Green Cove Springs (Jacksonville, Orlando, Sanford: crime, houses, quality of life)

[littlelou]

can anyone give me basic information on Green Cove Springs. I am looking to move to northern FL...between Jax and Daytona in the next 12-18 months and spotted GCS on the map. Is it a bedroom community of Jax? Is it safe? how are housing costs>

thanks!

[riveree]

It's more of a rural community than a bedroom community - it's quite a ways out.

Statistically it should be safe enough, but country crime is different than city crime.....in country crime you're often on your own (the small communities often don't have the resources to fully patrol a rural community).

The area is changing though as developers are quickly building large master-planned communites in the area and heading more and more inland/south towards Green Cove, so "rural" is becoming "suburban" day-by-day .

Housing should be well-priced - most of NE FL still is compared to the rest of the state.

[Kimknapp]

Green Cove is in the middle of a transition. It's 30 minutes from the Jax border. They used to call it little Detroit. The dealerships have moved out and they are beginning planning for restoration. They have started by defacing county buildings. There are many older charming homes and cobblestone streets. The transformation will probably take a decade or more. In the meantime Clay County is working with DOT to put in an outer beltway that would change the way folks in Clay get around and would make GCS that much closer to everything. Fleming Island may be another option. I hope this helps!

[HIF]

Have you looked into Palm Coast?

[apvbguy]

Originally Posted by HIF

Have you looked into Palm Coast?

if you do a search on the florida forum for palm coast you will find much negativity about the area, on visits to the area I have not been overly impressed. If you want to trade time/quality of life for money then palm coast might be an option

[riveree]

Originally Posted by apvbguy

if you do a search on the florida forum for palm coast you will find much negativity about the area, on visits to the area I have not been overly impressed. If you want to trade time/quality of life for money then palm coast might be an option

Absolutely.

If you read the Palm Coast threads, there is a lot of unhappiness there. Family of mine looked into it in the mid-90's but had concerns over the lack of everything in the area so they nixed the idea and built in St. Augustine instead. It seems nothing has changed in PC except developers have built tons of houses and marketed heavily out-of-state. People in PC speak of having to drive out of PC for nearly everything - they have to drive to Daytona or St. Augustine for many of their daily needs and even further to Jacksonville or Orlando for the things Daytona and St. Aug don't have .

[FloridaDude]

Question for boaters in this area of the St. Johns River...Is the river completely fresh water? Or is it brackish? At what point up the river is it saltwater? I'm considering the Fleming Island/Green Cove Springs areas. Thanks.

[joninclay]

Originally Posted by FloridaDude

Question for boaters in this area of the St. Johns River...Is the river completely fresh water? Or is it brackish? At what point up the river is it saltwater? I'm considering the Fleming Island/Green Cove Springs areas. Thanks.

The water is brackish. I've caught saltwater fish species around the Shands Bridge in Green Cove Springs: croakers, flounder, small trout. I'm told that catching redfish and sheepshead there are not uncommon.

I've also caught freshwater species there: channel cats, bluegill, and small bass.

[R1v3rRat]

Originally Posted by FloridaDude

Question for boaters in this area of the St. Johns River...Is the river completely fresh water? Or is it brackish? At what point up the river is it saltwater? I'm considering the Fleming Island/Green Cove Springs areas. Thanks.

The water is officialy brackish... that said.....to me anyway....anything south of ALLTELL stadium is fresh water IMO.... you cannot taste any salt content while swimming in the river.

I am a boater and know every inch of the St. Johns from where it meets the ditch (ICW) all the way down to Sanford FL and everywhere in between. Flemming Island area is a great area if you are a boater. the launch we used most often was on 17 a lil south of Fleming Island and a lil north of greencove springs. It is at the mouth of Black Creek where it spills into the StJohns. Ramp is great. Can pretty much launch anything there... we had no problem with 38' offshore boat and have friends who have launched 46' boats.

Just FYI

[snowwoman]

BE CAREFUL

Originally Posted by HIF

Have you looked into Palm Coast?