What are your opinions about Orange Park? (Jacksonville, Plantation: real estate, HOA)

[Sherease Parker]

Fleming Island has nice communities especially if considering starting a family. You may also consider the Mandarin area of Jacksonville which will bring you to the other side of the river.

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[Ryde41]

Too much traffic.

[deealina]

I guess the opinion of traffic here is relative to where you came from. We moved to OP/Fleming Island 6 months ago and the traffic is nothing compared to Boston where we were before. I am currently not traveling during the heavy traffic times on a regular basis but those times I did it was busy but not the nightmare we experienced in MA. I do travel on Blanding a few nights a week at rush hour and it is slower than other times but I find it quite tolerable. We really like living here. We live at Eagle Harbor. The community has been very welcoming. It is such a nice change to see the kids riding their bikes to school and playing outside. Up in MA no one trusts letting kids outside to play anymore. We were away for awhile this summer and our neighbors kept an eye on our house even though we had only been here for a short time. Our kids are grown but if I had young ones I would find this a really nice place to raise them. And now that it is turning towards winter up north I couldn't be happier!

[Ryde41]

Eagle Harbor is a nice place. We used to come out there for soccer things.

[riveree]

I think this might be what Ryde is referring to about the traffic in OP/Clay:

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-onlin...11753842.shtml

According to the study cited, the traffic is pretty bad, the worst in Florida actually. I think it's something any newcomer needs to at least investigate thoroughly.

[titaniummd]

Originally Posted by Ryde41

Too much traffic.

I agree on the traffic; however, it depends upon your commute. I came from DC and the traffic is not unbearable, unless an accident occurs. Luckily I have GPS and I can take a side road. I also watch the flow of traffic which helps me move along faster.

[Ryde41]

People heading west on 295 who are trying to merge onto the exit ramp to get on Blanding might find they need a chill pill to exit. I haven't had the pleasure of being there at rush hour, but I can imagine. I think that is the longest exit ramp I've seen.

[travelingfood]

Originally Posted by Ryde41

People heading west on 295 who are trying to merge onto the exit ramp to get on Blanding might find they need a chill pill to exit. I haven't had the pleasure of being there at rush hour, but I can imagine. I think that is the longest exit ramp I've seen.

yeh before they redesigned that exit ramp, it was even worse....

[Annette from Michigan]

We are moving to the Jacksonville area in the next few months and are wondering which area to settle in? We were told Fleming Island was nice. My husband will work in Orange Park. We are emptpy nesters and don't want to be in a neiborhood that is primarily children. Our house here is surrounded by an open lot system with children in our yard all the time. With our 3 boys raised, we are ready for some peace and quiet. We are too young (52) for "mature" communities. Are some areas more "family focused" than others?

[mawipafl]

Fleming Island has a number of communities that are nice - Eagle Harbor, Fleming Island Plantation, Pace Island, Harbor Island, Margarets Walk, Hibernia, Habersham Harbor ... and I know there are others I've forgotten to list.

I can only speak for Eagle Harbor --- it is a great mix - although there are many children, one does not have to have young children to become a part of the community nor are there kids running all over the place (at least in my neighborhood--the kids seem to gravitate to the playground just down the street.)

We relied on our realtor -- we gave him our wish list, and I recommend the same to you. It's my opinion that any realtor worth his/her salt will know the demographics of specific areas (quiet blue hairs, raucous 10-year-olds, abundance of canines, etc.)

We also did a lot of driving around to look for people on sidewalks, bike riders, baby carriage pushers, basketball hoops in driveways, bikes on front yards, etc. to give us a flavor of what a neighborhood was like.