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We are moving to JAX in July, from Dallas, we are in our 40s, with both of us working, and with elem-middle school age kids.
We are looking for a good suburb with the best schooling, and kids' activities, good amenities (restaurants, shopping nearby), with houses in the $400-$500k range and less than 30 min drive to work. I will be working close to Bay Meadows area, and my wife still has to find work.
a) City within JAX : It seems St Johns' is the best possible area for our criteria. Is that correct ? Baymeadows, Mandarin and Southside are good, but seems like no good public middle schools, unless you do private or magnet.
b) Schooling : In Dallas where we live, public schools are great. Is it typical to send kids to private schools in Jacksonville (or Florida in general) ?
c) Within St Johns', anybody has information about Durbin crossing, Cimmaron Golf club, Julington Creek communities and the community around Liberty Pines academy. What's good about these places, whats not ? What is typical make up here - families with kids, retirees ? What communities are better than others ? Which ones are newer communities ? Which ones have community amenities (pool, gym, tennis, etc)
d) Any insights on these specific schools - Durbin creek elem, Fruit cove middle, Liberty pines academy
e) Are there enough activities for kids in this area ? For example, our kids go for summer camps (robotics, journalism, etc), and after school math, tae-kwon-do, swimming and weekend soccer, basketball.
f) Where are most of the large company offices, software related jobs in Florida ? Is it in downtown area ? somewhere else ? Will St Johns be way too far from these places ?
g) Entertainment : How are the beaches in Jacksonville ? We have never been there, but do families regularly go to beaches ? Are they clean ? What are the most common entertainment options in JAX for families ? I know Orlando is a short hop away, which is great !
h) Should we look for a house with a pool ? We have never had a pool, but have always wondered if we should.
a) Saint Johns county has the best schools in the state, check out greatschools.org
b) There are several nationally ranked private schools in Duval county. Typical? I dont know about that, they are very expensive and pretty exclusive.
c) Nocatee and Durbin Crossing are the newest, still building out. Durbin is nearing completion, Nocatee is like a mini-city, many, many neighborhoods of varying shapes and sizes and price ranges. Julington Creek is next to Durbin and built out. Nice, established for several years, still relatively new. Cimmaron is similar to Julington Creek, on the other side (southwest side) of Durbin. There are many Cimmaron like neighborhoods to the south of Durbin on Route 210. Nocatee is famous for their splash park, but it's so large, some of the neighborhoods within Nocatee have their own pools. You are going to pay a premium to live there over the exact same house in another neighborhood 5 miles away.
d) All great schools, Patriot Oaks Academy just opened this year in Durbin Crossing, it's K-8, with kids going to Creekside highschool. Valley Ridge Academy is an identical school that opened this year in Nocatee, also K-8, with kids going to Nease highscool. All top tier public schools, 10/10, A+ rated.
e) Tons and tons of activities, after school programs, summer camps, local sports, etc.
f) While there are many big name companies downtown, most people work on the east side of the city near Baymeadows, Southside, Butler
g) Beaches are great, very clean, family friendly. JAX Beach is always crowded as that's the only place most tourists know about, younger crowd as well living around that area. Atlantic Beach to the north of JAX Beach is very nice and not very crowded. Many beachs to the south near St. Augustine and Crescent Beach, also very nice. Micklers is the closest beach and probably the most crowded and worst beach because its coquina, or a very shell-y beach if you will, not all white sand like the others.
h) Having your own pool is up to you, it's a lot of work and expensive to run and maintain. Every neighborhood has a pool or multiple pools. There's little resale value to having a pool here since they are so common.
Just started looking at Nocatee. Looks fabulous. What did you mean by paying a premium to live there ? Is the housing about $25-50k more expensive for similar sized home ? Are there much higher HOA dues ? Different property taxes ?
Also, which neighborhoods there would you suggest ? Looks like Greenleaf preserve, Willowcove, Coastal Oaks are in the $400-$500 price range with 4BR, 3000 sqft+.
Seems like new homes are still under construction. Are direct from builder prices usually lower than buying from a seller.
I would say that buying a resale is a better deal than buying from the builder. The builders charge you for every upgrade at today's prices and they're not in the mood to bargain in this economy. Resellers, on the other hand, are moving because they need to--they've bought another house, they're being transferred for a job, etc.--so there is negotiating room. A four bedroom in Greenleaf Village just came on the market and is listed at $425k. For property searches in Nocatee, input zip code 32081.
WillowCove and Greenleaf (village, preserve and the lakes-- 3 different neighborhoods in Nocatee clustered together) all feed into the new k-8, ValleyRidge. From WillowCove, your kids would take the bus or be driven. It's not a huge trek, but it's not fun to walk on a hot muggy day. From any of the Greenleaf neighborhoods, you can walk or bike. A neighborhood not mentioned in your post is Austin Park. It also feeds into Valley Ridge and is walking distance to the school.
Coastal Oaks is a gated community within its own amenities in Nocatee, along with the Nocatee amenities. It is gated and feeds into one of the other St Johns schools--I can't remember if its PVP Rawlings or Ocean Palms. Kids currently take the bus. I have heard that it will eventually have its own elementary school, but who knows when that will happen.
Definitely drive around Nocatee, Julington, etc and get a feel for the areas. You'll know which one you like best and feels like home. All of the neighborhoods here that Saint Cabbage mentioned are friendly and full of kids playing outside after dinner.
I forgot--there is a premium in Nocatee. You pay a CDD, which is like an extra tax, and the prices for new build at least seem higher and you get less. But that's just an impression. You should chat with a realtor, who will really know the 411.
Yes, Willowcove takes the bus to Valley Ridge Academy- it is over 2 miles. I believe there are 4 or 5 David Weekley homesites left and then we are sold out. Looking forward to the end of construction! There are some resales available as well.
Coastal Oaks (and all other SJC Nocatee communities other than WC, GL, and AP) is zoned for Ocean Palms Elementary and Landrum Middle School.
The CDD fees vary by homesite (1800-2400 est. in Nocatee) and there are other neighborhoods like Durbin Crossing with CDD fees as well.
SaintCabbage has a great list for you!
With regard to the beaches, we go to Micklers or drive onto St Augustine Beach for the day. My older children usually end up at one of the beach clubs with their friends - there are several along the ocean in PVB.
With regard to the pool question, we have one and our lanai is basically another room in our house as we are out there all the time. It's personal preference I suppose. It's a huge 'quality of life' plus for my family.
Just started looking at Nocatee. Looks fabulous. What did you mean by paying a premium to live there ? Is the housing about $25-50k more expensive for similar sized home ? Are there much higher HOA dues ? Different property taxes ?
Also, which neighborhoods there would you suggest ? Looks like Greenleaf preserve, Willowcove, Coastal Oaks are in the $400-$500 price range with 4BR, 3000 sqft+.
Seems like new homes are still under construction. Are direct from builder prices usually lower than buying from a seller.
Well what I mean is there are basically the same group of builders in all these neighborhoods. Since they offer about the same size houses, a lot of the same floorplans are available in both locations. But the Nocatee ones are going to be anywhere from 25 to 75k more for the exact same thing, often on a smaller lot. Why you ask? Because it's Nocatee. No real other reason, makes little sense. HoA and CDD are going to be about the same everywhere. Some builders offer incentives like no CDD, which really can be a good deal since it's about $200 to $300 a month depending on where you are and how big your lot is.
Resale prices are skyrocketing, so are new home prices, but not quite as quickly. Resales are sometimes more because Durbin and Nocatee have huge demand, so people are taking advantage. I would build if you have the time and find something you like.
Greenleaf Preserve is built out pretty good at this point, and they keep raising the prices and making the lots smaller, there's not a lot of value over there now in my opinion, it's so overpriced. Willowcove is also pretty much built out, but they do have larger lots and slightly larger homes. Again, you pay a premium to be there so resales are going to overpriced.
Coastal Oaks is a Toll Brothers community, they've been there for years and are slowing opening additional phases, but there are a lot of homes back there. Toll Brothers is likely the most expensive builder when it comes to add-ons, so the base prices are very deceiving. Toll Brothers is starting a new neighborhood between Durbin and Aberdeen called Julington Lakes that looks like it's going to be really nice and in a great location. Gated and in your price range you listed above.
Nocatee has a lot of new neighborhoods just now breaking ground, so there's a chance to get in first before prices start to go up. Once a section opens, you'll see the base prices go up by $10k every couple of weeks until it's built out, so getting in early allows you a "bargain" on the price and choice of lots, which is important.
Standard Pacific is also starting a new neighborhood now that also looks really nice to the east of Julington Creek, and still in St. Johns county. I believe it's called Celestina, but they have little to nothing about it on their website. You'll see other threads here about it. The lots are 63 and 73 foot in phase 1, and the 83 and 90 foot lots will open in the Fall with pricing and floorplans to be announced soon. 83 and 90 foot lots are pretty large by new home standards, so looking forward to that.
Another established neighborhood that is still building out is called Palencia. It's in between Nocatee and St. Augustine. It's going to be more expensive and it's farther away, but really nice back there.
Thanks everyone. A completely separate question about the beaches. Not having lived in a beach town, that's a huge plus for us ! However, we want to have realistic expectations. I hear from people that water is cold in jacksonville for most of the year, so other than a couple of summer months, you can't really go to the ocean. Here in Texas, we can atleast go to the aquatic centers and water parks for 3-4 months in the year.
Thanks everyone. A completely separate question about the beaches. Not having lived in a beach town, that's a huge plus for us ! However, we want to have realistic expectations. I hear from people that water is cold in jacksonville for most of the year, so other than a couple of summer months, you can't really go to the ocean. Here in Texas, we can atleast go to the aquatic centers and water parks for 3-4 months in the year.
I find the water to be warm pretty much all the time we go, late April through October. Many of the beaches have a large amount of area where kids basically have a wading pool of water to play safely in, that water is like bath water it's so warm. Places further south, like Crescent Beach, you can walk out several hundred yards and it's only up to your knees, so that water is going to be warm as well.
Welcome to the forum and Jax soon. Just my .02...oh and I voted San Marco since that's my neighborhood
a) City within JAX : It seems St Johns' is the best possible area for our criteria. Is that correct ? Baymeadows, Mandarin and Southside are good, but seems like no good public middle schools, unless you do private or magnet.
That's the reputation I guess. I haven't paid much attention to the public schools in those areas.
b) Schooling : In Dallas where we live, public schools are great. Is it typical to send kids to private schools in Jacksonville (or Florida in general) ?
Jax has very good magnet schools so it's a matter of either getting them into the right one that matches their interests or getting into one of the top IB programs like Stanton or Paxon. I believe it's a difficult (lottery system).
c) Within St Johns', anybody has information about Durbin crossing, Cimmaron Golf club, Julington Creek communities and the community around Liberty Pines academy. What's good about these places, whats not ? What is typical make up here - families with kids, retirees ? What communities are better than others ? Which ones are newer communities ? Which ones have community amenities (pool, gym, tennis, etc)
I here JCP and Durbin quite often...they are both very new. Others will have better info than me.
d) Any insights on these specific schools - Durbin creek elem, Fruit cove middle, Liberty pines academy
nope :/
e) Are there enough activities for kids in this area ? For example, our kids go for summer camps (robotics, journalism, etc), and after school math, tae-kwon-do, swimming and weekend soccer, basketball.
Yeah, I can't compare the abundance of activities in other cities, but I never found a lack of things to do growing up. Plenty of sports available Robotics is at a dozen different schools. Plenty of music and education camps.
f) Where are most of the large company offices, software related jobs in Florida ? Is it in downtown area ? somewhere else ? Will St Johns be way too far from these places ?
The two main employment centers are Downtown and the dozens of office parks around JTB, Southside Blvd and Gate Parkway. (Jax was supposedly the birthplace of the office park) St Johns isn't too far from the Southside office parks. Software jobs are all over...not just the two locations above. One of the biggest tech firms in the area is actually in Jax Beach.
g) Entertainment : How are the beaches in Jacksonville ? We have never been there, but do families regularly go to beaches ? Are they clean ? What are the most common entertainment options in JAX for families ? I know Orlando is a short hop away, which is great !
They are ugly compared to most FL beaches. Water is basically black. But I still love it. The atmosphere is great...far less glitzy than south beach but still something for everyone. Beaches neighborhoods are basically clean, but like I said, water not so much. For families we have the zoo, museums, and lots of sports. Also a mini-theme park called Adventure Landing (two locations) which is sorta like Chucky Cheese's on steroids and for kids of all ages. On top of Orlando, there's also Tampa, Savannah, Charleston, Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head, Miami, and Atlanta which are within a day's drive. As well as a Six Flags and Summer Waves Water Park both less than two hours away.
h) Should we look for a house with a pool ? We have never had a pool, but have always wondered if we should.
Lol...it's up to you!! Home pools are very common, but you don't need one. They're a lot of maintenance.
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But that's just an impression. You should chat with a realtor, who will really know the 411.
