St. Johns County (Jacksonville, Plantation, St. Augustine: realty, houses, condo)

[tanyarwood]

Anybody know anything about St. Johns County in Jacksonville. I have heard great things about it and am thinking of moving my family, which includes 3 small children, there. Any input would be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks!

[clouds]

This is a really broad question so it is hard to answer well but......St John's county is just south of jax....although it is the "metro area" it is not in jax. The main town in St Johns is St Augustine (St. Augustine) which is where I live. But the rest of the county is growing FAST. It is a great place to live and raise a family and still affordable. I have a toddler. However, it is a small town so many people work in jax. Not a lot of professional jobs in St Augustine. We do have great schools, nice neighborhoods, beaches etc. But again I emphasize that it is a growing town, not urban or anywhere as large geographically as jax. Good luck!

[Sherease Parker]

I live in St. Johns county and I am a realtor with Keller Williams Realty. Along with my husband and two children (ages 7 and 12) I moved to Julington Creek Plantation and have never regretted it. The schools are awesome to say the least. My husband works downtown and he has a commute but no real issues if he leaves hom by 7 am. There are other communities off of 210 that are affordable and there are many new home builders to consider from if you are looking for a new home.

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[Jax]

We moved to Julington Creek Plantation about 10 months ago (husband, myself, and a cat). It's a great neighborhood with TONS of kids (Halloween night was filled with kids and teens trick-or-treating in just our neighborhood alone). It's a little more rural than I'd like...for instance, I can't exactly walk to Starbucks from my house, although I could ride my bike to one (at the intersection of Racetrack and San Jose Blvd./SR13), and it's a drive to get to the movie theater, our church, St. Johns Town Center mall, etc. Schools are great here, though, and impressive coming from San Diego where I taught and subbed. Some of the kids receive extra tutoring here, however, whether that's to get ahead, caught up, keep up with the neighbors...I'm not entirely sure. All in all, a great school district. With 3 small children, you'll fit right in here.

[tanyarwood]

Thank you for your replies! I was online all night last night looking at the neighborhoods....including the ones you mentioned. I am excited. Does anyone know if there are any neighborhoods like those with maybe some more trees?? I did like Julington Creek Plantation. Is it a gated community? Thanks again in advance!!

[agreatlife]

If you want trees, you may want to consider the Mandarin area - just north of Julington Creek bridge. Everytime my brother comes to visit from California, he says he's just never seen so many trees.

[Jax]

Most of the subdivisions in Julington Creek are not gated, although there is at least one I can think of that is (they even have their own swimming pool), and the apartment/condo complex in this area off Race Track road may be gated, as well. Lots of trees in our area and also Mandarin, as well as the new developments just south of Julington Creek.

[riveree]

Originally Posted by tanyarwood

Does anyone know if there are any neighborhoods like those with maybe some more trees?? I did like Julington Creek Plantation.

Are you only looking for new/newer and want more trees, or are you open to older areas?

It depends on the developer, but so many of them still clearcut areas and then replant young trees back in . As a result, a lot of new/newer neighborhoods don't have a lot of trees in the interior*.

You can of course always purchase a premium conservation lot that backs up to trees. Also, take a good look at different developments, some do save the interior trees (mine did - no clearcutting - they cleared lot by lot as the houses were built; makes for a different look ).

If you're open to other areas, as AgreatLife pointed out, Mandarin (in Duval/Jacksonville) is immediately to the north of Julington Creek and is known for it's trees . Going just up from Mandarin, the San Jose and San Marco areas are also loaded with old growth trees.......these are all older, established river neighborhoods (little to no new construction).

*Even Rivertown - a self-touted 'nature-focused' new development in St. John's has been found to clearcut to the point that they have done damage to the Saint John's River with the resulting runoff .

Check out The St. John's Riverkeeper's new blog, scroll down the page to Monday, Oct. 8th for some details about this Rivertown issue:

http://stjohnsriverkeeper.blogspot.com/

[penguinz]

We moved here over a year ago and also live in the Julington Creek area and we've never regreted it. Our home does back up to a conservation lot with a very small pond (3-4 homes have direct access to it from all around). Honestly, to go into our backyard, you'd never know whe have neighbors on the other side of the trees. so it's super private that way.

The schools are fantastic. I have 4 kids, 2 with some special needs, and their needs are being met. I always have access to our principal or any other person at the school, unlike some schools our kids went to where you had to set up an appointment to speak with your principal and other administrators. Here, I can send an e-mail and I get a reply the same day, next day at the latest, and if I see them at school they are very approachable.

The community is great, tons of kids, clean, and we feel very safe here. I run and sometimes only get out in the evening, and I feel like I can do so safely. The pool here is great, it's nice having it to go to on those hot summer days.

Hope that helped.

[Sailorbutch]

Hello! Active duty military here and we're moving back to Jax next year and my wife is looking the Julington Creek area among others (Eagle Harbor, Fleming Island, etc). Having lived there before (NAS Jax/OP area), we're very familiar with the place. Don't know much about Julington Creek area though. My son will be high school junior next year, are the high school(s) in the area great also? Also, what builders should I be looking at here? CDD/HOA? Thank you all in advance for your help.