Moving to Jax: Any chance to find walking neighborhoods/urban living in St Johns

[Robyn55]

If I were working in Riverside - I probably wouldn't live in Mandarin (the traffic is pretty awful there). Although you're right that the Mandarin schools overall - from K through high school -are pretty highly rated - more highly rated than the schools overall in Riverside/Avondale. OTOH - the OP's only child is 4. So I think she'll have a lot of time to think about middle schools or high schools. And who knows - she and DH may be making lots of money down the road - so private schools may be an option.

I guess one thing the OP should consider is what her budget will get her in Riverside/Avondale. There are some really nice areas there - some not so nice - and some in the middle between really nice and not so nice. It's a pretty variable area - especially since it isn't very large geographically.

The OP is renting to start (good idea IMO). If I were in her shoes - I'd probably rent a high rise apartment or rental condo right now. Something pretty new and safe - like this:

The Strand SouthBank, Jacksonville apartment, Florida, Jacksonville apartment, Jacksonville apartment for sale, apartment for rent, jax apartment, on the southbank

Convenient to Riverside (don't know anything about the schools - but suspect they'd be ok at the elementary school level). That way - she doesn't have to worry about possibly getting into an unsafe neighborhood - or into a house where lots of things don't work very well - that may be on the verge of or in the middle of a foreclosure that the landlord doesn't tell you about - etc. And - once settled in - she can explore neighborhoods to her heart's content. Heck - we spent about 4 days criss-crossing Riverside/Avondale after we moved here into a rental before deciding for sure it wasn't the place for us to buy (and we were pretty sure it wasn't the place for us before we even started exploring). Most important thing now IMO is to make a move into a place that's safe and easy to live in while getting to learn the area.

BTW - as far as the Beaches go - we now have Home Depot and Bed Bath & Beyond - in addition to Publix - Fresh Market - Ace Hardware - etc. The shopping here is more than enough to meet my everyday shopping needs (and the only other stores in JAX I spend a lot of time in are Costco and Whole Foods - don't think either will open second locations in the metro area anytime soon). Yup - you need a car. But you need a car everywhere here in the metro area. Robyn

P.S. to OP. In case you missed earlier threads. There are a lot of Craigslist rental scams and similar going on in Florida now (people claiming to own property they don't own - owners taking money from renters when they're in the middle of foreclosure - etc.). It's a jungle out there. I would only rent through a reputable real estate firm.

[junebee]

Hi again,

I keep searching...reading...talking to my husband to review my findings...searching again...well, it's been a busy couple of days here

I am very much interested in Magnet Schools but lottery is a question mark...In the meantime, I found about a private Montessori School accepting VPK vouchers at 3718 Salisbury Rd., and then learned that there is a rental place right around there, Coventry Park at Corporate Center Pkwy.

I also saw a few more rentals around that area, such as Citigate and FL Club Apartments at Gate Parkway West. All these rentals seem to be pretty closeby, especially Coventry Park at Corporate Center Pkwy is very close to Montessori.

Now, my question is whether this area where Montessori school located is a nice neighborhood to live or not...Are there anyone among the members of this group living in that area or can make any recommendations? I mean, Corporate Center Pkwy, and Gate Pkwy West areas.

On the other hand, I still search for rentals in PVB to make a good comparison to living in the city. I am specifically looking for rentals in Sawgrass Village because both the preschool (Kindercare or Childtime) and the elementary school (next year Kindergarden) are in walking distance and this is great for me! Actually, I looked at a few rentals on the lists, and one of them which is at FIDDLERS MARSH looked nice to me. Is there anyone in the group who knows about this community? I'll appreciate if you can share your comments with me.

As you see, I am still debating between living in the city vs PVB area (which seems to be closest commute for my husband if we choose to live in St Johns county).

In regards to Riverside/Avondale, I couldn't find any single nice/NEW 3 bedroom rental with a pool except Villas of St Johns. I did not like their kitchen/bathrooms though (just by looking at the pictures you can tell they are pretty dated). For that amount of money we would pay, I expect a brand new kitchen and bathroom but of course, the best thing to do is to go and see them in person.

I will fly to Jax this weekend and start seeing all these places, and hopefully make a smooth landing to our new life there

Please share all your positive/negative feedback about these areas. I am trying to make an educated decision and your support has been very VALUABLE. The great thing about Jax is that the help I get from locals like you even before moving there. I appreciate your efforts to write and explain many things in detail.

Thank you very much again.

June

[junebee]

I just wanted to drop a quick additional note to my previous post and ask your recommendations about nice/new rentals with pool in Riverside/Avondale area. I know there are some rentals like that in downtown (which I will see when I fly there this weekend) but I couldn't find anything in Riverside area. Am I missing something here?

I am re-reading all of your posts to check if I missed any website info. about luxury rentals in Riverside/Avondale and couldn't find anything. Does it mean that they do not exist or did I not see them in the messages?

Because I will focus on this area as the first part of my search, I want to make sure that I do not miss anything...Please let me know your recommendations.

Thanks a lot again!
June

[fsu813]

Riverside & Avondale and San Marco are historic / semi historic neighborhoods respectively, so there won't b many large, new apartment complexes. There so some, but not many. 90% of those will be out in the suburbs somewhere.

There are plenty of houses to rent though.

This is a good site to find rentals: www.traditionsjax.com , and they of things not yet listed too. Ginny Greenland is excellent.

By the way, this new thread may interest you: Jacksonville Neighborhood called a "Top 10"