may be moving to jacksonville-help with locations (St. Augustine, Orange Park: crime, houses)

[counihan]

My husband has an opportunity for a job in Jacksonville. Not sure what part yet. We're looking for suggestions on a safe area to live in. We have 2 kids, 3 and 11, and want a family friendly place. He's willing to commute up to 45 minutes, although he'd prefer to keep it around 30 minutes. I've heard about Orange Park, but have read about terrible traffic. What is the average commute times to and from?

Thanks!

[titaniummd]

What is your budget? There are many houses on the market and it's yours for the taking. My house was bought for almost $70k under asking.

Traffic depends upon what time of the day that you travel from Orange Park. I commute to Naval Air Station Jacksonville (just off of highway 17). I have driven up Highway 17 at 7:20 where there was little traffic (relative to the DC traffic I lived through) to a 20 minute slowdown when I traveled just 20 minutes later.

I like the Fleming Island region in Orange Park for the schools and the amenities of the communities. I narrowed it down to 2 golf communities : Fleming Island and Eagle Harbor which also have pools, tennis courts, trails. You don't need to live in a golf community. There are others that I didn't look into such as Pace Island. The schools are rated well in the county but Thunderbolt received a B rating due to one student who didn't progress. They were shy of an A rating by 0.03 of a point - I can live with that.

I also looked into Argyle/Oakleaf/Eagle Landing. I was leaning into Eagle Landing but the community is still new and if you're wanting to flip it (ie sell it in a few years), you'll compete against builders. It's congested there.

The main artery that runs through Orange park is Blanding which is SLOW by any city standards (even for me being used to DC traffic it was like 355 - Rockville Pike- very very painful).

If you PM me, I can hook you up with an awesome realtor who got us a great great deal through her sharp negotiating ability and analysis (New construction). She is the best realtor I have had in the four states I have lived thus far.

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I don't know about the schools in the St. John's side/Mandarin area but I would believe them to be excellent. If you like eating out and shopping, I would say to look on that side of the water (I believe it's called the Southside - correct me Riveree if I am wrong). It is closer to the beach and 95 south.

[My3Boys]

If you HAVE to live in Jax, you want to be in the Southside - Baymeadows area. Safest and most "family" by far. OP traffic is a nightmare, not to mention quite a drive from "Jacksonville" proper. Beware of the Public school system, though. It's completely dumbed down to keep up appearances of higher scores. ("Look, we're an A school!") My boys attend private, and teachers who transfer over from public have told us that our 8th graders are doing what they formerly taught to 11th graders. And yes, you do have your academic exceptions, ie Stanton and Paxon. But I'd advise you to take a drive over to the location before you plan on using those top-ranked high schools. Right in the heart of crime laden downtown. High non-english speaking student rate as well as huge budget cuts in schools are problems as well. Be prepared to fork over $7,000 to $15,000 per year per student. And for all of you who'll argue and tell me I don't know what I'm talking about, I have taught in both public and private schools. I wouldn't dream of sending my child to a Duval County school!

[riveree]

Originally Posted by counihan

My husband has an opportunity for a job in Jacksonville. Not sure what part yet. We're looking for suggestions on a safe area to live in. We have 2 kids, 3 and 11, and want a family friendly place. He's willing to commute up to 45 minutes, although he'd prefer to keep it around 30 minutes. I've heard about Orange Park, but have read about terrible traffic. What is the average commute times to and from?

Thanks!

Where the job ends up being will be of major importance when choosing a location to live in. Jax is unlike other cities - it is very spread out (over 840 square miles) - you don't want to choose a location first and THEN worry about the commute .

Orange Park is not in Jacksonville, it is in a neighboring county called "Clay County". The entire county is land-locked, but you can access the beach through Duval (Jax) or St. John's county (St. Augustine), of course.

If the job location ends up being in Jacksonville, there are many nice, family-friendly parts of the city to live in. I'd recommend looking online at the following zip codes to give you an idea of housing and the different neighborhoods here in Jax:

32207
32217
32246
32225
32224
32256
32257

These are all safe, nice areas to live in that will keep your commute time down (if working in Jax) and keep you close to the beach, shopping, restaurants, etc.

[HIF]

Mandarin is a nice, relatively safe area. 32223 and 32257

Public schools are A-rated, but still subpar.

[counihan]

Thank you everyone for the input, this site has been so helpful. After looking into Jax, my husband decided he didn't want to work in a larger city again. He worked in the Bronx for 3 years, and wants a more laid back work enviorment. We're going to go with one of the smaller cities on the East Coast of Florida, that he also can choose from.

[Doris Arnold]

If your husband is working on the East side of the St. Johns River you don't want to live in Orange Park. The traffic is horrible and you could spend over an hour getting to and from work each day. Mandarin and St. Johns County are great areas as well as the Southside. You will love Jacksonville. Moderator cut: realtor advertising