Jacksonville Beach area. (Neptune Beach: real estate, rentals, sex offenders)

[jessemh431]

I'm thinking of moving to Jacksonville soon. I'd like to be near the beach so I was thinking the Jacksonville/Atlantic/Neptune Beach areas. How are they in terms of safety, amenities, and schools. I would like to start a family there so schools are important. I would like a variety of restaurants nearby and a few clothing stores and electronics stores. I would spend no more than 500,000 on a home because i have searched around and found no need to spend more than that. Now that I know about the houses, I would like some input on those three aspects that can't be learned from a real estate website.

Thank you for any responses in advance.

[riveree]

Originally Posted by jessemh431

I'm thinking of moving to Jacksonville soon. I'd like to be near the beach so I was thinking the Jacksonville/Atlantic/Neptune Beach areas. How are they in terms of safety, amenities, and schools. I would like to start a family there so schools are important.

The schools are generally good. Jacksonville Beach Elementary is top-notch. It is consistently rated A in our Florida FCAT rating system. There is a MAGNET program in that school as well. One of my neighbors moved his daughter from our neighborhood elementary school (also A rated and a MAGNET) over to Jax Beach because it is an even stronger program. Look into the FCAT scores - it's a good tool to judge the schools by.

Safety is good, but you have to have some caution. People come from all over to hang out at the beach, especially on the weekends. It's a popular nightlife spot, so people drive out there to drink and party. The only other caution I would have is that there are a lot of rentals, so the population can be transient and it can bring some problem people (criminals and sex offenders like the beach too). But overall, it's a nice beach scene.

Amenities are good - you have the ocean, what more do you need ? Anything you find lacking at the beach, you can simply cross the ditch over to Intracoastal West and find whatever you need there.