covered roads again makes me quite happy!
I can't imagine the beach *isn't* someone's thing...I've been almost every day since I got here. Yes, yes, I know not everyone loves the beach. But those of us who do recognize the amazing natural settings we have here in the Jax area. We are boat and water people. We have a boat and jetskis and if we aren't on the beach ourselves, we are on the water. I've seen pods of dolphins almost every day. Chicago has beaches & marinas - nice ones actually with beautiful views of the city skyline. But you can only use them 3-4 months of the year. 5 if you're lucky. Otherwise you'll die of hypothermia. The idea that we can still be on and in the water in late Sept is AWESOME!
Traffic? Ha. There is no traffic here. Try driving the outbound Kennedy Exprway on a Friday afternoon in January and then we can talk about traffic. (Disclaimer: I have spent a lot of time in LA, and yes, I know they in turn scoff at what Chicago considers traffic. I will toss back that at least you don't have to snowplow sunshine!)
In exchange, we left behind an incredible skyline, beautiful historic neighborhoods, Lake Michigan, wonderful architecture....we aren't disillusioned that one is better than the other. But for two people with no kids who love the beach, warm weather, and boating and fishing, Jax is a great place to live. We expect to be here a while and I hope to see improvements in things like downtown, public transportation, the education system, and environmental issues (like keeping the river clean).
I couldnt quote your reply, I guess due to your pictures, but I'd like to respectfuly reply
1. So are the wages, it all turns out in the wash. High property taxes and
housing insurance here in Jax as well.
Still lower COL than other cities in FL with a higher per capita income. Also higher per capita income than Atlanta or Charlotte, though there are definitely far more wealthy people in Atlanta and S FL. This is a fair statement if we are comparing florida to florida, I was not doing that.
2. Weather is anything but mild, it is extreme, extreme heat that is. Mild is somewhere in between.
So don't move to FL or the South or interior CA, the SW, or most of the U.S. for that matter. At least we don't have earthquakes or frequent major tornadoes or blizzards/any kind of snowstorm.
I am going to disagree here, when refering to weather, I dont include natural events. All around weather here is not mild, its HOT. Earthquakes have nothing to do with weather and should be address when discussing hurricanes down below. You are comparing other places with extremes as well, some where in the middle would be NC. I honestly dont think its really a debate that it is extreme heat here for long periods of time.
3. We do have beaches if this is your thing.
4. Very nice river IMO
See this is where I think Jax has a long way to improve. Limited access and relatively dirty with algal blooms and now "Guinness Beer" foam.
Theres always room for improvement but I have enjoyed the river and intracoastal more than anything else in Jax by far but I can agree theres room for improvement.
5. Who cares about the port?
Top 3 biggest asset and economic driver for our city. Most people who know anything about the port care and a large percentage of jobs in NE FL have some relation to port activity.
I'll stand corrected here.
6. Dont all major cities have this?
No, not even close. Ever been to Charlotte, Raleigh, Orlando, and many more cities? We have "nice" historic neighborhoods, too, not shotgun house neighborhoods that serve only as hoods. Many cities would kill for an Avondale, San Marco, Ortega, Riverside, or even Springfield. We have some beautiful old houses that simply don't exist in the other cities. We have houses on par with old Palm Beach and Newport, RI level of sophistication and history with the same architects as their creators.
You named a few that may not (not sure, never looked there but I'll take your word on it) but there are plenty that do, Denver, Savanaha, Charelston to name a few.
7. You dont move to Jax for the sky line thats for sure.
I grew up with the following skyline view:
I can respect your opinion on that but is it even a top 20 skyline in the US? I would suspect not and I know its not a "reason" to move here for most. I dont think its UGLY, I just dont think its a top 10 thing about Jax.
Just to throw a new opinion into the mix--my husband & I moved here early this year and - with a few notable exceptions - feel like we landed in Paradise. I know you long-term Jax residents are already rolling around on the floor laughing, but a. no place is 100% perfect, and b. it's all relative to what you know and what you came from.
We moved here from Chicago. The city, NOT the suburbs. So yeah, we've had some adjusting to the suburban feel and sprawl of Jax. I haven't driven a car so much in the last 12 years as I have in the past 6 months. We aren't used to stores closing (most grocery and drug stores are 24 hours up there). We miss the sports scene (nothing better than a summer afternoon at Wrigley Field), good pizza, and decent public transportation.
BUT...we sure don't miss the ridiculous cost of living or the high sales and property taxes (10.25% sales tax, our last property tax bill was around $8K on a 2Ksqft house valued at $380K). We bought a 3Ksqft house on the water for less than we paid for that house 8 years ago. I like not having state income tax, although I actually agree with someone else's comment that a small tax to benefit the education system here would be beneficial.
We think the weather has been incredible-we left Chicago to get away from the cold after all. The endless heat and sunshine has been wonderful. I don't mind the humidity and we welcome the rain as long as it stays in liquid form all year round! Thinking about never having to deal with driving in ice-covered roads again makes me quite happy!
I can't imagine the beach *isn't* someone's thing...I've been almost every day since I got here. Yes, yes, I know not everyone loves the beach. But those of us who do recognize the amazing natural settings we have here in the Jax area. We are boat and water people. We have a boat and jetskis and if we aren't on the beach ourselves, we are on the water. I've seen pods of dolphins almost every day. Chicago has beaches & marinas - nice ones actually with beautiful views of the city skyline. But you can only use them 3-4 months of the year. 5 if you're lucky. Otherwise you'll die of hypothermia. The idea that we can still be on and in the water in late Sept is AWESOME!
Traffic? Ha. There is no traffic here. Try driving the outbound Kennedy Exprway on a Friday afternoon in January and then we can talk about traffic. (Disclaimer: I have spent a lot of time in LA, and yes, I know they in turn scoff at what Chicago considers traffic. I will toss back that at least you don't have to snowplow sunshine!)
In exchange, we left behind an incredible skyline, beautiful historic neighborhoods, Lake Michigan, wonderful architecture....we aren't disillusioned that one is better than the other. But for two people with no kids who love the beach, warm weather, and boating and fishing, Jax is a great place to live. We expect to be here a while and I hope to see improvements in things like downtown, public transportation, the education system, and environmental issues (like keeping the river clean).
Welcome to Jacksonville, it seems that we are really starting to get an influx of people from different areas of the US relocating here.
PS. Chicago has always been our favorite place to spend a little time.
I couldnt quote your reply, I guess due to your pictures, but I'd like to respectfuly reply
1. So are the wages, it all turns out in the wash. High property taxes and
housing insurance here in Jax as well.
Still lower COL than other cities in FL with a higher per capita income. Also higher per capita income than Atlanta or Charlotte, though there are definitely far more wealthy people in Atlanta and S FL. This is a fair statement if we are comparing florida to florida, I was not doing that.
I still think Jax has a LOW LOW LOW COL compared to most cities across the country. We don't have state income tax, we have one of the lowest property milage rates in the country, some of the lowest utility rates, low housing costs in most areas, and our groceries are about average, right? Where the costs will get you is higher insurance mainly for waterfront and beach community owners (reasonably), and car/gas/wear and tear costs (i.e. transportation costs) because we are so sprawled. At least the roads aren't covered in potholes and grates and don't need to be repaved every 4 years.
2. Weather is anything but mild, it is extreme, extreme heat that is. Mild is somewhere in between.
So don't move to FL or the South or interior CA, the SW, or most of the U.S. for that matter. At least we don't have earthquakes or frequent major tornadoes or blizzards/any kind of snowstorm.
I am going to disagree here, when refering to weather, I dont include natural events. All around weather here is not mild, its HOT. Earthquakes have nothing to do with weather and should be address when discussing hurricanes down below. You are comparing other places with extremes as well, some where in the middle would be NC. I honestly dont think its really a debate that it is extreme heat here for long periods of time.
Ok, I'll move my other extremes to the hurricane section
3. We do have beaches if this is your thing.
4. Very nice river IMO
See this is where I think Jax has a long way to improve. Limited access and relatively dirty with algal blooms and now "Guinness Beer" foam.
Theres always room for improvement but I have enjoyed the river and intracoastal more than anything else in Jax by far but I can agree theres room for improvement.
I agree with you that it's a top 5 asset to this city, perhaps the #1. I stand corrected.
5. Who cares about the port?
Top 3 biggest asset and economic driver for our city. Most people who know anything about the port care and a large percentage of jobs in NE FL have some relation to port activity.
I'll stand corrected here.
6. Dont all major cities have this?
No, not even close. Ever been to Charlotte, Raleigh, Orlando, and many more cities? We have "nice" historic neighborhoods, too, not shotgun house neighborhoods that serve only as hoods. Many cities would kill for an Avondale, San Marco, Ortega, Riverside, or even Springfield. We have some beautiful old houses that simply don't exist in the other cities. We have houses on par with old Palm Beach and Newport, RI level of sophistication and history with the same architects as their creators.
You named a few that may not (not sure, never looked there but I'll take your word on it) but there are plenty that do, Denver, Savanaha, Charelston to name a few.
I still think our historic neighborhoods are a top 3 asset to this city. I have been many places and I can't come up with too many sunbelt cities with historic neighborhoods as nice as ours. Avondale reminds me of SE Connecticut more than Florida, and Springfield looks like an old neighborhood straight out of the upper Midwest.
7. You dont move to Jax for the sky line thats for sure.
I grew up with the following skyline view:
I can respect your opinion on that but is it even a top 20 skyline in the US? I would suspect not and I know its not a "reason" to move here for most. I dont think its UGLY, I just dont think its a top 10 thing about Jax.
Alright, I'll give you the skyline argument. I am basically a skyline *****/architecture freak if you will and I wish we had more, and it definitely is not a "top 10" thing about Jax, but our downtown's interaction with the river, while it could be MUCH better, is virtually unparalleled in the country. Just drive a boat through downtown and you will know what I mean.
My top 12 most important assets to Jax in order
1) River AND beach...allows most of the below assets to even exist
2) Port...our biggest economic driver
3) Weather...like everyone says you can't snow shovel sunshine
4) Naval presence...keeps our economy more stable
5) Our history...as soon as we remember it and learn to keep in touch with our roots, we will find an identity and know which direction to take our city
6) Jacksonville Jaguars...keeps us on the map
7) St. Augustine...gives us exposure with all the people driving through to get to St. Augustine
8) Ponte Vedra...until our urban core becomes more nationally recognized,
9) Urban street grid system (when we bloom, we will seriously bloom because of early good planning)
10) Urban core...really is a treasure and will eventually be highly walkable, desirable, served by public transit, and its own destination
11) Our healthcare system...just rated 21st in the nation for hospitals, #1 in neurosurgery, Mayo Clinic, UF & Shands, Nemours, etc
12) UNF...the only real reason for smart, ambitious, young people to even come to Jacksonville, and we need to learn how to supplement UNF with even more to retain young, single professionals
My Shortlist of Stuff Jax does really well compared to places I have been or researched
1) Old, urban neighborhoods...compared to most sunbelt cities
2) Our library system...rated one of top in country and if you haven't been to our main library, go!
3) Private philanthropy...It almost seems like there is as much philanthropy going on in little Jax as there is in all of Atlanta!
4) Art, art, art!...weekly Riverside Arts Market, Art Walk downtown (1st Wednesday of month), frequent neighborhood shows, 1st Fridays in Riverside, the Cummer!, MOCA!, Preston Haskell LoL, Jennifer Johnson, James Draper, list goes on...We have more art shows and more art anything going on in Jax in 1 month than many cities have in 1 year
5) Community Awareness/Activism...just check out Metro Jacksonville | Covering Downtown Jacksonville FL, Northeast Florida, Jacksonville Transit, History, Neighborhoods, Photos and try to find a more informative, interactive website...it has gotten national press from all over the place, on top of it we have about 20 more websites from UrbanJax to MySpringfield and the list goes on...
6) Golf...do I need to explain? We even have 2 courses designed by Donald Ross in our town and we have the "4th" major, the TPC at Sawgrass
i decided on jax over tampa because i don't like Tolls(i went thru that for 28 yrs in nyc) and too many tea party members(no offense).
so i'm very excited to get out of brevard county(satellite beach) which is absolutely dismal.
jax is almost like the best of all the places i've lived-nyc, san diego, and tacoma/seattle...
downtown jax, and riverside are my favorite places.
i'm not into the cookie-cutter-suburban-strip-mall neighborhoods-been there, done that. (although lolita's pupusas will be one of the few times i go to those areas)
i hope that jax natives realize how much potential the city has. it can easily be the less expensive, east coast version of san diego.
I like living in the metro area here - but you moved here instead of Tampa to avoid tea party people???? You might be in for a surprise .
And I guess this area has something in common with San Diego. As long as I've lived here - and as many times as I've gone to San Diego to visit family - I can never figure out where the center of "town" is. Robyn
I lived in San Diego for 18 years. Moved here about a year and a half ago. To me, the best part of San Diego was the weather (avg high in the summer is 76 degrees and only 11" of rain/year), the nearby mountains (skiing/snowboarding), the vibrant nightlife of downtown and Pacific Beach and the overall beach scene in general. All of that is way better than here.
What, in your opinion, is the best part of San Diego that you get here in JAX? Not trying to slam JAX. There are good things about the area and there's a lot of potential. I'm just sayin'.
We moved here because real estate is cheaper (we wanted a house, not happening in CA) and to be closer to family. I'm not gonna lie. We really miss a lot about San Diego. It's a really nice place.
Just curious about the weather thing. We went to visit my aunt/uncle in Rancho Bernardo last August on a day trip from a vacation in Los Angeles. It was mid 90's there or so. Perhaps a little better than our 90 degrees with higher humidity - or my brother's 105+ in Scottsdale. But it's not like I felt like running out at 3 pm to play 3 sets of tennis. So where is this magical 76 degrees - 1 mile or less from the ocean? I know that temps in California can be really strange - we were in San Jose one September day a few years ago when it was 80 - and then went 10 miles to the ocean - and it was 55.
And just FWIW - we've met young California "can't afford to buy a house" refugees like you before. So you're not alone. As a long time Florida resident who has spent a lot of vacation time in California - there's an awful lot I like about California (I'd kill just for the farmers' markets). But my dollars buy a lot more here than they'd buy in California. Although who knows what's coming down the road? I was very upset to find out that my California cousins did "jingle keys" earlier this year. Perhaps the real estate market everywhere still has several legs down to go - and California may be more affordable in the future? Robyn
Just to throw a new opinion into the mix--my husband & I moved here early this year and - with a few notable exceptions - feel like we landed in Paradise. I know you long-term Jax residents are already rolling around on the floor laughing, but a. no place is 100% perfect, and b. it's all relative to what you know and what you came from.
We moved here from Chicago. The city, NOT the suburbs. So yeah, we've had some adjusting to the suburban feel and sprawl of Jax. I haven't driven a car so much in the last 12 years as I have in the past 6 months. We aren't used to stores closing (most grocery and drug stores are 24 hours up there). We miss the sports scene (nothing better than a summer afternoon at Wrigley Field), good pizza, and decent public transportation.
BUT...we sure don't miss the ridiculous cost of living or the high sales and property taxes (10.25% sales tax, our last property tax bill was around $8K on a 2Ksqft house valued at $380K). We bought a 3Ksqft house on the water for less than we paid for that house 8 years ago. I like not having state income tax, although I actually agree with someone else's comment that a small tax to benefit the education system here would be beneficial.
We think the weather has been incredible-we left Chicago to get away from the cold after all. The endless heat and sunshine has been wonderful. I don't mind the humidity and we welcome the rain as long as it stays in liquid form all year round! Thinking about never having to deal with driving in ice-covered roads again makes me quite happy!
I can't imagine the beach *isn't* someone's thing...I've been almost every day since I got here. Yes, yes, I know not everyone loves the beach. But those of us who do recognize the amazing natural settings we have here in the Jax area. We are boat and water people. We have a boat and jetskis and if we aren't on the beach ourselves, we are on the water. I've seen pods of dolphins almost every day. Chicago has beaches & marinas - nice ones actually with beautiful views of the city skyline. But you can only use them 3-4 months of the year. 5 if you're lucky. Otherwise you'll die of hypothermia. The idea that we can still be on and in the water in late Sept is AWESOME!
Traffic? Ha. There is no traffic here. Try driving the outbound Kennedy Exprway on a Friday afternoon in January and then we can talk about traffic. (Disclaimer: I have spent a lot of time in LA, and yes, I know they in turn scoff at what Chicago considers traffic. I will toss back that at least you don't have to snowplow sunshine!)
In exchange, we left behind an incredible skyline, beautiful historic neighborhoods, Lake Michigan, wonderful architecture....we aren't disillusioned that one is better than the other. But for two people with no kids who love the beach, warm weather, and boating and fishing, Jax is a great place to live. We expect to be here a while and I hope to see improvements in things like downtown, public transportation, the education system, and environmental issues (like keeping the river clean).
Maybe we can build an area called Chicagoville. The urban amenties of Chicago (I like Chicago a whole lot). The prices of Jacksonville. The Chicago summers - the Jacksonville winters. The places worth driving to in Chicago - and the JAX traffic on the way there. All the air service you get from Chicago airports - with the no hassle factor of JAX. Will never happen in a million years - but the thought can at least put a smile on my face . Robyn
Just curious about the weather thing. We went to visit my aunt/uncle in Rancho Bernardo last August on a day trip from a vacation in Los Angeles. It was mid 90's there or so. Perhaps a little better than our 90 degrees with higher humidity - or my brother's 105+ in Scottsdale. But it's not like I felt like running out at 3 pm to play 3 sets of tennis. So where is this magical 76 degrees - 1 mile or less from the ocean? I know that temps in California can be really strange - we were in San Jose one September day a few years ago when it was 80 - and then went 10 miles to the ocean - and it was 55.
Well,... in Southern CA, on the evening newscast, there are 4 basic forecasts. Coastal, inland, mountain and desert. The prevailing winds there are almost always onshore. So the coast has the best weather. I believe the 76 degree average high in the summer is measured at the airport, which is right at the coast. As you go inland, it gradually gets hotter as the cool ocean breezes loose there effect. The mountains are cooler and wetter do to the altitude. After the mountains have squeezed all the moisture out of the clouds, the land to the east of the mountains is desert. So, you get to pick your climate. I always lived within about 5 miles of the coast during my time there and the weather was great. Rancho Bernardo is about 12 mi inland. At that point, the temperatures are similar to JAX, but without the oppresive humidity. So, average high in summer is about 89. Also, it rains about 11"/year there vs JAX's 47". Just about everything in San Diego County is within about 15 mi of the coast.
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. No we rarely do receive direct hits from our coast. You can live here now 46 years and counting and not receive hurricane force winds to your house.
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